Len and I took a walking tour of the old Fort Bombay. It is the oldest part of "British Bombay" and is the location of the fort built by the East India Company. The British received the 7 islands of Bombay from the Portuguese as a wedding gift when Charles II married Catherine of Braganza in 1662. (Where we live in Lower Parel was once a mangrove swamp.) Over the years the land was built up to connect all of the islands into one land mass. We started our tour here at this intersection, then walked to the Kala Ghoda square, and finished the tour at a local art gallery that had a print-making exhibit. Afterwards, we strolled around the University of Mumbai snapping pics of its gorgeous architecture.
This building was originally built as a place for sailors to stay by the port (that's Neptune in the pediment), now the headquarters of the Maharashtra Police. I love the windows that look like life-preservers.
Beautiful minarettes.
More examples of the Indo-Saracen style of architecture.
I could live in that little tower under the palm tree.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, aka the Prince of Wales Museum.
I want to go there next!
The dome was washed out by the hazy sky in the previous picture, so here's another.
I loved this moss covered finial at the museum's gate.
After we left that intersection we passed the Elephant gate...
...and the Lion gate.
We made it to Kala Ghoda square.
Elphinstone College.
The David Sassoon Library, built by David himself, the founder of the Sassoon family. Originally from Baghdad, he settled in Bombay. His eight sons spread out across the world setting up a trade empire. The Sassoons are sometimes called the "Rothschilds of the East". What I wonder is how are they related to Vidal? (Ha ha.) The building is also the only example of "miniature Gothic" architecture in Mumbai.
I had to take a detailed shot of the iron flowers...
...and black and white arches. The two-colored stone is a Victorian detail.
The Army & Navy building.
This building was actually the first to catch my eye. It was the only one in such a run-down condition, but I could tell that once upon a time it was something great. Our tour-guide told us at the beginning that our tour would end on a depressing note. This is the depressing note... the Watson Hotel. It is India's oldest cast iron building, and was pre-fabricated in England by the Watson brothers, and then assembled in Bombay during the 1860s. It became Bombay's premiere luxury hotel, and housed many famous people, including Mark Twain and the Lumiere brothers (who brought the cinema to Bombay). It closed in the 1960s, and now has about 50 families and 90 lawyers still using it. It is under a combination of a 999 year lease, and government rent control, yet no one with clear responsibility for its upkeep (made more costly as a heritage building). It is essentially slowly decaying. The building clearly has good structure, but what a fall from greatness.
That's the Rajabai clock tower from the University of Mumbai behind it.
The corner view.
And the other side of this huge building.
This little shack built on one of the balconies...while others crumble even more.
The white ribbon is a notification that the building is unsafe/condemned. I can't believe people still choose to live and work in it. There's also a big sign painted, "Enter at your own risk."
The Ws on the facade make me reminisce to a more romantic time...
...when the building looked like this. The tour guide was right, I left feeling depressed. I wonder what things in my life I'm leaving to decay, instead of refurbishing, maintaining, and strengthening.
Rajabai, we'll see you again soon.
Club 145, a cafe bar at Kala Ghoda. Kala Ghoda, literally "Black Horse" was named after a statue of the Prince of Wales (on a black horse) that used to stand where there is now a small parking lot. Over the years since the expulsion of the Brits in 1947, many of their statues have been destroyed or removed, while buildings and streets have been re-named. This area has remained being called Kala Ghoda even though the statue was removed in 1965.
Every year the area hosts the Kala Ghoda arts festival and many black horses are created to keep its nickname alive.
Rhythm House was a legend in its own right, with many famous musicians taking pilgrimage to it. I'm not sure if it has closed down or not, as an article I read dated November 2015 said it may shut down in February 2016. We'll have to go back and see. I hope it's still open!
Where does this doorway lead?
What has this window seen?
Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai's second oldest Orthodox synagogue. Established by David Sassoon's grandson, Jacob.
Some architectural detail of the synagogue...
...and some from the art gallery we visited. Right across from the gallery was a clothing store with beautiful gowns in its window displays.
Off on our own now. What's that peeking through the trees?
Some beautiful buildings and sculptures...
from the University of Mumbai.
Nice little tower.
This is all I want for my backyard, just lush greenery and several palm trees.
Coconut palms to be exact. I've never seen baby coconuts before.
Here's some young green ones. My favorite are when they're fully grown though. I could eat them almost every day (I say almost every day, because for a while I was eating them every day and did get a little sick of them. A vendor down the street sells them for 16 rupees each $0.32 Canadian!)
Hello there!
The Rajabai tower was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, who modeled it after Big Ben in London.
This spiral staircase was my favorite!
Such delicate, little beauties!
There are many statues like these on the buildings and they are here to remind us where we are, just in case we thought we were in the UK. I don't think we'd forget, nor would the vegetation let us anyway.
Such gorgeous detail.
I would happily come and go from this doorway.
Lace made out of stone, amazing!
I want some flower windows!
And Gothic arches!
Seriously, so lush!
I can understand how Romeo and Juliet could have an undisturbed balcony scene.
Meanwhile, next door...
is the High Court of Bombay.
We only walked by one side though as our feet were getting tired and I had just had a mini-emotional breakdown. A man approached us trying to sell us a mango drum. We weren't interested, but he kept pestering us and getting more and more desperate as we said no thanks. Finally, he said look man there's not many tourists out today and I'm hungry. At that point I would have bought him lunch (we were hungry too), but he left. I just started bawling and couldn't stop. Leonard held me on the side of the street while cars and people passed us and I was just shaking and crying so hard. Life is not fair! I do believe I am my brother's keeper and I don't want to see anyone hungry. It's just hard though because we are a family of 8 on a single income and we don't have money to burn. We try to be very generous in charitable donations, but I'm still always torn about what to do to help those I personally encounter on the streets. I guess it was just too much for me right then and I lost it. Later that day as we were driving home, I made the slightest of eye-contact with an old woman under the flyover as our driver stopped at an intersection. She immediately sent over a tiny little child to come and knock on my window for money. My usual compassion turned to anger and I wanted to yell at that old woman (who was surrounded by other younger women) and tell her that she needs to take care of that little girl, not have that little girl take care of her! I have never lived on the edge though, I have no idea what it's like to live in their shoes. A wonderful book that describes the poverty condition in Mumbai is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It is a fine balance between despair and hope.
Off the soap box and back to pretty pictures. How can you see these trees and not think of The Jungle Book?
If only I were Jane and could swing along side my Leonard-Tarzan.
I love this little shrine at its base too.
We passed these 2 guys and the big guy was huge! The little guy is the size of the largest snail I've ever seen elsewhere, so the other guy is just a giant!
Plumeria, I do love you!
And more tiny little beauties to bid you farewell!
