July 22, 2004
The Fertile Suburb
Bandra, the most fashionable suburb of Mumbai, had an interestingly simple history. In the 1600s, it was a large village, 20 miles in length, with lots of rice, vegetable & coconut plantations. It was said to yield very good cabbages, radishes, water melons and onions. The island of Salsette (Bandra was in Salsette) was referred to as a granary. Rice was the chief crop here. One of the early gazettes mentions that when there was a friction between the British in Bombay and Portuguese in Salsette, the export of rice from Bandra was banned. The rice exports in those times would go as far as Goa. Also there were mango groves on the hills of Bandra. Those once mango groves are one of the most famous addresses in India now. On a different note, the queen of the suburbs is going to get a new necklace quite soon.
