There's a Don in my duplex

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">When I lived in Calcutta, underworld meant city innards spilled out by ruthless Metro digging. When I lived in Delhi, underworld meant political thuggery and skullduggery. Now that I''ve returned to Mumbai, I''ve got the real thing. There are so many Chhota Shakeel aides available for encounter practice that you begin to think that they are like the Hydra of Greek mythology: two heads spring up in place of every one that''s cut off.Replenishment is easy because Mumbai is not far from Dubai, as the crore flies. <br /><br />In close proximity to the lush Dawoods, lies the concrete jungle. Those responsible for its denseness are the builders. These two groups order life in Mumbai, and both have become its compulsive obsessive disorder. In fact, within days of coming back, it struck me that the Developer Dons today occupy the same mind space of Mumbai that the old gold smugglers once did. When I first came to work here in the 70s, the talk and the tabloids were all about Haji Mastan; today they''re all about Niranjan Hiranandani, whom I knew as a callow youth in those early years. <br /><br />Some people say that the Penthouse Pashas are as bad as the Supari Slicers. They say that the builders are choking Mumbai with concrete like Kalu Kaaniya strangling a police khabdi with a bicycle chain. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kya bolta tum?</span> Ok, some B Company may make a killing on deals grabbed from a rival gang, hissing "Raheja-ja-ja!" but that''s not the same as actual blood on the streets. Or is it? <br /><br />Gangsters haven''t forgiven builders for daring to become as rich, ruthless and dreaded as they are. So they keep giving them a run for their money. It''s a given — reluctantly — that if a construction windfall comes, can an extortionist threat be far behind? Of late, with vast acres of mill-land and slum-land coming on the block, developers have been throwing crores at new property like <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">channa</span> at a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kabutarkhana</span>. Naturally, they''ve become stool pigeons. Gangland has been stocking up on its Dubai SIM cards. Reportedly, a rep of Chhota Shakeel, identifying himself as ''Nikhil'', has been calling up the Condo Honchos with the tenacity of a telemarketing agent, and trying to sell them his brand of accident insurance. <br /><br />Builders are acutely aware that they have illegally occupied the notoriety which was traditionally reserved for underworld bosses, so they can hardly afford to hang up rudely as the rest of us can when dealing with a pesky peddler of credit cards. Here the original ''landlord'' is calling the shots. "<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Oye, Chikna</span>,'''' he snarls, "come and settle your dues at the nearest Karachi Hawala shop, or else you''ll become a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">motichoor-choor laddoo!</span>" And like all illegal occupants, the blackmailed builder puts on his most humble tone, and tries to buy time with a conciliatory, "<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Arre Bhai</span>, be reasonable. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kitna lok ko khush rakhna mangta</span> just to stay on this miserable little dereserved plot. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ek baju</span> slumlord<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> khit-pit karta, doosra</span> side Supreme Court <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">khali-pili bom marta.</span> I don''t know where my next million is coming from.''''<br /><br />HHH<br /><br />Alec Smart said: "Why did Subroto Roy choose this noted film-maker for his dream project on Netaji? Because he thought his name was Shyam Bengal.''''<br /><br />Erratica and Juggling Act, compilations of best of Erratica and Jugular Vein, now available at leading bookstores. Or log on to www.books.indiatimes.com.</div> </div>