Re: [Goanet] Clare Road, Street that brought home Paris
Paris, it was not. Only a Parsi could dream up that comparison. Meher Marfatia does justice to the description of the ambience of Clare Road but even being a woman is no excuse to miss out "The Shelter", meant as an orphanage for Anglo Indian girls, but which turned out to be a hostel for 'waywards' from the upcountry railway towns. If you needed a date, that was the place, provided you could convince the stern-faced 'warden' (yes she was called warden and was a retired nurse-matron) that you were a third cousin. A fair pretty Anglo-Indian girl by your side at a hop or dance, from there was guaranteed to drive any lesser Goan girl to distraction. Roland Francis Toronto. > On May 8, 2017, at 10:59 AM, eric pinto wrote: > > > > > Clare Road, Street that brought home Paris > WOW!! This really takes me back to the 50s, 60s and part of the 70s. The > splendor that was once Clare Road. Lucky Moon restaurant owned by the Bahai > brothers Shapoor and Aman was very much around in the 70s when we came off > our ships and were our main source for exchanging foreign currency for Indian > rupees. They were honest and gave us a great exchange rate. Vali Mohamed > Patel must be the new owner of "Mohsin Bookstall". We rented our comics from > him, the short booklet version of "Commando Comics" and "westerns", which > rented for 25 paise reach with a Rs. 3.0 deposit. Those very same comics are > now hard to get and can go from $25 to $1000 plus on ebay. I got to know > Mohsin very well, and he waived the deposit. This was also the source of my > first pin-up magazines from Jayne Mansfield to Marilyn Monroe with some > Brigitte Bardot thrown in for good measure!! All this and more while the > good "Katlick Boys" were wondering why they were stuck reading the lives of > Saints!! The St. Mary Padres (no names mentioned) were growing frantic with > worry wondering why the "noon communion" student crowd had dwindled down to a > handful!! HeHeHe!! Now you know!! > > Great article and if you lived on Clare Road and in the vicinity this really > takes you back to a once great city, then called Bombay!! As for the "Paris", > I'm wondering if Meher is mixing up "Sukhlaji Street (Kamatipura aka The Red > Light District). If you were wondering, Sukhlaji Street was once called > "Sufed Ghalli" where the "White Prostitutes" lived and sold their "Parisian > Wares"!! There are few more landmarks she has missed. She probably did not > eat Ice-cream from the Bhaya at the steps of Habib Park, he was there > forever, and she also left out the Rogers Bottling plant and the famous Sarvi > Restaurant which sold a cow a day in "Seekh Kababs" and many a Sheep lost its > feet there to a delicious "sheeps feet soup" aka Paya!! Enjoy... > > By Meher Marfatia | Posted 16-Apr-2017 > > Those who walked down Byculla's Clare Road, once known as the Paris of > Bombay, recall the charms that made it come alive. > > Brothers Emil and Yvan Carvalho, the successful fourth generation proprietor > of American Express Bakery, in the bakery of their Clare Road headquarters, > which opened in 1939. > > They never tired of hearing her. My kids would say "Perin Mamma, tell us a > 'real' story" and my ace raconteur mother-in-law flowed forth. Some were > boarding school tales, others about the Convent of Jesus and Mary on > Byculla's bustling Clare Road. Last week, at 80 and 81, Perin Marfatia and > her sister Meher Master posed for a picture outside their alma mater. Green > uniforms replaced with walking sticks, the visit rekindled all the excitement > of being back. A fresh flood of stories was our dinner table treat. > The scene probably plays out with millions of mums and grandmums who attended > the 1912-established convent. The campus sprawls mid-point on a street > spilling with character, far from the genteel last-century spell it cast. > European carriages or "gharries", purring Plymouths and stately Studebakers > rolled past Cassi fistula trees—the Indian laburnum or "bhaya" naming > Byculla—suffixed with "khala", a threshing floor. Currently called Mirza > Ghalib Marg, it honours the 19th-century poet lodging here at 17A Adelphi > Chambers. Urdu writer Sadat Hassan Manto also stayed in that block in the > 1940s. > > Ex-students Havovi Turel-Doodhwala and Bilkis Varawalla-Reshamvala (Class of > ’73) flank Perin Kuka-Marfatia and Meher Kuka-Master (Class of ’52) at the > Convent of Jesus and Mary gate. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar > > A prestigious address, Clare Road was pronounced the Paris of Bombay. It used > to be an Anglo-Indian hub before their 1960s emigration to the West. Baghdadi > Jews, Protestant Christians and Cantonese Chinese were other important > settlers, contributing the locality's hairdressers, milliners and > confectioners. > Sharing the frame with Class of 52's Perin and Meher Kuka are Hutoxi Turel > and Bilkis Varawalla from Class of '73. April afternoon
