| |
|
| WHEN IT WAS BOMBAY |
|
| |
| At the Café at Gallery BMB On view till 31 January 2010 |
| |
Mumbai (मुंबई), formerly known as (or so they say) as Bombay The city of Bombay originally consisted of seven islands, namely Colaba, Mazagaon, Old Woman's Island, Wadala, Mahim, Parel, and Matunga-Sion. This group of islands, which have since been joined together by a series of reclamations, formed part of the kingdom of Ashoka, the famous Emperor of India.
This was some time in the 13th century. Circa.
A few centuries later, the islands were given to the English King Charles II in dowry for his marriage to Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, It was later leased to the East India Company in 1668 for a mere 10 pounds of gold a year, and Bombay became their business capital.
The British corrupted the Portuguese name "Bom Baia" to "Bombay". The Kolis used to call the islands "Mumba" after Mumbadevi, the Hindu deity to whom a temple is dedicated at Babulnath near Chowpatty's sandy beaches. But what’s in a name.
The photographs have some very important landmarks of the city that have survived the test of time and technology, like Regal Cinema, Flora Fountain, Bandra Station, Capitol Cinema, Marine Drive etc., set in a time like the 30’s and 40’s and 50’s where cars, clothes, fashion and cameras were very different. There were trams running through the city. These images have only been seen in movies. In some images like Eros, Mumbai, one can imagine Amitabh Bachchan standing against one of the cars, smoking a bidi. Fabulous.
Information on some of the photographs
They are all found negatives that have been cleaned and scanned very carefully. The were, back in the day, processed with silver oxide. The images were taken by a LINOF 4x5 or a GARFEX camera, as told by connoisseurs.
Flora Fountain was named after the Greek goddess Flora, was placed in the centre of the city on what used be known as Hornby Road. Now a traffic crossroads, it is swarmed by frenzied pedestrians and confused blinking signal lights.
The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of king George V and Queen Mary for the Darbar at Delhi in 1911. Once a solitary structure, it has become a ‘spot’ for tourists, con men and locals.
The God of love " EROS " overlooks the gorgeous Oval Maidan in the avatar of a cinema. Its founder Mr. Shiavax S. Cambata established Eros Theatre in the year 1938 at Churchgate, the very heart of the business center.
Bandra railway station is connected via the Western Railway and the Harbour Line, which is an offshoot of the suburban Central Railway. Today, one has to be very ‘sollid’ to be able to get through it. But it stood isolated in the 30’s with few passersby.
The name of the place has undergone a metamorphosis from 'Vandra' (Marathi) to 'Bandora' (Portuguese) to Bandra (English). Other variants were Bandor, Bandura, Bandera, Bandara, Pandara and Bandorah.
It is obvious what the photographs are implying, with relation to the present. Bombay is home to many of her citizens, and creates a sense of patriotism to every resident.
These photographs were not taken with the intention of being shown decades later.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
