Babulnath is usually dwarfed by the zaftig charms of Mumbai’s more touristy localities. This tiny sliver of the city has an allure that is mostly residential and medical (Bombay City Eye Institute, Ruxmani Nursing Home). Naturally, very little tempts the idle traveller to stop here — most skitter past on their way to other localities. But Babulnath is no part-time peregrination for me: I lived my first years in Mumbai here, and it has tethered me to it ever since, thanks to the gracious home of a dearly beloved aunt, a phalanx of resident friends, and the undeniable lure of Soam. This is all to say that this trail will be refracted through the prism of my own life — be warned.
9.00 AM
Our morning begins, predictably enough, with a stroll to Babulnath temple. The road slopes gently upwards, nubbled on either side by flower sellers. At the top, temple bells flare. Incense brightens the air. Quiet, massed figures throng the marble temple in its many-storied grandeur. It is a chance for the weary and the faithful to step beyond their ever-accelerating lives, to read sermons from stone. No matter how large the crowd around it, Babulnath mandir remains a structure that exerts a calming magic – it dissolves all crises of faith.
Babulnath Temple, 16, Babulnath Road, Near Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007. Phone: 022 2367 8367
11.00 AM
From the sacred to the profane. A breath away from the temple gate stands Dave Farsan Mart, a tiny, hole-in-the-wall establishment specialising in a smorgasbord of snacks. Alleviate the rigours of worship with bites of Dave’s popular samosas. Then take away packets of its kachoris for those friends not fortunate enough to accompany you on this walk.
Dave Farsan Mart, 10, Babulnath Road, Babulnath, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007. Phone: 097696 70384
Shrikhand at Soam. (Photo: Kruti Dalal)
11.30 AM
Just before the sun crests the sky, walk down the (relatively) straight finger of Babulnath’s main road to Khareghat Colony, a Parsi colony built in 1912 to shelter lesser-privileged Parsis. Or you could take the longer route, meandering through the capillaried lanes of Babulnath, threading a maze of century-old stone houses, shady yards, and somnolent street dogs. Khareghat is no different, with its colonnaded balconies and broad pathways. Soon, its Alpaiwalla Museum, home to Parsi arts and antiquities, will open to the public (it is temporarily closed for renovation). Until then, you can photograph the elegant massifs of its buildings, immortalised in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film Ferrari ki Sawari.
Khareghat Colony, Hughes Road, Mumbai 400 007.
12.30 pm
Across the road from the landmark Babulnath temple, Soam draws a cacaphonous thicket of people chattering, laughing, waiting, gorging on its superb Gujarati cooking. Preface your mains with the thick, crisp kand na chilla (purple yam pancakes); the farsan platter – a wreath of Gujarati snacks in a thali, crowned by golden palak patti samosas that are juicy with cheese. Then order the fada ni khichdi, a voluptuous dish of broken wheat that has been gently baptised by ghee. To finish, whorls of jalebi, crisp, bubbled, twilight-hued.
Soam, Ground Floor, Sadguru Sadan, Babulnath Road, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400 007. Phone: 022 2369 8080
A pile of samosas at Babulnath. (Photo: Elyaqim Mosheh Adam)
2:30 p.m.
After lunch, plunge back into the roar of the clangourous streets, past the Parsi fire temple, past Westside, until you reach the clot of shops that line Hughes Road. This patch is dense with shops selling jewellery, upholstery, ayurvedic products, even a spa. But stop instead at the shops selling cane furniture – Tropical and General. What can you buy? Armchairs padded with cushions, dustbins, cane trays, lampshades, baskets of all sizes, all piled higgledy-piggledy.
General Cane Furniture Works, 49, Kapoor Mansion, Hughes Road, Mumbai 400 007. Phone: 075064 85829
3.15 pm
Double back towards Kemps Corner until you spot the unassuming RTI building on your left. On the ground floor, you will find yourself at Bambino, a mecca for children’s clothes, with designs that are anchored in the past – think whimsical sailor suits and dresses scalloped with cross stitch.
Bambino, RTI, Hughes Road, Mumbai 400 007
4.00 pm
For tea, take a short walk across the road to the RTI food outlet. Inside, the space is succinct, tight, with only a couple of seating places wedged alongside a glass counter heaving with snacks. Order your tea or coffee, then surrender your heart to RTI’s toothsome sweets – the macaroons, the chocolate fish (size Small or Large), the dainty tarts. My own predilection veers towards the lemon tart, a slush of lemon curd cupped by a crunchy crust.
RTI, Hughes Road, Mumbai 400 007
5.00 pm
Babulnath is bookended by the Babulnath Bandstand park (now Seth Tulsidas Kilachand Garden) with its face turned towards Chowpatty beach. My childhood memories pool here, memories of wind-raked playtimes while a band played sprightly tunes in the bandstand. Hasten towards it before the gloaming, when the great broth of champagne light sweeps over the sea. It is a tiny oasis of tranquillity, a mere step away from the tyranny of traffic-blocked Chowpatty.
Seth Tulsidas Kilachand Garden, 1st Lane, Dadi Sheth Wadi, Mumbai 400 006
7.00 pm
Dinnertime. Many leafy lanes and bylanes spider away neatly from Babulnath’s main road: tucked away in one such is the popular Babulnath Dosa Centre. The headliner here is of course, the dosa, with a greatest hits selection of rava, sada, and masala varieties. But there are outliers too: lace-thin versions that come smeared with everything from Schezwan masala and Maggi seasoning to the (preposterous) cheese-chocolate.
Babulnath Dosa Centre, BN Cross Lane 1, Babulnath, Dadi Sheth Wadi, Mumbai 400 007.
7.45 pm
It has been a long day, but we must stretch it longer still. Walk to the cusp of Babulnath and Hughes Road, until you come to Cafe New York. Sink your weariness into a shoal of jalapeno nacho chips, their crunch undimmed even under an onslaught of cheese. Order alongside a flagon of beer. Relax.
Cafe New York, 44, Dabholkar Building, Hughes Road,
Mumbai 400 007. Phone: 022 2363 2876
—By arrangement with thecitystory.com
