Bob Marley’s 81st birth anniversary: Meet Mumbai Bob Marley superfan Pritpal Singh from Mahim

On Rastafarian reggae icon Bob Marley’s 81st birth anniversary today, we visit a hidden ‘Temple of Bob Marley’ in Mumbai, where a 64-year-old fan carries his message of unity foward

Meet this Mumbai superfan, who has built the ‘Temple of Bob Marley’ in Mahim

Pritpal Singh and Jacquilin Lucas hold a Happy Birthday Bob Marley poster at the workshop

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Meet this Mumbai superfan, who has built the ‘Temple of Bob Marley’ in Mahim

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It’s not easy to find 64-year-old Pritpal Singh’s metal works workshop in the busy industrial complex opposite Mahim’s Paradise Theatre. It doesn’t help that his gate doesn’t bear his name. ‘Temple of Bob Marley’ reads his front door; painted in a Rastafarian yellow hue as a hat tip to his icon. We’ve found our man. As the doors close behind us, the metallic rumble outside drowns out to make room for Singh’s humble speaker set-up that’s playing Marley’s hit Natural Mystic.

(From left) The entrance to Temple of Bob Marley; a glass artwork depicting Marley. PICS/DEVASHISH KAMBLE

“Marley didn’t care if it was 10 or 10,000 of us in his audience,” Singh recalls his first tryst with the reggae icon in 1978. The Mahim resident was in London for a wedding in the family, and decided to walk into Rainbow Theatre to catch his first-ever concert. He walked out a Rastafarian. “I took Marley’s message everywhere I went,” he says. That included a brief work stint in Kenya, where Singh had his first Rastafarian temple experience, before heading back to India.

In Mumbai, young curious musicians had started flocking the workshop, by word of mouth. Rapper Jacquilin Lucas aka JQueen of rap group Wild Wild Women recalls, “We would make a beeline to this room every evening. Uncle [Singh]’s guitar would come out and we’d sing Marley hits. Redemption was a crowd favourite. It became a safe space to talk about music, peace, and unity.” While the number has shrunk over the years, they’ve left a mark. “Some young boys got paints one day, and said we want to paint the place Rastafarian,” Singh shares, standing amid flag motifs, slogans and glass art tributes around him.

A motif with the Rastafarian colours and Bob Marley’s lyrics ‘Iron, Lion, Zion’ at the space

Why did we not know of this musical world hidden in plain sight on Lady Jamshedji Road? The answer lies in a big misconception, and an even bigger elephant in the room: Young people equate Bob Marley with marijuana. “I found myself sitting next to a gentleman in a Bob Marley T-shirt in an autorickshaw once. I asked him if he knew the man on his shirt. He shrugged it off, he only liked the cool hair,” Singh laughs. Jacquilin chimes in, recalling a smoke shop owner in Bhandup who plays Marley’s hits to sell his products.

Singh browses through vinyl records on his workdesk

Singh doesn’t worry too much, though. He’s content as long as the playlist on his computer keeps looping. Once in a while, he stops to switch to his trusted vintage vinyl record player; nothing beats the warmth of vinyl, he believes. Before the last song for the day, we think out loud what Marley would have made of the world today. Singh shuffles to find just the right song in his playlist. It’s Marley’s 1976 hit Who The Cap Fit.

“Man to man is so unjust, children
You don’t know who to trust
Your worst enemy could be your best friend
And your best friend your worst enemy”

At: Temple of Bob Marley, Industrial House, Bhagoji Keer Marg, Mahim West.
Call: 9892421840 (call before visiting)

Pritpal Singh shares a moment with actor Ranveer Singh

Gully Boy’s Rastafari adda

Word of mouth goes a long way, even as far as tinsel town. In 2018, a few regular jammers from the Temple of Bob Marley auditioned for the 2019 Ranveer Singh starrer Gully Boy. “When Singh heard of such an adda, he took the keys from his driver, put our boys in the backseat, and asked them to bring him here,” the owner reveals. That day, he remembers, a large crowd gathered outside the industrial complex for the first time. “Having bouncers outside a Rastafarian hub was odd,” he admits.

Donisha Prendergast (left) meets Pritpal Singh in Mahim

When a Marley came visiting

In 2018, Bob Marley’s granddaughter Donisha Prendergast came knocking on Singh’s doors. The musician was in Mumbai for a session with the children of Dharavi, and heard of the space. “I’ve seen your grandfather perform live,” Singh told her. A three-hour-long jamming session followed. “She dialled her brother and popular reggae musician Skip Marley’s number to show him what she had just stumbled upon. To be honest, I couldn’t make much of his thick Jamaican accent. But that was a day to remember,” Singh smiles.