Thursday, March 17, 2022
Bombay
Thursday Trudging in Bombay (Mumbai): Town Hall, Horniman Circle, St. Thomas' Cathedral
With another Thursday coming around, my thoughts turned again to a gad-about in downtown Bombay. This time, since my friend Maria had a day off from work, she decided to accompany me. I was very glad of her company as we made plans to set off by train—by far the fastest way to get in and out of the city. After all, who wants to sit in traffic, even if one is in the air-conditioned comfort of an Uber, right?
So I awoke, went through Morning Prayer from Canterbury Cathedral with the Rev. Robert Willis, breakfasted on muesli and coffee, showered and rushed off to a dental appointment that was scheduled at 9.30 am. I was there on the dot and by 10.30 am, my molar filling was done and dusted. I hopped into a rick and headed for Bandra railway station where Maria, having bought her ticket, was waiting for me. I have a quarterly first class pass and do not need to buy a ticket each time I use the trains.
I had a surprise for Maria before we boarded the train and she had no clue what was in store! I took her to the first platform, at the far end of the station and showed her the brand-new showpiece of Bandra station—escalators to take passengers up! She simply could not believe her eyes! In fact, she had been arriving at a commuter railway station after absolutely ages and could not get over the fact that an expat from America had to re-introduce her to the commuter rail system in her own city! Of course, we boarded the escalator and I enjoyed my first ride in it! A great step forward and one that needed to be photographed for the record!
We found our platform and, five minutes later, we were on the train, headed to Churchgate Station. Needless to say, we were there in less than half an hour in a compartment that was almost exclusively ours! Maria could not get over how clean and spotless everything was! She said that the transformation to the Bombay rail service is simply hard to fathom!
On the train, I had made a call to my friend Shehernaz who volunteers at the Asiatic Society of India which is located in the Town Hal. I have not seen her since I arrived in Bombay more than a year ago (thanks to Covid restrictions). She was as eager to meet me as I was to see her. We coordinated our arrival and she told me she would make the time to see me before going off for her meeting.
Once we arrived at Churchgate Station, we decided to walk the 15 minutes to the Town Hall which we would make the first stop. In fact, we were following Walk No. 1 which is the first one of the Fort Walks in a book of the same name by Sharada Dwivedi and Rahul Mehrotra which I had bought a few years ago. I am delighted that I finally have the chance to use it and, as always, I intend to finish taking all the walks—once a week on Thursday.
And thus it was that we arrived at our First stop: The Town Hall.
Exploring the Town Hall and the Headquarters of the Asiatic Society of Bombay:
There is something so imposing about Bombay’s Town Hall that has entirely to do with its imposing Neo-Classical facade. Even as a child, when I used to be in a BEST bus sailing past it on weekend outings with my parents, I remember being completely struck by the antiquated appearance of one of Bombay’s most striking buildings. It is characterized by 30 steps that take you to the first floor that opens out into the huge Reading Room of the State Central Public Library and Reading Room. However, we chose to enter by the side entrance (as we were going to meet Shehernaz before beginning our own self-guided tour).
But here are a few facts about the Town Hall: It was completed in 1833, being designed in Neo-Classical style by Colonel Thomas Cowper to symbolize might & authority while the East India Company still had control of the trading port of Bombay. At this time, there were no structures at all. The building was constructed to face the wide open space that formed the Bombay Green—on which, in fact, the city’s first theatre had already been constructed (in 1769). In course of time, the building began to serve as the Headquarters of The Asiatic Society of Bombay (there was already an Asiatic Society in Calcutta—remember how fond Governor-General Warren Hastings had been of Indian languages and culture?). To distinguish itself from the Calcutta organization that simply calls itself The Asiatic Society, this one is called the Asiatic Society of Bombay (now Mumbai)—however, other than the name, they are not connected in any way.
