Not so notorious Bhendi Bazaar

There is an exotic notoriety about Bhendi Bazaar in Mumbai, once home to the famous dons of Bombay — people like Dawood Ibrahim. In this light, the Dongri-Bhendi Bazaar area has come up in conversations many times during my previous Bombay walks. And of course, Bollywood has enforced this stereotype as well. So, when I saw the Little Iran walk organized by Khaki Tours, I couldn’t wait to sign up for it!

It is March, summer is just setting in. Even in the heat and chaos, about 15 of us have gathered in a chock-a-block road headed by the leader, the Khaki expert, who has curated this walk. He sets the scene of Bombay of the past.

The history of Bombay

Mumbai used to be an archipelago of seven unimportant marshy islands— Colaba, Little Colaba, Bombay, Mazgaon, Worli, Mahim and Parel. The control of the archipelago was briefly enjoyed by the Portuguese before they gave it away as dowry to England when Catherine of Braganza married Prince Charles II of England in 1662. Since then, the British had broken the hills here and used the rocks to fill in the sea and creeks — the “reclaimation”. The islands were joined and now we have one single landmass.

The story of British Bombay started in the island of Bombay with a fortified city. The Europeans and rich Indians used to live within the fort. The poor people and the labour force who worked in the fort were allowed to settle outside the fort. This place came to be known as the “Native Town.” It is here that Bhendi Bazaar and Dongri exist.

This area is not just about gangsters. It has also been home to ordinary and extra-ordinary migrants from various backgrounds—Jews, Bengalis, but most importantly, the Iranis.

Migration from Iran

The first batch of Zoroastrians had fled Persia during 600 AD to avoid religious persecution. They are known as the ‘Parsis’ in India. They landed in Gujarat and eventually made their way to Bombay where they found immense success. Many of them have gotten rich by trading in opium. They have spent considerable part of that wealth in developing infrastructure in Bombay and invested a lot in social welfare.

A second batch of Zoroastrians migrated to India much later. Their footsteps were followed by some of the Shia Muslims of Iran. The migrants were from various sects of Shia Islam, like the Ismailis, Bohris, Khojas and even the Bahai’s, a sect that has splintered away from Islam and is considered a new faith.

They chose to settle in India, mainly for economic prosperity and a better life. They are largely referred to as the ‘Iranis’. Many of them had settled in the Bhendi Bazaar area—the very neighbourhood that we are going to explore.

The walk commences

After orientation, we first go to the gates of Ameen Imambada, a religious centre constructed in 1870s by a migrant from the city of Shiraz in Iran. The occasion of Muharram is observed here with great seriousness. Muharram is the first month in the Islamic calendar. The first 10 days of the month is considered a period of mourning. The Shias mourn the death of Hussain, the son in law of the Prophet. During this time sermons are served and passion plays mimicking the war at Karbala are held in the Imambada.

This is not the only Imambada here. A few minutes walk from here takes us to another Imambada that was constructed by an influential family who originally hailed from the city of Sushtar in Iran. The imambada used to have more open space but that land was claimed by the municipality when Sandhurst Road was constructed.

Here we get an earful from the guard who shoos us away. He is clearly offended that we have entered the Imambada complex.

We see the erstwhile Bombay jail. We hear stories of a Persian ambassador who was killed under the governorship of Jonathan Duncan and how money exchanged hands to hush the affair. Then we pass by an Imambada complex, narrow alleys, rickety doors and windows, and, interestingly, some people sitting in these alleys making brooms.

The earlier residents of Bhendi Bazaar, the Iranis, have made their fortunes and mostly moved out of this area. The rich ones now live in mansions in Malabar Hill and Bandra. Many of the current population here are Shia Muslims from Uttar Pradesh. The broom makers are probably one such community.

