The "Kitchen in the Balcony" - a book that I need to write

20 June 2021

The "Kitchen in the Balcony and other stories of my parents" is a book that I need to write. We lived at the corner ground floor apartment at the Usha Building (Wadala - Mumbai) from 1972-73 onwards. I stayed on through to 1995 until joining service at Pune in 1996. The corner apartment had a balcony that had access to it from three sides of the open compound. The living space in the apartment was only about 200-220 sq feet. The kitchen comprising 100 sq feet was modified as an usable living room or bedroom and the balcony was modified to be used as a kitchen. 

This was not unique in Mumbai. Many old apartments in buildings were modified to be used as kitchens or as bedrooms or as study rooms. One needed to reorganise the plumbing to make the kitchen space usable. Normally, buildings were of two types of ownership in Mumbai. Some were on lease from the government for 99 years to the cooperative society. The others were owned by the builder or a single owner or by the cooperative of all the apartment owners. Some buildings had a single owner and the apartments were given out on pagdi to the family. 

In all such circumstances, there would be some person who would object to modifications made in the balcony space and if the alignment of the water supply pipes and drainage pipes were altered. We did not have any such problem. I think it was because we were in the ground floor apartment. Our flat, i.e. #27 and the neighbour, #26 were the first ones in the building to modify the balcony for use as a kitchen. 

Watch this space - for more thoughts on the "Kitchen in the Balcony and other stories of my parents"