Abhijit Sawant and his family have nowhere to turn to after BMC declares his building in Mahim unsafe
The boy whom you made into a superstar is looking for a house. And it's urgent, for the one he is staying in with his ageing parents can collapse any day.
Indian Idol Abhijit Sawant's father, Shridhar Sawant, an employee of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Establishment Department at Byculla, received a notice a couple of days back asking him to vacate his G-8, Sahu Nagar flat. The building needs urgent repairs, it said.
Though Abhijit made a name for himself when he won the Indian Idol contest in October last year, he chose to stay with hisr parents. "The notice has been a bit of a shock. I grew up here. All my friends are here. I don't want to leave this place," he told Mumbai Mirror on Tuesday.
Shridhar Sawant, however, said he would hold no grudge against the BMC. "If they are asking us to vacate, we will. But they must make alternative arrangements," he said. The notice does not say anything about alternative accommodation. Even if it did, it would sure be in distant suburbs.
Abhijit, whose first album 'Aapka Abhijit' has been a runaway success, has begun looking for a house, but he is not happy.
G-8, Sahu Nagar has been the Sawants' address for close to 12 years now. Leaving the place would mean foresaking friends and neighbours who have stood by them through thick and thin. "I do not want to desert the other residents of the building as they are the ones who helped me attain my current status. They were with me when I was just an aspiring singer. How can I leave them in the lurch?" said Abhijit.
Also, there is the question of where the money would come from for a new house. Abhijit won Rs 1 crore with the Idol crown. However, he said, he has not received any money yet.
Sahu Nagar comprises 20 building and is home to around 1200 Maharashtrians.
The singer's mother, Neelima, had tears in her eyes. "It's hard to believe we would have to leave like this," she said.
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
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