“I felt I had access and a certain degree of insulation because of my class but my agents were clearly told that I would not be welcome to buy a home in Malabar Hill which I wanted, as I was Muslim,” he says, pointing to Dilip Kumar’s bungalow right across in plush Pali Hill where he lives now. “Muslim stars did get the houses they wanted in the past, maybe new builders with new values in the new areas don’t share the old values of the city,” he says.

It had never been easy to break the shackles even in old-time Mumbai. Name changes were seen to be necessary by even top stars like Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. Ironically, though, while the near-negligible representation of Muslims today in the top bureaucracy or security establishment are well-known, what is less recognized is that in cinema and in private enterprise, Muslims have faced lesser resistance.

“In fields where there is no or little regulation, like cinema and sports,” says social activist Teesta Setalvad, “Muslims make it in much larger proportions. Prejudice has less chance when the market dictates and popularity matters. Look at the Khan monopoly in cinema, Irfan Pathan, Mohammed Kaif in cricket, and now even Farah Khan is away in New York choreographing Shakira.”

Rahim, 19, sees no problem in balancing on one wheel of his mobike. No shoes, no helmet, no special track or formal training, he has worked as a stuntman in Dhoom, Bagpiper ads and even the teleserial, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. He says his “contacts” help him make Rs. 1000 per day. “Films don’t look at jaat biradari as their only concern is money and name. If the work is good, they don’t care about our mazhab,” he says.

Assistant Director Zia-ur-Rehman, 29, couldn’t agree more. He has done several episodes of CID for Sony TV, a movie We are Friends, starring Jackie Shroff. “I live in Goregaon and maybe I am the only Muslim in my housing society but have never felt discriminated against. When I go and ask for work, people say, OK we will tell you when there is work, that’s all.”

There are no detailed employment statistics for Mumbai Muslims although scholar Asghar Ali Engineer had done a survey in the city in the late ‘80s, looking at employment for Muslims in private industry. His findings depressed him, he said. “Muslim representation in white collar jobs was 0%, and in blue-collar jobs 6%, still lower than the 17% they are of the population in the city.”

But haven’t the two decades of liberalisation brought winds of change? Engineer says he isn’t so sure. “The cases you see of Muslims doing well are few and far between. The majority, in rural India, given the increase in the services sector, is completely out of the loop and is slipping down, every day.”

There is no denying, however, that while arts and crafts, a sector where Muslims were traditionally skilled at, has declined, there certainly is a second wave of opportunity with new areas opening up. Most fashion designers, for instance, swear by their nearly 100% Muslim workers. The bulk of the embroidery done for top fashion names like Emmanuel Ungaro is by mostly Indian Muslim tailors.

Several Bollywood stars as well have Muslim tailors working on their clothes.

Lubna Khan manages the two best known names in fashion business today, the Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla line. A niece of Dilip Kumar’s, Lubna looks after the factory behind the business as well. “Despite the fact that the number of Muslims at a higher or executive level in our factory can be counted on our fingertips, about 90 per cent of our skilled craftsmen are Muslim. In the industry, my guess would be they constitute 80 % of all kaarigars.”

But this isn’t enough, that’s the consensus of community leaders. For, the India success story over the past few years has been premised on services growing at an average annual rate of 12-15 per cent. In Mumbai, too, this rapid growth rate has sustained and even helped employment. And many young Muslim men and women have not been able to ride this wave because it needs access to formal education.

One area where many of them are finding jobs is the unorganised sector, tiny outlets fixing things and in the seconds market. That explains why the fate of the nearly 3 lakh hawkers of Mumbai is first-time MP Priya Dutt’s biggest worry these days. “There are so many of them, largely Muslim and the underprivileged from other religions, and we have only 3000 licenses to offer. The Supreme Court says we have to clear and clean these areas but we must provide for them in regulated areas like what has happened in South-East Asia. Otherwise, we will be killing their only source of employment. Then we shouldn’t grumble about the rise in petty crimes or terror. Where will the narial pani and the pao-vada wallah go?”