Aamchi Mumbai Ep. 3

Cultures of Mumbai

As we all know Mumbai is very well known for its Marathi culture such as the linguistic identities and also the 'Sanskritis' of Dabbawalas, Chawls etc. Not only the cosmopolitan aspect but its very beautiful culture & heritage makes it even more vibrant. Let us know about such cultures which are most commonly found in Mumbai. 

1. The Marathi Tadka & Entertainment :

Marathi language in Mumbai has got a lot of importance which is also the official language of the city. It has a vast variety of literature, dramas, poetries and a lot more. Famous writers such as Ranjit desai, Vi. Va shirwadkar (Kusumagraj) , Pu. La. Deshpande and actors such as Bal Gandharva etc have worked in Mumbai and touched the new heights in their respective fields. Dramas and the stand up comedy have a very long history in Mumbai as well as Maharashtra as a whole, Pu. La. Deshpande is considered as the father of stand up comedy in India. Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians love their theatrical culture which includes various forms such as Sangeet Natak (Musical play), Ekankika (One act play) which are embraced by everyone till date. Marathi theatre has always been at forefront when we speak of theatre art and plays all across India. Mumbai is the birthplace of Indian cinema with the oldest film shot by the Britishers in the nation in 1896, Also Mumbai is the first city in India where screening of the first film took place. Father of Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke was a Maharashtrian, his debut movie Raja Harishchandra was the India's first full - length feature film. It was a silent film but many people still believe that it was a Marathi movie. This film premiered at the Olympia Theatre in Mumbai and it's theatrical release was in Girgaon. In Maharashtra, annually 'Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din' is celebrated on 27th february. 

2. The Chawl Culture : 

The Chawls are predominantly found in the streets of Mumbai. Chawls in Mumbai were firstly constructed in 1900, It was initially meant for industrial workers who came in large numbers and worked in the mills here, during the British times. They came from various parts of the state as well as country and resided in these structures where there are long corridors and along the corridors there are small rooms (called as Kholi) in which the entire family of workers stay even today! The cramped dwellings facilitate communication and interactions between the residents who celebrate the festivals such as Ganeshotsav, Janmastami etc together as a big family. The Chawl Sanskriti usually promotes spirit of brotherhood and sense of togetherness while it is also famous for the fights on the taps where women from all homes come to collect water for their households. The most widely known Chawl network from Mumbai is the BDD (Bombay Development Department) Chawls which span across 92 acres in prime locations such as Worli, Parel and more, there are almost 195 Chawls, maximum of them situate in Worli. Now, the process of redevelopment of these Chawls is taking place. Chawls have importance in Mumbai as legendary freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak started first public Ganeshutsav in the Keshavji Naik Chawl in Girgaon, with the aim of bringing people together. There are also many Chawls in Dadar, Mazgaon, Sion etc. 

3. Mumbaicha Dabbawala : 

In the usual working hours of Mumbai, you will find many people on cycles wearing white clothes & a white topi with many tiffins, As we all know that working in Mumbai is hectic and for these hardworking people there are numerous Dabbawalas (Tiffin carriers) who deliver the tiffins (Dabbas) in offices & working spaces before the lunch hours and take back the empty tiffins to their homes. Most of them are less educated but their network and management of delivering the tiffins to the respective place is considered to be very significant. The army of 5,000 dabewalas feed around 2,00,000 Mumbaikars daily. Let's see where it all started, around 131 years ago in 1890s, A Parsi banker had kept one dabbawala to bring his tiffin from home to the office, many people liked this idea and this is how this service expanded. Mahadev Bhavaji Bachche is known to be the first ever Mumbai's Dabbawala. Till now negligible cases of error are reported among them and their service is 99.99% reliable because of their brilliantly planned supply chain without the use of big contemporary technology. Often in big universities Mumbai's dabbawalas are invited to give their valuable talks and conduct seminars on how they manage this huge network with ease. In many renowned institutions such as the Harvard Business School, their organizational skills are the topics of study, case studies & research. Top universities described their network as “Outstanding example of excellence in logistics”. Prince Charles of England in 2003, had come to Mumbai to meet these dabbawalas and their work culture was applauded by him. 

One more interesting movement that was started by dabbawalas is 'Share My Dabba' - many dabbawalas observed that lot of people don't eat full tiffins so much of the food gets wasted, so they began to share that food to the slum kids. Whoever have not finished the tiffin is asked to put a sticker on the top of it called "share my dabba" So that they give that food to any other unprivileged person especially kids.

 Unfortunately during the COVID pandemic

almost all the dabbawalas were unemployed which caused a lot of damage to their livelihood. There is a Dabbawala statue established in 2017 as a tribute to their faithful & reliable service for more than a century, located on Tardeo road, Haji ali in Mumbai. 

4. Hutatma Chowk :

How can one forget to recollect the efforts taken by these people for creation of Maharashtra as a state. By visiting the Hutatma chowk we are able to know their sacrifices and remember them forever. Hutatma Chowk (Martyrs Square) is located in the bustling area, Fort in Mumbai. It derived the name as 'Hutatma Chowk' because of an incident that took place in 1956, when a peaceful protest by Sanyukt Maharashtra Samiti was fired by police officials and around 106 people died. This demonstration was held for the creation of the state of Maharashtra and as a protest against plan of declaring Bombay as a city state after India got independence. This incident proved to be the major facilitator in the creation of Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 which is annually celebrated as 'Maharashtra Din'. Here, the statue of 'Martyr with a flame' stands in front of the Flora fountain. This is to remind us of the struggle and horrendous incidents that took place for the creation of the state. It is also renamed as 'Hutatma Smarak Chowk' by the BMC. There is also a 'Amar Jyot' which translates to eternal lamp in the Chowk lighted to pay tributes for the martyrs. 

In this post, I have tried writing about the few things that have cultural significance in Mumbai. Yet there are many things to be covered. Till then Goodbye let's meet in the next episode of 'Aamchi Mumbai'. 

P. C. : Google images

#Shambhavi'sTakeOnMumbai #AamchiMumbai