We smile when we meet on the road , that is our remarkable attitude of living in peace .. She knows I am a Muslim who shoots people on the streets and I know she is a humble East Indian , the original inhabitants of Bandra ,, the beauty charm of Bandra came from their heritage and the rich legacy of their forefathers .
They owned large tracts of lands in Bandra , fields fishing villages called Gaothan , but then came this crooked conniving politician builder nexus that usurped their legacy duping these simple folks and sadly allegedly even their own Christian lawyers , pushed them to the brink by conniving wit this evil nexus , the gaothan peace hope harmony their beautiful ambiance bought in the migrants, migrants with blinkers that wanted to make the gaothan into a ghetto, and you can see this glaring disparity today at Bandra Bazar Road Chimbai Chium and in some sections of Pali Village .
Than came the repair permission scams where old East Indian ladies were conned with sweet false promises they gave away their properties for peanuts and got leaking roofs weeping walls in exchange and the builders who conned them with the collusion with the rogues in the Municipalities are big names today untouched by heavy powerful political patronage ,,
My second house at 21 De Monte Street Bandra was a repair permission one , and our East Indian neighbor who had given this property with a beautiful garden rued her decision , till date when I meet her going to Church at St Peter she looks sadly , she lost her husband and her only son..she could go live with her daughters in Canada but she cant bear the cold and loves Bandra Bazar dearly and her house full of crumbling memories .
We moved out 10 years back we miss Jesus at De Monte Street as he watched us moving about wet with our wind blown umbrellas .But he is close by as we now stay a few blocks away in a golden cusp of the bazar and the reclamation.
I have a lot of East Indian friends I keep shooting their houses , that may soon go, as the tempestuous winds of fate keep changing and ugly monstrosities in concrete will come up in their place .
And on a rainy day cooped up at home these are stray thoughts inspired by a Facebook comment ,,
