A ghostly way of exploring Girgaon in Mumbai
On a Saturday night in January, we wait in front of the gates of Saifee Hospital at Charni Road in Mumbai. We are here for the “Grisly Girgaon Ghostwalk” conducted by Khaki Tour. It is a walking tour that is supposed to take us through the nooks and corners of Girgaon that has a dark past (and sometimes present). I want to know Mumbai beyond its skyscrapers— I want to know the wadis and chawls. I do not mind the spooky theme.
Once the walk starts, the guide very clearly conveys to us “please do not expect a ghost in white saree who will do wyaaaaaa” (his actual words 😀 ). I have a feeling some people do turn up with that kind of expectation and so he felt this disclaimer is needed. Lucky for him none in our group are that stupid and we start the walk with a hearty laugh.
When I first saw the flyer of the walk I was very intrigued. I think of Girgaon as a happening, posh and busy place. Marine Drive, Chowpatty beach, Pizza by the Bay, expensive hotels, hotshot offices – oh the best location of Mumbai! A location where I could never afford to live, literally. How can this place have ghosts? This is where the past of Mumbai comes into play.
History of Bombay
Mumbai was an archipelago of seven islands—Colaba, Little Colaba, Mazgaon, Worli, Mahim, Parel and Bombay. It was controlled by various Indian royalties before the Portuguese acquired it. The archipelago passed on to the British after a royal marriage between a Portuguese princess and an English king. The king then leased the land away to the English East India Company(EIC). Once the company took hold of the islands, they eventually joined the islands by ‘filling’ the sea.
On the isle of ‘Bombay,’ a literal fort was constructed. This area is currently known as the Fort area of present-day Mumbai. The fort was a place for the Europeans and rich Indians – the elites. The poor indigenous population who served for the elites were made to settle in unplanned neighbourhoods at demarcated locations outside the fort. Since the fort faced east and it was the hub of all important activities, the western part of the city was not spared much thought. The ‘Back Bay’ was indeed treated as the back of the city and at its coast the dead were buried— bang on where Girgaon stands today!
Walking with the dead
These days everything in Girgaon is posh, even the graveyards. Our walk starts by gawking at the gates of a Bohri graveyard. People buried here must be influential and wealthy, I hear. Forget living in Girgaon, even dying in Girgaon is not financially feasible for me, I realise.
Moving forward with the stories, we hear of another Sunni Muslim graveyard somewhere near where butter is offered at one niche of a grave. This particular grave has become a prayer-zone. I am shocked to hear that people even eat that offered butter directly from the niche!
Stories about the neighbourhood has just started. A garden with a grisly past going after children, a Marathi family struck by a tragedy and haunted by the ghost of their daughter, yet another local family irritated by the ghost of a Dutch soldier. The spookiness of the night is building up.
On a non-descript lane we stop! “See this plaque. You are walking on dead bodies”. My jaw drops. Who would have imagined a no-nonsense busy Mumbai lane in this posh area would have dead bodies underneath? In Girgaon, there were graveyards of all communities. This particular one was a Christian graveyard that was given to the municipality as a good gesture so that the neighbourhood benefits from the road.
We pass by alleys and lanes of Girgaon. These are old habitations — some of these buildings are barely holding it together. Skyscrapers peek at them from above. These are the chawls and wadis that I have been curious about. Some are infamous for the notoriety associated with them. Dons of the underworld used to frequent them. The guide narrates a few historical accounts — facts and anecdotes— that used to happen here.
Next we arrive at a humble temple where solidified lava from an eruption that had happened 66 million years ago at Piton de la Fournaise in Reunion Island is worshipped. It is worshipped as a sacred rock representative of a deity. In this temple people troubled by evil spirits come for a solution. We also learn about a couple of more such shrines where people with advanced ‘cases’ go — a Hindu and a Muslim one.
In another temple, we see a cursed stone. It is basically a pictorial description of a slang carved on a stone. We learn the “whys” and “hows” of such weird inscriptions. It is funny but insightful in a way. We learn about the existence of a cigarette ghost, one who taps on the shoulder and asks for cigarette. It is hard to imagine a ghost like that roaming in contemporary Girgaon — making his way through the dug up roads, cranes, semi-dilapidated chawls and under-construction highrises.
Next we reach Keshavji Naik Chawl, the neighbourhood that started the first ever public Ganpati festival in Mumbai. Men ghosts, women ghosts, casteist ghosts, shape shifters, launder ghosts, there are no dearth of tales in the twists and turns of Girgaon.
Ghost tales in Khotachiwadi
We enter Khotachiwadi. This cute neighbourhood in Girgaon with Portuguese houses looks like Goa. Fairy lights twinkle in the wooden balconies of these houses. In 18th century plots of land were sold by the Pathare Prabhus(a Hindu upper caste community) to the ‘East Indians of Bombay’. The latter are original inhabitants of the archipelago of seven islands of Bombay who were converted to Christianity by the Portuguese. Most of these houses have been torn down or redeveloped as ugly highrises but a handful still remains.
We hear the grisly tales and walk in Khotachiwadi’s alleys, the same ones that have ghostly affairs associated with them. We pass the chapel that was established way back in the 1800s when the city was ravaged by a plague. There is even a Latin inscription to be found here.
Bits and pieces of history and Bombay of the past are all scattered around in this walk. Go on the walk for the history, the ghosts are just an added bonus.
Details:
- Price– INR 1000 + tax per head
- Duration– 2.5 hours
- Timing– Usually the walk starts at 10PM on a Saturday night and sometimes Friday night.
- Location– Charni Road, Mumbai
- How to book– This tour is conducted by Khaki Tours. Keep a watch out on their website or on their Instagram page. They announce the group tours on these sites.
- Requirement– Wear good walking shoes.
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Tania Banerjee
Tania is a freelance writer based in India who tinkers with words here and there but mostly focused on travel, food, arts and crafts. She writes for several Indian dailies and magazines.
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