For me going up to malabar hill and tracing the Jinnah House No-2 at Mount Pleasant Road was more than an experience .One morning reading the newspaper i noticed an article describing mohd.Ali Jinnah's house in bombay.It beautifully presented the history of the bunglow and grand background it carries.
Walking down the lanes on malabar hill i was a little clueless about the exact road where the bunglow was situated.I saw a girl crossing the road i went up to her and asked if she could guide me to Jinnah house ,her expression and reaction was absolutely unbelievable to me.she did not know about the existence of that house in malabar hill .Ironically she lived in the same lane where the bunglow was.
What astonished me the most was that she knew Shimla house,Birla house but was deaf and blind to the house of a man who was the catalyst to India-Pakistan partition ,man who was the closest to our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi before independence.He was a highly learned man and was of equal significance like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru but unfortunately his name got registered in the dark pages of our country.
With god's grace i reached there without too much of struggle and quenched my thirst of having a look at the bunglow personally.I could visualize all the royality that decorated the house once upon a time the baggies ,the premium breed horses in the premises symbolizing a perfect king size life that he lived.What saddened me to the core was that people today have got so engrossed in their plastic life that they fail to acknowledge any thing and everything enshrined in the history.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
No.13 Wood house Road
SCHOEN HOUSE-why is it haunted?
In colaba, on woodhouse road No-13 stands an extremely suspicious and isolated bunglow. It is said that for decades there struck no deal for this house.No real estate agent wants to get involved in it as they feel it's cursed by an unknown soul which may have suffered or was tortured in this house.
It was built by a parsi gentleman in the first decade of the last millenium .The only record which was clear to people was of the German tenant.He was a dentist by profession who was a special appointy to clean the teeth of his excellency.He was a Jew but being a German national he was interned by the police and thereafter nobody new of his whereabouts.Inspite of a builder purchasing it long time ago it still remains abondoned, left to the mercy of NATURE.
However though it looks ghostly or haunted,not a single soul if there exist one has been successful in harming anyone.There are assumptions that the presence of a church has controlled it's reach and kept it underground and will continue doing it
In colaba, on woodhouse road No-13 stands an extremely suspicious and isolated bunglow. It is said that for decades there struck no deal for this house.No real estate agent wants to get involved in it as they feel it's cursed by an unknown soul which may have suffered or was tortured in this house.
It was built by a parsi gentleman in the first decade of the last millenium .The only record which was clear to people was of the German tenant.He was a dentist by profession who was a special appointy to clean the teeth of his excellency.He was a Jew but being a German national he was interned by the police and thereafter nobody new of his whereabouts.Inspite of a builder purchasing it long time ago it still remains abondoned, left to the mercy of NATURE.
However though it looks ghostly or haunted,not a single soul if there exist one has been successful in harming anyone.There are assumptions that the presence of a church has controlled it's reach and kept it underground and will continue doing it
The S.K Patil garden
The uncrowned king of Bombay S.K Patil long time ago said that Bombay should go to Gujrat and not maharashtra.This statement invited a load of hatred for him from the people of this state.Inspite of his marathi background he never supported the decision of bombay being a part of maharashtra for his own valid reasons.It is said that he expressed his disappointment over the garden being named after his name while he was alive.
I was always in a misconception of the japanese garden being renamed as S.K Patil garden but the fact was absolutely different.In the 1950's on that plot there used to be an anglo-scottish cemetry.The contract of turning the cemetry into a garden was given to a japanese contractor.The design was purely japanese without any infliction of Indian or European style.Japanese technology was used in structuring the area.As soon as the garden was ready it was instantly named S.K Patil and never the japanese garden.
Although now it remain secluded because people hardly visit gardens.The reason is pretty apparent -with the increasing number of malls and entertainment zones,the crowd has conviniently forgotten to take walks in gardens admiring the atmosphere.For some significance of a garden is nothing but to an area to grow flowers and not a place to exchange thoughts and ideas personally.......
I was always in a misconception of the japanese garden being renamed as S.K Patil garden but the fact was absolutely different.In the 1950's on that plot there used to be an anglo-scottish cemetry.The contract of turning the cemetry into a garden was given to a japanese contractor.The design was purely japanese without any infliction of Indian or European style.Japanese technology was used in structuring the area.As soon as the garden was ready it was instantly named S.K Patil and never the japanese garden.
Although now it remain secluded because people hardly visit gardens.The reason is pretty apparent -with the increasing number of malls and entertainment zones,the crowd has conviniently forgotten to take walks in gardens admiring the atmosphere.For some significance of a garden is nothing but to an area to grow flowers and not a place to exchange thoughts and ideas personally.......
Three lanes
In a conversation with Mr.Deepak Rao a historian and a social scientist who lived bombay from his heart and soul spread open the appealing history of the few lanes i never heard about.It was amazing to enhance my library of places and roads in south bombay.
I believe a man should always take the initiative to move an extra step in order to know about the place where he/she lives,until one doesn't know about his own land how would he manage to accomodate the background of various other lands in the world.
The Beef Market road which is now known as the Nadir Shah Sukhiya road.The significance of the road is evident from it's name-the beef market ,it says that earlier streets were given names according to the surrounding but with time the roads are also not spared of the politics played at the cost of the deep history involved.The store Lane which endures the name as is.It is the area where the military stored it's material for decades and still does .The last not the least, the Winter Road which has a conglomoration of beautiful bunglows where resides the creme de la creme crowd.The bunglows inspite of their age are maintaned well,the best part about this road is you dont have to hunt for beauty its all over the place mesmerizing one's senses.
