Man From Matunga

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August 12, 2005

Gujjus (and Kutcchis) rule

This is today's post in the Mumbai Mirror.

In the context of the Gujjufication of Matunga, Swapna sent this mail, “Today GUJJUS rule everywhere. And by everywhere i mean everywhere!!! Forget matunga , u find them everywhere. the suburbs overflow with them, travel in a local train and i bet half the compartment will be yelling across to each other in gujrathi. Its almost like an epidemic! Earlier it was uncool to be a gujju…Now it is totally COOL to be a gujju!”

“Gujjus (& Kutchhis) rule!” Nowhere is this as epitomized as in Matunga.

In Kal Ho Naa Ho, when Saif goes home for his parents’ anniversary celebrations, he makes no effort to hide his embarrassment at his parents’ antics, especially when they sing the “Gujju” song - G for gathiya, U for undhiya, J for jalebi, J for Jamnagar, etc. Actually, I was a little confused at his embarrassment! Was it his character’s innate Americanness being an ABCDEFG (American Born Confused Desi Emigrated from Gujarat), or was it the fact that the script-writer, the director, the producer and Saif himself are all Punjabis / North Indians, who love to poke fun at other communities in their films?

Offering a counterpoint, is Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai, on Star One, one of the few adult, intelligent sitcoms on Indian television today. The senior Sarabhai couple is a rich Gujju pair, their dermatologist son having married a middle-class Punjabi from Patiala, who thinks “vixen” is pleural for “Vicks” and asks her husband not to forget to get extra key-chains from the car-dealer after he buys a 1 crore SUV. The sitcom works brilliantly most of the times, mainly because of its ability to self-deprecatingly make fun of its own innate Gujjuness, at the same time poking fun at other communities, without being offensive.

Mrs. Sarabhai (Ratna Pathak Shah - who incidentally is a Five Gardens product), seems to live in Malabar Hill / Walkeshwar, but could as well have been living in New York or North London or Toronto (if you’ve met Gujjus/Kutchhis from these cities, you’ll know what I’m talking about) and constantly sniffs at the infra-dig attitudes of middle-class Gujjus living in the suburbs. Which includes Matunga, which really is the next Gujju bastion after Malabar Hill / Walkeshwar.

Maybe its the two “derasars” (Jain temples), maybe it’s the fact that there are already so many Gujjus already living in Matunga, maybe it’s the large number of schools and the relative peace and quiet, but middle and upper middle-class Gujjus and Kutchhis have, over the years, quietly infiltrated almost all of Matunga, Wadala and Sion, the majority of households represent slightly downmarket versions of the Sarabhai household. Which partly goes a long way in explaining the Matunga mentality.

Naturally, Matunga, Wadala and Sion are now intensely Gujjufied. All shop-keepers of all shades and stripes speak Gujarati, as do all the doctors in the area, as well as the bais, chauffeurs and vegetable sellers. And even the sambhar is a shade sweeter in all the Udipi joints.

The best part is the spill-over effect. On Saturdays and Sundays, even the coffee shop at the ITC, in neighboring Parel, resembles an upmarket Gujju / Kutchhi wedding…including the mandatory Jain counter on the side.

Posted by bhavinj at August 12, 2005 02:15 PM

Comments

Posted by: Anonymous at August 12, 2005 04:08 PM

Posted by: MFM/Bhavin at August 12, 2005 05:27 PM

Posted by: Janny at September 27, 2005 07:30 PM

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