The Asiatic Society of Bombay was founded in 1804 as The Literary Society. It amalgamated with the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain in 1829. The role of the Society was to be a keeper of Records pertaining to the city of Bombay. Hence, it has an enviable collection of archival material relating to the origin and development of the city and suburbs through the centuries. In recent years, the Society has received a sizable grant from the Government of India which has permitted it to digitalize its entire holding—a massive undertaking indeed—and one of which the staff is very proud. Serious academic researchers as well as casual readers are on the roster of the Society as members and their access to the collection is entirely beneficial in every possible way.
As Shehernaz had not yet arrived, we had a chance to cool off and await her entry. When she did come along, we settled under a ceiling fan for a chat and spent about 15 minutes with her—after which she had to run along for her meeting. This left Maria and myself a chance to explore the premises on our own.
We began at the bottom of the extraordinary horse-shoe shaped dual staircase that leads up to the main floor. This allowed us to take in the grand view of Matthew Noble’s larger-than-life size seated marble sculpture of philanthropist & educationist Sir Jaganath Shankershet—British spelling Sunketsett! We clicked pictures of the Sunketsett sculpture from different angles. On the top floor (which was under renovation and a bit of a mess), we saw a superb sculpture of Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeeboy (Sir JJ), one of the greatest & most philanthropic of Bombay’s industrialists. Statues of his worthy self are sprinkled in many parts of the city and on this single afternoon, we spied two! The white marble one in the Asiatic Society is by Marochetti. He wears the Parsi dugli—a heavy hat on his head—and sits in a large and very ornate chair (almost a throne). His name also came up last week, on my last jaunt, as he was the main financier behind the Sir J.J. School of Arts (which is named after him). The famous J.J. Hospital near Dongri also bears his name. More wandering around the balcony took us to sculptures by John, Lord Elphinstone and Sir Bartle Frere (for whom Frere Road was named), who was instrumental in carving out the colonial plan for the construction of Bombay. There is also a sculpture of Charles Norris, who worked in the East India Company and died in 1842. He wears classical Greek garb (as was very much the fashion when administrators were being immortalized for posterity in stone or paint). These sculptures are in superb condition (because they are indoors and protected from the elements and because they are lovingly cared for by the sincere staff of these wonderful edifices).
The Interior of the Asiatic Society Library:
We then sauntered into the working administrative offices of the Asiatic Society which are actually placed in the grand, elongated, double-galleried library. I was completely taken by the design of this library as it echoes completely some of the world’s finest libraries—from Duke Humphrey’s Library of the University of Oxford to the famed Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland, etc. What’s more, the entire room is clad in fixtures crafted entirely of black Burma teak—an extraordinarily expensive and almost extinct material today. The bookcases were crammed with books, each one of which is carefully cataloged and numbered so that, using the online resources and catalogue, one can now easily retrieve a book from the stacks in minutes! A very kind and helpful librarian very proudly put us through the paces and showed us how much the institution had modernized itself in recent years. I was also struck by the glorious milk-glass globes on the lighting fixtures—all of which are original to the building. To enter into spaces like these is to wander into a bygone era. I’d had this experience a day previously at the Parsi-founded Ripon Club (named after another Bombay colonial worthy, Lord Ripon) opposite the Fort campus of the University of Bombay, where the black ebony furniture, lights and ceiling fans had transported me to a long-lost past.
We were allowed to wander out on to the large balcony overlooking the main road below from which I had a magnificent view of a towering skyscraper clad entirely in white marble. This is the new Reserve Bank of India Building, completed in 1979. It stands directly opposite the original Reserve Bank of India building that dates from the early 1900s. I spent almost 3 years working on the 23rd floor of this new building on the Editorial board of the bank’s quarterly house-journal, ‘Without Reserve’ while doing my Masters in English by evening classes at the nearby Fort campus of the University of Bombay. Lovely memories! Of course, I took a few pictures and then Maria and returned inside.
