A guided walk around Chimbai or Ranwar in Bandra can be quite an experience even for a Hill Road shopper. For, at the far western end of this commercial mecca lies a world that doesn't quite gel with the buzz all around — Chimbai and Ranwar, to start with, are still called villages or gaothans. But situate the tiny hamlets' Portuguese-style houses and narrow lanes converging at a holy crucifix amidst lush paddy fields instead of the surrounding high-rises, and they may no longer seem like relics.

Agera celebrations at the parish church of Uttan. Pic/Fleur D'Souza