BOMBAYWALLA

09/09/2024

"In an era when Gujarat produced very few historians of note..."

A case against him by members of the Swaminarayan sect was a turning point not just for the scholar but for the practice of history in modern India.

26/06/2024

For 30 years, Stephen Fernandes has been vegetarian. Every afternoon, he has one green vegetable made by his son Joel at Gable’s, his father’s restaurant.

26/02/2024

Struck a pose for Vogue right before MISS BOMBAYWALLA became MAMA BOMBAYWALLA!!

Patel, known by most as Miss Bombaywalla, is recording the ever-changing cityscape of Mumbai before it is lost to defacement in the name of development

03/11/2023

Tailors to Jeetendra, Sunil Shetty & Girgaum's lesser celebrities.

Mukeshbhai makes his customers go from zero to hero.

23/10/2023

“Please communicate following message to Sassoon, Bombay,” a telegram from Cairo said.

Disturbed by the Ottoman clampdown on Jews, the wealthy Sassoons made large financial contributions to help those who were forced to flee their homes.

22/10/2023

"The ‘Evil Ladies of Girgaum’, were a group of Samaj women from Goa believed to be indulging in sex-work in South Bombay in the early decades of the 20th century."

The Samaj’s history shows how caste and sexuality could also be malleable, disposable and usable categories, says Professor Anjali Arondekar.

17/10/2023

"The answer lies partly in his colourful Bombay personality, his bhidu-ness."

Thirty years of Khalnayak, premiere of a film, friend’s son’s wedding, he is there with the potted plant.

15/10/2023

Topical: Mumbai's much loved landmark to close down for 7 years!

13/10/2023

"Many of the 2,000-plus members of the Bene Israel community, who hailed mainly from Bombay and other parts of Western India, were disgruntled with life in Israel and wanted to return to their land of birth."

After migrating to the Promised Land, several members of India’s Jewish community opted to come back to their land of birth.

05/10/2023

"Henri Cartier-Bresson had paid him a visit just 90 minutes earlier, and photojournalist Homai Vyarawalla had set out on her bicycle to cover the meeting but turned back."

His life was intimately documented, much of it by his own design

01/10/2023

"The foundation stone for the Taraporevala Aquarium was laid in May 1947..."

With Mumbai’s iconic Taraporevala Aquarium set for demolition after a structural audit by the Public Works Department, the city rues the loss of a major chunk

26/09/2023

"Now, he could afford to go beyond mere window-shopping in the stylish Fort area and treat himself to an occasional cup of coffee at the popular Parisian Dairy." A must read on Dev Anand's birth centenary.

For those like Anand, disheartened by the changing character of Mumbai, his black and white films might be a good way to rewind to the city’s pristine past

28/08/2023

"As the son of one of its founders, I lament the passing of an institution that served so many Indians [and not only Indians] for nearly three-quarters of a century." ~ Shashi Tharoor

The India Club, home away from home in the UK, closes next month, leaving a generation of immigrant families lamenting its loss

24/07/2023

Joe Goes doesn’t know if it’s a baba or baby, at the end of the month his daughter is due for delivery!

19/07/2023

"The racetrack is a time warp befitting the city."

The race day crowds at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, India’s foremost horse-racing organisation, whose history dates back to the Raj and beyond

11/07/2023

Mary Ellen Mark’s classic Falkland Road is back in print!

On her very first trip to India in 1968 Mary Ellen Mark visited Falkland Road, the notorious red-light area...

09/07/2023

Calcutta's Messbaris like our Lodging Houses catered to young, aspiring migrants.

Sunday Times News: A Century Ago, These Cheap Hostels Helped Working Men From Other Places Find A Toehold In The City.

14/06/2023

"This is a piece of history that has to be preserved." A must watch.

The Indian Parsi community is typically known for having a deep passion for automobiles, in general, and classic vehicles, in particular.If you want to experience the true passion for classic cars in India, then you must pay a visit to the lovely Indian Parsi community. This video encapsulates the e

23/05/2023

On Guha, with all the localness of the Brighton-Lewes train that interrupted the conversation and the fine-combed criticism ‘do not overburden the reader with a surfeit of vacuous arguments and pseudo-scholarship’. A must read by Shahid Amin.

The historian remained a consummate and daringly self-conscious stylist.

15/05/2023

A daabwalla, a policewalla and acts of everyday cooperation and kindness in scorching Calcutta.

A coconut seller struggles to keep himself refreshed

03/05/2023

"Thanks to the presence of three temples, which cannot be touched, no builder has as yet drawn up a renovation plan for the chawl."

An architect’s research work that stems from his life at Datta Mandir Wadi foresees the redevelopment of Girgaon’s tenements as an opportunity to retain social spaces where life plays out, and aajis keep watch

02/05/2023

A fine site at the end of Hornby Row facing the Victoria Terminus, the humble neighbourhood of Chandanwadi - all the things that went into the making of Gaiety!

The theatre, now closed, began its life as the Gaiety for the upper crust of Bombay to see plays.

28/03/2023

The only studio selected to photograph the Congress martyr Babu Genu.

In 1930, when Babu Genu was martyred on Kalbadevi Road, under a truck he was trying to stop that was carrying foreign cloth, Vanguard was the only studio selected to photograph the Congress martyr.

17/10/2022

Bipin, who has completed 33 years as a member of the gymnasium, now uses the facility for free. Do watch our little movie!

Goans, Girgaum and a gymnasium.

14/10/2022

Goans, Girgaum & a Gymnasium

From the age of 10 to 20, from 1950 to 1960, Sadanand Raikar stayed at his father’s gymnasium, sleeping outside in hot season, coming inside during the rainy season and going to school at Khetwadi from Famous Physical Culture Home at Parekh Street.