The fading charm of Chowpatty
Every time I pass by Chowpatty — which is every day — I check out the Nana-Nani Park at the tip of Walkeshwar. And to my dismay, I see no grandpas and grandmas or even uncles and aunts there. The opening gate is locked, some attendants can be viewed lazying around inside during the afternoon hours.
Still, I’d give the benefit of doubt to the authorities. Maybe they do open the park for senior citizens at certain set hours, in the morning. If not, knock knock — what on earth is happening? And in any case, shouldn’t the park be accessible at decent early evening hours as well?
Come to think of it, the Nani-Nani enclosure at Chowpatty-Girgaum — which replaced a garbage dump — was the first of its kind. By the way, that Girgaum hyphenate is generally used to distinguish one of the city’s finest beaches from the one at Shivaji Park and Juhu. Inaugurated on January 26, 1998, thanks to the efforts of its foundation, the thoughtfully-constructed park saw its variations soon enough in other parts of Mumbai and the suburbs.
As for the rest of Chowpatty-Girgaum, it has lost some of its flavour with the extinction of its cluster of bhel puri stalls, which had operated there, in fair weather and foul. Sheltered under mega, ethnic-colour-and-and-tasselled umbrellas, the bhel puri vendors had operated on the beachside for decades, dating back to the 1940s. And there was something typically Bambaiya about the malai kulfis and the Banarasi paans vended there.
In fact, a paan wizard, his bald pate plastered with a solitary coconut-oiled curl, was so famous that citywallas as well as out-of-towners would click photos with him, and ask for the palang tod paan, famed to be a guaranteed aphrodisiac. Apocryphal stories claimed that he mixed powder from crushed pearls in the paan to make it more way more potent than the Viagra of today.
Chowpatty’s maalishwalls, ear-cleaners and dubious palm readers have vanished today, which is a good thing. Around midnight, the masseurs, it is believed, would carry out erotic massages right there under the open sky. And an investigative journalist had uncovered the fact that near the other end of the beach, close to the bridge leading to Charni Road, the beach had become a hunting ground for paedophilists.
The city’s prime beachside property is relatively safer now. An ungainly architect structure housing drinking water taps, has been removed, too. And during the Ganpati immersion week, the traffic control has improved immeasurably. Still the question arises: why isn’t the Nana-Nani Park the haven that it was for senior citizens, during its younger years?
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