The ayah’s journey

Step back in time at Ballard Pier with Uma Lohray’s work of historical fiction, The One-Way Ships. The novel delves into a little-known chapter of the Colonial era — the young Indian women hired as “ayahs” for the children of British memsahibs, and eventually abandoned in foreign lands. In this book, we join the protagonist Asha at Ballard Pier, as she disembarks from the Frontier Mail (now the Golden Temple Mail) train at the historic Ballard Pier Mole Station. While the station no longer exists, readers who want to immerse themselves in Asha’s journey, can head to Ballard Bunder, where there is a plaque. commemorating its role in the city’s history.

Built in 1875, Sassoon Dock is the city’s oldest operational dock. File pic

Marathi memory

From the famous Mumbai vada pav and sandwich and vegetable shopping on the streets of Mahim, to long drives down Marine Drive and the fishy essence in the air at Sassoon Dock, Jeet Thayil’s new book, The Elsewhereans, is part novel, part memoir and a well of nostalgia for the Bombay of yore. For an extra dash of realism, head to Colaba and sample a sugarcane juice from the streetside handcarts, just like Thayil’s mother, Ammu. Maybe, like her, you too might hear the juice vendor demand that you speak Marathi.