The city that is fascinating, you will love it or you will hate it, you can never be immune to it – the city that never sleeps, the financial capital, the Bollywood capital, the city that can make or break many destinies, the city of migrants, the city of the rags to riches stories and vice versa, the vibrant city, the city on the move, the city I grew up in – Bombay and the city it became later – the city of Mumbai!
So what do you know about the history of the mainland of Bombay? (I will skip writing about Mumbai suburbs for now).
Did you know that Bombay was just a set of seven sleepy islands inhabited by the Koli fishing community and ruled first by local Indian dynasties and then by the Portuguese settlers? Now imagine the daughter of a Portuguese king getting married to the son of a British king and guess what? On 11th May 1661 our beloved Bombay was handed over from the Portuguese to the British as a dowry given as part of the marriage treaty between the two!
Did you know the names of those initial seven islands before they were joined together?- Mahim, Worli, Parel, Mazgaon, Bombay island, Colaba and little Colaba. The Portuguese settlers built many churches on it, the oldest one was the Saint Michael Church in Mahim. Ahaaaa……Mahim, the place I grew up right from the 60’s. It used to be a simple place with simple people and simple needs. Except during the Wednesday novenas at the church. When the footpaths would be filled with hawkers selling a variety of value for money goods – candles, food items, clothes, accessories…till today a walk next to these over enthusiastic hawkers will be an experience you will never forget. And suddenly the municipal van would arrive and all would run helter skelter with their wares to hide in our bye lanes! During Christmas and New year we would wait in our balconies to see the fashionable Catholic community members going to the church.
Another time of the year when Mahim would erupt with festivities was during the winter fair called ‘urus’! Those ten days of revelry meant a visit to the colourful toy stalls,, bangle selling stalls, shooting at balloons stalls ,posing on a bike at photo studio stalls, watching a cook make huge rotis stalls, seeing a clever dog do tricks stalls, along with the many rides at the Mahim beach and fort with daredevil bike stuntman going round and round at the ‘well of death’. The beating of drums by devout Muslims was a procession to the Mahim Darga that I looked at with awe.
Even the Hindu festivals were celebrated with gusto. The ancient Shitla Devi Mandir was the place I ran into to ask favours for important matters like getting excellent marks in exams or excelling in my first job at a travel agency when I was barely eighteen years old. From my 12th floor flat in Mahim, i could actually feel the high vibrational energy of the city during its festivals like Diwali or Ganpathi. Yes, Mahim is a true example of how people of all religions could happily live in harmony in the secular Bombay that I grew up in. This was in complete contrast to the communal Mumbai in which we personally witnessed, from our Mahim Balcony, some of the many horror stories of religion based atrocities during the worst communal riots of Mumbai in the 1990’s.
Mahim is also home to Asia biggest slum Dharavi. It was a place that we did not even want to mention in those days. Now it attracts tourists on a walking tour as a fine example of entrepreneurship in the middle of filthy surroundings. I salute the people who survive and succeed from such places but I still I need a lot of guts to go in there. My experience of trying to educate the slum dwellers behind Mahim Bus depot on the value of cleanliness was a frustrating yet enlightening experience. Yes Mahim will always be special as the place where I visualized and practiced the Clean India by 2-2-22 movement, much before Modi started the nationwide Clean India campaign!
My Dad too loved traveling and would take us regularly for picnics to the many tourist places of Bombay. As kids we had almost daily night car rides to Citylight market for vegetables and to Shivaji park to play on the beach! And Dadar station is probably the most crowded place of Mumbai having proximity to both central and western railway lines and I have umpteen memories of being pushed in and out of local trains. The good part is that if we can survive the commute of Mumbai, we can survive anywhere in the world.
Island number two of Bombay was Worli with memories of visiting people at the BDD Chawls, watching milk being filled during the milk dairy factory visit, walking on the sea face eating peanuts, sleeping in boredom at the planetarium, buying dress material from the century mills showroom, walking between the sea for the haji Ali mosque visit, staring at a fancy terraced building near the prestigious, first 3 in 1 theatre complex – the satyam Shivam Sundam! The Worli of Mumbai is still prestigious with its swanky hotels, offices and apartments co existing with the chawl dwellers and the slum dwellers and cars trying to race in the newest landmark of Mumbai- the Worli sea link to Bandra.
