The city chronicler’s child

Thanks for thinking of Baba Zaran for your column. I’m gathering everything as he has his afternoon nap next to me,” wrote Simin Patel, widely known as Miss Bombaywalla. As the founder of the Bombaywalla Historical Works archive, she engages city lovers with chronicles of half-forgotten gems in nondescript gullies dotting the rapidly changing cityscape. 

Little wonder that her 14-month-old, Zaran, is a toddler about town. Growing up matter-of-factly amid memorabilia that form the tools of his mother’s trade—from faded vintage posters and sepia prints to yellowed confectioner menu cards and tattered laundry receipts. He romps. She records. The results are enlightening and endearing. Over to the charming Bombay discoveries of Baba Zaran, in his mother’s voice.