Evergreen days at Cottongreen...

Cottongreen, Kalachowky, Abhyudaya Nagar - 3 names to the same place. That is where we grew up. Most of the buildings in the Abhudaya nagar comprised of 5 storeyed ones being home to atleast 90 tenants in each. The ground floors of some of them had shops. In the 70's cottongreen was a pretty sight. The bullock carts carrying kerosene and ice blocks, the kulfiwalas and the salt vendor all on hand pulled carts. Cars were a rarity in the 70's so as to say even though you had good roads everywhere, the big sprawling mota maidan now renamed to Shahid bhagat singh maidan where good cricket tournaments were held. During the summer vacations, you could see atleast 30 active pitches where different groups drawn from the various buildings around used to play. If not attentive you would be fielding for some other team other than yours.

The roads used to get flooded during torrential rains causing us to wade in the waters. The main road parallel to the railway station used to resemble a raging river especially when trucks plied through the water way. Those were pretty sights to memorise.

There were a lot of colonies in this area, a great community of people living in MHB colony, bombay dock labour colony (BDLB), BPT quarters, the police quarters and so on. In fact the by lanes, roads, the grounds and the buildings was an eco system well maintained. Since most of the buildings had atleast one of your school mate staying, the whole area of around 6 square kilometers  used to be one big playground. There were instances of parents sending out other kids as patrols to locate their wards.

Notable places included the Cotton Exchange buildings standing as ramparts of the olden british era, the popular soothing Ram Temple, The inaccessible Air Force base. Towards the back of the cotton exchange was the ship container yard  where we used to play and study. Infact the godown or the so called warehouses  areas had study groups where some members including me used to be seen perched on trees and studying. Come exam season, you would see atleast 100 plus students studying either sitting, walking or as said earler, in trees or sitting on the old platforms for goods trains in the ware houses section. We used to walk up to the next station - Reay Road while studying. Every day we used to walk atleast 4 kilometers.

The Abhyudaya Education Society High School, Ahilya Vidya Mandir, The Shivaji Vidyalaya and the Municipal School were the most prominent schools in this area, from most of us did our education. 

The most prominent festivals were Ganesh Utsav, Janmashtami, Diwali and Holi. Abhyudaya Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav Mandal and the one in the cotton exchange were the most prominent ganesh mandals. We were close to Lalbaug where we had Lalbaug cha Raja  and Ganesh Galli at a distance of 15 minute walk.

Famous Family Doctor was Dr. S.R. Pandit who used to commute from dadar area and was always present in his clinic at Building 33 at sharp 9:00 AM. He should have treated atleast more than 10000  patients in his time in our area. I recall, he was one of the very few persons of that time who owned a car. A blue premier padmini.

The Lalit kala bhavan came in the early eighties thus creating one more avenue for pastime. Another one was the nearby jijamata gardens at byculla where we used to go even without slippers even though it was a good 30 minute walk. Sometimes most of them used to come down to play without slippers and take a decision to visit "Rani baug" as it was called in those days, the moment we have some paise with us. The entry fee was only 10 paise at that time. 

During our walk in those hot afternoons, we had to run or jog, as the smooth tar resembled burning coals atleast for our feet. In the summer we used to trail the bullock carts carrying ice, so that the vendor when he used to remove the sawdust and cut the ice with his knife, we used to collect the pieces and gobble them up. 

We were also welcome/unwelcome visitors to wedding parties especially to savour the ice cream and the cool drinks that were served. I rarely remember of having ventured deep inside the reception hall to see the bride or the groom during those parties.

The open window

One day, i opened my window
to see a group of children below.
But alas, the showers came
and the rain god got the blame.


As the sparrows wet in vain
the waters flooded the lane.
The kids roared like insane
while parents took their canes.

They heard their mothers calling
followed by the lightening falling.
This time they yielded with pain
sadly, i shut my window pane.

School Memoirs..Abhyudaya Education Society at Cottongreen

Golden days to think of as we get Old..

Talking of price rise and what a rupee or for that matter a 10 rupee note can buy today ..maybe a Maha Munch... i thought of devoting some of my spare time to rekindle old memories of my school days during the 70's in bombay ( now mumbai).

Pocket money coined in those years more as coin money was a welcome gift from our parents and the most we could get during those days was a 20p or a 10p on a daily basis. I was not in a habit of spending those coins on a daily basis though. It might so happen, that there could be dry days in between.

A 10 p or a 5 paise used to put our young minds in a dilemma as to what item could be purchased. There was always the local small grocer, who had all the stuff, right from 1p so as to say, you could fulfil the senses of your sweet tooth five times over. But that was too meagre.