I believe a man should always take the initiative to move an extra step in order to know about the place where he/she lives,until one doesn't know about his own land how would he manage to accomodate the background of various other lands in the world.
The Beef Market road which is now known as the Nadir Shah Sukhiya road.The significance of the road is evident from it's name-the beef market ,it says that earlier streets were given names according to the surrounding but with time the roads are also not spared of the politics played at the cost of the deep history involved.The store Lane which endures the name as is.It is the area where the military stored it's material for decades and still does .The last not the least, the Winter Road which has a conglomoration of beautiful bunglows where resides the creme de la creme crowd.The bunglows inspite of their age are maintaned well,the best part about this road is you dont have to hunt for beauty its all over the place mesmerizing one's senses.
Bavan Khani Road
Living at kashibai Nowrange Marg for three years i realized ,on my way to college taking the 123. There stands a beautiful bunglow on my left near cafe New York.Every aspect and corner of the bunglow is intricately done ,the roof is kept neat ,doors properly finished ,windows designed in a simple manner but still seem very distinct.
It is the DABOLKAR bunglow which opens for people once a year only.When i got to know that it opens only once a year i wanted to know the reason behind it.After talking to few residents of that area i understood the significance of it's presence.In the premises of the bunglow there stands a private temple which opens just once a year on the eve of Guru Dattatare Diwas for the devoties.People form large ques in order to enter the temple spending hours standing in the line without a wrinkle of boredom and fatique.They say that the amount of satisfaction they absorb standing in the line patiently is unexplainable.
Therefore the Bavan Khani road connects to the Dabolkar bunglow .To me the relevance of the name given to this road remains a mystery.People around were not very sure about the history or the background of the road.I still have to research a lot about the place ,long way to go.....
It is the DABOLKAR bunglow which opens for people once a year only.When i got to know that it opens only once a year i wanted to know the reason behind it.After talking to few residents of that area i understood the significance of it's presence.In the premises of the bunglow there stands a private temple which opens just once a year on the eve of Guru Dattatare Diwas for the devoties.People form large ques in order to enter the temple spending hours standing in the line without a wrinkle of boredom and fatique.They say that the amount of satisfaction they absorb standing in the line patiently is unexplainable.
Therefore the Bavan Khani road connects to the Dabolkar bunglow .To me the relevance of the name given to this road remains a mystery.People around were not very sure about the history or the background of the road.I still have to research a lot about the place ,long way to go.....
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg
Now this calls for a reality check survey which i conducted on this name -where is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg?.Answers were as expected more than 70%of the people were unaware of it's existence in south bombay and some expressions were like -what?,where?,when?rhetorically almost everything except the answer.
Early in the morning with birds flying fearless in the sky i stopped to cross the road opposite Savitri Bai Phule girls hostel ,due to my cautious nature i stopped till the signal wasn't red for the vehicles to hault and for me to walk safe like a queen on the road.I once again came across the board notifying the NSCB Marg i thought for a moment and moved ahead thinking it was the lane name which connects to the charni road bridge to Thakur Dwaar.
After a month in a general talk with a history scholar i co-incidentally asked about it and i was astonished to know that Marine Drive on papers is called as The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg.But the name is limited only on paper as it's usage causually is NIL.The fact is ,not even 0.5% people use this name to adress marine Drive.
Early in the morning with birds flying fearless in the sky i stopped to cross the road opposite Savitri Bai Phule girls hostel ,due to my cautious nature i stopped till the signal wasn't red for the vehicles to hault and for me to walk safe like a queen on the road.I once again came across the board notifying the NSCB Marg i thought for a moment and moved ahead thinking it was the lane name which connects to the charni road bridge to Thakur Dwaar.
After a month in a general talk with a history scholar i co-incidentally asked about it and i was astonished to know that Marine Drive on papers is called as The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg.But the name is limited only on paper as it's usage causually is NIL.The fact is ,not even 0.5% people use this name to adress marine Drive.
Hutatma chowk
We are all vaguely aware of the Hutatma chowk.On my impatient way to Fountain sizzlers i noticed a board saying the Hutatame chowk ,as ingrained deeply in my habit to over mark things but i can't really help it.Throughout my meal i was thinking and trying to connect the relevance of Flora Fountain being renamed as Hutatma chowk.
After refering to few books written on bombay i was made to realize that in the year 1956 during an agitation at Flora Fountain for the formation of Maharashtra as a state a number of 105 people lost their in the process.Therefore Flora Fountain was renamed as Hutatama chowk in the memory of these martyrs who fought till the end at the of their lives which was as priceless as our lives are to our family members.
The problem is not in the system but deeprooted somewhere in all of us.we dont wish to take an step and know about history or the past in which men and women lost their lives for a cause.Today the scenario is of going only by the confined lines of the syllabus in colleges or schools.Application of knowledge and the inclination to fetch information on various matters is missing.
After refering to few books written on bombay i was made to realize that in the year 1956 during an agitation at Flora Fountain for the formation of Maharashtra as a state a number of 105 people lost their in the process.Therefore Flora Fountain was renamed as Hutatama chowk in the memory of these martyrs who fought till the end at the of their lives which was as priceless as our lives are to our family members.
The problem is not in the system but deeprooted somewhere in all of us.we dont wish to take an step and know about history or the past in which men and women lost their lives for a cause.Today the scenario is of going only by the confined lines of the syllabus in colleges or schools.Application of knowledge and the inclination to fetch information on various matters is missing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)