Maximum City: Bombay Lost & Found

by Suketu Mehta

Family was the elastic that pulled us back together, no matter how far we wandered.

Every morning Eishaan goes to the gym or for a jog, to keep fit and, more important, to look fit. He has to spend on clothes, to keep up his presentation, until he proves himself as an actor; then, as with the older, established Hindi film actors, he can safely run to fat and dress like a slob. His car is in an advanced state of melancholy. The white Maruti has a large brown rust spot on the front, and when you close the door it rattles shut. But he keeps it anyway, at considerable expense. ‘To get entry inside a studio you need a car, so the doorman will salute you. In a taxi he’ll let you go; in a rickshaw he’ll ask you questions; and if you’re walking, he won’t allow you in. When I was working in Dubai I was the boss; now I have to say “Sir, sir”.’ For a struggler, this is the rule of life: You have be very buttery.’