Sunday, January 21, 2007—Downtown Mumbai Images

The University of Mumbai: Library / Tower



























Magen David Synagogue



















St. Xavier's College












Mosquito Proof Well

Sunday, January 21, 2007—Downtown Mumbai

I finally took my colleague up on her offer to show me around her town: Mumbai. I set out from Bandra Station around 9:00 AM. Unfortunately, since it was a holiday weekend (India Republic Day), there were few “fast” trains, so it was no surprise to me to find myself on a “slow” train. Instead of the 10-15 minute ride downtown, it took me about 35 minutes to reach Churchgate station. I sat in a ladies only second class car which was virtually empty. Even the hawkers and food sellers were scarce.

When I got to Chuchgate, I left the station via the “subway,” which is an underground walkway providing safe passage from one side of the road to the other. I walked past the Flora fountain, turned down MG Road (I’ll give you 3 guesses who that road is named after) toward the Kala Ghoda area, the crescent that stretches south from the Regal movie theatre (where I watched my first movie in India: Casino Royale-LOL!) to Mumbai University further north. After only a few minutes, I arrived at our preplanned meet-up point: the David Sassoon Library. Moments later, Roshan arrived in her classic yellow automobile. I had already visited the Prince of Wales Museum (renamed the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum, but no one ever calls it that), the Jehangir Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Modern Art during a previous excursion, so we began with the library, named after its donor, David Sassoon. After fleeing Baghdad and Daud Pasha’s tyrannical rule in the 1800’s, the Baghdadi Jew became a wealthy businessman and philanthropist in Bombay. The building is made of yellow Malad stone. Artists and poets regularly meet in the beautiful garden in the back. Members mount the wide, wooden staircase to read quietly in the reading room or relax on the balcony which overlooks the square below.

After touring the library, we crossed the square and headed across a narrow back road to find the Magen David Synagogue in the Byculla neighborhood. Since it was a Sunday, the place was deserted, save for a lone guard who was easily persuaded (Rs. 10) to show me up the stairs into the conservative synagogue, built by David Sassoon in 1861.

After having gotten my fill of the literary and spiritual, I turned to academia. We headed a few blocks northwest (?) to the University of Mumbai (formerly know as—you guessed it!—the University of Bombay). The university has several campuses. We visited the Fort campus. Wikipedia.com says the architecture is “Gothic”; another site refers to is as “Venetian Gothic.” At any rate, it was established in 1857 and it remains a beautiful sight to behold in a crowded, polluted city overrun with modern-day, mundane buildings hastily erected on “reclaimed” land. By the way, I also read that Rajabai tower—the clock tower—rises 260 feet and it used to play music such as “God Save the King” and a Handel symphony. Now, Roshan tells me, the stairways are closed off because so many people have ended their lives by jumping off the tower. Still, I heard it chime the quarter hour while I walked past it at 11:15 in the morning.

We continued our walk past the High Court next door and then decided to head back to the car and drive to Roshan’s alma mater, St. Xavier College. The college, founded by German Jesuits in the 16^th century and now run by Indian Jesuits, became affiliated with the University of Mumbai in 1869.

We finished our morning in Mumbai at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. A plaque hanging beside the reception desk announces that, “The design combines ‘domestic’ English Neo Gothic with a Tudor half timbered idiom and aptly demonstrated the disintegration of stylistic cohesion that characterized turn of the century architecture in Bombay.” After treating me to a lovely lunch, Roshan showed me around the premises which include a fitness center, a billiard room, and even a room occupied by a small yacht where you can participate in a hands-on sailing lesson without seeing any water.