I wish these were still around in Bombay

The Double Decker bus on the BEST bus route no 123

Some years ago when they started converting the BEST double-decker buses into single-deckers, route no 123 was among the first to go. One of the ‘BEST’ routes in Mumbai, the 123 commences at Tardeo, takes the Marine Drive and goes right up to R.C. Church. As kids, we used to sit on the front seat of the upper deck and watch the world go by below us, through the busy Nana Chowk, the laburnum trees at Gamdevi, Wilson college, Chowpatty beach, the blue sea waters, Marine Drive, Bal Bhavan children garden, the gymkhanas’, Churchgate station, University, Museum, Regal theatre, Colaba Causeway, Sassoon Dock, the green and woody naval area,the heritage Afghan church and R.C. Church. Sitting in the same bus, we used to take the return journey back home. I wish they would convert the single-decker which plies on this route today back to the double-decker.

The Haji Ali Roundabout and fountain

Many people would remember this well maintained and round traffic island with a fountain, which also functioned as a round about. It used to manage traffic better than the state it is at the Haji Ali junction today. It was a pleasure to watch the fountain while driving past, especially in the night, the jets of water rising more than fifteen feet high and simultaneously changing its hue from white to blue to red to green to orange to yellow and back to white. Today, you will see traffic jams at this junction.

The Yankee Doodle Ice cream parlour at Natraj

Hotel Natraj was closed down and so was the Yankee Doodle Ice Cream parlour in its compound. This ice cream parlour, which had a beautiful sea facing view on Marine drive used to be very popular with the college crowd. It had a variety of ice cream flavors and toppings to choose from and you could sit on the small swings or semi-circular marble seats and slurp away your ice cream. Thus, if you visited Marine drive, you had to stop by at Natraj, have ice cream and then cross over to enjoy the sea and the sunset. Today, you will find the Intercontinental standing in its place with no ice-cream parlour.

A Sainik restaurant

Yes, it was called ‘A’ Sainik restaurant and was located in the lane opposite Afghan Church going towards the Parsi Agiary. Open to civilians, you could sit at the table on the verandah on the first floor and get the most amazing view of the sea. The food was nothing much to talk about like all places with a beautiful ambience. Today, it has been converted into a party place for the ‘men in uniform’

My Grandmother’s house

My grandmother had small cottage located at Rajawadi in Ghatkopar. We needed to change buses at Dadar T.T. to get there, as there were no direct buses from Tardeo to Ghatkopar in those days. It had a small garden at the front and back with sitaphal, chickoo, drumstick, mango, jackfruit and many fragrant flowering trees, and a Mangalore tiled sloping roof. Opposite her cottage there used to be a narrow gauge railway line over the huge water pipeline, which was used by the water department to travel in a funny contraption operated by a manual lever. They used to go back and forth checking the pipes. Rajawadi had a very village feel with lots of trees and many cottages. Today, Rajawadi has been transformed into a crowded suburb with ugly looking bungalows and skyscrapers.

Bastani

Among the dying breed of Irani restaurants, Bastani for me stood out not only for all that the Irani café’s dish out but also for the compassion that Mr. Kohinoor showed towards the cats. Among the chais, the bun maskas, the bruns and the cakes you would always find cats roaming around or sitting on one of the Irani chairs in the restaurant. Everyone would also remember Bastani for its patent NO board that must have been photographed by every media photographer sometime during his career. Here are the No’s … No talking to cashier/ No smoking/ No fighting/ No credit/ No outside food/ No sitting long/ No talking loud/ No spitting/ No bargaining/ No water to outsiders/ No change/ No telephone/ No match sticks/ No discussing gambling/ No newspaper/ No combing/ No beef/ No leg on chair/ No hard liquor allowed/ No address enquiry/ — By order.

Persian Restaurant & Stores

Yet another Irani café and store, it was located ahead of Novelty theatre at the junction popularly known as Charni Road junction. I remember Persian because I used to accompany my grandfather to buy bread, brun, wine biscuits etc regularly from here. Like all Irani restaurant and stores, the restaurant used to serve the regular bun maska, brun maska, khari etc and the store used to be the takeaway for freshly baked bread which used to be neatly packed in newspaper tied with a string and given. I distinctly remember the huge glass jars filled with different kind of cookies arranged towards one side of the exit. Now, there is a Lord’s shoe store in its place but Persian still does have a little store without the restaurant down the lane.

Jai Hind Cold Drink House

This huge, airy cold drink house with a very high ceiling was a famous landmark at Nana Chowk. I have a faint recollection of the place as I was quite small when it closed down. It had glass shelves with different colored fancy ice cream glasses arranged neatly against the walls and a huge fridge that used to display colorful desserts in glasses. It was truly a cold drink and desserts place that served cold drinks, ice creams, faloodas, lassis, jellies and other desserts. Now, there is a plywood store in its place.