Song of the screen, call of the chawl

This is cine city Every couple of miles a building cluster embraces the movie hall it borders An entire road can find itself so defined Like Cinema Lane at New Marine LinesStyled Art Deco with fluted columns the five levels of Kapadia Chambers rose the same year that Metro opened mere feet across in June 1938 Some years later audiences thronged May Rose Restaurant at the residential blockrsquos west cornerBefore settling to being known as Kapadia Chambers this was formerly Ava Chambers and then Patel amp Master Chambers Ava was Gustad Khodadad Iranirsquos wife His fatherrsquos name christened Khodadad Circle DadarldquoWe parked outside Metro after enjoying Saturday night movies with superb May Rose snacks brought to our carsrdquo recalls Rumi Taraporevala of Gowalia Tank ldquoHaving watched the film Rosemaryrsquos Baby with Mia Farrow impregnated by the devil courtesy Dr Sapirstein we jocularly hailed that eveningrsquos waiter Sapirstein He loved shouting out lsquoSapirstein Sapirsteinrsquo whenever we pulled up Our favourite got generous tips In fact we always said lsquoLetrsquos go to Sapirsteinrsquo never lsquoLetrsquos go to May RosersquordquoldquoEk zabardast zamana tha May Rose kardquo agrees Rizwan Alam Khan the paanwala outside the cafe which converted to a Chinese eatery with tumbledown appeal and is currently a beer bar Three generations have plied their trade at this stall since Rizwanrsquos grandfather Dost Mohammad Khan from UP set it up It is named NK Paan Shop after Rizwanrsquos father Novsher who describes the heyday of May Rose in a phone call from Azamgarh ldquoI sat there from 1962 Shurushuru Angrezi picture jyada chalti thi Metro mein Tab May Rose ki chai bhi kya behtareen thirdquoOphthalmologist Yasmin Bhagat was amused to hear that the popular beverage was rumoured brewed with crushed Glucose biscuits imparting its delicious creamysweet flavour Riding in a ghodagadi past the site her grandparents spotted the striking structure under construction and decided to book a seafacing flat When they arrived in 1939 the waterfront shimmered clearly visible Between Ava Chambers and the Arabian Sea lay only the Anglo Scottish cemeterymdashpresently Walter de Souza Garden which honours the field hockey champion whose team won the gold the first time India met Britain at this game in the 1948 OlympicsRizwan Khan at his paan stall at Kapadia Chambers PicBipin KokateldquoBefore the main film the theatre often screened Special Metro News Snippets from around the globe flashed after the usual roar of the MGM lionrdquo says Dr Bhagat ldquoFrom our balconies we excitedly caught glimpses of matinee idols at premieresrdquo A star in his own right from the 1940s was painter Shiavax Chavda He married Indian classical danseuse Khurshid Vajifdar of the Vajifdar trio of dancer sisters with Shirin and Roshan Their daughter Jeroo Jyoti teaches Bharatanatyam in the roundish studio space where her mother had guided supple ghungroostrung feet and father quietly coloured portraits and sinewy figures influenced by his wifersquos dance worldJeroo Jyoti Chavda practising Bharatanatyam before her famous parents in the 1980s at Kapadia Chambers PicSooni TaraporevalaAcross the landing from the Chavdas unravels the tale of a tangy treat told by nonagenarian Keki Poonjiaji the greatgreat grandson of Mancherji Poonjiaji who launched MM Poonjiaji amp Co with his brother Maneckji In 1840s Fort their wives hawked homemade pickles to British troops To offset the bland fare of their home acres soldiers brought back these condiments and relishes packed in Bombay in glass bottles imported from London As the Poonjiajis exported from the docks a ship motif illustrated the 1883launched green label Major Greyrsquos Chutney as it was known was mixed milder than the spicier local version in a nod to that officerResidents have fond Metro stories Poonjiaji saw Gone with the Wind 13 times at Metro Ushers recognised regulars slipping in repeatedly to thrill to the magnificent soundtrack of Ben Hurrsquos chariot race sequence Bhagat remembers the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was a smash hitSurviving stores at Kapadia Chambers include Caxton Sports Marques amp Co Music Salon and Madonna Laundry In 1948 Jagmit Kuckrejarsquos father Inder set up Caxton after supplying sports goods to the military in Jakarta Clayton Marquesrsquo violinist and piano tuner father Marcus carried on with his father Franzrsquos job selling instruments and books of lyrics for Cinema Road to sing along with from 1939That same year Dayaram Rajput of Surat started a dhobi service which transformed to Madonna Laundry with his son Damodar Grandsons Vasant and Lalit believe the shop owes its name both to Dhobi Talao Catholics and Europeans in barracks behind Till the 1970s