Did you know (Part 2)

Hope you all enjoyed the first part of my discoveries into Mumbai’s history and are ready for some more interesting bites of information!! Did you know….

The Victoria Terminus was designed by a British architect and took 10 years to complete. There are a number of animals carved into the facade of the building and it also has a lion (representing England) and a tiger (representing India) at the gate including a lot of flora and fauna on the facade. This was because even though the architect was British, the workers, laborers and artists were all Indian. It was named "Victoria Terminus" in honour of the Queen and Empress Victoria.

The Victoria Terminus Station

The lady that stands on top of the station is not Queen Victoria but the Lady of Progress holding a torch pointing upwards in her right hand and a spoked wheel in her left hand.

The Lady of Progress

The Ambassador Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Mumbai. It has a revolving restaurant that is called the “Pearl of the Orient”. Each revolution takes 90 minutes.

Ambassador Hotel

The Bombay High Court was built in the 1800s. To the west of the central tower are two octagonal towers. The statues of the Lady of Justice and the Lady of Mercy are atop this building – have you ever noticed them there???

Lady of Justice

Lady of Mercy

The Rajabai Tower was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, an English architect. He modeled on Big Ben, in London. It is said that he never once came to Mumbai to see his creation while it was being made! It was started March 1, 1869 and construction lasted 9 years. The total cost of construction came to Rs. 2 lakhs which was paid by Premchand Roychand, a prosperous broker who founded the Bombay Stock Exchange on the condition that the tower be named after his mother Rajabai.

Rajabai Tower

All the buildings in the University of Mumbai’s premises have beautiful stained glasses. In fact it has the highest collection of stained glass windows. In the Convention Hall of the University of Mumbai building there is a huge circular window (24-feet in diameter), also known as the Rose Window which has a design of the Zodiac signs.

The Flora Fountain was originally to be named after Sir Bartle Frère, the Governor of Bombay at the time, whose efforts to improve civic sanitation and the urban space requirements of the growing city had resulted in many of the great public buildings of Mumbai. However, the name was changed before the fountain was unveiled as Flora Fountain, named after the Goddess Flora, a Roman Goddess of flowers and the season of spring.

Flora Fountain

David Sasson, a Jewish businessman, he traded with China. He grew as a business man and built one of the largest and most beautiful synagogues of India, the Magen David Synagogue at Byculla, Bombay. He also constructed the Sassoon Dock at Colaba, one of the largest docks ever built in Bombay among other institutions.

David Sasson Library

Maybe you would all know this one... The Taj Mahal hotel was built because Jamsedji Tata decided to build the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city's grand hotels of the time, Watson's Hotel, as it was restricted to "whites only". And yes, do you know that the hotel has been built in the opposite direction than the original architectural plans??

The Taj Mahal Hotel

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the little tit-bits about Bombay - the original Mumbai!!!

Did you know? (Part 1)

Last week I went on a Heritage Bus Ride which was part of the Kala Ghoda Festival and the things that I learnt were amazing! Did you know….

The Police Headquarters near Regal cinema was once a sailor’s home where sailors would rest when visiting Mumbai. On the top of the building one can see King Neptune that is carved in stone.

King Neptune carved on top of the Police Headquarters

The Yacht Club which lies on the right side of the road as you approach the Gateway of India is not the original Yacht Club! The original club is the building that is opposite! It was shifted after the lease of the original club lapsed.

The Colaba Causeway is so called because it was built to join the islands of Colaba and Little Colaba. All roads that were built to join the islands together were called causeways hence Mahim Causeway!

The Regal circle was previously known as the Wellington circle and the fountain that stands there even today was known as the Wellington fountain and was built to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's visit to Bombay in 1801.

The Wellington Fountain

Churchgate is so called because it was an opening from the sea to the first church in Mumbai – the St. Thomas’ Cathedral, Fort.

Churchgate Station

All the land from Nariman Point to the Oval Maidan is reclaimed land.

The Fort area in Mumbai derives its name from the fact that the area fell within an actual fort! A small fragment survives as part of the eastern boundary wall of the St. George's Hospital. The buildings that are on D.N. Road like the Thomas Cook building and Siddharth college building are built where the moat of the Fort was!

The Bombay Gymkhana was formed in 1875 exclusively for Europeans. There was a sign which hung outside which said “Coloured people and Pets Not Allowed”. Indians then began started various gymkhanas based on the different communities existing in Mumbai at that time. Hence, various Parsi, Muslim, and Hindu gymkhanas were started nearby with fierce sports competitions among them being organized on a communal basis.

The first test cricket match was played on the grounds of the Bombay Gymkhana! This match was between India and England in 1933 where England won by 9 wickets.

Glimpses of Kala Ghoda, Feb 2012

It is that time of the year again when the Kala Ghoda Festival comes to tingle our art sense and love for culture. Whether it is through the innovative and creative installations or the colourful paintings or the performances that are showcased, culture drips from each second of the 9 day festival! As usual I have made sure that I am present for most of the days during the festival.

This year, most of the stage performances were held at Cross Maidan. There were also a few folk dances at the amphitheatre at Kala Ghoda. I managed to watch a long awaited dance form - the Lavni! This is one of Maharashtra's traditional dances which are performed to a dholak. Check out a brief video of the dance.

A few evenings ago, I attended a Flamenco dance routine at the Cross Maidan. The twirl of the dresses accompanied by the foot stomping kept me engrossed and by the end of the 4 routines my eyes and heart longed for more!! The way the dancers swayed to the music and the enthusiasm they exhibited on the stage, the audience, me included were transfixed to the dancing figures. See the twirls here...

