Mumbai's Richest BEGGERS

They own apartments and shops, their children attend schools and they worry about investments and interest rates.

NAME: Massu or Malana, 60
Massu’s Assets: Rs 30 lakh in properties alone
Day’s earnings: Rs 1,000 to 1,500



Begs at: Lokhandwala. Mostly outside high-end restaurants visited by TV and film stars.
Working hours: 8 pm to 3 am.
Home is: A one BHK at Amboli in Andheri (west). He owns another 1 BHK nearby.
Family: Wife, two sons and a daughter-in-law share the apartment with him.
Day’s earnings: Rs 1000 to 1500.



Massu’s 1BHK room at Amboli. Both houses are duplexes

Assets: Rs 30 lakh in just properties. One son makes and sells brooms, while the other hawks knick-knacks near Andheri station. He has substantial savings, but would not reveal details.
Cool quotient: Massu is dressed in spotless clothes when he takes an auto-rickshaw to Lokhandwala every evening. He changes into his beggar attire near Ad Labs. During his working hours, he has a complete sway over the area. You will never find another beggar in his vicinity. He takes an auto on his way home too. Stops at Yashraj Studios for a change of clothes.

NAME: Bharat Jain, 45
Bharat’s Assets: Rs 70 lakh in properties alone
Day’s earnings: Rs 200 to 250


Begs at: Azad Maidan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
Working hours: Early morning to late evening.
Home is: Two adjacent 1 BHK apartments in Parel, where his family stays. Bharat, however, visits home only once in a week. His family, which deals in school notebooks and other study material, has tried on many occasions to get Bharat to give up begging and join the family business.


Bharat’s Parel house where he stays with his family. (right) The Bhandup shop the family has rented out to a juice centre

Family: Wife, two sons — one studying in class X and the other in class XII — father and brother.
Day’s earnings: Rs 200 to 250.
His worth: The family apartments are worth close to Rs 60 lakh. The family also has rented out a shop in Bhandup to a juice centre and gets Rs 7,000-a-month in rent. The rent is collected every month by Bharat’s wife.
Cool quotient: Bharat speaks impeccable English. He is soft spoken and you will never find him harassing people for alms.