when 22 police officersrsquo quarters in neighbouring Gopal Mansion were yet to be derequisitioned Madonna smartly starched uniforms for Deputy Commissioners of the ilk of Alan Thorley Edwin Saxby and Basil KaneFour kilometres north of Cinema Lane the Grant Road branch of Shamrao Vithal Cooperative Bank is as much a fixture as Ganesh Prasad the Sleater Road building it fronts Envisioned when the countryrsquos cooperation movement was gaining ground the Shamrao Vithal Cooperative Bank has been a fixture fronting Ganesh Prasad building Responsible for the Chitrapur Saraswat colony of Talmaki Wadi in Tardeo Shripad Subbarao Talmaki had established this cooperative credit institution in 1906 acknowledging his guru Shamrao Vithal KaikiniPrinciples of fellowship thrift honest labour and selflessness on which the bank was veritably founded echoed through the long corridors of this Eshaped housing society Over 70 years after inviting its first families the cosmopolitan chawl compatibly hums with an ethos which shaped our foremost socialists legal luminaries doctors accountants and advocates as well as icons of the arts and cultureThe living legend here is 98yearold Dr GG Parikhmdashevery inch the grand old man of Ganesh Prasad that Keki Poonjiaji is at Kapadia Chambers ldquoThe first to occupy this genuinely cooperative society in 1950 I must be the oldest surviving residentrdquo he says ldquoIn the years straight after Independence the government made money available at four per cent interestrdquo In prior decades of raging nationalism Parikhrsquos freedom struggle hero Yusuf Meherally who coined the slogans ldquoSimon go backrdquo and ldquoQuit Indiardquo lived nearby on Raghavji Road Beaten for demonstrating against the Brits he was rolled in a barrel from the top of Grant Road BridgeBalancing a medical practice and duties at the Yusuf Meherally Study Centre which he established in 1961 Dr Parikh coedited Janata the Praja Socialist Party magazine since 1946 With fellow patriots Damu Jhaveri and Rohit Dave he worked hard to realise three plans they dared to dream in jail forming Indian National Theatre All India Students Congress and Hind Mazdoor Sabha Staunchly supporting rural progress the good doctor visits Panvelrsquos tribal village of Tara thrice a week even todayParikhrsquos daughter Sonal Shah has a distinct memory of attending the naming ceremony of Dhananjaya Chandrachud the Supreme Court judge ldquoWe wandered in and out of homes without a thought It was a happy feeling to grow up with every door open to you through the day Ours still is Many romances bloomed across homes toordquoFewer doors remain wide in welcome than in her childhood years but the five storeycomplex continues thrumming a strong flow of community I sense this in the nicest way when I go cold calling to families on different floors with directions from Dr Parikh ldquoYou donrsquot really need telephone numbers Our oldtimers love to talkrdquo he assuresThey do A chorus of Kotwals Kamblis and Karandes warm to the theme within a moment of meeting Dr Nitish Kotwal a radiologist after seven generations of advocate ancestors reveals an interesting yearend event till about 20 years ago The terrace staged almost weeklong performances of singing recitation plays and original dance ballets conceived by residents like Guru Parvati Kumar ldquoIt began on what came to be called Occupation Day because the last week of December was when Ganesh Prasad had received its occupation certificate all those years agordquo Bharatanatyam doyen Guru Parvati Kumar trained exponents including Sandhya Purecha and PL Raj Dropping out from a Parel municipal school to earn mill wages he recreated the choreographed poses of Uday Shankar at midtown Ganpati pandals Shifting to this chawl he taught classical dance His daughter Aparna shares a video of her mother Sumati swirling at 16 to ldquoSuhana hai yeh mausamrdquo from Footpath Wanting to dance under Raj Kapoorrsquos direction she finally did in the Awaara dream sequenceRinging the bell at one end of another stretched corridor I am greeted by a gentleman obviously disturbed in the middle of something Trying to wear an unhurried look Dr Shyam Karande kindly offers ldquoWe can certainly speak but after these last overs in the PakistanAustralia match pleaserdquoResuming our chat with his game comfortably done the son of gynaecologist Janardan Karande and brother of political activist Pramila Dandavate says ldquoWe have a young managing committee which is mindful of senior citizens Slopes and ramps have been erected We donrsquot stage yearend programmes on the terrace anymore But in a recent development part of it thoughtfully provided with plants and a bench is reserved for the elderly Things change to keep us relevantrdquoAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacom