Village talk, Bandra style

This World Environment Day weekend, enjoy a walk through Bandra's quaint villages as you soak in nuggets about its unique culture, community life and localised heritage

Village talk, Bandra style

This World Environment Day weekend, enjoy a walk through Bandra's quaint villages as you soak in nuggets about its unique culture, community life and localised heritage

Bandra's charming villages are a step back in time. Characterised by 100 year-old cottages with sloping red tiled roofs, large windows, theseu00a0 areas are populated by a friendly East Indian population who are always ready to invite you home for a chat.

At a time when the city is chanting tunes of re-development, life in this heritage hamlet is reminiscent of a bygone era. It's not just the cropping up of highrises in the locality that is disconcerting, but also the prospect that such a move might uproot the fabric of community life and rob the area of its character.

Why walk?
What better time than a day before World Environment Day (June 5) to set out on a heritage walk through three villages in the locality. Organised by Mocha Treehuggers, in association with The Root, the walk will pass Ranwar, Chimbai and Shirley Rajan villages. Your guide will be Zameer Basrai from The Busride Design Studio, and Lahar Mehta and Satwiki Nair from Walk the Mumbai Trees.

Basrai and his brother Ayaz grew up in Bandra; they run a design studio in the 400 year-old Ranwar village. The brothers (Zameer is an architect, Ayaz is an industrial designer) were involved in a National Institute of Design (NID) project where they guided a student to document Ranwar.

"We plan to implement a few ideas, especially microfinance options for these households. The idea is that the re-development should be sustainable, people-sensitive andu00a0 in tandem with the area's culture without destroying it," reveals Basrai. Originally fishing villages, these localities now straddle two worlds: a chaotic city that lies just beyond this old-world sub-precinct.

The route
This walk begins at Mocha Mojo on Hill Road and will proceed to Langda Gulli or Nagrana Lane. From here, it will move through Ranwar and exit via another route to reach Chimbai. En route, you will pass churches and walk through New Chimbai and Kantwadi and eventually reach Shirley-Rajan village.

"These villages have a vernacular (local) style and there are Portuguese influences which can be evidenced from the design of the porches and the wooden trellises. Chimbai is similar to gaothans in Khotachiwadi and Mazgaon, while Ranwar and Shirley Rajan village are similar," added Basrai.

During the walk, Mehta and Nair will tell you about the natural heritage and how life in the village is interlinked with nature. "We will talk about the old trees in the area and show how the locality symbiotically grows around trees. It is an integral part of their heritage, as is evident from the fact that their gathering spaces are around trees such as the banyan and peepul. They have managed to retain the tree cover while developing the village and have plants at home, which is inspiring," adds Mehta, who will be talking about rainwater harvesting and creating rooftop gardens during the walk as well.

On June 4, 8 am to 9 am; Call Zameer on 9769765184; Entry Free