Take a Heritage walk in Mumbai city

by Chriselle Bayross
Art Deco buildings at Marine Drive
  1. The Taj Mahal hotel in South Mumbai has an image trademark for the design of its building.
  2. The Rajabai Tower modelled after the Big Ben in England, was added to the World Heritage Sites in 2018. As the story goes, construction of the tower was donated by Premchand Roychand a prosperous broker. It was for his blind mother (and her eponym) and the chiming of the clock tower made her aware of the time.
  3. There are two prominent style of buildings in South Mumbai, Art Deco and Victorian style. Eros and Regal, the last remaining single screen theatres, are built in Art Deco style.

These are just few of the details we learnt on Mumbai heritage, one weekend this April on a Khaki Tour. All thanks to my friend Gargee a history buff and someone who conducts her own walks in Mumbai (stay tuned for details). She wanted a birthday gift we could experience together. 

Why is heritage important

Heritage of a city provides it with an identity and a way of remembering. Hence it is good to know that there are many heritage buildings in Mumbai that are UNESCO protected. It is my hope that my grandchildren will see them one day.

As an Indian, the attacks we have had on our monuments and people, has established that we are living on borrowed time. We need to treasure what we have around us. More importantly we need to make the right choices that we may live in a more equitable world. In Mumbai, itself we are spending crores on structures in the middle of the sea. I think it is more important to use that money to preserve our marine resources. Monuments should not define a generation or be a tick off your bucket list.

Bombay Vintage 

We ended our day quite serendipitously at a place that was serving Mumbai fare. Bombay Vintage a restaurant that as the name suggests, serves dishes from different Indian communities. Since we had a friend observing lent we tried both the veg and non-veg options at this restaurant. While the dishes maybe similar to the fare in Indian kitchens the prices are not. They are normal Mumbai rates which would be approximately 1500 Rs. per head with drinks.

Experiencing Mumbai through its food

The Vagarela Channa

For starters, we had Vagarela Channa(type of legume) SaladGujarathi style– with channa dal, raw mango tempering. This was as Chatpata (Spicy) as the city of Mumbai and just as tasty.

Malabaru syro beef fry

We also went with the Mouthwatering Malabari syro beef fry: Roast beef tempered with curry leaf and roasted coconut. This particular recipe is a Syrian Christian invention and it did not disappoint

The famous Jardalu Salli Boti

For the mains, we had Jardalu Salli Boti(Mutton and apricot with potato sticks),which was apt for the evening given that it Is a famous Parsi dish. On our tour, we received an education about the Tata buildings. This included the exclusively European hotel that Mr. JRD Tata was denied entry to because he was Indian. Story goes that it was this incident that prompted him to build the famous Taj group of hotels. Similarly, we also saw buildings built by the wealthy Parsi Mr. ReadyMoney as well. Parsi seemed to be flavor of the evening.

The Bharli Vangi from the Konkan coast

Bharli Vangi (Stuffed Brinjal): Traditional Konkan stuffed eggplant dish cooked in a spiced peanut sauce. However, Gargee who is from the Konkan coast felt that the dish was not true to the recipe but tasty nonetheless.

As a Mumbaikar (native of Mumbai) I love the fact that I am from one of the most cosmopolitan cities in India and feel grateful to be born here where my accessibility and mobility is high. Still I do not want to take for granted the metamorphosis this city undergoes, because tomorrow it may not land on its feet. Hence I hope that this article encourages more people to take an interest in Mumbai heritage and support its preservation. Though it should not be at the sake of the resources themselves. 

Pro tip:Khaki Tours open bus tours is great for travelling with the elderly. As compared to walking tours, it is a pleasant drive around, on top of the bus, even in summer.

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