Vile Parle and Santa Cruz – A hundred years ago Bombay Suburbs

Vile Parle and Santa Cruz – a hundred years ago

In 1862, Ghodbunder Road (now S. V. Road) was built; it connected Bandra at the west, to Ghodbunder Fort making commuting to and from the suburbs easier. Yet the traffic was sparse. There was a parking lot at Pali naka. People used to travel by bullock-carts, horse-carts, or in palanquins. Travelling at night was risky. All vehicles had to pay toll at the old Khar naka (S.V.Road police chowky traffic signal). Vehicles plied in convoys as if they were in a procession.

In 1865, the government banned the use of fertilizer made from dead fish, resulting in a lot of Koli wadas (fishermen colonies) going bust. Many fisher folks migrated to Sashti Island in Mumbai’s suburbs, where the ban was not in place. At the same time, housing started becoming expensive in the city. There was a plague epidemic in 1899. In the intervening years, many people moved to the suburbs to settle down.

Manekji Gajadar, a Parsi gentleman, owned a huge estate near the sea-shore at Santa Cruz West. This area is the present-day Juhu. This was not connected to Santa Cruz-Vile Parle till the 1920s. This gentleman built a large embankment in the sea to thwart the high tides. He also built the Juhu Tara Road. He had hundreds of fisher folk, Agaris, and East Indian families in his employ. These people established a Koli wada at Juhu sea-shore, and Agaripada at Santa Cruz East.

The railway line reached Santa Cruz in 1865, but there was no station. Gujrathi and Parsi travelers from Gujrat would request trains to stop there or pull the chain and force the trains to stop. The origin of the name Santa Cruz makes for an interesting story.

Around a hundred and fifty years ago, there was a hamlet by the name Fulbawadi on the Khar-Santa Cruz-Ghodbunder Road (S.V.Road). The local Portuguese community had erected a wooden cross on a nearby hill. One fine day, the cross started sprouting leaves because of exposure to rain. It began to look like a tree, and this miracle led to it being named Santa Cruz, which means ‘Holy Cross’ in Portuguese. Subsequently, a chapel was built there, and the entire area came to be known as Santa Cruz. The Sacred Heart School stands in that place today.

A lot of rich Gujrathis came to stay in Santa Cruz between 1880 and 1900. They bought large plots of land from the fisher folk, Agaris, and people from the East India Company. Some of the prominent names among them were Berger Pawri (the first Parsi), Hassan Ali Abdul Ali (after whom the Hassanabad Lanes are named), Kanji Karsandas (Bhatia), and Tulsidas Khimji (Bhatia). Apart from all these, a lot of Pathare Prabhus also shifted here from Mumbai.

The Jackals Shooting Club of the British was located opposite the Santa Cruz (East) railway station. Europeans would come all the way from Mumbai to hunt jackals here. The slum that came up here in the pre-Independence days is still known as the Jacko Club slum. There was a kutcha road from Juhu to Vakola, Kole, and Kalyan (present-day Kalina) for bullock carts. It had a railway crossing. There were stone quarries opposite the Jackals Shooting Club. On June 26, 1951, the BSES Head Office was shifted from Bandra. A temporary camp for refugees was set up in the Anand Nagar area, as it is known today.

The Wakola Gaonthan (Community)at Santa Cruz (East) was a settlement of the East Indian people, whereas further up about a mile and half to the east of Parle, the Kole Kalyan (present-day Kalina) village nestled against the Rye Hill. The British had established an Army Camp atop this hill. Kole Kalyan in Portuguese means Jackal’s House! The ancient Our Lady of Egypt Church was also located in the same area, next to which was a lake. The Bhat Parwadi, Cordeshio wadi, Mhatar Parwadi, Ranwar Parwadi, and Kolawari gaonthans were located around this place. A small road through the hill connected Kole Kalyan with Vakola. This road exists to date.

