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A guided walk in Kamathipura
Early on a cloudy Sunday morning I stand with a bunch of strangers on a busy street opposite the Royal Cinemas in Kamathipura. I have heard seedy stories of Kamathipura of the past. This neighbourhood is a famous red-light area of Mumbai but somehow its fame has waned overtime. Today I stand here waiting for Zoya Kathawala, an insider of the neighbourhood, who has promised to show Kamathipura in a different light with her walk “Kamathipura- Beyond the Brothels”. What eventually came to be known as Bombay used to be an archipelago of seven islands—Bombay, Mazgaon, Parel, Worli, Mahim, Colaba, and Little Colaba. These islands were separated from each other…