Bom Bahai Dairies- 6: The Crown Jewel

Hello Vicky, you are looking upset today. Tell me, what’s wrong?

Sir, it is nothing. The caretaker at my Guwahati home gave away my grandfather’s gramophone about a month ago while cleaning out unused things. It was a masterpiece and I developed an ear for music since my childhood listening to music on it as it played the vinyl records.

That’s so sad but things like this do happen. How would the caretaker know the value of these priceless antiques that have so much of memories stored in them? Anyway, don’t lose heart. I will take you to a place in our beautiful city where many a times such antiques land up from all over, some sold to kabadiwalas and in many cases stolen from the homes of people who own them. There is a huge market here and often you can pick up genuine antiques in the midst of look-alikes and fakes.

Let us go there now, Sir. Maybe my grappa’s gramophone has come here and is yet to find a buyer.

Ok, let us go to Chor Bazaar today.

We boarded a Kali-peeli taxi from Churchgate to Mohammad Ali Road and shared some trivia with Vicky on the way which was no more than 4.5 km but took us over an hour and half to reach.

Vicky, did you know, there are two versions of how the place got a name? The bazaar in the congested area of the city was always so full of people trying to buy and sell used and second-hand things that there was always a noise around and the locals called it ‘Shor Bazaar’ or Noisy Bazaar. The English on the other hand could not pronounce the word Shor and they started calling it Chor and then the locals, too, started following the white masters. The second version is that when a Governor General of India was coming to India, many of his wife’s belongings including a prized violin went missing whilst getting unloaded from the ship. All of these were traced by the police to have been put up for sale in this market and hence the name Chor Bazaar.

We, finally, managed to reach Bhendi Bazar and started walking around streets with strange names, the likes of which you will never find elsewhere…. Mutton Street and Butcher Street. We were slightly disappointed when we saw a large number of multi-storied buildings undergoing complete make-over which was taking away the old-world charm of this place with its old houses, no more than a couple of floors, and architecture that was a mixture of Gothic and Saracenic.

In some time, we found ourselves near a couple of shops exhibiting movie posters. We walked into one of them and were told not to take any pictures as some of their exhibits were originals. We saw a huge poster of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film Mili and the proud man there told us that this original piece would cost us rupees three lakhs… possibly in 1975, it would have costed the producers the same amount to make the complete movie! We also got to see some copies which too were priced at over ten thousand each so we just admired the collection and beat a retreat saying, we will be back soon.

We saw many shops selling old artefacts, books and furniture but there was a full lane devoted to automobiles. Heaps of spares of automobile body, tyres, lights, horns, batteries and engines were on display here. We also saw a few young men dismantling cars and they did it in such a hurry that in no time, every nut and bolt including the number plate was removed and nothing was left of the original vehicle. We understood why speed was of such essence in this trade…. any delay may lead to cops confiscating the vehicle and arresting the street artists. Nicolas Cage’s movie Gone in Sixty Seconds could have been easily shot here or the Formula One pit stop teams could hire these boys at no cost and yet do the tyre changes manually during the races with speed better than the trained crew.

We finally found the shop that Vicky was so desperately looking for… one which had old cameras and gramophones of all makes and models. Vicky was able to locate the same make and model that his grappa had left behind but sadly, it wasn’t the original piece for it did not have the old man’s name etched on the base. The shopkeeper told Vicky that he will do it for him free of charge and that the set was fully functional. He would drop five old vinyl records additionally to sweeten the deal but Vicky seemed confused.

Keep this piece for a week and if I do not come back by then, you may sell it to anyone. I need this time to think if at all I should buy this piece or not.

The shopkeeper readily agreed and handed Vicky his business card. He spoke with a lot of confidence, “You name anything and you will find it here, no matter how old or how special that thing might be…Chor Bazaar will never let you down.”

With a bit of humour and a bit of sarcasm, Vicky asked…Crown Jewels milega kya?

The shopkeeper said…haan milega…it is somewhere around for sure.

We laughed and, as we were walking towards the exit, we came across Taj Ice Cream. 

This is an iconic eatery that has been making ice cream since 1887 and has enthralled movie stars like Johnny Walker, Waheeda Rehman and Madhubala. We walked in and asked for their special alphonso mango ice cream and started reading about the history of this place and were amazed to find out that they still make ice creams in wooden barrels and hand churned, the way they made it 125 years ago. The fruit mixed with cream is then poured into a copper canister which makes their recipes legendary and unique. The sixth generation of ice cream makers are at work now and no prizes for guessing their surname…Icecreamwala!

We enjoyed every lick of the ice cream and then Vicky said… Sir, Taj means the crown. Now that we have found the crown here, can the jewels be far away?

Vicky, don’t worry. I know where to find the most precious crown jewel of all…the Kohinoor. You can see Kohinoor in some time, just do not ask me any questions how, when and where.

Ok, Sir, you got me excited and I shall follow my leader to Land’s End.

We took another Kaali-peeli and took a turn to the left from the imposing RBI Building at Ballard Estate, Fort, and got dropped opposite an old, dilapidated building with a number of people hanging outside. The old rusty board read, Britannia and Co, Exotic Parsi Iranian Restaurant. All boards displayed ‘Cash Only’. Vicky, the foodie, couldn’t help laughing seeing this iconic eatery but asked, how do you plan to find Kohinoor here, Sir?

He is there inside…come with me and I will show you. As we entered the eatery, we found a dog sleeping on one side of the cash counter and a cat on the other. An old man sat behind the desk and welcomed us as we took our seats. We found ourselves at a point where I felt that every person passing was trying to take a picture of us and so I would smile at them. Vicky shattered my dreams and told me that people were actually taking picture of the interesting rules of the restaurant that was hanging on the wall next to us…. No Talking, No Combing Hair, No Leg on Chair….

I asked the man serving…Boman Kohinoor Saab kahan hain?

He said, “Saab passed away in 2019. You have not been here for long or else you would have known about it.”

I explained to Vicky, “Boman Rashid Kohinoor started Britannia in 1923. He called himself India’s biggest fan of the Royal family of UK. He even met Prince William and Kate Middleton when they visited India in 2016 and I have seen their cardboard cut-outs kept in this restaurant when I had last visited. Boman would walk around and make sure he would meet each and every customer who came to the restaurant and take a feedback about the food and also recounted about the traditional recipes served here.

Vivky smiled and said, “So now Boman Saab is entertaining Queen Elizabeth up there in the clouds…how fascinating indeed!"

Not Boman Saab…Kohinoor, the Crown Jewel, himself.

We ordered the traditional Pallonji’s Raspberry soda and followed it up with the lazeez Mutton Salli Boti (small mutton balls with crispy potato slices finely cut) with chapati and then there was no way we would miss the Berry Good Chicken Berry Pulao. This pulao is really very special for it is full of barberries that are imported from Iran to retain their authenticity. The place proudly adorns the flags of Iran and India, the place of origin of the ancestors and the residency of the present owners. We rounded off this fine food with the special caramel custard which is not too sweet or eggy and tastes just right. Both of us burped as we cleaned up the desert and understood the signal from within which shouted…bas kar…no more please.

No matter how much we explore this city, it never fails to amaze us. The more we see, the more we fall in love and the more we want to see of Bom Bahai. Hasta Manana till we meet again.

Vicky & SS