Past-times of the Seventies in Bombay

Oh! How I wish I could turn back time to the 1970s to once again experience the euphoria of watching a Hindi movie in a theatre in Bombay (now Mumbai)...perhaps a Rajesh Khanna blockbuster!

In those days when the television had barely invaded our lives, there were not too many forms of entertainment apart from watching movies, going to the beaches in the evenings and watching the sun set while devouring delicious chaats (pani puri, sev puri, ragda pattice, bhel puri et al mmm how mouth-wateringly yummy!) and kulfis on the sands of the Chowpatty or Juhu beach.

While some preferred to ramble in the National Park in Borivli in order to connect with Mother Nature, others found solace in the neighborhood park. While the young boys were engrossed in playing cricket or lagori, the girls usually listened to music on the radio, indulged in other hobbies such as painting or embroidery or helped with the household chores. The young ones entertained themselves playing Hide and Seek and its several variants.

Indoor games such as carom, snake and ladder and playing cards found popularity among all age groups. On dark, rainy afternoons the young and old alike would huddle up together to play a variety of card games such as Ghulam chor, Satthi dav, 304, Jaboo, Judgement and so on. This would happen typically in July and August when schools would close down for a few days due to incessant rain and when local trains, the life line of Mumbai, would simply stop plying. I’m so glad the television, computer and mobile phones were not part of our lives then.

The concept of a mall was totally unheard of then. College goers, especially those studying in colleges in and around Churchgate, preferred to take long strolls along the Marine Drive or Nariman Point. The weekends saw them window shopping or actually shopping at the Fashion Street, Gandhi Market, Elco Market and Linking Road of Bandra or watching western movies in town or Hindi movies elsewhere. A boat ride in the Gateway of India was another popular past-time for families over the weekends during those days. While some preferred to watch the aquatic wonders at the Taraporevala Aquarium, others, especially the art-loving kind had a whale of a time admiring the artistic marvels at the Jehangir Art Gallery.

Marvels of Mother Nature

Have you ever had the leisure to watch some of the innumerable marvels of Mother Nature? Here are some of them:

A baby squirrel nibbling on the seeds of a potted basil plant in the balcony.

The sky transforming into a giant screen splashed with myriad hues at sunset.
First golden, and then pinkish with a mauve periphery. The pink gradually diminishing and giving way to the mauve. The mauve turning quickly to a grey and moments later, the entire sky being engulfed with darkness as if saying adieu to yet another beautiful day.

A pair of hawks (not sure if they are hawks or kites) fighting with each other in mid air. Sometimes, they seem to fly sideways and sometimes backwards! Wonder if this is an illusion or is it due to the wind speed.

Clouds of varied shapes and sizes floating carelessly in the sky, sometimes resembling an elephant, sometimes a sleeping cat and sometimes a huge butterfly.

White rain coming down in torrents and washing the whole atmosphere clean and leaving the smell of fresh damp mud to linger for a long time.

Dewdrops on the leaves glistening like diamonds at night.

A congregation of crows having a whale of a time with the overhead water tank overflowing on the terrace.

A pair of tiny black birds that can easily be held in the palm of your hands, perched on the ledge of the balcony.

A squirrel hanging upside down precariously from a slender branch of a gulmohur tree – a sure contender for a gold medal in gymnastics for animals!

The leaves of the gulmohur tree dancing to the tune of a gentle breeze.

A crow gathering little twigs and pieces of a rope to make a cozy nest atop a gulmohur tree.

A chameleon on the trunk of a coconut tree in perfect camouflage. It has the same shade as the trunk, that is, kind of a dull brown and can be noticed only because of its movement on the trunk to catch an insect!