A century of splendour

Imagine a building associated with Sathya Sai Baba the Shah of Iran the Nawab of Sachin and a host of cultural figures of heftSloping up eastward on a crest joining Peddar Road to ML Dahanukar Marg Malboro House formerly Kamani House designed by Claude Batley in 1938 sensitively responds to local climate and topography With capacious apartments crowned by vast ceilings protected by deep circular balconies and topped by a wide RCC chajja this landmark heaves with history Engineers and contractors Messrs Gannon Dunkerley executed the vision of the firm of Gregson Batley and King for the mansionlike building intended for a German lady who left in World War II before she could move inHer loss was a Gujarati patriarchrsquos gain Ramji Hansraj Kamani from Dhari village in Amreli district of Saurashtra Baroda State purchased the property in 1945 That year also saw Ramjibhai establish Kamani Engineering Corporation Possibly Asiarsquos first electric power transmission company a pathbreaker in railway electrification it flourished as the largest manufacturer of transmission towers in Indiamdashranking second globally after SAE ItalyRamjibhai Kamani leftmost felicitating Jawaharlal Nehru along with daughter Indira rightmost at the inauguration of Jaipur Metal Industries The Kamanis also hosted the Shah of Iran at the Taj on a visit to Bombay Pic courtesyKamani familyFrom information in the family annals Parag Kamani shares we understand his keenly entrepreneurial grandfather pioneered the production of derivatives of nonferrous metals and alloys lead oxide and zinc oxide By the 1970s the Kamani Group diversified across Bombay Bhavnagar Bangalore and Jaipur market leaders for metals rubber chemicals and jewel bearings Ballard Estatersquos Nicol Road was rechristened R Kamani RoadmdashKamani Chambers the company office rose here A clean look envelopes Malboro House the earlier name restored to it after the Kamani joint family separated from the ancestral seat Rounded southfacing balconies bear minimal ornamentation and westerly ones are shaped in simple rectangles The neat plan finds the ground floor open to a terrace and first floor to the garden with a car park beneathThe staircase and interiors of some of the seven flats over three storeys retain original tiles a key Art Deco element Fascinatingly each apartment sports varying styles and every room is floored by different marble mosaic cement tiles ldquoWe deepcleaned these on coming in 1998 Since then the tiles are washed with water alone never floor cleaners Yet the only thing their smooth surface reflects is unlimited sunshine from the large windowsrdquo marvels Pushpa Palat We sit in her firstfloor flat at the spot her bhajan teacher remembers Sathya Sai Baba presided The head curlhaloed guru met disciples in four flats Curious about a missing ldquorrdquo in the name Malboro why not the erstwhile Marlboro spelling Pushparsquos husband former banker Raghu Palat explains that their neighbour below poeteditor Pritish Nandy balked at the thought of postmen associating the august address that attracted royals the Nawab of Sachin occupied a flat above with the Marlboro cigarette brandWe hope the builttolast elegance of Malboro House remains a feast for the eyes and soulIts current Grade III status accorded Grade II B instead might ensure thisHornby View FortIt is an icon within an icon Few sights could be cooler than a 1985 Yezdi motorbike parked quirkily in the middle of an Irani cafe This would be Ideal Corner in the small jewel of a building Hornby View once offering a lookout to the sweep of Hornby Road DN Road With standout cantilever balconies it rests on a corner of Rustom Sidhwa Road acknowledging the gent who was a member of the Constituent Assembly and member of the first Lok Sabha postIndependenceHornby View at Fort with Ideal Corner restaurant on the ground floor Pic courtesyArt Deco MumbaiThe earlier name Gunbow Street may derive from the Brit corruption of Gunba a predecessor of philanthropistmerchant Jagannath Shankarset ldquoOld records show Ganbasett or Genba Shet settled in Bombay during the first quarter of the eighteenth century and founded a mercantile business within the Fort wallsrdquo Bombay City Gazetteer Volume 1I stroll past old stores still sporting signboards like Gunbow Garment Cleaners to interview Parvez Patel a copartner of Ideal Corner The gleaming twowheeler between tables is his A sharp reminder that this was the space of Ideal Jawa agents for Yezdi Born in Prague as Jawa to power ahead the world over the European import was assembled in Bombay thanks to Rustom and Farrokh Irani who started Ideal Jawa Motors right here in 1960 Rustom convinced the motorcycleloving Maharaja by then Governor Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar of the need to manufacture the vehicle locally Their Mysore factory was set up in 1961 ldquoSales thrived till the Japanese invasion from 1985 when the factory shut downrdquo says Patel about stiff competition from the likes of Honda Yamaha and SuzukiThe 1985 Yezdi motorcycle inside the cafe Pic courtesyParvez PatelBefore the restaurant replaced Ideal Jawa a snack counter run by Gulcher Rustomrsquos sisterinlaw hawked homemade cutlets and patties ldquoShe then introduced one main dish a daymdashan even bigger hitrdquo adds Patel ldquoI was tired of my shift system job with Oberoi Hotel Living just next door in Reporter House I began helping at Ideal and watched it change PreInternet this was the discussion adda for stock market traders You couldnrsquot get a toe in Bombay House staff came with lunch coupons We had Central Bank and Citibank employees besides at least 50 people from the HTA ad agency daily to eat But the metro digging and pandemic have finished us off We wait for mainly walkin customers todayrdquoAn elderly resident tells me ldquoIrsquove been at Hornby View for 51 years since my marriage and my fatherinlawrsquos parents much before Itrsquos that oldrdquo If a 999year lease dated December 1939 seems indicative her motherinlawrsquos narrative suggests the family arrived even earlier ldquoShe came here as a young bride They moved to a Thana house when the war broke because British armed force services stored supplies in flats like ours She was full of praise for the fact that the soldiers maintained everything intact so they returned to the same lovely home they had to leaverdquo Archana Lajpat Rai Road Vile ParleldquoArchanardquo arrestingly written in Devanagari script on the streamlined facade of this bungalow presents a veritable role model An object lesson in a vintage architectural vocabulary gently coaxed to survive and suit contemporary comforts this is unique the sole such structure surviving on Vile Parlersquos Lajpatrai Road once lined with Art Deco gems from the 1940s50s Archana fronted the Juhu aerodrome until another residential row sprang upArchana the sensitively restored Deco bungalow in Vile Parle Pics CourtesyShah familyContoured with classic highlights of Art Deco Archana displays geometric patterns metal grilles and eyebrowsmdasha climateresponsive element an eyebrow in Deco parlance is a horizontal ledge extending outward above a window to serve as a sun shade The many doors pillars and balconies fitted with swings stay retained The Shah family lives on the ground and first storey of this home Dhanwantrai Dhanubhai Desai who built and owned Archana then lived on the first floor Pushkar Shahrsquos grandfather Manilal was a professor before he began their BEC Chemicals business ldquoAs Dhanubhai was influentially connected leaders like Indira Gandhi and other stalwarts have visited the bungalowrdquo says PushkarPushkar Shah with his parents and sister at home 1992Rather than mindlessly modernise the Shahs opted to consult conservation architect Vikas Dilawari for the renovation respecting the buildingrsquos core personality Pushkarrsquos mother Varsha says ldquoLocated in the funnel of Pawan Hans wersquore safe from redeveloped structures around us exceeding a specified height increaserdquo Exuding such an air of care surely Archana is an example of tender transition that might be replicated elsewhere in the cityAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacomatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params