The rains are coming but where’s the Dambarwalla?

Ever since Covid’s stringent lockdown of 2020, my Dambarwalla is missing. You must have one, too. In fact, everybody in Mumbai staying in an old building has a Dambarwalla who comes calling in June before the rains. He’s of the Kharwa caste of Kutch. And his occupation is waterproofing tiled roofs and old terraces with tar for the monsoon. Not the granite and glass high-rises. But the smaller residences of the old city. Ancient buildings with Mangalore tiled sloping roofs. The wicked rain gets between the tiles, finds cracks on the roof, and trickles into homes. It drips on the floor, makes the walls damp and moldy, and leaves the old residents miserable and with congestion in the chest for the rest of the monsoon.

The residents of these old buildings rely on the Dambarwalla to plug the leaks on their roofs before the rains find them. He used to be a familiar sight. With his drum of tar, firewood, and long bamboo. You could smell the bubbling tar before you spotted the Dambarwalla toiling on somebody’s roof. Squinting in the sun, coating layers of molten black coal tar beneath the tiles, then taking a smoke before he applied a second coat. This is hard and hot labor. But the Dambarwalla is usually a cheerful fellow. This is the third monsoon I will be missing miss him. I wonder if I should call Dr. Fixit, the 21st century’s alternative to the Dambarwalla. Amitabh Bachchan has his number. He promotes Dr. Fixit on TV.

About Mark Manuel

The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.

With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.

Further

His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him. In the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.

Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. In a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work, Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward.

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