A Christmas Eve's Walking Tour of Colonial Downtown Bombay with American Friends

Monday, December 24, 2018
Bombay

A Christmas Eve's Walking Tour of Colonial Downtown Bombay with American Friends

     Namaste from Bombay!
      I can think of no better thing to do on Christmas Eve than spend it showing friends from America around my beloved city of Bombay! And so, weeks in advance, that was what we had decided to do.   It had all begun when my cousin Blossom from Chennai, a history buff, said that she would be in Bombay at that time and wanted me to take her on a walking tour.  Her daughter Menaka decided to jump on too. Meanwhile, my Fulbright colleagues, based here in Bandra, asked if they could join it. Chriselle would be in Bombay too and so she became a part of the mix.  Finally and unexpectedly, my friend Bonnie from Connecticut reached out to let me know that her daughter Halle would be in Bombay with three of her American friends (as they were here to attend the wedding of an American friend to an Indian guy in Pune). Needless to say, Halle and her friends joined in too. And, if you can believe this, my day began with Blossom and Menaka calling to say that they would not be able to join us as they'd had a very late night and had another party to attend that evening--so there we were, going on this tour minus the ones who had initiated the entire outing! But such is life...
     So I was up at 6.30 am, I managed to do a blog post and then wolfed down a tiny bit of muesli and barely had time for a coffee before I jumped into the shower. Chriselle (who had spent the night at my studio) also woke up early and decided to go back to my Dad's place to take her shower. We decided to meet at the bus stop on Perry Road at 7.45 am--and that was the plan of action.
     At Bandra Station, we met Michelle (a Fulbrighter) and Petra (the friend of one of my Fulbrighter friends, Richard--who was unable to come as he had left for the US for the Holidays) and Petra's boyfriend Mike. We bought First Class Tickets and we took the Bandra local Harbor Line train from Bandra to Victoria Terminus (VT--now called CST).  It took us just 30 minutes on the train to get there and both Chriselle and I were stunned at how clean (indeed spotless) the stations were. We passed by stations on the Harbor Line that I do not usually go through (as I usually take the Western Railway line to Churchgate).
   At VT, I took my friends to the Booking Office where they could appreciate the refurbished interior of the station which looks really amazing with its sculptural work, crest (coat of arms) of the Indian Railways and star-filled ceiling. But we had to hurry off as we had four other American friends waiting for us on the other side of the street at McDonald's (which seemed to be like a good meeting spot). There is only one McDonald's at VT, by the way.

 Walking Tour Begins:
     At McDonald's, after we had met everyone and introductions were made, I started off by giving my tour participants a short introduction to the history of the city of Bombay: Where did it all begin? What is the difference between the names Bombay and Mumbai? How did the Portuguese come into the picture? Why is the British legacy still so visible in Bombay (all sign boards in English, red double decker buses, red post boxes, passion for cricket and afternoon tea)? My charges were: Chriselle. Michelle, Petra, Mike, Halle, Chelsea, Eddie and John-Michael. With a very short (five minute) introduction, we were off and away.
     So here is what we covered:
1. Victoria Train Terminus
2. Bombay Municipal Corporation Building.
3. GPO (General Post Office). We went inside and some of them bought packets of post cards from the antiquated counter assistants.
4. Pigeon Feeder (Kabutar Khanna).
5. The Indian Mint Building.
6. The Original Reserve Bank of India. (I started my working life here at age 20 in the Cash Department and, of course, my Dad was a career banker with the RBI!).
7. The New Reserve Bank of India Building. (I had also worked in this building as an editorial assistant on the bank's house-journal called Without Reserve).
8. The Town Hall where the Asiatic Society of India was founded and still runs (we went inside here and I showed them the public Reading Room where we also got a bit of a sit-down).
9. Horniman Gardens (Horniman was Editor of The Bombay Chronicle).
10. Horniman Circle (A perfect semi-circle of a clutch of buildings, similar to the Crescent in Bath or Park Crescent in London). The Bombay Chronicle was headquartered in one of the buildings which today houses such upscale shops as Hermes and Tommy Hilfiger.
11. St. Thomas' (Anglican) Cathedral. A wonderful opportunity to take in some of the best Victorian mortuary sculpture in the city and get a whiff of Christmas in Bombay  There was a huge decorated tree and a crib at the entrance of the cathedral.
12. Flora Fountain (The statue of Flora, the Greek Goddess of Flowers--has just been refurbished and repainted and it looks great).
13. Walk towards Kala Ghoda past important Raj-era commercial buildings along Mahatma Gandhi Road.
14. Lunch Break. We had the Gujarati and Rajasthani Vegetarian Thalis at Chetana, a restaurant that is renowned for them and everyone wanted to experience what a typical Indian 'thali meal' was like).
15. Past the Esplanade Building to the front gates of the main campus of the University of Bombay to take in the splendor of the Rajabai Clock Tower and the Victorian Gothic details of the Convocation Hall.
26. The Oval Maidan--site of the Eucharistic Congress of the early 1960s.
27. Esplanade Building (formerly the Walton Hotel).
28. The Army and Navy Building.
29. The David Sassoon Library and Reading Room.
30. Elphinstone College.
31. Jehangir Art Gallery.
32. The Prince of Wales Museum.
33. C.J. Hall.

