On a bleak grey morning, cold winds swirl overhead and rain water pools around the ankles. But entering these gates warms me. I realise it is the gift of well-worn colony life. Inhaling an assortment of aromas from different breakfasts being prepared, I savour a vital buzz which envelops Model House. The complex of six blocks, A to E, laid in roughly horseshoe-shaped formation, has brilliantly catalysed art and culture in the city since its construction in 1941, on Proctor Road, off Lamington Road. 

Mapping this east Grant Road precinct for these pages a few years ago, with some serendipity I had bumped into a third-generation resident with wonderful family history, who guided me with initial information. This time, over hot herbal tea she brews for us in her cosy kitchen, Jayamala Joshi explains how her grandfather, labour reformist and journalist Narayan Malhar Joshi, was among the first to move into freshly erected Model House in 1942, after retiring as a leading light of Gopal Krishna Gokhale’s Servants of India Society. He also founded the Social Service League, All India Trade Union Congress and Trade Union Federation, propelling landmark enactments on worker welfare. NM Joshi Marg in mill-hearted Parel commemorates his closeness to the labour class.