The dances continued late into the night and as I walked home I found myself walking to the rhythm of the beats of the Flamenco! Ole!!!

Back again!

After a really long hiatus and a huge writer's / blogger's block I am back! Hopefully this time the writing will continue on a regular basis! 

A Moth Attack, A Leaping Frog, Snails and Insects on the Dinner table – My Kolad Adventure

What do you get when you have six girls excited about going out on a weekend trip? Well, for starters you get a little of noise, you hear high pitched voices, a mass of giggles and of course as they pass you, you feel you are in the middle of a mini tornado! This was the situation as we made our way out of office to our ride to take us to Kolad.

The drive to Kolad was a medley of traffic and the rains till we reached the perimeters of the city. Once we crossed Panvel and made our way to Penn the skies were dotted with dark rains which showered us with cool droplets of rain. The lush green surroundings banked on each side of the road instantly took us to another level of peace!

We reached our destination at Kolad – Sai Farms around 7 p.m. We trudged to out room where we found 6 beds neatly made and our bags came tumbling onto them. As we stepped out onto the balcony we were greeted by a breathtaking sight of a long lazy river across our room.

After chilling on the balcony our growling stomachs reminded us that it was time for dinner. We made our way to the dining area and sat down while our eyes looked longingly at the kitchen mesh doors. And at that very moment out of the corner of my eye I saw my team member leap off her chair!! And she yelled “Frog!!” I was intrigued by the frog and went towards it. As it leaped to get out of the way, my team member leaped along with it – but in the opposite direction!!

As we settled down after the frog leapt to safety under a cupboard, we all became aware of all the insect lives around us. There were creepy crawly insects, big and small around us and a few on the table too giving us company for dinner! ;)

Soon after we served ourselves dinner, the Moth Attack started… Two – three moths (beautiful ones I must say!) started flying around. And their dance around us was guided by the shrill shrieks of my friends who felt that they were under a Moth Attack!! Due to this “attack” they shifted to a table that was unlit and completed their meal without further visitors to their table!

After a scrumptious meal we made our way back to our room and turned in for the night as the next day would see us doing an adventure sport….

Independent in the whole sense?

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.
- Rabindranath Tagore

As we in India embark on our 63rd year of independence I wonder if we are truly independent….

Independent from corruption, independent from terrorism, independent from tyranny from small time thugs, independent from our fellow human beings who don’t seem to want to have anything to do with you…

We may be independent such that we have no other country ruling us – but are we independent of the so called leaders that we have running the country today?

I am proud to be an Indian, free from the rule of another, free to make my own decisions, free to live the way I want…. But there are aspects of this independent India that hit me and make me wonder what went wrong with us and why?

Why do the same free Indians want to make an extra buck during the Commonwealth games? We have gathered media attention for sure but for all the wrong reasons.

Why do we have to keep one of our most beautiful states under curfew day after day due to violence in the valley? Why can’t we diffuse the internal terrorism in the north and the east? Has human life lost its value? Aren’t we still under someone else’s rule?

Coming nearer to home we are kept hostage by our fellow humans be it the force that believes that Maharashtra can only have people who are only Maharashtrians; or be it the regular men in khaki who refuse to drive you to your chosen destination – so much so that we had to go on a “strike” against them?

So as we embark on our 63rd year of Independence I would like independence from corruption, from terrorism… May I ask for my fellow Indians to work towards a truly Independent India?

This is indeed India! The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the moldering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.
- Mark Twain

Zoroastrianism and few of its Rituals

Zoroastrianism is a ritual intensive religion. Rituals are an integral part of the religious life. On the basis of their purposes and functions of the rituals, they can be divided into various groups like Thanksgiving Rituals known as Jashans; Consecration Rituals known as Visperad, Videvdad etc; Rites of Passage known as Navjote, Navar and Maratab (initiations), Marriage and Death among other various rituals.

The word “Navjote” is derived from two words Nav (new) and Zot (offerer of prayers). The Navjote ceremony is performed of all Parsi children both boys and girls, generally between the ages of 7 to 9. The ritual involves 3 stages – purification, presentation and benedictions. The main purpose of this ritual is to ceremoniously invest the child with the Sadra “the sacred shirt” and the Kasti “the sacred girdle”. The Kasti is made of 72 strands of sheep’s wool intricately woven with ritual observances. Wool symbolizes innocence. It is known to be able to absorb evil vibes and thus act as a protective shield. As shown below there are 9 parts of the Sadra.

Zoroastrian marriages are generally solemnized after sunset, as it was one of the promises given to the Hindu King Jadav Rana by the ancestors of Zoroastrians who came from Iran to India about 1200 years ago. Marriages can also be solemnized in fire temples in the morning. The marriage ritual is referred to as “the Ashirwad” since the priests give “ashirvad” (blessings) to the couple. The senior priest starts the initial part of the Ashirvad, during which rice grains or a mixture of rice, coconut shreds, pomegranate seeds and rose petals are showered on the couple. These items are significant as they all carry a meaning: coconut – symbol of utility and helpfulness to each other and society; rice – indicative of prosperity and plenty; pomegranate – symbolizes fertility and abundance of children and rose petals – indicate fragrance of happiness in married life.

The Zoroastrian mode of disposal of the dead is designed to ensure theological correctness, ecological safeguards and spiritual fortification. The Dokhma (Tower of Silence) is a consecrated circular structure built of stone. Dokhmenashini is the only valid Zoroastrian system of disposal of the mortal remains. The system upholds two of the basic tenets of the religion:

Disposing the corpse, as quickly as possible with the least possible harm to the living people as also any creations like earth, water, air and especially fire.

Least harm or discomfort to the soul which is now getting ready to go to its first stage of its journey into the other realms.