The 8th Annual Vandar Cha San (Bandra Feast) 2012

21st September 2012

MobaikarU.A.E. East Indian Community

Dubai

Welcomes you to the

Vol 2

Vandar Cha San 2012

Music:

Pure MagicEvents & Entertainment

Compere:

Mr. Adrian Fonseca

Videography:

Digital Eye

East Indian Band:

Bruno Domnic

DilipRoy

Magazine Printing:

Ancy D’Souza, Christina D’Souza,Bernie-Lou D’Souza, Ronnie Pereira

Anita Pereira, Rebecca Pereira, Andre Pereira, Aaron Pereira,

Gerhard Gabriel, Amita Gabriel,Loyola Murzello, Felly Murzello,

Gregory Murzello, Cassilda Murzello,Oliver Pereira, Urmila Pereira

Vandar Cha San 2012

Contents:

Page 04: The East Indian Community, Dubai

Page 06:Bandra Centuries Ago

Page 10: Amchi Bandra

Page 12:About Bandra

Page 16: Basilica of Our Lady of The Mount

Page 24:Bandra Feast Celebration Back Home

Page 25: Bandra Worli Sea Link

Page 26:Knowing You’re An East Indian

Page 27: Recipies

Page 28:The Secrect Behind

“I Went To See My Darling”

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The East Indian Community Dubai

The UAE East Indian Community, Dubai was first founded in 2005 by like-minded of East Indians from Mumbai. The principle aim of forming this committee is to preserve the rich culture and heritage of this great community of Mumbai in Dubai and also bringing together the East Indians from all over the UAE.

The “Mobaikar East Indian’s” are descendants of the thousands of indigenous, Marathi - speaking people of Mumbai (Bombay) who embraced the Catholic faith, mainly in the period of 1547 to 1600. As the original Catholic community of Bombay, Salsette, Bassein, Thane, Rajgad and Korali, they were identified by their occupations; Kunbis, Bhandaries, Agries, Samvedi Brahmins, Vadvals, Kolis, Prabhus, Khatris etc. Besides bringing the community together, the committee also looks to providing the much needed financial assistance to charitable institutions in Mumbai.

Mee Mobaikar ...

The UAE East Indian community consists of over 4000 Catholics from Mumbai. In order to bring together the community, the East Indian Committee, Dubai has organized various events with its first ever Vandar Cha San (Bandra Feast) in Dubai, UAE in 2005 and Erangal Feast with the first ever Gulf East Indian Marathi Singing Competition in Barracuda, Umm Al Quwain, UAE in 2007.

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Through the years the Vandar Cha San and the Marathi Singing Competition have gained enormous success and through them the committee has helped charitableinstitutions that have provided assistance to:2005: Tsunami victims2006: Home for the aged in Andheri & rebuilding the Uran Church2007 - 2011: Shanti Avedna, Bandra for Cancer patients2008: Home for the Aged in Vasai2009: Little Angels, Madh Island2010: Missionaries of Charity, Mumbai 2010 - 2011: St Vincent De Paul, Vasai 2011: Nirmay Niketan-Trombay, Kripa Foundation and East Indian Scholarship

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Christ the King.

Little Angel, Madh Island

Bandra Centuries Ago ...

In the ‘Conquista Spiritual de Oriente’ (about 1638) it is pointed out that in the pre-Portuguese period (before 1534) the King gave Bandra to the Captain of South Salsette as it was the largest village in the South Salsette District (Salsette is the island bounded by Thane, Kurla, Bandra and Bhyandar).

Bandra became arm to the Portuguese in 1532. Gerson Da Cunha in his “The Origin of Bombay” (1900), gave us a condensation of an account from ‘Lendas da India’. In this account there is a description of how Diogo da Silveira brought Thane, Bandra, Mahim and Bombay under honor.

In 1534, King Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, ceded Vasai, Salsette and the neighboring areas to the Portuguese. Bandra thus became a Portuguese custody. In 1548, Bandra, Kurla, Mazagaon and four other villages were given by the Governor of Portuguese India to a positive Antonio Pessoa as an incentive for his military services. This was confirmed by the Royal Chancellery on the 2nd February, 1550. As these villages were given for a period of ‘two lives’, they reverted to the Viceroy following the death of Isabella Botelha, the widow of Antonio Pessoa.

The Jesuits who had applied for these villages in anticipation of the death of Isabella Botelha obtained them from the Viceroy in 1568 and the Royal confirmation was received in 1570. The Jesuits were the owners of Bandra till 1739 when it fell to the Marathas. Bandra was under the British from 1st January, 1775 till 14th August, 1947.

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Bombas’ Town (map of 16th Century)

Bombay (1703)

Bandra’s Beginnings ...

Ports: Before railways and roadways became common, waterways were the means of communication. Places that were situated on waterways often prospered. Bandra is an example of this. Bandra was (and is) situated on the south-west extremity of the island of Salsette; in fact Bandra itself was called an island. It laid north of the creek or rather waterway that led to the Bombay harbor. Before this waterway was rendered useless due to the building of the Mahim and Sion causeways, silting and reclamation, boats used to pass between Mahim and proceeded via Sion to the Bombay harbour. Therefore there were many fortifications on both sides of this waterway: forts at Worli, Mahim and Sion on the South and two at Bandra and one at Kurla on the north of this waterway. The Jesuit, Fr. Monclaro, writing in the 1570s says that Bandra “is a harbour and a good stopping place for the ships coming from the south or from the north and intending to move forward”.

