Harshita Narwekar

Celebrity Bites

She is gentle, she is tough, she is friendly, she is firm; she is a corporator who walks the talk

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor     

Location: SoBo 20, Intercontinental, Marine Drive-Mumbai

Is it difficult, holding fort in a predominant male domain?
Has its ups and downs, but I get by beautifully. I don’t think in terms of gender, but quite simply on getting the job at hand executed. Mind and ability are not male or female.

Bravo! So, in your new term, what’s on your agenda? South Bombay, the ward you are in charge of is an important one.
Yes. And there is lots to do. Parking, hawking, cleanliness, old buildings crumbling…

What is the biggest challenge among all this?
I would say, hawking. Parking... we are already working on the underground one in Kala Ghoda and Flora Fountain. But hawking needs to be supervised. Zones have to be created. Old hawkers have different rights, new and illegal ones that mushroom overnight have to be controlled. There is a strong hawker mafia one has to deal with. Sensitivity also has to be applied. After all, these are all daily wage workers, whose very livelihood depends on their everyday earnings. It’s tough.

Agree. So how do you do it?
We meet them, discuss cleanliness and hygiene, because thousands of office-goers do eat from the street since it’s more affordable. Bombayites need these hawkers as much as hawkers need them. We try to find a balance. Finding a way to keep their surroundings clean is a job!

Collecting garbage, kachra, can't be easy…
That’s it. Our drive is to involve everyone in the zone, stall owners, residents and BMC officials and the local police. For example, at the moment, kachra is being picked only from 60 buildings in the Fort area, but there are 280 buildings there! Dog poop is also another issue. Pet parents have to be cooperative on this front. 

I believe you are on constant rounds with your team, checking streets, narrow bylanes, pavements and buildings…
Yes, that’s absolutely necessary. And I don’t rely on just what I hear, I want to see it for myself. Fort and Ballard Estate have such beautiful architecture. Fort is under heavy redevelopment and it is important to maintain the heritage value, right? So I do keep checks on all this, too.

What would a dream project be, for you?
South Bombay has many senior citizens, living alone. Children are overseas and they live with just staff, getting by. I would like to create a senior citizen’s centre with many amenities. We already have a park, but this would be a place where they would meet other senior citizens, be entertained, listen to music, play board games, cards, and eat good food. That, I would really like to do.

Okay, enough of the corporator, let’s get to know Harshita, the woman. Do you cook?
Ha, ha. I do cook but occasionally. Like everyone, I grew up learning and cooking Indian food. But my little daughter has taken over. She is passionate about food and cooking. Not ordinary stuff – she is into Continental and Japanese!

Do you go to restaurants often?
No, sometimes, when the family decides. I am a creature of comfort. So for me, it's Hammer & Song most of the time, since it's right next door to my office. But when Ashwin (husband) and the kids decide to go somewhere, I go. We do like Bombay Canteen and Wasabi.

What about travel?
We go abroad once a year, which is usually to the US, since my sister lives there. Though I very much prefer travelling in India. We were at a homestay in Bhimsar recently, in the middle of a forest. Was beautiful.

Do you have any hobbies?
Had. But no time to pursue now. Now I am just a workaholic. No weakness for jewellery, no time for make-up, except bare minimum. Dressing is simple and quick. Stopped wearing saris! Between being a corporator and a mother and wife and my private practice, there isn’t any time left.

Yes, I guess, besides you do have a profession too, a health care consultancy, what’s that about?
Involves helping anyone setting up a hospital, or helping on performance improvement in existing ones, doing DPRs and so on. This was Hospic Consultancy, established in 1994, where I first started working soon after I was married. When my boss expired, it fell into my lap as a huge responsibility.

What was childhood like?
Was so good. My dad was in the Merchant Navy and we, mum, sis and I, accompanied him everywhere in the world. My favourite pastime was to sit curled inside the round window of the ship, watching the sea.

Where did you grow up, go to college?
Oh, right here. At HR College. I was a good student who kept good attendance and good grades. It’s when I met Ashwin, who asked me out, came and met my parents, and then six years later, we got married.

The Narwekars, a political family you are married into, have their base in Sawantwadi, tell me a bit about them.
The Narwekars, each of them is amazing. My father-in-law, Suresh Narwekar, not only goes to his office in Ajanta every day, but is there from 9.30 am until 10.30 pm. He was a municipal councillor and won his seat as an independent corporator four times. 

And what about Rahul Narwekar, your brother-in-law?
He is an exceptional leader. He picks up everything very quickly. He takes up macro-level projects and looks at them in a very micro way.

You are very religious. Among other places, you go religiously to Sawantwadi for kuldevi’s darshan. Would you say you attained this spirituality right at birth? I believe you were born in the holy town of Prayagraj!
Perhaps! Who knows? I just feel blessed.

Here's a recipe of the Oven-roasted Beetroot Salad that Harshita enjoyed at SoBo 20, Intercontinental

Oven-roasted Beetroot Salad	SoBo 20's Head Chef Chetan Jadhav