A few blocks ahead is Patang gully — a clutch of shops that sell kites. The shops are thronged during sankranti. Near Babula Tank, currently a playground, a bakery shop with chimneys catches everyone’s attention. On this note the discussion dwells into how the “Irani Cafes” came to be in Mumbai. They were an attempt to remake the Kavakhanas or tea-houses prevalent in Iran.

An incredible misconception I was harboring gets cleared up here. Not every Irani Café in Bombay is owned/run by a Zoroastrian family. Many are run by Shia Muslims with roots in Iran as well. Kooler and Company, Lucky, Saarvi are a few examples! I love Irani Cafes and it is heartbreaking to know the numbers have fallen from 350 once upon a time to 35 these days.

About bath-houses and language

A little ahead from Babula Tank is an Iranian Hammam more than 100-years old! Well, it doesn’t look welcoming or well-kept at all and I guess photography is strictly banned here but this remnant of the past still exists in its old avatar. Pointing to a building opposite the hammam our guide says, “Here is an organization that is dedicated to the Urdu language”.

The original language of the Iranis was farsi(Persian). Urdu is a language that originated around Delhi under the influence of Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. The building our guide is pointing to is a BMC school. It is also ground zero of the Urdu Markaz Chowk, an organization associated with reviving Urdu in Bombay. Here Bollywood scripts were crafted in Urdu. It is here that lyricists like Gulzar, Naushad had let their creative energy flow. The Bhendi Bazaar Festival, a literary gathering, is organized here every March to celebrate the beautiful language. I am so sad I missed the festival just by a few days.

Finally, we arrive at the grandest point of this walk—Masjid-e-Iranian commonly known as the Mughal Masjid. It is a mosque set up in 1860 by Haji Mohammad Hussain Shirazi, an erstwhile resident of Shiraz. The blue mosaic tiles, muquarnas(honeycomb structures) and no dome architecture is a clear influence of Shirazi style of architecture. The active mosque has an ablution pool and garden of its own. The entry point for women is different from the main entry. I do not enter the mosque.

The mosque sees huge activity during Muharram. Celebrities like Javed Jaffrey (Indian actor and comedian), Ali Asgar (Indian actor) participate in the passion plays here. Pilgrims from Lucknow visit here. Silent processions happen. It is said that the culture of processions in Mumbai, including those that happen during Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, has their origin in Bhendi Bazaar. Previously huge processions used to move from here to Girgaon –  even many Hindus participated in those.

Navroz and sweets

The walk ends on a sweet note. Navroz, the Irani new year, is just a few days from now. There is something special about this day. Everyone with roots in Iran, irrespective of religion, celebrate this day. Haftseen, or an arrangement of seven food items on the dining table, is a ritual followed on this day. It involves:

Sabzeh – wheat, barley, mung bean, or lentil sprouts grown in a dish.

Samanu – wheat germ sweet pudding.

Senjed – oleaster.

Serkeh – vinegar.

Seeb – apple.

Seer – garlic.

Somagh – sumac.

Someone dressed in red distributes gifts. On the 13^th day of Navroz, people go out for a picnic with friends and family. It is interesting to note that Irani new year follows the solar calendar. Muharram is an occasion decided by lunar calendar. So the Shia Muslims from Iran are indeed following both solar and lunar calendars.

Coming back to the topic of sweet-tooth. We stop at the last point of the walk, the Iranian Sweets Palace. It is a sweet shop run by someone from the Irani diaspora in Bombay whose roots are in Yazd. He opens the sweet shop just for two weeks before Navroz and sells Irani Baklava, louz-e-pista, and louz-e-zaffran made with ingredients imported from Yazd. He also sells an assortment of dry fruits and an Iranian sweet called gaz.

The walk ends here, however, almost all of us line up outside the shop to buy sweets. The baklava is distinctively different from what I had in Gaziantep and Istanbul, but having this baklava was a way for me to connect with the heritage of Bombay. I am trying very hard to grow a sense of belonging with this adopted city of mine, and I think I am successful!

*****

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