We have many references about Bandra as a port. For example, among the 'conditions' laid down on 14th January, 1665, when Bombay was being ceded to the English we have : "That the port of Bandra in the island of Salsette nor any other islands shall be impeded and all vessels from that port or ports, and others coming to them, shall be allowed to pass and repass truely..." The Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency (1882).Bandra is described as a port and we can obtain the annual value of the imports and exports of Bandra from the years 1874-1881.

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Maps: When a place grows in importance and fame we say that it is being ‘put on the map’. It is remarkable that ‘Bandura’ is boldly indicated on the maps of Dr. John Fryer (1672) and Jacques Nicolas Bellim (1740) and other maps of the period. This fact will be appreciated all the more when we consider that few places are indicated on these maps.

Habor of Bombay

Perry Cross Road, Bandra

Bombay Byculla Hotel

Name: The name of the place has undergone a change from ‘Vandra’ (Marathi) to ‘Bandora’ (Portuguese) to Bandra (English). Other variants were Bandor, Bandura, Bandera, Bandara, Pandara and Bandorah.

Town, Village and Hamlets: Some of the early writers call Bandra a town. John Fryer who visited Bandra in 1675 writes: "The town is large and houses tiled; it is called Bandura…. It is also called a village.

Fr. Gomes Vaz, writing in 1576 says: "Bandra is a very fine village". This large village was comprised of more than 20 hamlets or 'pakhadis'. Today each of these is popularly called a village but technically they are hamlets. From the church registers, other records and gravestones we know the names of the extant and extinct hamlets. The following hamlets (pakhadias) existing during the Portuguese period - ending May 1739) may be mentioned: Chuim cultivators, Candely - cultivators - extinct after 1732 - near Chuim, Rajan - cultivators - Port. Rajana, Sherly - ultivators - Port. Sellaly, Malla - culltivators Port. Mallem, Palli - cultivators - Port. Pallem, Parvar: cultivators - extinct after 1853 between Dr. Ambedkar Road and Khar Gymkhana, Old Kantwadi cultivators Port. Horta de Santo Andre - N.B. New Kantwadi comes into existence in 1817- likewise hamlet of cultivatorix), Ranwar - cultivators - Port. Ranoar, Boran - cultivators - Port. Dandacavar, Tank - cultivators - Port. Tanque, Pa-tarvar - cultivators - extinct after 1817- north of St.

Besides the above there were the following localities: miscellaneous population near Povoacao Horta do Bazar (Bazar Oart) "Faras" scavengers Chinchpokli Road, Rua do Bazar (Bazar Streert)miscellaneous populatiom, Rua dos Tintoreiros (Dyers’ Street) miscellaneous population; located most probably near the Bazar, Rua Baixa (Lower Street), Ba-zar mixed population location at present Bandra Bazar.

Vandar Cha San 2012

8Bombay

South Bombay, Mazgaon Area (1820)

Joseph Convent, Santa Cruz toddy-tappers and cultivators, Khar Bois and “cavoqueiros” Port. Salgado, Cumbarvara Bois and potters near Khar, Catirvara Bois near Khar, Povoacao Portuguese and their household staff D’Monte Street extending to the old Slaughter House site.

All the above pakhadis (hamlets) , the Povoacao and the four localities comprise the parish of Santa Anna (Old Slaughter-house site - between the railway lines and Swami Vivekanand Road. Also belonging to the parish of Santa Anna are potters, toddy-tappers, weavers, mainatos (washermen) and other non-Koli groups/castes not ascribed to any particular pakhadi/locality.

Fertile Fields: The island of Salsette on which Bandra was located was often referred to as a granary. Dr. John Fryer who visited Salsette in 1673-75 writes: "the ground excellently fertile either of itself or by the care of the inhabitants, that it yields as good Cabbages, Coleworts and better Radishes than ever I yet saw: Besides Garden - Fruit, here are incomparable Water-Melons, and Onions as sweet, and as well tasted as an Apple; and for the natural growth of the soil, it is known not only to supply the adjoining Islands, but Goa also. It is more than 20 Miles in Length and 70 in Circumference".

In Bandra itself there were extensive paddy fields, vegetable gardens and coconut 'oarts'. Besides there were mango groves on the hill-sides and brab trees in other areas. Rice was the chief crop grown in Bandra. When there was friction between the English in Bombay and the Portuguese in Salsette, "the Portuguese forbade the export of rice from Bandra”. Humbert, in his 'Catholic Bombay, Her Priests and their Training' informs us that in 1706, there was a loss suffered by St. Paul's College, Goa, due to the plague among the farmers in Bandra.

