Something to Declare

Mumbai in Depth, Part 2, December 5, 2024.

Our itinerary for today included a round of some of the major markets in Mumbai, e.g., the fish market, the spice market, the flower market. But since they open and close very early, it would be necessary to start out at 5:30 am. As is my wont, I decided to play hooky and sleep in.

We all met later in the morning, to go to see examples of Mumbai’s Jewish heritage. We alighted the bus in the Kala Ghoda neighborhood, named for an iconic black horse statue. The statue had originally been of King Edward VII on horseback, but these remnants of the British Raj had been taken down and consigned to the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo. The Edward VII statue was replaced with the representation of a riderless horse.

Kala Ghoda is a hip neighborhood which contains a technical college (established by the British to teach the Indians the administrative arts), and the David Sassoon Library.

The Sassoon library is the more reddish building to the right.

David Sassoon figures importantly in our next point of interest. Sassoon was a prominent member of the Jewish community in Baghdad. Fleeing persecution in what is now Iraq, he came to India with his family in 1832. He and his family became very wealthy, forging connections with the British Raj, and became notable philanthropists. The Sassoon family paid for the construction of the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, also known as the Blue Synagogue.

Constructed in 1884, it is the second oldest Sephardic synagogue in Mumbai.

Later that afternoon, we visited the Worli Fishing Village. It’s 600 years old, originally the settlement of the original inhabitants of Mumbai, the Kohlis (the fishermen community).

We saw the boats (above, upper left and lower right), the crematorium (lower left) and the old fort (lower middle).

We did score for dinner, and finally got to eat at Trishna. As noted, it had been highly recommended by Stef’s son-in-law, Neil, who’d reported that the Chili Crab was better than that which he’d had in Singapore. Well, readers, it didn’t disappoint.

In the interest of maximizing neatness, I opted to have the crab pre-shelled by the restaurant. Served with lovely Indian garlic naan (bread), it was scrumptious. FYI, those green things in the crab (above, left) are chilis that are fairly incendiary, so I refrained from eating them, to the amusement of the waitstaff. A couple of my co-travelers ordered the Butter Garlic Crab, which was also highly yummy. They also had one of my favorite Indian desserts, Kulfi (essentially a form of ice cream [lower right]). A good time had by all. Tomorrow we leave for the South, beginning with Chennai (as noted, formerly Madras). The adventure continues………