the exchange

neighborhood watch N THE SOUTHERN REACHES of , the domain of businesses and tourists, and Kala Ghoda At the Japanese- ON MUMBAI TIME Clockwise Kala Ghoda district’s cobbled lanes are fringed a bastion of academic institutions. inspired Obataimu, from left: The serene interior of restaurant Nico Bombay; by a motley architectural spectrum: the That’s changed with Kala Ghoda’s evolution Sadarangani experi- Radhika Menon, a sales clerk BOHEMIAN MUMBAI Indo-Saracenic Prince of Wales Museum, the into Mumbai’s artistic core. The colossal Jehangir ments with everything at clothing boutique Ensemble, Ineoclassical Army and Navy Building, the powder- Art Gallery, a neighborhood fixture since 1952, has from sumptuously soft wearing a dress by Manish Malhotra; paintings at Gallery 7. The Kala Ghoda district is fast becoming a global blue Victorian Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue. “It’s served as a model for dozens of smaller galleries cloud-cotton shirts and destination for its public arts festival, blue-chip galleries and almost like a museum of architecture,” says Rahul that have recently opened. Gallery 7 moved from sculptural hand-quilted Mehrotra, chair of the department of urban plan- upscale , and behind its hulking black tops to Art Deco chairs. boutiques—and its resistance to reckless development. ning and design at Harvard, who helped delineate door on Rampart Row, whitewashed walls explode There’s also a tailoring the city’s conservation zones in 1994. with colorful contemporary canvases by Indian school in the back, and So when ’s government announced in masters such as Tyeb Mehta and M.F. Husain. The each month the whole BY SARAH KHAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE MORRISONS September that it had sweeping visions of recast- four-story Delhi Art Gallery, which opened in late space converts into a ing the historic precinct in the mold of New York’s 2013 as the Mumbai satellite of a venerable 20-year- cultural salon where Times Square—awash with behemoth electronic old institution in New Delhi, represents blue-chip Sadarangani hosts billboards, costumed characters and glowing steps, artists such as Krishen Khanna, Rabindranath lectures and musical all of it continuously streamed online—Mehrotra Tagore and Akbar Padamsee. events. “The space was almost mistook the proposition for political bom- The anchor of the Kala Ghoda dining scene is built to transform in a bast. But the plans were quite serious. “It’s a bad Trishna, a local seafood joint with a cult follow- few different ways, like idea,” he says. “Actually, it’s almost ridiculous. It ing for its delicate pepper-crusted Hyderabadi a Rubik’s Cube,” she reflects a complete misunderstanding of the nature rawas fish, deep-fried prawn koliwada, sweet-and- says. “The idea was also to build a cultural platform of an arts district in Mumbai.” spicy chile squid and garlic-butter crab that’s best for the neighborhood.” Until the late ’80s, Kala Ghoda was known mostly sopped up with naan (if you’re up for it, the waiter Brinda Miller and other community leaders say for its colleges and libraries. Today, in a city that will bring out wriggling live crabs for you to select they learned about the government’s development largely lacks pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and from). But a spate of younger eateries now vies for plans, launched by the Ministry of Tourism, only arts-focused public infrastructure, it’s becoming a its stature, like the tiny Kala Ghoda Café—a main- from the newspapers. But rather than capitulate to cultural nerve center—and a growing global tourism stay for creative types brainstorming over coffee what they consider misguided ideas about capital- destination. and chile-cheese toast—or the Parisian-inspired izing on the area’s newfound energy, they’ve instead Much of that imaginative energy flows from one The Pantry. The Nutcracker, a retro-chic 26-seat mobilized to voice their concerns. “It’s a Heritage event on the city’s social calendar: Every February, diner serving an all-day breakfast menu, opened Site; how can you put neon signs on an old building?” thousands of Mumbaikars converge for the Kala last November; pocket-size La Folie Patisserie sells asks Miller. “If a neon sign goes up, people will physi- Ghoda Arts Festival, when the crescent-shaped sliver sculptural pastries and a rainbow of macarons; and cally bring it down.” of land wedged between the Prince of Wales Museum jazzy Nico Bombay, in a 120-year-old building near So far, their efforts seem to be paying off—the gov- (now renamed Chhatrapati Maharaj Vastu