About three hundred years ago, there were small hamlets situated some three miles to the north-west of Bandra. Most of the residents had converted to Christianity and were under the reign of the church. Work on the railway line connecting Virar and Colaba began in 1867. This line bisected these settlements into east and west. Of these, Padle (or Pound) and Santa Cruz were on the east side, whereas Irle and the nearby Andheri were on the west side. This area was known as Vidlai-Padlai, which subsequently became Vile-Parle.

Padle was surrounded by mango and tamarind trees. The hamlet had an old police station, and a grazing ground for cattle. There was a freshwater lake too. This police station was established after the one at Bandra. The road was known as the Old Police Station Road. In 1930, the grazing ground opposite Andheri East station was utilized for the construction of the Andheri Police Station and lock-up as well as a police colony. The old police station at Vile-Parle was demolished and the lake was reclaimed. The St John Pound hamlet was on one side of the Old Police Station Road, whereas the St Anthony Pound hamlet was on the other side. At present the area is known as Misquitta Compound. This hamlet had three roads – Misquitta Street, Gonsalves Street, and Fernandes Street. Padle (or Pakhadi in Portuguese) was located on high grassland.

The Old Maharwada Road (now Veer Makarand Ghanekar Rd) ran on the east side of the Parle Railway gate. To the south, the railways had constructed a nullah to drain out the rainwater from Parle and Santa Cruz. This nullah which finally drained into the creek towards the west was fifteen feet lower than the present-day Milan subway and gaonthan. Unsurprisingly, a lot of rainwater used to collect here due to the local geographical features. So, water logging in this area has been a problem since a hundred years.

There was a railway gate meant for bullock-carts ferrying travellers from the western villages going to Sahar, Kole-Kalyan or Vakola. Every Sunday or on ‘feast days’ Catholics from Parle would go by bullock cart to the church at Amboli. It was an arduous journey for the old and infirm. In 1850, a committee headed by the Father of Kalina Church acquired land from the local people and decided to build a new church near the railway gate on the western side of the line. The Misquitta family of Pound donated its land for this project. Father D’Souza brought over St Francis Xavier’s relic from Goa and established the St Xavier’s Church here in 1868. In those days, vast tracts of land from the railway line to Ghodbunder Road belonged to the church.

The twin hamlets of Sumbhatwar and Bhandarwar were situated near the St Xavier’s Church in Parle West. The name Sumbhatwar is derived from sumbh in Marathi which means rope. The Sumbhatwars are traditional rope makers. This village also had traditional stone masons and artisans called ‘Patharvats’. These artisans made stone mills to grind flour, small mortars and pestles as well as stone urns to de-husk rice. A special variety of stone was fetched from the quarries in Santa Cruz (East) and Goregaon (West). The populace of Bhandarwar was made up of Koli, Agari, Bhandari and Kunabi communities as well as East Indian people. Due to the proximity of a forest, this place had a fire-wood market too. Three roads – St Francis, St Braz, and Sarojini – connected this village to Ghodbunder.

Vegetables from Parle were well-known in Mumbai since the days of British rule. A bazaar-special train was started in 1929 to transport vegetables and fruits from Virar to Grant Road. It left Virar at dawn, and had longer halts at Nala Sopara, Vasai (then Basin), Bhayander, Borivali, and Vile Parle to enable loading of the vegetables and fruits. Prior to this train, vegetables from Parle would be transported by bullock-carts and boats to Mumbai. Cucumbers, gourds, brinjals, and okra were especially well-known items. The Kolam variety of rice was also in great demand.

The BSES Company was established on October 1, 1929. A special function was held in Surajben Narottamdas’ bungalow at Santa Cruz. The then Finance Minister of Bombay Presidency, Sir Chunilal Mehta inaugurated the streetlight services at Santa Cruz and Vile Parle. In the initial days, electricity was supplied through overhead wires, but later on underground cables were laid. By 1950, all gaonthans (Community)of Santa Cruz and Vile Parle were electrified. 

