Fox on the hill, crossroad on the sea

Few precincts possess such diverse and distinct identities Addresses around the Haji Ali crossroads are variedmdashDargah Hornby Vellard Mahalaxmi MM Malviya Road Tardeo The 18th century saw the East India Company in Bombay battle relentlessly surging seawaters Stone piles dumped by the boatload into Worli creek as bolster embankments kept collapsing Until according to a narrative in Marathi bakhar literature engineer Ramji Shivji Prabhu dreamt the goddesses Mahalaxmi Mahakali and Mahasaraswati urged him to discover their submerged idols to install at a shrine He followed instructions The wall held strong That was Hornby Vellard completed under Governor William Hornby in 1784 Subsequent causeways recontoured the ldquocityrdquo of seven islets Bunding the ldquoGreat Breachrdquo between Bombay and Worli islands partially christened Breach CandyPartial view of Gamadia House weekend retreat of the descendants of entrepreneurphilanthropist Nowrosji Gamadia Pics courtesy Kooverji GamadiaA small arch greets visitors to Mahalaxmi Mandir With Corinthian pillars supporting a clock it bears the phrase ldquo1905 Princersquos Triumphal Archrdquo Priests dispense prasad around the picturesque structure to devotees of every faithStories swirl about pristine pearly Haji Ali mosque and tomb Over five centuries ago the merchant Haji Ali Shah Bukhari renounced riches after a Haj pilgrimage ending his days among rocks in this bay Some claim he died en route back from Mecca Attached to the body floating toward Bombay a note asked that his remains be buried at the spot they were foundNowrosji GamadialdquoHaji Ali maidan adjoined the racecourse north and current traffic junction south A portion was Willingdon golf range where we picked up tees as kidsrdquo recollects Jayasinh Mariwala His brother Kishore says Bodyguard Lane between the two golf course sections led to stables with an entrance for the Mounted Guards The RTO occupies it todayThe siblings sit on a sunny patio of Sudha Kunj the sole building which furniture king Bhagwandas Morarji Kamdar designed Named for the youngest of industrialist Vallabhdas Mariwalarsquos 10 children the raintreeshielded Art Deco ancestral seat has since 1937 housed four generations of the family pioneering trusted household products like Parachute OilDeco delights Currimbhoy Manor and Silver Foil on Gamadia Road PicArt Deco MumbaiIn 1871 Jayasinh and Kishorersquos grandfather Kanji Morarji Mariwala of Vinzan village in Kutch sailed in a dhow to Bombay shores pluckily at just 13 Sleeping at the docks he stitched jute bags and weighed cotton at Sewri for a Bhatia boss Joined by his brother Vasanji he hit work from a holeinthewall operation at Masjid Bunder Their company Kanji Khetsi traded Kerala spices like ginger and peppermdashexplaining the family name ldquoOur father Vallabhdas was an aesthete and academically brilliant Most Kutchi boys only matriculated and married Studying further he ensured we did too with a certain simplicity yet sophisticationrdquo Kishore shares The Mariwala children rode Bus B1 to New Era School ldquoHearing lsquoQuit Indiarsquo cries that August 1942 day I jumped from my classroom window into Gowalia Tank maidan thick with teargasrdquo says Jayasinh ldquoOur parents always wore khaddarrdquo Kishore addsJagged metal lettering of the words ldquoSilverrdquo and ldquoFoilrdquo straddles a stylised lightning bolt in this ldquoelectricrdquo nameplate Pics courtesy Art Deco MumbaiFacing Sudha Kunj where Shiv Tirth is stood the Maharaja of Kolhapurrsquos palace Nestled close was the Rewa Maharajarsquos presently Rewa Apartments ldquoA German dermatologist in a cottage there supposedly a spy was taken POW in World War IIrdquo says Jayasinh The Mariwalas purchased their property from the Gamadias Opposite rose glitzyforthersquo70s Heera Panna Arcade The shopping centre partly replaced land on which from the late 1700s lay the weekend retreat of the family rendering these Cumballa Hill acres famous Gamadia House sprawled majestic in woods across originally an approximate 60 acresNandita Chowgule outside Datta Prasad built by her father Prataprao Dattajirao Chowgule in the rsquo60sldquoMy brother Kooverji and I were born in Gamadia Houserdquo says Faridoon Gamadia greatgrandson of Nowrosji Gamadia who cemented the clanrsquos entrepreneurial and philanthropic prominence ldquoNeither Carmichael Road nor Pedder Road existed They were carved out of acquired jungle space where foxes and jackals howled in packsrdquo Though Nowrosjirsquos greatgrandfather Jamshedji Bhimji of Surat arrived in Bombay in 1720 it was visionary Nowrosji under whom Gamadia Factories flourished at cotton ginning and pressing with export interests Director of multiple companies cofounder of Indian Mercantile Insurance and the Bombay Merchant Bank Nowrosji was a municipal councillor Bombay Port Trust and Parsi Punchayet trustee and management board member of the Bombay Improvement Trust and Tata Institute of Science in BangaloreExquisitely dressed with havelistyle elements Mohini Mahal ushers in Gamadia Cross Lane PicsAtul KambleldquoInstitutions we donated to are Bai MN Gamadia Girls High School honouring Nowrosjirsquos wife Maneckbai on Princess Street the BN Gamadia Technical School and Hunnarshala and Gamadia Colony in Tardeo