Only a few months back, February to be precise, mid-day had taken a select group of its readers for a guided walk by yours truly through the Bora Bazaar neighbourhood. This microcosm of a universe, located near the General Post Office and Victoria Terminus (now CSMT), played a huge role in enabling Bombay to earn the tag 0f 'melting pot,' a space that the city contributed in many ways to its mercantile as well as cosmopolitan fabric.

Circa 1862. Bombay was emerging as a naval stronghold, thanks to the Wadia Shipbuilders who had earned a name across the seas for their sturdy, seafaring vessels. It was also the time when the rule of the Indian Subcontinent had moved from the hands of the wily and outrageously corrupt East India Company to the British Crown. Enter Sir Henry Bartle Frere who was appointed as Governor of Bombay in the same year. He realised that he was sitting on a fortress-bound city that had the potential of becoming a commercial centre for the Empire in the East. In a masterstroke, he brought down the walls of the Fort and opened up the city so its burgeoning population could earn their livelihoods and live in civic environs. Such was his vision. Something our present-day babus and lawmakers can learn from.