Parel was quite a downmarket mill workers area of Bombay with memories of textile workers shouting on strikes outside the locked factory gates. My cousins lived in one of the huge railway quarters and in those days we actually used to spend vacations in each other’s homes! The Parel of Mumbai is now considered upmarket with shopping malls, and high rise apartments, entertainment centres and office complexes taking the place of the disappearing factories.
Mazgaon was associated as a crowded port area of Bombay. Our friends who had houses there would consider Mahim to be too far, In fact one of my college friends had never travelled beyond Worli. Few years ago my Dad took me to the beautiful hanging gardens of Mazgaon ( different from the one at Malabar hill), atop which is the temple of Gamdevi overlooking the city of Mumbai.
Bombay Island number four comprises part of what is called Byculla where the Portuguese built the beautiful Gloria church. This lies in peaceful proximity to the hustle and bustle of the old Crawford market, the Mohammed Ali road market etc. The badshah falooda, the Tardev Pav Bhaji, the VT Kala khatta, the wadapav, the veg sandwichwalas, the chaats, there is so much of street food to try out. Who knows how many fortunes have been made or broken with the many other trading shops and establishments that have made Mumbai the commercial capital of India?
Colaba and little Colaba are a world of their own. As a child going to Colaba was a matter to boast of, with friends. Sitting in the front seat with the wind hitting my face on the top deck of a BEST bus, seeing an English movie in town, Entering a five star hotel, etc. was something to look forward to. Colaba was a big name and I was one of the few lucky ones who had a Dad who took us at least once for tasteless tea at a five star restaurant! Gateway of India was a fun place to be with boat rides, pigeon feeding, window shopping and confidently walking across to use the rest rooms of the Taj Hotel. When the new Taj intercontinental modern annexe was built we would take an elevator ride to view Bombay from the top. Similarly we would love to go up the Oberoi hotel elevator. Remember Bombay had its cluster of skyscrapers only at Nariman Point which was a big deal to our ‘always in wonder’ childhood eyes! And we would relish the roadside street food with as much love as that of a rare swanky hotel treat. We actually have a photo with the air India building being constructed in the back ground.
Even though Mumbai has changed unbelievably, for better and mostly for worse in terms of crowds and filthiness, there is something about Mumbai that only a true bred Mumbaite would love and understand. We love the vibrant energy of the place, the fact that people here work hard and party hard, the fact that we are all street smart survivors thrills me to proudly say that I belong to this place. The professional exposure of this place, the kind of people that we meet here are a learning experience of a lifetime. As a freelance reporter for Bombay Times in 1998, I was lucky to rediscover the extraordinary spirit behind the hundreds of so called ordinary people that I interviewed – the food sellers, maidservants, street hawkers, beach stall workers, cobblers, roadside astrologers, key makers, taxi drivers, street urchins, etc. Just watch how the Bombayites travel in spite of the heavy rains and you will get a glimpse of the resilient spirit of these feisty people! . Another event that brings out the creative high energy of our folks is the Mumbai marathon, an extravaganza that brings together thousands of happy people of Mumbai!
There are so many architecturally majestic buildings built from the British times. The municipality, railway, courts, university buildings etc can be stared at in detail. I have passed my grandfathers huge Welcome Boarding and Lodging hotel so many times in the flora Fountain area of South Mumbai, yet I never noticed the other beautiful balconies of the old buildings until I went on a heritage walking tour of Colaba area during its famous culturally rich Kala Ghoda festival. The black horse statue of the royals became the name of the area. As a student of Goverment law college I would walk for hours around Colaba causeway looking at the interesting items on sale. And I used to be terrified of the eunuchs who harshly asked for money on the roads
It is the old city of Bombay combined with the new ‘manoos’ or the people of Mumbai that gives a distinct character to this place. The few limited sentences written here about Bombay make me present to the unlimited sentences that still have to be written about Mumbai. Till then explore this great city on your own and do share your own experiences about Bombay/Mumbai.
So which Indian place made you smile today?
Please share your experiences with Indian places.
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