We would ordinarily have walked on to the Gateway of India and seen the Taj Mahal Hotel. But all of the tour participants had been there before (some of them only last evening) and as I was wilting and everyone else looked ready to call it a day, we ended the tour there.
      Oh and I got a big clap--so I was really pleased with the entire enterprise.

Back to Bandra on Public Transport:
     Halle's group, having heard so much about Bandra from the Bandra-based Fulbrighters, decided to accompany us to Bandra as they really wanted to see what this place was all about. Chriselle decided that she would be their guide. I led them to the bus stop opposite the Museum and although we waited for a bus for ten minutes, no bus arrived. I was simply too tired and my lower back had begun aching--so I was actually ready to take a cab. We divided ourselves into groups of three--two groups found cabs immediately while the third had to wait.  As it turned out, a bus did arrive and so the last three jumped into it.  We were all at Churchgate Station, ten minutes later, after which we bought First Class train tickets and traveled together in the General (Unisex) compartment until we arrived at Bandra.  There, I parted company with them and left them in charge of Chriselle. I suggested they take ricks to Hill Road as they were dying for a cup of coffee.  They ended up going to Trench Coffee Shop opposite Elco Arcade and then walking along Hill Road to St. Peter's Church and all the way up to St. Andrew's Church at which point Chriselle said bye to them and left.
     I, for my part, hopped into a 220 bus and got back to my studio where I could not wait to throw myself on my bed because I was well and truly exhausted.  It was 4.00 pm and the thought of a long and leisurely nap was most welcoming...but although my eyes closed instantly, I was up 20 minutes later!!! I continued lying down to ease my lower back, but at 5.00 after Chriselle called to let me know she had reached my Dad's, I also turned my attention to some more gift-wrapping.  I carried those gift over to Dad's and then spent the evening with him, Russel and Chriselle as Dad attended to all sorts of little tasks for Christmas guests tomorrow.
     I had dinner at Dad's--a smorgasbord of all sorts of leftovers that Chriselle had brought from her previous night's dinner--and then it was almost time for us to get dressed and leave for Midnight Mass. In Bombay, the mass is no longer at Midnight.  As they tend to be very crowded, they are held in the open and because they are in the open and a likely nuisance to residents who live in adjoining buildings, they are now held early. Caroling would begin at 9.30, the Mass at 10.00 pm and by 11.30, it would be all over.
 
Midnight Mass at 9.30 pm:
     I had invited Michelle Ngirbabul, A Fulbrighter who is from the North Mariana Islands and far away from family and home, to join us for the Midnight Mass--which she did. She happens to be a Roman Catholic and was very pleased to witness a Mass in Bombay. It was said by Fr. Anniceto Pereira, the chief celebrant, while the other two priests, Frs. Colman and Savio con-celebrated. Dad, Chriselle, Michelle and I sat together.  Russel was very sorry that he could not join us as it is impossible for him to climb up and down steps. We enjoyed the mass which contained a really great and very well-thought out sermon by a priest who is now the Rector of the Diocesan Seminary--a really good speaker who spoke a lot of good sense (something that is quite a rarity among Bombay's priests, let me assure you!).
        After Mass, cake and coffee were served to all and it was a good time for Meet and Greet as we ran into so many parishioner friends who came up to wish Dad (looking very dapper indeed in his blazer and tie) and us. As we walked back down towards home, we met more friends and neighbors.  This is what I love about Christmas in India: for one thing, the weather is always so perfect and we walk about in our Christmas finery without the appendages of coat, hat, gloves, boots; and secondly, we live in the kind of neighborhood where everybody knows your name! It is lovely.
     Back home, together with Michelle who joined us, we indulged in a lovely old family tradition that was established many years ago by my late Mum Edith--whom we miss dreadfully at all times but especially at the Holidays--the eating of a slice of plum cake and the downing of a celebratory glass of wine. The cake was the rich plum cake I had bought from Nahoums in Calcutta--which, I really have to tell you is outstanding, and the wine was a gift from a friend, Queenie (who would be joining us for Christmas lunch at Dad's). We opened our gifts to each other while sipping and nibbling and a very jolly time was had by all--including Russel who joined us in the living room and was thrilled by his haul of presents (including two T-shirts--his favorite thing in the world--from Chriselle).
     It was about midnight when Chrissie and I got into a rick wth Michelle to escort her home to her flat near Prof. Almeida Park (named after me...NOT!) and took the same rickshaw back home to Dad's where I had decided to spend Christmas night.
     Russel had gone to bed, Dad was still pottering around doing a few things, and in a very festive-looking home, we all called it a night.
     It had been an exhausting day, but fortunately, I did get my second wind after that fatiguing walking tour. And the fact that Chriselle and I were with Dad and Russel to make their Christmas special...well, it meant everything in the world to us all.
     Until tomorrow...