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Leo Road, Bandra

View from Apollo Gateway, Bombay

Bandra Station

Sunday morning mass procession

Amchi Bandra!Bandra: Mac Accents, Bottle Masala & Dead Old Aunties…

“Im just a regular ‘Bandra Boy’ from there only wanting to give back a little something to my favourite suburb”, Someone (may have been me) once said ‘ You can take a person out of Bandra, but you can never take Bandra out of him’. And surpris-ingly, knowing how no one falls for ‘profound’ lines like dat anymore (my favourite one being - I would if I could, but I cant so I wont), its quite true, because no matter where you are in the world, maybe even in a mall in Frankfurt and you suddenly happen to overhear ‘Aaayee Gracie ...See this dress men....’ Get the picture!!Which brings me to the sweet, melodic andungrammatical feature of Bandra and my ultimate favourite spice of Bandra - The Bandra Mac Accent (with no reference to a certain fast food chain organisation). No matter how much RJ’s, VJ’s, TV presenters or stand up comedians try to impersonate it, they can never get exactly right because you have got to live in it to, to get it totally accurate, it has to come from the (h)eart…

So let me give you a few basic ground rules so that the next time you are shopping in Bandra you can blend in perfectly...... ‘Always use ‘D’ for ‘Th’. ‘Never use ‘H’ anywhere, they are always silent’. ‘Using ‘What’ even if there’s no question asked’. ‘Using a Hindi Verb with an English ending’. ‘Using words twice to emphasise your point’. ‘Just like the Americans use ‘man’ in their slang, only we use‘men’. ‘Just like the Americans use ‘like’ in their slang, we use ‘no’.

‘Giving you ‘masterpieces’ like “Ow you men Larry?’(Situation: Meeting Larry on Saturday morning in the bazaar)

‘She was giving me dis dis small pomflits (while showing the size of her palm) for bledy 50 rupees men’(Situation: Larry’s wife explaining her adventures in the bazaar, later that day).

“Aarre, dat bledy Sandy no, yesterday he lagao-ed solid whisky for the communion party”(Situation: The retired men from the village talking at the local Irani joint during the Sunday morning mass sermon).

‘You don’t have any sense what riding the cycal so fast’(Situation: Spinster aunty yelling to a schoolboy on Chapel Road).

Cun, Men Savio, Put tru men, put tru....(Situation: Classic line heard at Supari talao during a football match, asking Savio to bend the ball like Beckham).

“Aarre see dere men, dere, arre left men, see dere men, arre big bugger men dere’(Situation: Boys stealing mangoes in the afternoon in May)

“Aaaye, what men basket, why you are saying anyting aboud my mudder and fadder, I call boys now...’(Situation: Often heard after a Saturday nite binge).

“(H)ail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou ... ..Norma, just see whether the back door is latched ...... amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus .......it’s closed ?.... ok ..... Holy Mary......(Situation: Family rosary at the Pereiras).

“You know, Theresa, dat day I took little ginger garlic, little onion, so much so much masala dat I ground, put chicken and the curry came good men...”(Situation: Swapping recipes while standing and gossiping at the junction with the black bag of groceries at their feet).

“Dat day no, solid rain came no so I made nice hot hot soup and we had with the khadk gutli which Peter brought...(Situation: Housewives talking at the Cross Feast party).

One of the most common ways of gossiping among the older generation is done in a very six degrees of separationish kind of way, in which a person maybe linked up with anyone from the owner of Johnny’s Cold Storage at Pork Market Junction to the Cardinal.

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Ok here goes... another example of conversation... “Do you know Joe’s son Eric is getting married to Diana? Who, Die-na, men? Aaree, Diana men, Alfie’s and Maggie’s daughter... Who, Alfie men? Alfie men from dere, Remember, when they were small they used to stay near Brian’s house on Chapel road, near the bak-ery men...He married that girl Maggie from Shirley vil-lage. Who Maggie, Mary’s daughter? No. Annie’s sister, Joannie’s daughter. You know Annie no, her son Clyde was married to Hazel and they were living for donkeys years in the Gulf, then after Clyde had his stroke, he retired and they settled down here. Their son is dat Leslie he was an engineer very very smart boy now all dat drinking has ruined him. Yes, yes I know he was married to that nice girl Corina from Chimbai, but then after she had her miscarriage, all his drinking and all started ... and they got divorced... and in this way it keeps on going on and on , talking about everyone they know and not going back to poor ol’ Joe.

Another amusing but true fact in Bandra is the one and only ‘secret’ bottle masala. The Goans have their Xacuti, and the East Indians have their ‘Bottle’ Ma-sala, why? Because it’s stored in old beer bottles, that’s why and there’s so many ingredients in it that no one can even think up of a name for it. Its just simple logic. Every family claims their family recipe is the best and that there is more colour in theirs or that there are 5 or 6 more cloves in theirs than the next-door neighbours. Everyone knows how to make it and what goes in it but the family secrets stays within that family and no one can get it out unless married into that family or in extreme cases when there is no heir, on the deathbed.The first rule of Bottle Masala is, you don’t talk about Bottle Masala. The second rule of Bottle Masala is, you don’t talk about Bottle Masala. (Just use it quietly). The third rule about Bottle Masala is you don’t ask questions about Bottle Masala. As a kid there were many weird, corny but somehow nostalgic experiences that are etched in the back of my head about Bandra, which don’t come back to me till I am outside Bandra and then the memories come floating back. Here are some of my favourites; you may notice a lot of reference to food in

