A walk in the Dadar Parsi Colony in Mumbai

A yellow carpet graces the tree-shaded broad road. The copper pods have shed their flowers. The bungalows on both sides of this road are old, not more than three storeys high, and they ooze with character. Elements of Neo Classical and Art Deco architecture styles with rounded corners feature in all these houses. The recurrence of the Zoroastrian symbol of Faravahar— a bearded man standing on a pair of wings with one hand reaching forward— makes it obvious: I am in the Dadar Parsi Colony in Mumbai.

Who are the Parsis

The Zoroastrians are followers of the ancient Iranian prophet Zoroaster. They worship the deity, Ahura Mazda. The faith is said to have roots in 2000 BCE Persia, present day Iran. The Zoroastrians fled Iran in 700 CE to avoid persecution by the Arab-Muslims. Some of them reached the shores of Gujarat and since then they have flourished in India. Here they are referred to as the “Parsis”.

From Gujarat, the Parsis have migrated southwards and a considerable population now resides in Bombay; in fact to a large extent it is thought by many that “Parsis have built Bombay.” Some of the noteworthy members who have contributed to the well-being of the city and the country includes Jamshedji Tata, Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Ardeshir Godrej and many more.

The History of Dadar Parsi Colony

The Dadar Parsi Colony in Mumbai is considered the largest colony of Zoroastrians (“the Parsis”) in the world. Pre-1920s, just the Fort area (of Mumbai) constituted the city of Bombay(!!). The core area was for the Europeans and rich Indians, the Parsis among them. Neighbourhoods in the Esplanade and Back Bay were for the semi-rich and the poor who served the rich.

The Bubonic plague of 1920s claimed several lives in the city. Keeping hygiene in mind the British decided to develop the suburbs. This is how Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion came up. Overtime these places were connected to the Fort area by a network of trams. Mancherji Edulji Joshi, a Karachi-born Parsi civil engineer who was involved in the planning of the suburbs, convinced the municipality to reserve 100+ plots for the middle-class Parsis living in the Fort area.

He meticulously planned the layout of the Parsi colony. Houses are spacious with lawns. They are not more than three storeys tall. Each lane has its own “mascot” trees. For example, Jame Jamshed Road is planted with Ashoka trees, Mancherji Joshi Road is full of copper pods, Firdausi Road is lush with Mahogany. A section of Parsis, considered middle class by the Fort standard, migrated from Fort area to the Dadar Parsi Colony. According to a 2009 estimate, around 10,000 Parsis live in this colony.

Walking through the lanes

It is an early Sunday morning and the colony is sleepy. We loiter around Café 792, a café lodged inside a plush Parsi house. It is shut on Sundays. The café is in a corner position, to its one side is Tilak Road and on its other side is Mancherji Joshi Chowk— a circular area with a whitewashed bust of Mancherji Joshi hemmed by ornamental bushes.

Standing at Café 792, we face the bust of Mancherji, take a right and go straight. A few houses ahead, the lane reaches a blind end. Some houses do have a fourth floor but the topmost floor looks much newer. It must be a recent addition. Dried leaves crunch beneath our feet. Old banyan trees with a mesh of prop roots create a mystical aura. Cats perch themselves on the boundary walls of the residences. These furry babies meow and come to us for cuddles.

Once the lane ends, we turn around, walk till the chowk, and take the Mancherji Joshi Road. The name of the houses and the numbers are often written in Gujarati scripts. The spacious yards have cars and scooters parked. Every floor of the house has a central verandah/corridor, often graced by wood-panelled arched columns, the faravahar welcoming you at the main entrance.

Some houses need a fresh coat of paint, some have boards like “proposed redevelopment” sticking in the yard. There is a lot going on with their architecture. One single house is graced by four balconies with four different patterns. There are stained glass light shafts. Half of the outer walls have latticed windows and the other half have open windows. These houses look maintenance heavy.

Some houses are barricaded. They are already undergoing redevelopment. We are not sure if floors are being added or the whole structure is being rebuilt. Most of the old houses have sloped ceilings. We come across a yellow house with neoclassical architecture, its name is “Readymoney Building,” Such an intriguing name! Then we see more buildings with the same name.

We read up on it later and find out that Readymoney was the surname of the developer who raised these buildings. Parsis in India generally took up surnames that reflect their professions. The Readymoney family found success and money in opium trade with China. They loaned money to the Britishers at short notice, hence this surname. Joggers run by as we pass by more such buildings. Some are in dire need of maintenance. Through the rounded corners of the balconies there are visible fissures.

We arrive at the Rustom Framna Agiary. An agiary, also known as Fire Temple, is a place of worship for the Zoroastrians. At the heart of any agiary is a holy fire. Rituals are conducted around it. This agiary was established in 1930s by Rustom Framna. According to this, Rustom Framna was a poor boy who joined a drama entourage. He was also a cook. He was temporarily hired by a Maharaja of Jaipur to cook for him. His dishes were so much liked by the Maharaja that Rustom Framna was permanently hired. He even inaugurated a hotel to cater to the Europeans. He had no heir and hence his wealth was used to finance this agiary.

The exclusivity of the Parsis

Non-Parsis are banned from entering agiaries. In the Dadar Parsi Colony, non-Parsis are not allowed to live. If my husfriend’s Parsi friend is to be believed, Parsis are thrown out of Parsi colonies if they marry a non-Parsi. So yes, the Parsis are very stringent about protecting their unique identity. Their exclusivity is also becoming the reason for their impending extinction. Cases have come to fore where a 5 year old child of a Parsi woman married to a half-Parsi man was not allowed entry to the colony gym on grounds of the father’s half-Parsi identity.

