Kalbadevi

The 80-year-old Bhaishankar Gourishankar Mithaiwala and Hasmukh Tea Merchants on Kalbadevi Road were witnesses to migrants from Gujarat and Saurashtra who settled at Chira Bazaar, Zhaveri Bazaar, Phool-waali Gali and Bhangwadi and flourished in businesses textiles, garments, jewellery, and for some strange reason, spectacles.

The latest addition is the decade-old 'wedding and printing card paper' business. But gone are the days when a postcard addressed only to Bhaishankar Gourishankar Mithaiwala, Bombay would arrive at the correct address. "Who writes letters these days?" asks proprietor Mahesh Desai with a dry laugh.