I had no clue that the city of Bombay (as it was called then) was built on the back of the American Civil War. Last Sunday, I stumbled upon this fundamental fact of Bombay, during a most invigorating guided walkabout in Bhuleshwar by Kaiwan Mehta, architecture theorist and author of Alice in Bhuleshwar: Navigating a Mumbai Neighbour-hood (Yoda Press). He was guiding his students from Jnanapravaha, and I had joined as an alumnus. Mehta pointed out that the American Civil War of the 1860s disrupted its cotton trade, and Bombay, which had a good harbour, was quick to pick up on the crisis and launch itself.

Architect Kaiwan Mehta pauses for chai during his Bhuleshwar guided walk. Pic/Sarayu Kamat