contributed by our grandaunt Navajbairdquo says FaridoonA path linking ldquoGamadia forestrdquo to the sea was needed Up came Navroji Gamadia Road Nowrosjirsquos grandson Navroji Kooverji and Faridoonrsquos father changed the spelling rowed with villas in the prettiest gardens Along its edges Arthurrsquos Seat became White House Condor House is Tirupati Apartments Johnson Lodge is Datta Prasad Rylestone off Carmichael Road alone survives in earliest avatar Claude Batleyrsquos Deco drawings swerved here from standard layouts creating White House and Gold Croftrsquos duplexes in London terrace house style Currimbhoy Manor by Sykes Patkar amp Divecha initially belonged to textile magnate Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim With 13 thriving mills offering public dividends up to 50 per cent he was declared the wealthiest Indian in 1920 Twentytwo years on mirroring the idealist mood of the times Mehboob Khanrsquos classic Roti featured the same building in a song condemning capitalismFlagging off the road like Currimbhoy Manor is curvilinearfronted Krishnabad hosting Ever Ready Cleaners since 1942 Beside it the clothing showroom All used to be the grocery Rex Stores then Great Eastern Stores before transforming to the Chinese eatery Chung FaKais Rahimtulla from Gold Cornet building points where a popular video parlour ran in a Krishnabad garagemdashldquoWe enjoyed flipper football there when we werenrsquot skating full speed on the street slope or playing cricketrdquo Boys jumped low walls separating Gold Cornet from Silver Foil respectively built by brothers Ghulam Hussain and Vali Mohammad Sonavala Art Deco Mumbairsquos archive notes Silver Foilrsquos projecting balconies and continuous chhajjas exemplify the appeal of reinforced concrete as a rampantly explored rsquo30s materialldquoMessed up parking cut trees and all this is where itrsquos been for merdquo says musician Farhad Wadia from Austin Texas who started IRock the festival upping the ante for Indie bands Passersby stopped outside his streetlevel Sneh Sadan home blasting decibeldefying beats ldquoCantankerous neighbours complained to Gamdevi Police Station cops whorsquod mutter lsquoTu waapas aayarsquo each time they saw me which was oftenrdquo Hearing Rock Machine and Indus Creed to Grammywinning Paul Oakenfold crowds thronged when Wadia welcomed Amitabh Bachchan at seven one morning to voice Mahesh Mathairsquos Bhopal Express Elegant Mehra Vakil taught speech and drama in Alcazar its plainness belying any Moorish grandeur the name implies Kushere Pilling says ldquoPlays my mother directed were rehearsed in the living room Practices for The Unknown Soldier and His Wife were lively with lsquoKill himrsquo sort of shouting in battle scenes A neighbour came asking lsquoMrs Vakil you alrightrsquo Embarrassed she apologised but knew real calls for help from our flat might now be ignoredrdquoDolat Doongaji opened Activity High School at the top of the road in 1968 15 years after New Activity School on Hughes Road She authored several childrenrsquos books like A Coat for Oonee and the wonderfully retold Panchatantra Tales Her twin daughters educationists Hutoxi Boman and Hira Bhesania live in pergolacrowned Coolshanagh conceived tall for the midrsquo50s by an Irish architect The Gaelicroot translation of Cuil Seannach is ldquohill of the foxrdquoGlowingly maintained Mohini Mahal associated with the Bangurs of Graphite India Ltd is a hat tip to the Maharaja of Morvirsquos first wife Mohini Devi Beside this haveliesque mansion announcing Gamadia Cross Lane are selfconfessed recluses in Kejriwal House ldquoOurs is Bombayrsquos best striprdquo says Anjan Kejriwal His father Deviprasad and uncle Hiralal settled in 1956 on this plot also belonging to the Morvi royal Within the little lane is Datta Prasad built by Prataprao Dattajirao Chowgule in the rsquo60s His daughter Nandita recalls accompanying him to the Walkeshwar studio of Russian designer Primakoff as their building took shape Radiologist Rajeev Kothari from nextdoor Mount Eminence flew model radiocontrol planes at the racecourse with Amos Radian the suave Consul General of Israel when he was a Datta Prasad resident in the rsquo80s Facing Mount Eminence the building Waves was once Bennett Villa where Bhikhalal Shah lived with 27 cocker spaniels and six boxers He established Collins amp Co in 1943 the countryrsquos first to manufacture goldplated stretchable watch straps for luxury labels including Omega a legacy his son Robin extended with BentexValentina replaced Styleman House renamed Chandra Niwas while it was home to broker Chandulal Shivlal who started Chandra Weaving Works in Ahmedabad On the ground floor was Roy Hawkins head of Oxford University Press Retiring to the UK he missed Bombay friends like the Progressive Artists and IPTA actors so soon returned for goodEastward from Navroji Gamadia Road lies Byramji Gamadia Road Byramji was Nowrojirsquos eldest son winding up from Pedder Road to Carmichael Road After 1872 the government acquired land to build Pedder Road dividing the estate With a few more acres procured in 1918 handsome official bungalows and consulates graced Carmichael Road Thatrsquos another storyAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay Reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmehermarfatiacom