Wadi country

If you find yourself at Mumbai’s Chowpatty beach with an hour to spare, cross over to the other side of the tracks and stroll over to wadi country to see how the lower-middle-class citizenry of Mumbai lived at the start of the 20th century and continue to do even in the 21st. At the dawn of the 19th century, the main road from the old Fort of Bombay on the west coast led to the village of Girgaum. The surrounding area was still countryside with orchards growing a variety of fruits and vegetables for supply to the expanding city.    

As the suburbs inexorably extended northwards, these wadis were slowly converted into housing estates. Walking up the busy Girgaum Road (Jagannath Shankarsheth Road), you will encounter many wadis with names that exude a distinct botanical flavour — Kelawadi, Ambewadi, Kandewadi and a few more — but, sadly, not a tree in sight. These wadis originally consisted of rather small, close-packed, cottage-like structures generally inhabited by people belonging to one particular community. Many decades ago, most of them were remodelled as multi-storey single-room tenements (known as chawls in Mumbai) with shared washing facilities, but some of the wadis were spared this indignity — the most famous being the Khotachiwadi (the second syllable to rhyme with ‘both’).

 Literally the khot’s (land owner) estate, Khotachiwadi consists of a few narrow winding lanes peppered with small cottages inhabited by a mix of Christian and Hindu families. It exudes a certain old-world charm if you ignore a few architectural misfits and the open dump yards, a ubiquitous sight in Mumbai. Enter the wadi through a small lane off the Girgaum Road, and you are immediately in a no-traffic zone as the roads are too narrow to permit any quick movement. Since the small cottage-like structures have been extended over the years right up to the road, you will find handkerchief-sized gardens hemming you in. Though the cottages are not architectural classics by any yardstick —  many of them are now mouldering with age and algae — they together continue to muster enough character to constitute this area as a distinct, if anachronistic, neighbourhood. The  better-preserved cottages sport timber-framed entrance porches with overhanging verandahs and have been done up in bright colours. Some scholars may have been induced to detect Portuguese influences in the architecture by the presence of a few crosses in the area (rosaries on Thursday evenings at 7.45).

Saunter into the Girgaum Christian Youth Club for a game of carrom with the local youth or pop into the garish blue Workout Villa for a quick gym session. Further ahead is the rather ornate Ideal Wafer House where you can get your chips fried to order. Walk for a few minutes and you will find yourself surrounded by traffic again — this time, the Vithalbai Patel Road.

If you are feeling peckish, backtrack to the only option in Khotachiwadi itself — the Anantashram, which is open only between 12 and 3 in the afternoon. Taciturn waiters whose lips have never seen a smile will grimly serve you authentic Marathi food. Not surprisingly, seafood is their strong point, with prawns being most in demand. Each diner is seated alone at his own small table — to encourage you to concentrate on the business of eating rather than indulge in table talk. They cook limited quantities, so get there early if you want to have your fill. The Girgaum Road itself has innumerable eating options to cater to all budgets and tastes. The Panshikar Upahar Gruh, opposite the entrance to Khotachiwadi, excels in Marathi snacks.

Understandably, the residents would rather not have you walking into their houses, but if you come as part of an organised heritage walk, some of them are willing to open their doors. 

Nikadwadi, another small enclave which borders Khotachiwadi, has a large studio where you can watch skilled artisans mould sculptures. Enter the Kudaldeshkar Gaud Brahman Wadi next door and peruse the daily newspapers in the spacious reading room maintained, since 1926, by the Rao Bahadur Anant Shivaji Desai Topiwale Charities. 

In 1995, Khotachiwadi was declared a ‘Grade III Heritage Precinct’ as per Mumbai’s Heritage Regulations, pitchforking the residents into a low-intensity conflict between themselves and with the municipal authorities. While some residents would prefer the locality to be gentrified and turned into a boutique haven, those who can no longer afford to maintain their old structures would rather have them redeveloped as multi-storeyed buildings. Either way, things are bound to change in a few years, so if you want to spend a few hours wandering in a no-traffic zone, now is the time.

Bombay Heritage Walks (022- 23690992, www.bombayheritagewalks.com) organises walks to Khotachiwadi among other places on weekends. The tariff starts from Rs 100 per person. Special group tours are also organised at an additional cost.