an angry amitabh bachchan famously declared on screen that all one needed in mumbai was roti kapda aur makaan perhaps one should add manners even after a mumbaikar has paid crores to put up his nameplate on the door of a swish downtown apartment a happy ending is not guaranteed for even the superwealthy have to be taught not to honk talk and laugh loudly at the lift dry underwear and towels on balcony rails dawdle on their mobiles in their bmws at the gate and for the really deviant not to spit urinate or throw food hair and garbage from their fancy windows this is the slum total of civic sins in housing societies where residents keep their homes squeaky clean and happily dump the rubbish in the common spaces and the box grilles this privatepublic hygiene hypocrisy is routinely flaunted on the street with fatcats opening the door of their mercedes to spit out a jet of paan juice or lift up an expensive helmet to spit on the roadin some buildings the rules are spelled out in black and white displayed on notice boards and lifts and passed around at society meetings in more elite buildings where residents should know better but dont they are bespoke and unspoken ask residents of the multicrore ncpa apartments at nariman point or maker towers a and b at cuffe parade both are seafacing with the oberoi and taj president for company while society manager of ncpa arif kazi asserts that no such diktats are put up on the notice board as people here are of md levels a resident said that everyone was acutely aware of the rules once you enter the building you need to forget that your car has a horn she says you cant dry your clothes outside the window no one can take anything out of the building without a legitimate note from the resident and your dog cant poop in the building premises you are constantly being watchedat maker towers the list of dos and donts includes talking softly in the nosmoking lobby area no honking no drying clothes from windows no renovation work in the afternoons and no taking outsiders to the building garden the building is monitored by security personnel in addition to cctvs says honorary secretary of maker towers lakesh kaul admitting that while some nonsense has been reported a warning has helped set things straight others like sea face park at breach candy have a 10 kmhour speed limit to protect the lives of kids playing in the compound to protect the lives of the window panes big boys are not allowed to play footballmany residents crib about what they describe as draconian rules a resident of meera is still smarting from being told off by the watchman why should these rules even exist youre in your own building not at some army camp says the former financial consultant i was in the lobby on the phone with a friend and