Walking through any village in Bandra on a Sunday afternoon and seeing the men sitting out in their balconies with their whisky or gin, country music playing from his music system which he brought down from the Gulf enjoying a quiet weekend before the hectic Monday and after a hectic party on Saturday night. You can hear the pressure cookers steaming with their pea pulao and smell the tinge of Lonvas curry floating though the air while the mixture of coconut milk and bottle masala bubbles violently under the aluminium lids of the vessels. The watery orange concentrate drinks in a plastic cup and the hot steaming boiled chick peas given to you after the rosary at the local village cross while the aunties ask mothers what their son is doing in life and discuss their children’s lives. The rush of crowd at the cold storage and the bakery closest to the church after Sunday morning mass.The rush of men to the Irani restaurant closest to the church as soon the Sunday mass sermon begins for a chai and a smoke. The husbands in short pants, a striped T-shirt, cap and sunglasses on their scooters with their wives on the backseat also in short pants and a old blouse going to do their weekly shopping in the bazaar on a Saturday morning often stopping in the middle of the lane to have a quick chat with other couples on their scooter going the other way. Sometimes when you are asleep in the wee hours of the morning just after a late night binge with the boys, the phone starts to ring at 6:30 in the morning, you pick it up and there is an old lady on the other side of the line telling you ‘ Son, just tell your Grandma, that Aunty Mathilda passed away’, so in your best hangover voice you sweetly say goodbye and go on the pass on the message to your grandmother who is already up and saying the rosary for world peace and then you realise, that your grandmother doesn’t even know who Bloody Aunty Mathilda (may her soul rest in peace) is.... so you made that brutal effort to get out off bed for nothing, then your mother comes in and your grandmother asks her , ‘Who is Mathilda’ .... and she says... ‘Aarree you don’t know Mathilda .....Anthony’s sister in law..?’.....

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them (as I am also a big fan of Bottle Masala).

About Bandra ...

Bandra, is a suburb located in the north-west of Mumbai, India. It has earned the sobriquet “Queen Of The Suburbs”. The Bandra railway station is located on the Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. Bandra is a highly popular location for restaurants, pubs, and high-street stores. It has several restaurants and shopping areas.The population of Bandra is international in nature. It consists of a fair amount of Hindus, Muslims, Christians (Catholics and others), Parsis (Zoroastrians). Bandra is home to numerous churches, including Mount Mary’s Basilica. The Parsi fire-temple, Tata Agiary is located on Hill Road. Other famous religious places include the Jama Masjid (mosque) located near Bandra West railway station and the temple of Goddess Jari-Mari, located on S.V Road. A municipal lake, Swami Vivekanand Talao, is located in Bandra. It was closed to the general

History: The name ‘Bandra’ is possibly an adaptation of Bandar, the Persian word for Port. Many views exist on the origin and etymology behind the name of Bandra. One view states that it is resulting from the name of a Portuguese princess. Another, more credible one is that it is a corruption of the Persian word Bandar-gah. Bandar is a word for a port in Iran. Vandre in Marathi and Bandar in Persian both mean port and are derived from the same root word in Sanskrit. The area was under the rule of the Silhara dynasty in the 12th century. It is referred to as “Bandora” on tombstones in the cemetery of St. Andrew’s Church and in the writings of

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The Basilica

public in the mid 1990s. The suburb is also famous for its coastline, with walkway along Carter Road, Bandstand and Reclamation. Many Bollywood actors live along the Bandra Bandstand, Carter Road and in the Pali Hill areas.

In 1543, the Portuguese took forced control of the even islands that made up Bombay. The Portuguese gave the solitary tenure of Bandra, Parel, Wadala and Sion to Jesuit priests. In 1570, the Jesuits built a college and a church in Bandra by the name St Anne’s (Santa Anna) College and Church. In the mid-18th century, the traveler John Fryer recorded that the Jesuit church, which stood near the sea shore, was still in use.

St. Stanislaus School was founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus. It started as an orphanage and later grew to be a full-fledged educational institution for day scholars as well as boarders. What started out as a school for 40 orphans has now grown to support 2,300 students.

The Portuguese built several churches in Bandra, including St. Andrew’s Church, which has a idiosyncratic Portuguesstyle façade. Bandra has the unique merit of having the most Roman Catholic churches anywhere in the world. Six churches with separate parishes lie within an area of four square kilometers. These churches are: Mount Carmel, St. Peter’s Church, St. Andrew’s Church, St. Theresa’s Church, St. Anne’s and St. Francis D’Assisi Church. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount is affiliated to the parish of St. Andrew’s Church, Bandra.

R. D. National College was originally set up in 1922 in Hyderabad, Pakistan under the guidance of Annie Besant. After the sliding doors of India, it was set up again, in 1949, in Bandra.

Bandra Lake, also called “Bandra Talao” or “Motha Reservoir” was constructed by a rich Konkani Muslim of Navpada (also spelt Naupada or Naopara), an adjoining village. The lake was later obtained by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. It was officially renamed Swami Vivekanand Sarovar. Paddle boating facilities and pisciculture activities were operational in this lake during the 1990s. This lake is now a heritage structure of status “Heritage II”.

Bandra Lake ...

