There was a time, when J.P. Road was known as Versova Road, for obvious reasons. There was a time when it was unsafe to walk beyond the Dhake Colony, as thick forests separated 7 bungalows from the rest of Andheri.
There was a time when the only way to get from Bhavan’s College to Nanavati Hospital was via S.V Road. The area around the now-defunct Raj Kumar Hotel was bordering on lower middle class but there were a couple of glorious bungalows that stood out and were reminders of the time when this suburb was a picnic spot.
You could hear the sea breeze from my home in 1981 and the same cool breeze would bring temperatures down even in the warmest May day.
I envy those people who lived in a less crowded and polluted Bombay. The city lacked “luxuries” like malls and multiplexes but I somehow doubt that kids in 1981 had less fun than the ones who now eat at McDonalds and watch Japanese cartoons dubbed in Hindi. I envy those who could swim in the waters off Juhu Beach.
There was a time when the only way to get from Bhavan’s College to Nanavati Hospital was via S.V Road. The area around the now-defunct Raj Kumar Hotel was bordering on lower middle class but there were a couple of glorious bungalows that stood out and were reminders of the time when this suburb was a picnic spot.
You could hear the sea breeze from my home in 1981 and the same cool breeze would bring temperatures down even in the warmest May day.
I envy those people who lived in a less crowded and polluted Bombay. The city lacked “luxuries” like malls and multiplexes but I somehow doubt that kids in 1981 had less fun than the ones who now eat at McDonalds and watch Japanese cartoons dubbed in Hindi. I envy those who could swim in the waters off Juhu Beach.
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