Bombay: A Place in Time
Altamont Road, India’s Billionaires’ Row, was long a peaceful tree-covered locality meandering up the southern slope of Cumballa Hill. Almost definitely named so after one Colonel Altamont (yes, spelt ‘Altamont’ not “Altamount”!) who lived in a home that went by his namesake a little up the hill, it would be easy to deduce that the translation of the name into “high hill road” is apt, but easier said than done! The earliest reference comes from the year 1865, the peak of a cotton boom in Bombay that had seen its wealth and prominence skyrocket, when Altamont was being let out on rent at Rs. 1000 per month, an astounding sum for its time (and an indication of demand even in a then-obscure part outside the fort area) and hence deemed worthy of recording.
1865 was also the year that the American Civil War ended; Britain lifted its trade embargo on the US and cotton prices in Bombay plummeted, rendering many of the richest men in town bankrupt virtually overnight (due to various factors which are too detailed to enter into here.) But what changed Bombay forever within this time period is that the fort walls were ordered to be brought down by then Governor Bartle Frere, whose brother William had lived in Altamont in the 1850s, described as “a jolly man, which could scarcely be said of Sir Bartle, and very popular”. Other British-era references of Altamont, of which there are scarce numbers, record parties such as one where William Wordsworth (Jr.), the son of the poet recited a poem wherein a writer jibed that “he had never been to Scotland, but from the hills of Cumberland he had once “a glimpse of the Promised Land”! So, on and on life went by in this quaint neighbourhood.
Shifting gears – looking through my bedroom window during peak COVID, I would wonder at how the quiet, even in a turbulent time, could render a place peaceful. The view that greeted me was virtually what we see here in this accompanying early 20th century view – left to right, is the Manize bungalow, Maskati Corner, and the edge of Kwality House, all at Kemp’s Corner, with the commencement of Altamont Road in the centre. A quaint view of bygone times in this neck of the woods, the Manize bungalow was largely (but not completely!) demolished in the 1960s during the construction of the Kemp’s Corner Flyover that went right over it, leaving the road-accessible shopfronts to house Manize beauty parlour for many years, before the final remnants were very recently demolished. Confusingly enough, the road that used to envelope the bungalow pre-flyover days was named Hermitage Pass (also the former name for Kemp’s Corner, still to be found in contemporary BMC surveys), but the 18th century Hermitage bungalow was to be found on the other side of Woodlands, at the site of Pleasant Park today, as conveyed by Mr. Vaman Apte, whose family lived in the adjacent Woodlands bungalow before its transformation into a skyscraper, adding that his mother clearly remembers this.
Maskati Corner, formerly named Tata Mansions, used to house Kamal Book House, where a young Buddhichand Maroo was employed for a short while before launching in the 1960s what was to become the media behemoth Shemaroo Entertainment, as confirmed by co-founder and brother Mr. Atul Maru, further stating that their origins were very humble, and grew over time. The building today houses residences as well as a host of commercial establishments. The Rolls Royce sign of Kwality House can be seen on the right of the image, covered extensively previously in this column.
Gone are the days when characters like “sau eedu” (hundred eggs!) lived in the vicinity mid-20th century (described in the unputdownable ‘Altamont Road and other True Stories’ by Sheryar Ookerjee, a rib-tickling look into the hyperlocal residents of the time) and tigers would amble up the rough Altamont Road path two centuries ago. To cap off, here’s a century-old account of the view from the cliff at the end of Anstey Road, off Altamont Road, considered one of the best the island had to offer: “From Cumballa Hill, the view to the east includes the whole native city, the hill of Mazagaon… To the left lies the industrial area, with its high chimney-stacks and mill roofs… On the west side Cumballa Hill slopes down to the shore, where, close to the Hornby Vellard, the Mahalaxmi temples command attention.”
(Picture and article by Mrinal Kapadia, resident of Cumballa Hill, he is a collector and researcher, and can be reached on mrinal.kapadia@gmail.com or via Instagram on @mrinal.kapadia)