The local grocer had pappadis, nuts, groundnuts,loose biscuits of ParleG, Chikkis, Ravalgoan sweets and what nots. On the way to school and around the school, especially during recess time, there used to come, a few hawkers who could understand our weakness on sweets, especially the chikkis and cotton candy, the sugar balloons that we used to call them during those time. The chikkiwala had a chisel with him which was used to chisel out portions of chikki from his large circular plate, which he used to keep on his bamboo stand, away from our prying hands if not from our eyes. I thought during those times the chikki was costlier than gold, the way he used to hand it over to us for our 5p or 10p that was doled out to him in return.

The process of making the cotton candies was enchanting for us, as the hawker used to practically reserve the preparation in front of our eyes, so that most of us would come out and stand around him than go across to any other optional hawker who offered his services to us on that day.

By the time, we chewed on the chikki and enjoyed the saliva mix with the goodness of jaggery, the bell would go off, thus signalling the end of recess time. It was, when we came to the secondary school that was a good 500 metres away, when the ice cream or the gola (crushed ice ) maker was made accessible to us. He along with another maker was always positioned on the road adjoining the municipal school, that was on the way to our school. There were other hawkers on the street selling all sorts of condiments, (jamuns, green berries which we used to train our eyes to wink) but the moment our eyes caught sight of these 2 persons, all the rest would fade into darkness. They had this excellent assortment of colours to lace the ice crushed. The grating and the formation of the gola was yet another process that would entertain our eyes. These people whether they be the golawala, the sweet candy maker, all were magicians in those heydays for us.

A treat to my classmates, especially the close friend circle used to be a gola and for that i used to save my daily allowance. near the school premises. Apart from the gola makers, there were the kulfi wallahs who used to make their appearance once in a while, and we used to grab the opportunity whenever it presented to us.

Travelling by Locals – Mumbai Edition

Making a journey in a Mumbai Local is an experience in itself. If you have been to this city and haven't boarded a electric train on any of the three routes that ply through the metropolis, it means you have missed half the fun or half the nightmare, depending on the experience....

Westernised central approach that harbours no ill feeling towards fellow commuters.

The daily commuter first walks, then jogs and finally does the steeple chase run to complete the last lap towards the station. The steeple chase is chosen only when he sees the train pulling into the station. During such occasions, everyone like others, just run across the tracks, then on to the station platform. Maybe the local commuter can qualify himself for long jumps and high jumps. The long jumps come in handy especially during the rainy season.
The Boarding Phenomena

It is all about people management and the looks that you exhibit while boarding which does the trick. Every one has to be aware of the fact that nobody onboard likes to welcome yet another addition to the already woe full compartment with all its characters. One has to look humble but strong enough to show others that he is fit enough to survive the journey.

The Travel

Some prefer footboard travel rather than standing inside the rush, as the wind keeps you fresh if not your groomed hair. But then travelling on the footboard has its pros and cons

Pros

1. Don't have to use the deodorant in excess
2. Don't have to ruffle your hair every minute, if that is your style.
3. Don't have to pick up fights with fellow commuters
4. Less chances that your pockets will be picked.
5. Helps your biceps and shoulders if you are hanging on the footboard.
6. Less chance of the shine on your shoes being messed by someone stamping on them.
7. Do not get infected by freely floating bacteria and viruses inside.
8. Do not have to worry about bench bugs ( appropriately bed bugs)
9. Do not have to worry about escape, if a fire or a fight starts...whichever is earlier.

Cons

1. Corns on your hands by holding tightly on the handle.
2. You might reach a destination that you never intended to.
3. You have to get down at every station and make way for others
4. Chances are that you may not get a chance to board again.
5. A fellow passenger dragging you with him, once he slips.
6. Getting rid of loose papers from your shirt pocket.
7. Cannot use the comb, or you will reach your tomb.

The Landing Phenomena

Getting down from a train is not a big task as compared to the boarding one. But still people have to be wary about how they are positioned while getting down. If you are too near the door, chances are that you will be pushed out before you have time to complain or explain. If you think you can handle the situation being at the end of the lot trying to get down, that is a big mistake. You will, to your surprise discover a crowd of people barging their way in and you might have to abort your landing. Trains like planes, especially the locals do not wait for their passengers to alight or board. They have their own fixed seconds in which everything happens.

“Time and Train do not wait for anyone”.

Let us look at the passengers who alight. 25 percent wade their way across the railway footbridges to the west. 15 percent wade to the east end of the station. Another 20 percent start running for their lives to catch other trains on other platforms. 10 percent just stand and stare not knowing what to do next. 5 percent just loiter around the newspaper stalls and look at magazine covers. 5 percent jump back into the train – the same footboard travellers. Rest of the break up is as shown below

1. People who were forced to get down and could not get back
2. People who had to alight here because they could not get down at the last station.
3. People aborting their journey because they lost their purses midway, lost the wristwatch, lost the will to go to work, or because they got a call on their cell phone from their dear ones to come back.
4. People who decide as to how to escape ticket checkers.
5. People who got on the down train by mistake when they wanted to take the up train.
6. People who were travelling the whole day because boarding a train was cheaper than boarding a hotel.