A Mumbai man’s account of spending a night in a chawl has sparked a discussion on Reddit, with users sharing contrasting experiences of life in the city’s traditional housing communities.
In a Reddit post titled “I stayed in a chawl for 1 night and now I will never complain about my life”, the user said he had visited a distant relative who lives in a chawl. Since it was already late at night, his relatives insisted that he stay over, which he agreed to.
He said that he was surprised by the living conditions. He claimed that 5-6 people slept in a single small room. He also described the lack of privacy and the noise around the area. However, he said that the experience that affected him the most came the following morning, when he had to use a shared toilet.
“The worst part of it all was when I woke up in morning and had to stand in line for toilet. There were 10 people ahead of me each carrying their own bucket,” he wrote.
The man said that he eventually decided not to use the toilet because he “couldn’t gather courage to stand in line”. He also noted that his relatives and other residents appeared happy with their lives in the chawl and often spoke about the sense of community there. According to him, residents would say they were like a family and helped each other, unlike people living in flats.
Then, after returning to his own home, the man said that he felt grateful for having access to a private toilet and other everyday conveniences. “When I reached my flat and used the toilet I felt so blessed. I will never take these small things for granted now,” he wrote.
Social media reactions
The post prompted Reddit users to share their own experiences of growing up or living in chawls, with opinions divided over the quality of life and the strong community ties often associated with them.
One user wrote, “I have many friends who used to stay in chawls nearby. All their experiences are negative and I have witnessed it first hand. There are fights every day and every new puberty hit boy thinks he is the area don. There is no personal growth in a chawl. You won’t be able to study because every other day there would be dhol tasha or some random celebrations happening.”
“I lived in a chawl for a large part of my life, had a slow start to my career and stabilize financially. Took me a while to get out of that life. Didn’t have a toilet at home, no AC, no privacy. Things are significantly better now and I would never ever go back to that life again,” commented another user.
“People who grew up poor in a chawl and later moved to a better, middle class lifestyle will tell you that life is far more comfortable in a society than in a chawl. The privilege of having your own bathroom and toilet is very real,” wrote a third user.
“Grew up in a chawl, will not change it for the world. Nobody in our chawl was poor, we didn’t share toilets. Our doors were always open and we lived like one big family. We ALWAYS had help, we could count on any of our neighbors. Especially when someone got sick. 80 and 90 year olds could live by themselves because they knew they had people around who would help. Nothing like it,” said another.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
