Mumbai: 100 years of strong Saraswat pride

In a sleepy suburb of Santa Cruz West a quiet hall nestles among the 16odd buildings that comprise the Saraswat Suburban Cooperative Housing Society one of Asiarsquos oldest cooperative societies Named the Shrimat Anandashram Hall it is the hub of the Saraswat Club the religiouscumentertainmentcumsports organising committee of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin colonyldquoIrsquove been associated with the club since my childhoodrdquo says Dr Kishor Nayampalli convenor and mentor who used to be the president and now oversees its activities unofficially Along with 10 other members the club organises religious and social gatherings for the 180odd families of the society The club is a sister institution of the societyrsquos other committeesThe members of the club grew up practising various physical fitness activities especially lezim and gymnastics Shankarrao Rakshe their principal teacher trained them in various Indian sportsThe Saraswat Club was formed in 1923 four years after the housing society was established on March 12 1919 by Rao Bahadur SS Talmaki a social reformer and the pioneer of the cooperative society movement in India Quoting from a Canara Saraswat magazine dating back to 1954 historian Deepak Rao whose friends and relatives live in the society says ldquoAt the dawn of the 20th century in India the idea of a corporate body functioning for the express purpose of providing residential accommodation to its constituents was a novel idea indeedhellip This society inaugurated the cooperative housing movement in India for the first time This was a concept unknown to IndiardquoOriginally from Kashmir the Chitrapur Saraswats migrated southwards and settled in Goa parts of Konkan Mangalore the North and South Canara districts of Karnataka and Mumbai where the largest population is concentrated As a member of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin community Talmaki it is said used to shelter people from the community who migrated to the city Eventually the numbers grew and Talmaki established the Gamdevi society the first one in 1915The club was set up by the original residents of the Saraswat society who had a keen interest in cricket and wanted to celebrate the festival of Gokulashtami in a grand manner In those days it was known for staging theatre productions and Marathi dramas like Eakach Pyala and Bhav Bhandan C Soparkar a physical training teacher would teach all the children of the colony how to play various sports including wrestling khokho kabaddi and malkhamb The community grew up learning gymnastics and performing malkambFrom left Members of the Saraswat club ie Shaila Gulvady Malati Bijoor Maya Mangalore Deepak Hemmady Aparna Betrabet Aarti Benegal Kishor Nayampalli and Ramesh Bijoor want the younger generation to follow in their footsteps and carry on the community spirit of togethernessIn 1945 Soparkar established a gymnasium ldquoIn those days it was known as a vyayamshalardquo Nayampalli recalls ldquoIt was meant for all types of Indian gymnastics and sportsrdquo Later on Shankarrao Rakshe a muchloved personage known as Bhai and Master to the residents who grew up under his athletic tutelage took over the functioning of the clubrsquos sports activities for nearly four decades up till the 1990sOver its 100yearhistory the club has significant milestones to its credit In 1927 Rabindranath Tagore visited the colony to address the residents Among the traditional Indian sports lezim and malkhamb were the ones that residents really shone in In 1952 the lezim team represented Maharashtra at the Republic Day Parade held in New DelhiEven today the lezim equipment hangs up in a room of the clubrsquos hall still shiny Maya Mangalore the secretary for religious activities who trained under ldquoMasterrdquo says the lezim performances used to be full of fervour and energy ldquoIt was an amazing time Because I learned lezim and other athletics here I went on to become a gymnastics teacher and taught for 45 yearsrdquo she recallsNow though she canrsquot physically perform shersquos responsible for rounding up the children and training them ldquoEven when you strike up the drum beats of the lezim today they are the first to get on their feetrdquo reminisces Ayesha Kazi the general secretary A newlyinaugurated badminton court keeps old and young alike active which Aparna Betrabet as the secretary for sports and youth activities keeps tabs onAyesha Kazi and Maya MangaloreThe 100yearanniversary celebrations have been going on since September last year starting out with the celebration of Gokulashtami and culminating with a threeday celebration on the March 10 weekend this year The highlights were a special movie screening and a felicitation of senior members of the community many of whom hadnrsquot moved out of their homes in yearsldquoThey had tears running down their facehellipthey hadnrsquot seen so many of the people in such a long timerdquo recalls Ramesh Bijoor the president of the club Today the club hopes to encourage the younger generation to connect to their roots by making them visit their elders on special occasions and offer them bouquets and sweets