Bishop’s Gate, it was called. One of the most elegant residences, occupied mostly by expatriates and corporate honchos, it stood above the fruit stalls of Breach Candy. To my horror, I saw that the five-storey structure is an enormous cavity now, and will presumably be the site of yet another high-rise, hopefully not glass-plated.
It’s quite an area of lightness actually, with a swishy crowd of shoppers. And you can also pick up oven-hot brownies from a hole-in-the-wall that also offers health food on the lines of khakras and cholestrol-free dry bhel. An outlet specialises in chocolates, and believes it or faint, a bookshop has survived there for more than four decades, not that it stocks any rare titles, but is a perfect stop for browsing through glossy magazines and espionage paperbacks.
There are survivors in the prime-estate stretch but long before Bishop’s Gate, landmarks have gone with the wind. Like Chimalker’s for stationery-splurging, and an Irani-owned shop for cold cut meats. Of course, the most heartbreaking loss has been Bombelli’s to which Raj Kapoor would travel from Chembur whenever he had an urge for cinnamon coffee. Believe me Danish pastry, Easter eggs and slices of Black Forest, don’t taste the same anymore.
The serpentine queues outside the American consulate for visas have shifted to the suburbs. Despite that, a comfortable stroll down Breach Candy just isn’t possible. And although police chief Arup Patnaik may have fumed about the slow traffic en route to his official quarters in Malabar Hill, does he even know that the snarls could be sourced to the double and triple parking outside the shops even at peak hours? Traffic cops don’t seem to mind the clog there. Instead bunches of them hang out at the Bandra-Worli Sealink to nab motorists for minor trespasses. Blocking the traffic movement at Breach Candy appears to be no big deal. Anyway..
The snooty Breach Candy Club lives on – and it should, it’s beautiful – despite intermittent labour problems. The Raymond’s flagship store has gone in for a rehaul and is so much glass that I’m scared of crashing through the doors. Justly famous once for its window displays, they no longer catch the eye. Sad.
Sorry if I’m getting a bit morose about the state of B’Candy, 2012. That’s because I had always dreamt of visiting one of those wonderful apartments in Bishop’s Gate, the balconies strewn with cane chairs and assorted greenery. Too late, damn why didn’t I masquerade as a pizza delivery boy and peer into at least one of those dreamy apartments?