Bandra Talao

Bandra East & West: The part of Bandra located on the western side of the railway line developed into a trendy suburb by the middle of the 20th century. Film director, Mehboob Khan, established Mehboob Studio here in 1954. Soon the area was abuzz with film-related activities. A recording studio was set up in the 1970s. The East, in the mid-to-late 1990s emerged as a profitable and managerial focal point. The houses, the Family Court, Bandra-Kurla Commercial Complex, the office of the state

Vandar Cha San 2012

13St Andrew’s Church, Bandra

Mountstuart Elphinstone of the British East India Company which describe endeavors to acquire the island of Salsette. In 1543, the Portuguese took forced control of the seven islands that made up Bombay. The Portuguese gave the solitary tenure of Bandra, Parel, Wadala and Sion to Jesuit priests. In 1570, the Jesuits built a college and a church in Bandra by the name St Anne’s (Santa Anna) College and Church. In the mid18th century, the traveler John Fryer recorded that the Jesuit church, which stood near the sea shore, was still in use.

Mount Mary’s ...

The chapel of Mount Mary, was built around 1640. Wisdom has it that the chapel was destroyed in 1738 during a raid by Marathas. The statue of the Virgin was recovered from the sea by fishermen and temporarily installed in St. Andrew’s church, before being shifted to the rebuilt Mount Mary Church in 1761. To this day, the statue is respected and many miracles, minor and major, are attributed to the Lady of the Mount. People of all faiths and communities visit the church giving the place a syncretic nature. The Bandra Fair is held during the eight days of the Octave (starting on the Sunday following September 8) when pilgrims throng the church, coming from as far North as Vasai and Virar and as far East as Thane.

Geography ...Like most places in Mumbai, Bandra is split by the local railway-line into Bandra West (PIN code 400 050) and Bandra-East (PIN code 400 051). Most roads and places in Bandra possess English names that were given to them during British rule. They have been renamed over time but many are still popularly known by their old names.

Neighbouring suburbs: Dharavi, Khar, Kurla, Mahim, Santacruz Arterial Roads: Swami Vivekanand Road (S.V Road), Linking Road, Turner Road (Guru Nanak Marg), Hill Road (renamed Ramdas Nayak Marg), Carter Road (renamed Naushad Ali Marg), Navpada Road (Balsamant), Western Express Highway.

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link connects the western par of Bandra to Worli by the sea route, thus diverting a lot of road traffic.

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Mount Mary’s Church, Bandra

housing development authority (MHADA), the office of the District Collector and so on. The residential quarters of the employees of the Maharashtra State Government are also located here.

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St. Peter’s Church, Bandra

The Rector ...

For over a hundred years situated atop a hillock near Lands End Bandra, overlooking the Arabian Sea is Mount Mary’s Basilica a beautiful edifice in stone that simply stands out in its grandeur, an abode of tranquility, peace, reassurance and hope!

Mount Mary’s, affectionately beckons one and all. No invitations are required to spend time with our Blessed Mother. Once inside this beautiful church even a single glance at Mary with the child Jesus is a feast for the eye, both natural and that of faith.Thanking God or simply paying homage with the simplest or rarest of gifts, Mount Mary’s provides ample scope. For those who are in need of divine grace, to all of you who are troubled with the problems of daily life, come and worship at the Shrine of Mary. She is the Mother of all mankind. She will grant you solace, understanding and Hope. Mother Mary leaves no one unaided.

Monsignor Nereus Rodrigues Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, Bandra (West) Mumbai, India

The statue of the Virgin Mary ...Although the current church edifice is just 100 years old, the history behind the current statue of Our Lady goes back to the 16th century when Jesuit priests from Portugal brought the statue to the current location and constructed a chapel. In 1700 Arab pirates interested in the gilt-lined object held in the hand disfigured the statue by cutting off the right hand.

In 1760, the church was rebuilt and the statue was substituted with a statue of Our Lady of Navigators in St. Andrew’s church nearby. This statue has an interesting legend. It goes that a Koli fisherman dreamt that he would find a statue in the sea. The statue was found floating in the sea between 1700 and 1760.

A Jesuit Annual Letter dated to 1669 and published in the book St. Andrew’s Church, Bandra (1616–1966) supports this claim. The Koli Fishermen call the statue as Mot Mauli, literally meaning The Pearl Mother (Mot = Moti = pearl and Mauli = Mother). However the pervious statue is now restored and now enjoys the place of honour in the bascilica. Both Hindu and Christian Kolis visit this shrine often giving it a kind of syncretic nature.

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The Nave: Viewed from the sanctuary

By air: Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, is the closest airport, the Basilica is situated approximately 12 Kms. from from the international airport and about 8 Kms. from the domestic airport.

By road: The Basilica is accessible by motorable roads, reaching there often depends upon the prevailing normal or chaotic traffic situations. Local public road transport (auto-rickshaws & taxis) to the shrine is easily available, however the public bus (BEST) route no. 211 from the Bandra Station turnarounds at Lands End. From there a fairly steep but short uphill climb (via Kane Rd.) to the Basilica is required. Another bus route no. 214 from the Bandra station too has its turnaround point near the steps of the Mount via St. John the Baptist Rd. This bus stop is referred to as ‘Mount Mary Steps’. These steps allow one access from the eastern side but are used only as an exit route during the Bandra Fair in September.

By rail: The closest railway stop is the historical Bandra Station currently over a hundred years old, it has always been an instrumental link between devotees and Mount Mary’s. It is approximately 2.5 Kms. away.