Juvem alias Juhu and Parle were two villages that were sold by the government to Wadia, the ship-building baron. There was a formal agreement between the two parties for planned development of Parle. Accordingly, the Wadia Trust was to develop roads, water supply, social and educational institutions, and medical facilities to attract educated people to settle there. The taxes collected for them would be contributed to the government coffers. In later years, Barve, and Agashe became the Managing Trustees after Wadia. They developed Parle in a planed manner and helped increase government revenue.

The Vile Parle railway station came up in 1907-08. Mr Madhav Dikshit, a trustee of the Wadia Trust came to stay in Vile Parle. Hundreds of middle-class families bought plots of land in Parle and built bungalows, houses, and chawls on Dikshit’s insistence. Some of the houses were leased out to tenants. Christians (East Indian) formed the majority of Parle residents till 1910. But later, Maharashtrians and Gujrathis became the predominant communities. Vile Parle became their stronghold. Festivals of these two communities began to be celebrated with great enthusiasm. 

Many historic temples came up in Parle. Some of the prominent ones were – Paranjape’s Parleshwar (1912), Gokhale’s Shri Ram Mandir (1913), Thosar’s Shri Hanuman Mandir (1918), Maniben Nanawati’s Jain Temple on Dadabhai Road (1921), Kunte’s Mahalaxmi Mandir (1934), and Dwarkadhish Mandir on Thanawala Road. The Sanyas Ashram was built towards the west, in 1938.

Narottam Mohanlal Chauhan established the Parle Biscuit Company in 1929, after having been trained in Germany. In 1930, Narsi Monji established Golden Tobacco, while Vinayakrao Sathe established United Ink and Varnish.

Mahatma Gandhi had stayed at Janaki Kutir, the bungalow on Juhu seashore, belonging to the Birlas. Gandhi would go for a stroll on the beach at dawn and offer prayers in the bungalow at dusk. Hordes would come to meet or catch a glimpse of the Mahatma. Industrialists, wealthy men, and film actors and actresses also came to stay there.

In 1890 Jamshedji Tata bought a lot of land and built a bungalow for himself. He developed 1200 acres and devised a scheme of 500 plots of an acre each. But after his death in 1904 the scheme fizzled out.

In 1928, India’s first airport was built on Wadia’s 100-acre plot in Vile Parle West. The Juhu Flying Club was established there to offer proper, scientific training to aspiring pilots. JRD Tata became the first Indian pilot. On October 15, 1932 he flew his own plane from Karachi to Juhu. This airport played a vital role during World War II. Being located in a depression, this airport would become waterlogged during the rainy season, and so the Santa Cruz (actually Vile Parle) airport was built 2 km to its east.

In 1904, Govardhandas, Gokuldas Tejpal bought a huge tract of land near the railway station, towards the east. He built a majestic and luxurious mansion - Mor, on a four-acre plot on this land. The main dome of this mansion had brass peacocks on it. Besides, there was a swimming pool, lawns, gardens, and Italian marble flooring and carved-wood furniture. It was a veritable palace. In 1942, his heirs divided the property and sold it to different people. The present-day Municipal Market, Agrawal Market and Deenanath Mangeshkar Auditorium stand on this very land. The Tejpal Scheme, a large housing complex, has come up on another part of his land.

The Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal was established in 1917, whereas a Gujrathi Mandal came up on Shraddhanand Road in 1938. In 1923, the Lokmanya Seva Sangh (Tilak Mandir) was established in Parle East. It became the hub of all socio-political and cultural movements of Parle. A well-stocked library, huge playground, large auditoriums, classes for various arts, Ganeshotsav, flag-hoisting ceremonies, and music programmes were all part of this establishment. The first Mumbai Sahitya Sammelan was also held here on October 20, 1929.

One finds that Marathi, Gujrathi, and Catholic cultures have co-existed here in harmony for more than a century, just as they have in Girgaon, Kalbadevi, and Dhobi Talav areas. Among Mumbai’s suburbs, Parle has managed to maintain its own cultural heritage. It is Parle that comes to mind when we think of educated, intellectual, and wealthy folk. No wonder, we of Parle are all proud of this reputation.

Arun Puranik