Shormistha Mukherjee: Bandra

She believes she has lockdown to thank. The excitement of being able to observe homes on beckoningly clear streets took Shormistha Mukherjee cycling—from Nagpada to Parel to Dadar and Umerkhadi—easier spotting otherwise missed details. Slowly, it became something she had to do. “In order to make documentation accessible to anyone loving houses and this city as much as me, I started the Instagram account, Bombay Pincode. As we emerged from the pandemic, I realised that redevelopment was going to change everything soon. Now I feel I’m running against time.”

With life and work—she is the co-founder of a digital agency—to catch up on, post-pandemic she stuck to strolling in her neighbourhood and introduced Houses of Bandra. “This is special because of the people I meet. Like the D’Limas at 14, St Roque Road of Ranwar village, in an over 80-year-old bungalow built by their grandfather who worked with the BB&CI Railway. I was fascinated by a bench in their backyard. A vintage railway bench whose headboard flips around, so its seat faced the correct side of the platform. From them, I also heard about the Christmas Saving Fund, which started in 1865 as the Bandra Ranwar Railway Pass Fund.” 
Walking daily, Mukherjee revisits people who take time to warm up before being ready to share stories. She likes returning to the same lane or house at different times of the day, to see how it interacts with the street and the light. Noticing Koli home embellishments inextricably linked to their seaward livelihood (pomfret or shrimp patterns moulded into doors, waves on exterior walls), what stands out in East Indian cottages are their boundary walls—low enough to look in and speak to someone in the porch or garden. “That’s how communities are fostered. Bandra is losing this fast. Bungalows take up their walls and new buildings shut everyone out with forbidding gates.”