Gillian Tindall: The historian who made me fall in love with Bombay

The Bombay viral earlier this month made me miss one of the biggest pieces of news mdashone with a deep personal connect and a deeper personal lossThe passing of 87yearold Gillian Elizabeth Tindall mdash the distinguished British historian biographer and chronicler of places mdash on October 1 marked the end of an era for all of us who believe that cities like people have soulsIt was or rather is her seminal work City of Gold The Biography of Bombay that first made me fall in love with the city l have always lived in From her works I relearnt that Bombay is a city built upon fallen forts and buried skeletons stitched together with stories of battle reclamations struggle love and hopeIn todays fastpaced world of reels and shorts her book written back in the 1980s still talks to you vividly A decade ago when my railfanning and research led me to convert the story of Bombays railway into a book her book and writing style were my sole inspiration to unravel the citys past mysteriesSo much so that when I first wrote down the basic idea I wanted her and no one else to go over it I had no way to contact her and sent her an email to one of the publicly listed IDsI had lost hope but a few days later she wrote back personally through her team She said she wouldnrsquot comment on the idea as such but would need a draft It was best day of my life mdash the beginning of some precious lifetime conversationsA novice at book writing then I quickly cobbled together a rough draft and sent it to her She was overwhelmed by the large attachment mdash but she still went through it in detail gently guiding me on structure and language calling it confusingly written dotting around both geographically and historically She suggested that I get it edited and sanitised cite examples from my draft and beyond asked me to use proper historical terminologyShe however offered a succinct endorsement of encouragement for my work which made my book ldquoI admire the bookrsquos energy and the general enthusiasm for the pastrdquoAn inspiring quote from the guru and the inspiration herselfWhen the draft was published as my first book under the title Halt Station India The Dramatic Tale of the Nationrsquos First Lines her endorsement remained on the cover jacket of all the editions published till this dayComing from someone whose writing had guided me her endorsement was both humbling and affirming and remains a unique lifetime gift for meBombay viral I term it so because it is in the air here with every bother person down all over the city due to smoke pollution dust changing season amp the relentless construction as the city is in the middle of an onceincentury upgrade