Apartments

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty


An average middle class person dreams of a flat in an apartment complex. He settles for it as it is not within his ken to dream of a sprawling bungalow on a large plot of land. In an overpopulated country like India or for that matter in large cities it is not possible to buy independent plots unless one is very rich. Governments, therefore, try to reduce pressure on land by providing apartments to people. Big builder- contractors too share the concerns of people in exploitative zeal. They take money from potential buyers in advance instalments and often delay delivery much to the disappointment of people. Heartless builders often cheat their customers in quality and other cynical ways. The customers borrow money from banks and pay interest in helpless submission for their dream houses. Finally when they hold in their eager palms the key to their flats their faces turn crimson with a sense of manly pride that finally they now own a shelter: they will open up their universe in the 1300 square feet of space.

Willy Loman, the ubiquitous hero of a world of make belief however complained of being “boxed in“ where the sky is not visible to mount dreams, Most housewives complain how small is this kitchen; no pujaroom. Children set their tables in windowless rooms to study grumbling with a low feeling. The master of the house compromises his pride between selfhood and fate and consoles his wife, “at least we have a house, however, small but see people do not have even half a roof over their heads. Yet a cramping lowliness crowds his lonely moments when he has to curtail other essentials to pay his EMI’s without bank notices.

It’s true that most apartment owners many a time feel that for them there is no earth, no sky, they hang between roof and roof. But there is a consolation of comparative safety. You can lock the house and go out for days and months, the guards and the establishment will take care. Maintenance is not a problem. If light fails or a pipe leaks the staff will come on call for repair. You pay a monthly fee or maintenance charge and stop worrying. Shops, hospitals are nearby; if not conveyance is always available. There is someone at the gate to respond to your call-hopefully – and help is always available on payment. But if you are off guard your daughter may be attacked by predators in connivance with some members of the security guards. This is not really a constant threat unless you are in an area of ill repute. For social functions there are facilities available on payment.  Birthdays, marriages and deaths, the turning points in your life curve can be taken care of. You have to simply loosen your purse strings. For old couples whose children are away- which is the norm these days – an apartment is safe. But if you are rich safety cannot be guaranteed for there is no protection against human greed which often ends up in a criminal act.

But with all its advantages and disadvantages the apartment is our choiceless reality. Over population, urbanization and the limitations of the open space have given birth to this new concept of social life. The idea was first experimented in the hostel buildings of colleges and universities (schools too) to accommodate students coming from different parts of the country, even from abroad. The hostel is a village with an identity of traditions built up over the years.  Similarly the apartment complexes have their own community life. In a hostel students stay for four years and go away to seek pastures new. But in the apartments the birth- marriage- death drama of life is enacted in most cases. The flat owners have their clubs, community halls, recreation centres, shopping areas and also have their own individual functions. But a sense of togetherness and village life reality with urban conveniences grows among the owners. This is the modern form of community life provided one is not a self- imprisoned loner.

Each apartment has its own memory, its own narrative yet in the totalized sense creates a solid human bond. Adiga’s Last Man on the Tower very sensitively brings out its joys, fears and also the horror of apartment life. But modern man has no choice. The middle class especially embraces apartment life and begins to love it as the alternatives are either beyond them or too far away for comfort. We have to accept this hanging feeling of earthlessness as a postmodern tribute to our lost heroism.