Visited Bandra on Sunday(20-9-2009) and made my way towards familiar locations with my camera, filled with nostalgia of a bygone era of memories.Being a fitness freak i decided to cycle from my residence to Bandra but relented the same later as Mumbai's roads are absolutely cycle unfriendly, besides, i had a puncture at Bandra with not a single cycle repair shop in the vicinity.The only cycle repair shop in Chimbai locality was closed due to the fair and i n the end i had to renew the aft tyre after walking all the way to "Kohinoor Cycle shop" at the Hill road junction. Bandra was once considered the "Cyclers paradise" of casual living with small cottages and a special cycle parking place near the Bandra station in an era where the famous Bandra quote was ," Throw a stone in Bandra and it will either strike a Perreira or a pig"! Today in 2009, the cycle has become a embarrassment to public transport and quaint cottages and pig styes have given way to aristocratic bungalows and skyscrapers.Through this entire transformation of the cultural and social demograph of Bandra , the "Mount Mary Bandra Fair" has survived in popularity as well as religious fervor adjusting to the process of modernization and change.Remember religiously attending the "Bandra Fair' in the 1970's with my mother and as usual, a visit to Mount Mary church and later after a meandering walk along the road, with fair stalls on either sides, taking a famous "Bandra Fair memento snap", finally visiting one of our family friends, the normal yearly "Bandra Fair routine".Remember pestering my mum for purchase of typical childhood fancy items which today seem a "willy wonka excursion" and as always, in adulthood, the formative teenage years seem childish, which they authentically were, an era of innocence.Purchased a few of my initial pets from the "Bandra Fair" which usually included Munia's and parakeets, a common attraction at the "Fair Stalls".I still have a group family photo taken along with my mum's brothers and nieces with me at the driving wheel of the "Bandra Fair photo studio car", a costly , prized photograph to a simple room chawl living teenager. Time and tide did make a difference in my Bandra Fair visits as we aged and interests changed from being a "Mama's child", always accompanying my mum, to trudging the "Self - Discovery world" with my building friends.My own relatives whom i "Piloted" in the "Bandra Fair car" later branched out into different independent accommodations, achieving great success in their personal and professional lives. Having been brought up in "Haji Ismail Gani Building" in Byculla in the 1970's with a strong catholic influence , the "Bandra Fair" was our premier carnival enjoyment, planned well in advance with total "Masti" in mind.Fun amongst the middle-class, chawl living youth of the 1970's consisted of sports, gossip and "Bandra fair" with the more "Notorious types" trying their skills in "Ratan Khatri's Matka"!. "Pocket Money" was a rarity and saved well in advance just for splurging on a single day at the Bandra Fair.Later in 1975 i shifted to "Vaibhav apartments" at Old Prabhadevi road , a apartment style of living, totally different from the chawl living of "Haji Ismail Gani building". Although we shifted to Prabhadevi, our one room residence at Byculla was maintained as also my friends circle, hence we always met,sometimes played carrom near "Heritage hotel adda!" and as usual discussed ????.In Vaibhav Apartments, barring our neighbours, the entire flat owners consisted of "Non-Catholics", hence a total difference in life-style and living and honestly, we Indians are all communal at heart, more comfortable within one's own community or language.As for me,having lived in Mombasa(Kenya) for 8 years in a large flat,later migrating to Mumbai and living in a "one-Room chawl" in Byculla and finally to a flat in Prabhadevi ,a factor of different living conditions and cultures made me immune to "Communal biases". I am as comfortable in Bhendi Bazaar as i am in Shivaji Park, my only bias being that i am more comfortable with the "English Language" and English speaking people. Barring occasional visits to "Room No 88,Haji Ismail Gani Bldg" and the yearly visit to Bandra Fair my own personal interests, hobbies and friends changed drastically after shifting to "Vaibhav apartments", an upscale neighbourhood in the 1970's, very similar to "Mehrle Devji Building" in Mombasa.Our most adventurous visits in the Bandra Fair as the "Byculla Boys" were not to friends or acquaitances houses but to "MINGLIA's JOINT" situated somewhere near the end of the fair in the "Bazaar Road" locality.We normally strolled down the main Bandra fair road at night,finally arriving at the famous "SEPTEMBER GARDENS" where the usual Girls and Boys "LINING" took place through dance programmes and joy rides. The "Byculla Boys" of my generation lacked the "Money Power" for skirt chasing but made up for the same through trials of endurance skills in "Daru Consumption", a yearly ritual at the "Bandra Fair".remember, this was a yearly "GRADUATION RITUAL" into "Manhood" by consuming maximum "Illicit Country Liquor" on a "Single Night" and "Talking Sober", otherwise, we all youngsters were total "Teetotalers",all below the adult age of 18 years."Today, in 2009 we have "Boy Bands" but then in the 1970's we had the "BYCULLA BANDRA FAIR DARU BOYS" a total "Roys club", formed mostly due to the lack of money for "Dating Bandra Fair Chicks". We accidently discovered "MINGLIA'S JOINT" which was the infamous "DARU(Home brewed country liquor)stall" for both, pilgrims as well as fun-seekers and packed to capacity during one of our routine visits, after which, it became a yearly ritual to visit "Minglia's Joint" on the last day of "Bandra Fair". This illegal "Liquor Joint" was run from the house of Michael(Minglia in Konkani) on the first floor of a ancient house, typical Old Bandra houses seen even in 2009 in the Bandra bazaar market near Garuda road. Minglia would entertain us with his famous "Minglia's Head stand", a yoga trick demonstrated long before Yoga became a "fashion statement". After a few pegs, Minglia would do the "Headstand" to prove his prowess of sobriety and the benifits of yoga in avoiding cirhossis of the liver while we would drink until the wee hours of the morning!As for us Byculla chawl teenagers,we made up for the lack of serious "Line Lagooing pocket money" for discovering girls by mastering the art of thrift enjoyment with the slogan,"WE ARE THE BYCULLA BOYS,IF WE DON'T GET THE RUPEE, WE FIGHT FOR THE 'DARU BATLI', YES,WE ARE THE BYCULLA BOYS".The purpose of religiously visiting "Minglia's Joint" on the last day of the Bandra fair was to prove our "DARU STAMINA" within our circle, the greatest sober "Daru drinker" being considered "Top Adda". In the 1970's ownership of a camera among "Chawl residents" was equivalent to possessing a car, an absolute luxury,and although i did possess my dad's camera, using the same was prohibited by mum, the "Yashica -635" being a costly luxury in the 1970's,besides, reel photography was a total "LUXURY HOBBY" prior to the "Digital Era" invention where young children become professional photograhers. Hence, there are no photographs of this infamous period of our innocent youth escapades during our teenage years,the equivalent of "All Night Partying" amongst 21st century teenagers .The years passed by, we sold "ROOM NO 88" in Byculla and so also manny of my childhood friends shifted to various different localities of Mumbai.Later, we all branched into different professions and as happens in life, gradually became memories to each other,including the yearly expeditions to "Minglia's Joint" as our social lives evolved over the years, none of us becoming hard-core alcoholics! In life, your friends circle evolves as you age and either ascend or descend the "Financial and Professional ladder" of success and failure. Manny of my friends of the "Bandra Fair Days" of the 1970's are today totally absent from my personal social life, reasons being various and best left undiscussed.Finally, its "Unforgettable Memories" that keeps us normal although i do lament the age of innocence of the 1970's "Chakku Youth era " totally being obliterated by "Internet,cellphone,Pub,sex, gaming and gun film culture" of the youth of the 21st century.Thats life, you either evolve or perish.