Location ..... Getting to the Basilica

19The Road Cross & Oratory of Our Lady of Fatima, opposite the Basilica

A road view, sunrise over the Basilica

A Google earth image of

“The Basilica of our Lady of the Mount”

Bandra West Mumbai

This ‘minor basilica’ has morphed from a simple shrine into the current beautiful semi - gothic structure that we see and enjoy today. Over the years, devotion and love for Our Lady have helped scores of people contribute towards its development and upkeep. This editorial helps explain the architecture of Mount Mary’s . These pictures of the basilica have been carefully shot and chosen, it puts into perspective - dimensions, materials, embellishments that have worked in harmony to create this edifice in stone.

The Architecture . . .

The beautiful and imposing façade of the Basilica is 67 ½ ft broad. Its foundations are rooted in the rock and supported by strong buttresses. The façade has four horizontal floors:

The lowest floor has the main entrance and two side windows; to safeguard the wooden panels of the deep main entrance from the rains, and to enhance the beauty of the entrance, two protective gothic stone arches, supported by elegant round stone columns made of Malad stone, are placed in front of it.

The third floor consists of four windows, and a prominent circle with the inscription ANNO JUBILAEI 1904 – the golden jubilee year of the promulgation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and the year of the inauguration of this new Basilica. The central triangular elevation of this pointed façade is crowned with the cross.

The first floor has five windows – two are embodied in the towers and three provide ventilation to the nave. An arch above the main portal has the emblem of the Basilica – AM, initial letters of the famous greeting of Angel Gabriel to Mary at the time of the Annunciation, in Latin: AVE MARIA. These letters are mounted on a crown and enriched by two stems of lilies, symbolizing Mary’s queenship and her virginal purity.

The fourth floor consists of the pyramidical spires on either side, also mounted with a Cross jutting high into the sky.

The twin towers: They have foundations 18 ¼ ft in length and breadth, and 98 ft high. Each tower has two entrance doors and a staircase leading up to the octagonal steeple. The steeples and their cornices are raised out of Porbunder slabs and stones respectively, and crowned with a Cross. The northern tower has a bell 25” high and 75” at the rim, with an engraved cross and the inscription:

AVE MARIA, NOSSA SENHORA DE MONTE, BANDORA 1852. The southern tower has a bell 18” high and 6” in diameter at the rim. When rung in unison they sound heavenly

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The principle shell of the nave is made of stone, and is 66.9’ long and 38’ broad. In addition to the main entrance, there are four side entrances, and above each of these doors there is a large window throwing light into the nave. The inside walls of this stone structure originally bore some beautiful murals, highlighting the events in the life of Mary, painted during the time of the first Rector. Since they had faded with the passage of time, they have been replaced by beautiful fiberglass murals depicting the same story of Mary. These large panels have been prepared by Sr. Vimala (PDDM) and a group of artists from Goregaon, under the personal supervision of the present Rector, Msgr. Nereus Rodrigues.

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The Nave

Bandra Feast Celebration,Back Home ....

Bandra Fair is a weeklong fair held annually in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai, India starting on the following Sunday after September 8. It is celebrated to remember the Nativity of Mary, mother of Jesus, on September 8 at the Mount Mary Church, Bandra.

The Bandra Fair is expected to be around 300 years old. The fair started when a statue of Mother Mary was found floating in the Arabian Sea between 1700 and 1760, which, according to a legend, a Koli fisherman had dreamt about a few years earlier.

History: Although the current church structure is just 100 years old, the history behind the current statue of Our Lady of Mount goes back to the 16th century when Jesuit priests from Portugal brought the statue to bandra and constructed the Mount Mary Church there. In 1700 Arab pirates blemished the statue by cutting off the right hand. In 1760, the Mount Mary Church was rebuilt and the statue was substituted with a statue of Our Lady of Navigators from the St. Andrew’s Church nearby in Bandra. This statue had an interesting legend. It goes that a Koli fisherman dreamt that he would find a statue in the sea. The statue was found floating in the sea between 1700 and 1760. A Jesuit Annual Letter dated to 1669 and published in the book St. Andrew’s Church, Bandra (1616–1966) supports this claim. This was believed to be a miracle by the locals, and the Bandra Fair was started to celebrate this. However, in 1761, the original statue of the Lady of Mount was renovated with a child in her arms and is worshiped at the fair ever since.

Celebrations: The Fair draws lakhs of devotees and pilgrims annually. Many faithful attest to the miraculous powers of the Mount. During the Fair, tens of thousands visit the shrine of Our Lady of Mount.

During the Fair, the entire area is decorated with festoons and buntings. Many pitch up stalls selling religious objects like wax idols of Mother Mary along with an assortment of candles shaped like hands, feet and various other parts of the body. The sick people choose one that corresponds to their ailment and light it in Church, with the hope that Mother Mary will consider their appeals for help.

Sweets like Guava cheese, Kadio bodio (tiny stick made of Maida flour dipped in sugar syrup and dried) from Goa, Mawa peda (thick cookie made using evaporated milk) from Uttar Pradesh, Halva from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi, and the chikki (a sweet made from groundnuts and jaggery) from Maharashtra are usually found at the stalls during the fair.

24Channa at the Fair

The stalls.. .