Examining the State Central Library Public Reading Room:
The next thing we examined was the Main Free Public Reading Room of the State Central Library. This is the main part of the Town Hall and consists of a very bright and very spacious Reading Room concealed inside a very wide terrace. Louvred windows with slats to allow light and breeze to enter the room are also an attractive visual addition to the building. We saw several people sitting at the black Burma teak carved tables and either reading or looking at the phones. Along the sides of the room are stands holding a large variety of daily newspapers in varied languages. These are specifically designed to allow patrons to stand and read the newspapers and to turn the papers at will. This was the whole point of the public Reading Room—a wonderful Victorian concept that brought literacy and reading material to the poorest of the poor (if only they had the time to wander into Reading Rooms of this kind). The British created them all over Great Britain. There are several sprinkled around London where they are named after John Passmore Edwards, a public philanthropist, who believed sincerely in bringing reading material to Britons and created and paid for buildings devoted entirely for this purpose in London and in Cornwall (where he spent his childhood).
At one end of this Reading Room is a raised stage—I am sure the space was used for public meetings during the Victorian and Edwardian Ages. At the other end of the room is a splendid marble sculpture of Mountstuart Elphinstone, administrator & educationist. He championed the cause of education in India. My beloved alma mater, Elphinstone College, at Fort is named after him. He is not to be confused with John, Lord Elphinstone, whose sculpture is seen in the Asiatic Society next door—he was a colonial administrator.
We had one more room to view—the Durbar Hall. But my friend Shehernaz’s meeting had already begun inside and all I was permitted was a brief glimpse into it. I found it to be another room with a stage (probably also used for large meetings—including perhaps rallies that fought for Indian Independence) with a large number of gorgeous oil-portraits on the walls.
The Presence of Hermes in the Asiatic Society:
I was not able to take a picture of the Durbar Hall, but as I was exiting the Hall, my eye was caught by a most unusual decoration on the wall—a frame with a picture in bright, shocking pink. I took one glimpse at it and recognized it immediately as a framed silk scarf by the Parisian couturier, Hermes. And indeed I was right.
This stunning silk scarf by Hermès, Paris, was specially commissioned by the Asiatic Society of Bombay (if you look right down at the bottom in the center you will see it printed in the design). It is titled ‘Le Danse du Cheval Marwari’—the Dance of the Marwari Horse!!! I was just fascinated by my find and could see a mild connection as the beautiful showroom of Hermes is at Horniman Circle, right outside the Town Hall. It was only later that Shehernaz informed me that Hermes is a generous benefactor of the Asiatic Society and has provided a great deal of grants and funding for the Society’s projects. This framed scarf pays tribute to that brilliant collaboration.
On our way out of the Town Hall (we decided to use the main doors and descend the grand stairs), we stopped for a moment on the wide balcony and made a startling discovery. According to my book, this was the exact spot from which the Proclamation of Queen Victoria was read out to the people of Bombay in 1858! It gave me goosebumps to think of that historical moment when power passed from the East India Company to the British Crown and when Queen Victoria titled herself Empress of India! Of course, we had to take a picture at that historic spot.
Viewing the Horniman Gardens from the Town Hall:
As I have already explained, the Town Hall dominated the Bombay Green and indeed, until circa 1864, before the design and construction of Horniman Circle, was the only structure of its kind in the area. In 1864, however, Mountstuart Elphinstone and Bartle Frere came up with the idea of designing the nucleus of the city of Bombay by making the Town Hall its very center. Facing the Town Hall would be a circular garden which was named for Lord Elphinstone and became known as Elphinstone Circle. It was conceived entirely in line with the grand squares that had sprouted up in London during the glamorous 18th century—a tradition that continued into the 19th century.
And where there is a square (or a circle), there is bound to be a garden! And immediately, I was able to see a wealth of similarities in the design of the Horniman Circle Garden and those of London’s best-known public parks. Indeed, when Victoria Park was laid out and designed in the East End, it was created in an attempt to bring lungs to the farthest reaches of the city that housed some of the poorest of London’s poor folks. It was named after the reigning monarch, but the features were similar to those found in Hyde Park or in Green Park. At Horniman Circle, they include the spectacular wrought-iron garden gates, identical to the ones found in London’s Victorian parks. There is also the solid wrought-iron fencing that encircles the garden. Taken together, you have the best examples of what is called ‘street furniture’. There are also gorgeous wrought-iron lamps and lamp posts flanking the garden gates—all crafted in ornate Victorian style. At one time, they were probably gas-lit; no doubt, the arrival of electricity changed their strength and character. After Independence, the name of Elphinstone Circle was changed to Horniman Circle after Benjamin Guy Horniman, editor of the Bombay Chronicle—the entire archive is held at the Asiatic Society—who actively championed freedom of the Indian press during the struggle for home rule.
