My Heritage Chronicles

Mumbai is today the mega metropolitan city but if we move back 200 years then it was a group of seven islands, somewhere in 1821 a tiny green space in middle of walled fort of Bombay became the roots from where the city started to grow. Today Horniman circle garden comprising of 12081 sq yards of an area is surrounded by office buildings of major financial institutions which was the nerve centre of financial capital of India.  But historically the space was the original "Bombay green" where cotton and opium traders would bring their merchandise to trade. It is also historical place in 1851 when 22 traders would gather under a Banyan tree to trade and laid foundation of "Native share and stock brokers association" which eventually become Bombay Stock Exchange in 1875 and moved to permanent location nearby which is today known as Dalal Street. With the formation of cotton exchange at Cotton green, the cotton traders moved out in 1844. The Bombay green are...

Erstwhile Bombay or Mumbai city today has many business districts but non can match the iconic business district of Ballard Estate nestled between the C.S.M.T and fort area of South Mumbai. Named after the founder of Bombay Port Trust Colonel J.A. Ballard, It is built on 22 acres of reclaimed land using excavated rocks and soil from the creation of Alexandra docks. This was when the world was at war - the WW-1 between 1914 -1918. It was the aesthetic design sense of architect - George Wittet who designed most of the buildings in this commercial district with uniformity of style through the use of European Renaissance facades which gives it a "London Feel". George is the same gentlemen who gave us "Gateway of India" and helped develop the Indo - Saracenic style of architecture.  Ballard Estate turns into a ghost town post - sundown and on weekends it is an interesting place where the cross lanes are playground for "gully cricket matches" or a Mo...