The shrine attracts people from all faiths who pray to the statue for thanksgiving or requesting of favours

Bandra Worli Sea Link

Rajiv Gandhi (Bandra-Worli) Sea Link Project has been one of the most highly recommended projects of all the transport studies done for the metropolitan area during the last forty years. At present, Mahim causeway is the only link connecting western suburbs to island city of Mumbai. The existing north south western corridor is highly congested and during the peak hours results in a bottleneck at Mahim Causeway. Vehicular traffic admeasuring about 1,20,000 PCU travels on the Mahim causeway everyday and during peak hours and it takes about forty minutes to travel from Mahim causeway to Worli, a distance of about 8 km. Construction of the project link will provide an additional fast moving outlet from the island city to the western suburbs & thereby providing much needed relief to the congested Mahim Causeway. This link will also form a part of the western freeway.

MSRDC, as a part of this project has appointed M/s Dar Consultants (U.K) Ltd. & M/s Dar Consultants (India) Pvt. Ltd. to design, proof check and supervise the various components of the project.

Project Location: Express Highway and Swami Vivekanand road at Bandra and connects to Worli at Worli end with overall length of 5.6 kms for the entire project. A cloverleaf interchange at Mahim intersection and a flyover at the Lovegrove intersection have been proposed as part of this project to enhance the faster and safe traffic dispersal.

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The stalls.. .

The Bandra Worli Sea Link

Knowing that you’re an East Indian ....

Anywhere you go surnames like Fernandez, Pereira, D’monte, Gomes, Correa, Creado, Almeida, D’Lima surface

You have Lonvas curry at least once a week. Bottle masala is used in atleast two dishes a week and of course your family has the best Bottle Masala recipe.

You always serve salt tongue with mashed potatoes and peas at a party. Oh and the bloaters!! The only liqueurs you tasted before you left India was “Kimad”. And must not share your recipes with anyone.

Every second sentence is interjected with “my gosh we certainly don’t do that ”

Your Grandfather owned half of Bandra at some stage and wore a purple sash at funerals

Your mum is a member of the ladies sodality and has a favorite padri

No one makes better milk cream or marzipan than your mum.

East Indian Sorpotel is superior to Goan Sorpotel.

An occasion is incomplete without “Fugias”.

Your aunts start knitting in summer for the Andrean fair in Winter (which is also 30 C)

You wonder why others don’t say “dis” for this and “dat” for that!!

As a kid you were forcibly taken to the Bandra gym for Xmas parties

You have pachunda and guzz and fukni as an antique in your living room!!!!!

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Recipe’s....

Bottle Masala

Ingredients:Dry Kasmiri Chillis 3 KgsDhaniya (Corriander) 750 gmsHaldi (Tumeric) 250 gmsTeel (Sesame) 250 gmsKhus-Khus (Poppy) 250 gmsRai (Mustard) 250 gmsChanna (raw Gram) 250 gmsWheat 250 gmsJeera (Cumin) 125 gmsBlack Pepper 125 gmsCinnamon 50 gmsElachi (Cardamom) 10 gmsClove 10 gmsBardian (Star Anise) 10 gmsShah- Jeera (Caraway) 10 gmsTiraphal (Pepper Leaves) 10 gmsNaikaisar 10 gmsZaipatri 10 gmsMaipatri 10 gmsNutmeg 10 gmsAll Spice 10 gms

Method:Slow, dry roast the above ingredients. Pound/Grind into a fine powder. Store in clean air-tight containers.

Note:Bottle Masala should be red in color. As it ages it may loose a little color and potency. Hence its necessary to store it in air-tight packing.

Potato Chops

Ingredients for chops:Potatoes Boiled, skinned and mashed well2 eggs - beaten nicelysalt to tasteBread crumbsOil to fryMince meat ( cooked)

MINCE MEATIngredients:2 big onions finely cut2 green chillies finely cut6 to 7 pods of garlic finely cut2 small tomatoes finely cut1 medium size ginger piece - finely cuta little fresh coriander7/8 kadipatta leaves

MethodFry all the above ingredients in oil till tomatoes are fully dissolved then add 1 teaspoon of Jeera powder 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric powder 1 tablespoon of chillie powder 2-3 cinnoman sticks (1 inche size each) 4 to 5 pepper corns 2-3 cloves. Let onion become golden brown then add the washed mince meat and salt to taste with 1/2 maggie cube. Add sufficient water. Cook till water dries up. Lastly add vinegar ( 2 tablespoon). Final preparation of the chops Take the boiled and smashed potatoes and make small flat chapatties. Fill or top it with the cooked mince and close the chapatti well. Dip the chop in the beaten egg paste and lastly coat it with the bread crumbs. Fry normally ( Do not deep fry). Serve hot.

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The Secret Behind “I went to see my darling...”

The nights were awfully silent when Fleur D’Souza was growing up in the East Indian village of Cherai in Thane in the 1960s. In the era before television, the hours after sunset were broken only occasionally, by the odd wail of a beggar or the call of a wandering sale person. On some nights, however, a burst of song would fill the neighbourhood. A woman in a dress would belt out a tune that began, “I went to see my darling last Saturday night.”

Lollipop looks like any other homeless person until she breaks into song. When she does, her strong voice filling the street, there’s no mistaking her for anyone else. In addition to the songs we’d heard before, she sang several bhajan-esque Hindi hymns, including a bouncy tune with a chorus that went, “Byculla mein hallelujah”.