The Dadar Parsi Colony is the only unwalled Parsi colony in Mumbai. The other Parsi colonies like Cusrow Baug in Colaba, Rustom Baug of Byculla are all walled ones. They are just as spacious, with gardens, temples, sports, and cultural arenas. All these Parsi colonies (baugs) were developed after the Bubonic plague by philanthropic Parsis to provide housing to their community members at minimal price. Lately they are mostly maintained by private and public trusts like Bombay Parsi Panchayet(BPP). Due to the Rent Control Act, the rent of these colonies has not increased much. The rent of plush apartments in Cusrow Baug in Colaba is INR 1000 – INR 2000 per month even today!

The land on which these baugs are built were leased from the government. While the one in Colaba had a 99 year lease, the Dadar Parsi Colony has a 999 years lease. The former’s renewal date is here and of course no one is ready to pay the exorbitant charges, hence legal battle continues.

Continuing the walk

We cross the famous house named Philomena and arrive at Rustom Tirandaz Marg, a space with a triangular garden. We go straight ahead and reach the Firdausi Road, the one planted with Mahogany trees. Further ahead is the popular Mancherji Joshi Five Gardens, also known as the 5 gardens of Matunga. There is one central garden or park and surrounding it are four more gardens or parks. They are denoted by alphabets A, B, C, D and E.

Garden D has the most welcoming and playful vibe with people jogging and playing badminton. In Garden C some young boys are playing cricket. I feel it is the most hazardous park. I see a cricket ball fall on the street. A player picks it up and throws the ball towards the field. It hits the banner board at entry and ricochets towards the road and misses hitting the glass of an auto plying on Lady Jehangir Road by a fraction of a second. Some are doing yoga in Garden B. Garden A was quiet and Garden E (the central garden) is closed for some reason.

We continue to walk on the Jame Jamshed Road, cross quaint villas and stop in front of a pink hued building. I read somewhere that this was painted pink as some Bollywood shooting was going on and then the paint was never removed. The Dadar Parsi Colony is a favourite haunt for filmmakers. Special 26, Rustom, Bombay Velvet, Naam Shabaana, Ghanchakkar, No One Killed Jessica, Aamir, Talaash, Sanam Teri Kasam, Ek thi Dayan, Hitchki, Meri Pyaari Bindu, Naam Shabana and many more movies have it as the backdrop.

We now come across another intriguing mansion. It is a modern, newly built highrise that looks tremendously unique. The gates are carved with a group of men holding spears. The outer walls of the staircase at the entrance have similar etchings along with a Faravahar. There are interesting carvings and scripts all throughout the outer wall of the tower building. Google says it is the Della Tower.

21 storied Della Tower was developed by a Parsi architect Jimmy Mistry. Persian architecture and design elements have influenced him and what makes Della Tower unique is that it has its very own Fire Temple! In the inauguration event, Bollywood stars like Boman Irani and Nauheed Cyrusi were noted. Our self-guided walk ends here.

Famished after this walk we rush to Café Colony Stores and Restaurant, a Parsi café. [UPDATE: A fellow reader, Aadil Desai, has pointed out that Cafe Colony is not a Parsi(as in Zoroastrian owned cafe) but an Irani-Muslim cafe. Read more about them here. Thank you Aadil.] As with most heritage Parsi Irani eateries, these are no-nonsense old-world cafes. You are expected to order soon, finish your food soon and leave soon. It is literally printed in their menu (“kindly don’t sit for a long time”) and they accept nothing but cash. Also, they serve nothing but fresh and good food at inexpensive price. A heavy breakfast of mutton keema ghotala(INR 180), bun muska(INR 45), Irani pudding(INR 60), and Gaz(an Irani sweet made of camel milk and dry fruits, INR 40) later we call it a day!

NOTE:

The “organisers” had no clue of what happens in guided walks

We go on guided walks which are paid, discounted or free (when someone offers) often. Some of the awesome communities we have gone out with are No Footprints, Khaki Tours, Marine Life of Mumbai, Soul Travelling, Mrugyaya Expeditions and more. This walk was a free one (for everyone) and it was organised by a page on Instagram with lots of followers. They call themselves a community, they seem legit and so we joined the “group” at their given date and time.

The admin of the page was at the meeting point wearing the community logo embossed t-shirt. This person was joined by a few others wearing the same t-shirts. Someone from the team introduced themselves, explained the decorum, for example no littering and making noise. Then the person stated the starting point of the walk.

To our shock, that was the only interaction done by them. Nothing about the history of the place, no house-specific stories, no architecture details, no human specific stories, absolutely nothing was explained. Even casual interaction was not done. The t-shirt wearing “leaders” moved around in their own groups and the others just trailed them. Pathetic is an understatement.

After tolerating this nonsense for 45 minutes, we decided to stop trailing them. We Googled our way, and were just on our own. This was the most bizarre walk experience we ever had. This is not how walks are conducted at all. If I am to Google the information and chart my own map then why should I bother turning up at a date and time fixed by a stranger. At the end I felt fooled and cheated.

After having so many good experiences at walks I let my guards down and this happened. So sisters and their brothers, keep in mind not everyone conducting “walks” is worth your time.

*****

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