[Goanet] Clare Road, Street that brought home Paris
Clare Road, Street that brought home Paris WOW!! This really takes me back to the 50s, 60s and part of the 70s. The splendor that was once Clare Road. Lucky Moon restaurant owned by the Bahai brothers Shapoor and Aman was very much around in the 70s when we came off our ships and were our main source for exchanging foreign currency for Indian rupees. They were honest and gave us a great exchange rate. Vali Mohamed Patel must be the new owner of "Mohsin Bookstall". We rented our comics from him, the short booklet version of "Commando Comics" and "westerns", which rented for 25 paise reach with a Rs. 3.0 deposit. Those very same comics are now hard to get and can go from $25 to $1000 plus on ebay. I got to know Mohsin very well, and he waived the deposit. This was also the source of my first pin-up magazines from Jayne Mansfield to Marilyn Monroe with some Brigitte Bardot thrown in for good measure!! All this and more while the good "Katlick Boys" were wondering why they were stuck reading the lives of Saints!! The St. Mary Padres (no names mentioned) were growing frantic with worry wondering why the "noon communion" student crowd had dwindled down to a handful!! HeHeHe!! Now you know!! Great article and if you lived on Clare Road and in the vicinity this really takes you back to a once great city, then called Bombay!! As for the "Paris", I'm wondering if Meher is mixing up "Sukhlaji Street (Kamatipura aka The Red Light District). If you were wondering, Sukhlaji Street was once called "Sufed Ghalli" where the "White Prostitutes" lived and sold their "Parisian Wares"!! There are few more landmarks she has missed. She probably did not eat Ice-cream from the Bhaya at the steps of Habib Park, he was there forever, and she also left out the Rogers Bottling plant and the famous Sarvi Restaurant which sold a cow a day in "Seekh Kababs" and many a Sheep lost its feet there to a delicious "sheeps feet soup" aka Paya!! Enjoy... By Meher Marfatia | Posted 16-Apr-2017 Those who walked down Byculla's Clare Road, once known as the Paris of Bombay, recall the charms that made it come alive. Brothers Emil and Yvan Carvalho, the successful fourth generation proprietor of American Express Bakery, in the bakery of their Clare Road headquarters, which opened in 1939. They never tired of hearing her. My kids would say "Perin Mamma, tell us a 'real' story" and my ace raconteur mother-in-law flowed forth. Some were boarding school tales, others about the Convent of Jesus and Mary on Byculla's bustling Clare Road. Last week, at 80 and 81, Perin Marfatia and her sister Meher Master posed for a picture outside their alma mater. Green uniforms replaced with walking sticks, the visit rekindled all the excitement of being back. A fresh flood of stories was our dinner table treat. The scene probably plays out with millions of mums and grandmums who attended the 1912-established convent. The campus sprawls mid-point on a street spilling with character, far from the genteel last-century spell it cast. European carriages or "gharries", purring Plymouths and stately Studebakers rolled past Cassi fistula trees—the Indian laburnum or "bhaya" naming Byculla—suffixed with "khala", a threshing floor. Currently called Mirza Ghalib Marg, it honours the 19th-century poet lodging here at 17A Adelphi Chambers. Urdu writer Sadat Hassan Manto also stayed in that block in the 1940s. Ex-students Havovi Turel-Doodhwala and Bilkis Varawalla-Reshamvala (Class of ’73) flank Perin Kuka-Marfatia and Meher Kuka-Master (Class of ’52) at the Convent of Jesus and Mary gate. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar A prestigious address, Clare Road was pronounced the Paris of Bombay. It used to be an Anglo-Indian hub before their 1960s emigration to the West. Baghdadi Jews, Protestant Christians and Cantonese Chinese were other important settlers, contributing the locality's hairdressers, milliners and confectioners. Sharing the frame with Class of 52's Perin and Meher Kuka are Hutoxi Turel and Bilkis Varawalla from Class of '73. April afternoon heat doesn't deter them from showing off the road they roamed daily. Christened after John Fitzgibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare and Governor of Bombay from 1831 to 1835, this street was constructed in 1867. It is flanked north by Byculla Fire Station and the Khada Parsi statue of Cursetjee Manockjee (he offered Indian girls the first English school in 1859 from his home, Villa Byculla) at the Y-flyover junction. Southside it has Light of India and Rolex Restaurant face the Dawoodi Bohra community hall where the Barodawalas set up the Zenith Tins packaging company in a garage in 1938. Wali Mohamed has watched Clare Road change over the years since 1971 when he started selling publications at Patel Newspaper Stall here. Pic/Suresh Karkera I chat with Vali Mohamed Patel, ensconced in Patel Newspaper Stall opposite the Bata showroom since 1971. "Print read
