After restoring many of Mumbai’s landmark dials, horologist Venkatesh Rao has worked his magic on Byculla’s Christ Church clock, making it the oldest operational public timepiece in the city
Venkatesh Rao with his latest work of restoration. The original clock for Christ Church was shipped from London in a box, complete with nuts and bolts, and assembled on site. Pics/Satej Shinde
We are called ghadiwallahs here. Unlike in Europe, horologists [clock makers/restorers] in Asian countries don’t earn respect,” rues Venkatesh Rao, on our return from the tour of the clock chamber and bell room of the 190-year-old Christ Church at Byculla’s Clare Road. After a month-long project, he has resuscitated the 1828-made clock that stopped working five years ago.
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Matunga-born, Hyderabad-based Rao is realistic about the challenges his profession throws up: “Nowadays, everyone prefers digital clocks. In London, institutes teach horology. In India, few understand the need to preserve vintage clocks. It is a fascinating science, as you just saw.” One hour ago, we negotiated our way via a narrow, wooden ladder to witness the working mechanism of the analogue clock, a world of escape wheels, pendulums and barrels. We were teleported briefly to Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning cine tribute to automaton, until the giant clock above us struck 12, bolting us back to reality.
Like the Rajabai Tower, the hands of the Christ Church clock are made from copper, which Rao says is the best metal for longevity
“The clock had stopped because of wear-and-tear. It didn’t need major repairs until now. I had to dismantle it, piece-by-piece, and brought it down to a makeshift workspace one level below the clock chamber. Here, we undertook its cleaning, painting, and repairing of some brass parts,” Rao informs. Christ Church trustee, Christopher Gomes, shares, “It was manufactured in London; the church was built in 1833, so this clock must have been ordered in advance.” For Graham Heiden, principal of Christ Church school and trustee of Christ Church Trust, it’s a nostalgic moment. “To hear its sweet chime again reminds me of the many worship services and fellowship at Christ Church. Three generations of my family have worshipped here.”
“Every clock teaches me something–this one taught me patience,” Rao reveals, recalling the lack of ventilation and limited manoeuvrability in a matchbox-like space. Lessons from his father, Narayana Swamy, came handy. “He started repairing clocks in Hyderabad as an 18-year-old, but shifted to Bombay where he worked in repair shops before opening his own set-up in Matunga. My father had applied for a horology course in England; they would send him books as study material. During vacations, I would flip their pages. It taught me calculations, combinations of metals and led me to begin tinkering with small alarm clocks. Later, my father would take me along on some projects. But after I graduated, much to his dismay [he didn’t want me to become a horologist], it became my full-time passion,” he smiles.
Accompanying Swamy to Fort’s Rajabai Tower for maintenance of its clock (1888) are excursions he cherishes to this day. “We used to climb up 15 floors daily; it fired my fascination. It has the city’s largest dial at 13.5 feet in diameter and its pendulum measures 14 feet!”
An etching reveals the year ‘1828’ and the name of its manufacturer, located in Clerkenwell, in London, which was one of the centres of clock- and watch-making in England. Exposure to excess wind is not ideal because it affects the swing of the pendulum, thereby affecting the time. Hence the clock apparatus is always placed in a closed space
In a near-repeat of generational wisdom, Rao wasn’t keen that his son become a horologist; he now works in the IT sector. A bypass surgery after 60 led Rao to cut down on work. Back in Hyderabad, he pursues selective projects, like the mega one coming up in Prayagraj, formerly Allahabad, in Uttar Pradesh. “The Kumbh Mela is next scheduled for next year, and their civic administration wanted to beautify the old buildings, including the clocks that date back to the 1850-’60s. They don’t wish to install new clocks.”
Tick, tock…he repairs the clock
Some of Rao’s works
>> Bomanjee Hormarjee Wadia Clock Tower, Bazaar Gate, Fort
>> RA Podar College, Matunga
>> Cricket Club of India, Churchgate
>> Industrial Assurance Building, Churchgate
>> CSMT (Victoria Terminus): The staff at CSMT wind it up; Rao steps in to maintain it if any problem arises
>> Mayo College, Ajmer
The Golden Oldies
Report card on the health of the city’s most prominent dials
Rajabai Tower – operational
VT/CSMT – operational
Mumbai Port Trust – not operational
Sassoon Dock – not operational
Crawford Market – operational
Jijamata Udyan entrance – not operational
St Thomas Cathedral – not operational (Rao says this could possibly be the oldest clock in the city since the building was opened in 1718)
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