The buildings around Horniman Circle were designed by James Scott. They are all of four storey height with the ground level colonnaded and arcaded (like Connaught Circus in New Delhi). Once the Circle was laid out, it made sense to create a garden inside and in 1869, huge trees such as the banyan tree, were planted to bring stature and greenery to the space. I was delighted to find, upon visiting the garden (after lunch) that it is used in exactly the same way that the London parks are used today—by office-goers who need to get a breath of fresh air, munch on their lunch or relax before returning to their stuffy offices.
Lunch at Bademiya’s:
By this point in our rambles, our tummies beckoned urgently and Maria made the suggestion that we adjourn for lunch. She had a place in mind—Bademiya’s, a restaurant that is run by the Kebab King of Bombay. Bademiya, a Muslim mendicant (according to the notes on his large menu card) started his career selling grilled kebabs on skewers on the pavement in one of the side-streets outside the Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba. So great was the quality of his food that word spread and soon, the well-heeled drove by in their fancy to cars to pick up his delicacies. No longer was Bademiya a purveyor of kebabs for the lowly. His reputation soared with his prices and it was not long before the need to set up a regular restaurant sprang to mind. I am not sure when this eatery opened, but it has an enviable location at Horniman Circle where, no doubt, in the days before the pandemic, it catered to the vast office hordes of the area.
On the afternoon in question, there were only four other patrons when we walked in. We surveyed the menu, asked for cold Cokes to get us started (as the Bombay heat, at the moment, does have a tendency to parch) and then went for the Baida Roti (Egg flatbread) for which he is famed. I chose the Mutton Baida Roll while Maria went for the chicken choice. And indeed they were superb. The mutton and chicken were boneless and mixed with a variety of flavorful Indian spices (not necessarily fiery ones) and eaten with the delicious base in which they were served, they were like giant stuffed parathas. They made an excellent meal, but, as is usually the case, portions are larger than Maria and I can finish and we invariably end up requesting doggie bags. What a great place for a reasonably-priced meal in the heart of the city!
Exploring St. Thomas’ (Anglican) Cathedral:
One of my favorite places in the entire city of Bombay is St. Thomas’ (Anglican) Cathedral. Although I grew up in Bombay, I only really became acquainted with the Cathedral after I left Bombay. During the years that I would return to the city as an expat, I always made it a point to visit South Bombay and St. Thomas’ Cathedral was always on my list of places to visit. Indeed, no visit to the city seemed complete to me without factoring in a visit to this spot.
The Cathedral dates from 1718—this makes it the oldest Anglican Cathedral in Bombay (the Afghan Church at the southernmost tip of Bombay was constructed later in the 19th century). By this time the earliest administrators of the East India Company and the members of the British army posted in the new trading post of Bombay needed a permanent place to worship. While the original building might have been humbler, the beautiful, triple-tiered, square-spired structure, is a much grander affair.
You enter the quiet front garden of the church and are transported immediately to a sacred space. But even before you enter the gates, you are struck by a beautiful, antiquated structure in the garden. This marble fountain outside the Cathedral was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott who also designed the Library Building at the Fort campus of the University of Bombay (the one with the Rajabai Clock Tower) which I had used throughout my college years in Bombay& the Chapel of Exeter College, Oxford (where I did doctoral research). It is no longer a working fountain but it is beautifully preserved. I find it quite striking in design as it seems to be inspired by the various ‘crosses’ in the UK—such as Charing Cross in London, Banbury Cross in Banbury (made famous by the nursery rhyme) & the Martyrs Memorial in Oxford.