It soon became clear, though, that Lollipop’s stories about herself are as hazy as her listeners’ memories of her. Speaking in a curious pidgin of English and Hindi that bordered on the incomprehensible, she was unclear about where exactly she lived, indicating only that she lived on the seashore in Bandra. She supplements her income by working as a labourer on construction sites. She didn’t even seem to be sure of her name: on the phone the previous day, she’d said that her name was Carol Anthony. Lollipop said her mother was AngloIndian and that her father was “Madrasi”. Later she said her mother was Goan. She insisted she was Cotton Mary’s child and that her mother would wear skirts and dresses - sometimes even lipstick – before heading out to sing with her in tow.

“Where did he learn to play the harmonium? Where does he come from? Where does he go? And for how many years more will we see him?” It took Time Out more than four months to obtain some answers. We called dozens of people across Mumbai to ask for help. At the end of October, a staffer’s mother called from Kurla late one night and we finally had a date with Cotton Mary. Only, when we met up with her, she insisted that her name was actually Carol Lollipop. Wearing a cheap, shiny sari instead of her trademark dress, Lollipop said she’d learnt the songs from her mother, Mary.

In an internet posting, a Toronto resident named Roland Francis recalls a woman whom he knew as Cotton Mary wandering through Byculla in the 1960s, “cupping her hands for the bullhorn effect, turning her face towards the sky and singing in a loud and raspy voice”.. In his novel Afternoon Raag, novelist Amit Chaudhuri writes of a “Christian woman who, wearing the same tattered white dress, stood outside the building gates [on St Cyril Road in Bandra] every week and sang a tuneless song in disjointed English” in the mid-’80s. More recently, a blog titled Bandra Buggers reports that the woman who sang “I Went to See My Darling” has been replaced by a man

Over the years, the mysterious woman of D’Souza’s childhood has become the stuff of urban mythology. Thousands of people who know nothing about her have heard her singing “Daisy, Daisy”, “Irene Goodnight” and “You Are My Sunshine”, the melody clear and true even though most of the words apart from the first line of the refrain are gibberish.

D’Souza’s mother would often join in and finish the song. D’Souza, who is now the Vice Principal of St. Xavier’s College, and her mother didn’t know that the tune was actually called “I Ain’t Nobody’s Darling” and had been composed in 1921 by an American named Robert King. They had even less idea that the same song was frequently heard in Christian neighbourhoods all across the city or that it would still be sung 40 years later, presumably by a relative of the woman D’Souza had heard.

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with a harmonium. “Where did he learn his signature tune?” the blog asks.

Patricia Nath, who grew up in Bandra in the early 1960s, remembers her entire family joining Cotton Mary in singalongs. “My father played the harmonica, my mother and my sisters, we’d all join in,” she said. Nath says that “the original Cotton Mary” performed tunes with perfectly correct lyrics. “She told my mother and older sister that she had learnt them while work-ing as a domestic help with an English family,” said Nath. When the family left India, Mary was abandoned by her husband and forced to take up singing for her supper, literally. “In Bandra, I know many people would invite her to come up and have a meal, depending upon what time of day it was,” said Nath. “So she would begin at about 10 in the morning and start going from street to street, taking whatever she got whether it was food, clothes or money.”

Carol Lollipop told us that the songs she performs were taught to her by her mother, Mary. But it seems likely that by the late 1960s and ‘70s, other street performers were also singing these tunes. They looked similar - the women wore dresses; the men carried harmoniums; both genders were accompanied by young children- and sang the same songs. The difference lay in the lyrics. The duplicates sang gibberish. The Cotton Mary seen in Thane singing nonsensical lyrics was clearly different from the English-speaking woman heard in Bandra and Mazagon.

Nath said that the original Cotton Mary disappeared in the late 1960s. But after a few years, the familiar tunes wafted in one day and the Naths saw Cotton Mary outside the window, dressed as before in a skirt, blouse and hat. They called her up and when she was at their doorstep, they realised it was a man in women’s clothes. “He said his name was Anthony,” recalled Nath. “She apparently said she had earned lots of money usinging, so when she didn’t show up for a couple of years, it seems this boy decided to try his hand..” Why he did so in drag remains unexplained. But it does offer a connection to the sari-clad Lollipop, whose body language is distinctly masculine.While Lollipop’s recollections are a cocktail of mem-ory and delusions, she’s the inheritor of a street sing-ing tradition that’s fast disappearing in the roar of city traffic. When asked how she remembers her lyrics, she said, “My mother Mary left me these. How can I forget?” With that, she picked up two pieces of broken tiles, fashioned them into cymbals and began to sing

“I Went to See My Darling”.

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Some of these tunes have been familiar on Mumbai’s streets for at least five decades. The woman who many knew as Cotton Mary would appear around Christmas and Easter in Bandra, Parel, Byculla and other Christian neighbourhoods, singing ditties that were popular with the city’s English-speaking Christian and Anglo-Indian communities. Songs like “Irene Goodnight”, “Daisy, Daisy” and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” are thought to have originally come to Mumbai with homesick Allied soldiers stationed here during the Second World War. While many of them continue to be sung (and are enshrined in Pop Hits, a 1970s book with lyrics and guitar chords for “singsong” sessions at Christian parties),

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