When you do enter the cathedral, you are completely taken by the air of quiet reflection, even when there are no services in progress. There were a few people scattered around the church engaged in silent prayer. Maria and I moved to the very front so that we could take in the details of the exquisite stained glass windows. We also noticed the pew on which Mother Teresa (now St. Teresa of Calcutta) had sat during her visit to the Cathedral.
And then we began our tour of the spectacular Victorian mortuary sculptures that line the walls of the church. These are dedicated to those colonials who served the cause of the Empire, either as soldiers or as administrators. As was the custom of the time, they are remembered in the church in the form of grand marble sculptured monuments that were sculpted in England and shipped to the colony of Bombay. Names, dates, places associated with their births and deaths and the causes of their deaths are carved into them. As we strolled from one monument to the next, I noticed a repetitive pattern: a number of monuments that feature angels or mourning vestal virgins or female Muses. There were a great deal of monuments featuring Urns (urns being the receptacle that hold our mortal remains in the form of ashes). Military motifs were common symbols in these funerary monuments too as a great number of the fallen dead died on colonial battlefields in India. It is important to note the military standards, cannons, cannon balls, rifles & revolvers.
My very favorite of all the funerary monuments in the Cathedral is dedicated to John Duncan, Governor of Bombay. It symbolizes the abolition by the British of infanticide in Benares & Kathiawar. Because Benaras is the holy city of Hinduism, the British (and Duncan, in particular) in their mission probably solicited the cooperation of the Hindu Brahmins who run the city. Hence, the monument features a Hindu Brahmin as well as a classical Greek female figure—probably representing Westernization. I love the juxtaposition of the Hindu & Christian figures represented by the Brahmin & the classically-garbed woman. It is probably the only Christian mortuary monument in the world featuring a Hindu Brahmin! I also adore the little cherubs at the base—representing the children saved from infanticide. The realism of the sculpture moves me deeply.
Before exiting the cathedral, I noticed the Baptismal Font (still in use) which dates from the 1600s—I noticed at least 5 types of stone used in its design.
On Foot Back to Churchgate:
By this time, we were read to call it a day and began walking back to Churchgate Station. On Sir P.M. Road, as the distinctive monument called Flora Fountain came into view, I noticed how beautifully she rose between the turrets of the Central Telegraph Office and I just had to take a picture. Recently cleaned and refurbished, the fountain gives its name to the entire area. It is a true poem in marble as it celebrates the Greek goddess of flowers, Flora, and is surrounded by skeins of flowers and other classical Greek motifs.
On the street as we made our way ahead, I noticed two more sculptures. One more of Sir JJ. This one in black bronze is on the street—alongside the Oval Maidan between Flora Fountain and Churchgate Station. Bombay’s street sculpture is truly remarkable. On this one afternoon, I passed by sculptured statues of Lokmanya Tilak and Mahadev Govind Ranade—both eminent freedom-fighters--standing opposite each other.
Finally, just before we entered the station to board our train, I noticed one more building that took my breath away. The striking black & white facade of the HQ of the Western Railway designed in Indo-Saracenic style with contrasting black granite & white stone sits right outside Churchgate Station. In fact, few know that Churchgate got its name because there was a gate (at the site of the station today) through which you would pass on entering the premises of the Church (later Cathedral) of St Thomas.
A few minutes later, we were on the train headed home and so ended another installment of my Thursday Trudging! In the Ladies First Class compartment (which Maria and I had entirely to ourselves), we had a very comfortable ride home to Bandra station where we hopped into a rick that dropped me outside my building. It had been a most marvelous day and one truly well spent.
Teaching in the Evening and off to my Soup Kitchen Duty:
I had enough time to actually take a 20-minute nap before I engaged my student for her private zoom tutorial. When I was done, I rushed off to my Soup Kitchen Duty after which I went straight to church for the 7 pm evening Mass. I was then home for dinner and some TV before I brushed and flossed my teeth, did a bit of reading and called it a night.
Thanks for being my companion on these armchair travels.
Until next Thursday…