the stock exchange, boasts a mouthwatering fettuc- ernment now says it’s reconsidering its initial Times Sangrahalaya) and the cine daubed in a roast chicken jus. Square–inspired plans. “That’s not going to hap- hosts a brimming roster of plays, art exhibitions and When Tina Tahiliani Parikh began working at her pen,” says Valsa Nair-Singh, the managing director concerts. This year, the program runs from February family’s clothing boutique Ensemble in 1992, Kala of the state-level Tourism Development 7 to 15. You can attend events such as a cooking dem- Ghoda’s cluttered by-lanes teemed with machine Corporation (she hadn’t yet taken on her role when onstration on Parsi cuisine or a lecture by author showrooms. “This was the most unfashionable area the plans were first released). “We will be keep- PASSAGE TO INDIA William Dalrymple in a lush garden backed by the of the time—the Meatpacking District without the ing the heritage precinct intact.” Instead, she says, Right: Kala Ghoda is a nexus of architectural influences, ornate facade of . The event has hides of meat,” she says. These days, Ensemble, resources will be put toward promoting Kala Ghoda such as the European-style been a citywide attraction for 16 years, and Brinda with its racks of gem-encrusted , and as a global tourism destination. “We want to make it The Pantry. Below: A waiter Miller has been heading the festival committee for churidaars by Manish Malhotra, Anand Kabra and a very happening place,” says Nair-Singh. serving tea on the back patio of the small but welcoming six of them. “We started the festival to create aware- Parikh’s own brother, Tarun Tahiliani, is consid- Miller hopes the funds will go toward ren- Kala Ghoda Café. ness,” says Miller, standing on the terrace of the ered one of the city’s most fashionable addresses. dering Kala Ghoda even more pedestrian committee headquarters, “and Kala Ghoda is now One afternoon last year, a bride had flown in friendly—“definitely more of a European square known as an arts area.” from Kenya for the final fitting of her shimmering or British square than an American-style Times While in years past the quiet pocket came alive Anamika Khanna wedding . “Please open a Square,” she says. While the area is more easily only for the festival, today it buzzes year-round, store in Nairobi,” she entreated Parikh, “I’ve flown navigated on foot than are other parts of the noto- thanks to a wave of new restaurants, boutiques and to Mumbai four times in the last few months just to riously gridlocked city, it’s hardly immune from galleries that feel both entirely international yet shop here.” heavy traffic. Walkable areas are increasingly rare uniquely Indian. “It’s become good real estate to be “Kala Ghoda was always a cool neighborhood, but in Mumbai. As thousands of Indians migrate to the in this area,” says Miller. now people are finally seeing its potential,” Parikh financial center of the country each year searching The name Kala Ghoda, or “black horse” in Hindi, says. “It’s gaining critical mass.” for employment—33 percent of India’s income tax derives from a statue of King Edward VII that once designers make up an important part is generated here—the city’s population has surged presided over a plaza. South Bombay was the heart of that critical mass. Noorie Sadarangani opened to more than 12 million, resulting in a density that of the colonial city, and its elegant buildings are a her furniture and clothing atelier, Obataimu, in hovers above 70,000 people per square mile, with legacy of the British Raj (as is the name Bombay, November 2013; a few months later, designer Masaba one out of every three residents living in a slum. which was officially changed to Mumbai two decades Gupta—whose quirky prints and bold colors have Even if it never receives government funding, ago—though locals prefer to ignore that fact). Still, made her label a top red-carpet choice for many a Kala Ghoda is already providing a model for what until recently, wealthy Mumbaikars and the hot star—launched a joint store with jewelry an arts-driven Mumbai neighborhood might look spots that cater to them had been migrating farther line Valliyan by Nitya Arora next door. Online tai- like. “It’s exciting because there’s a new wave of and farther north, to converted mills in Lower lored-shirt purveyors Bombay Shirt Company went people coming in,” Sadarangani says. “It’s a fresh EAST MEETS WEST One of a fresh crop of Kala Ghoda dining spots, The Pantry is meant to evoke a Parisian cafe, and and the Bollywood-star-studded suburbs brick-and-mortar last July, and trendy designer way of thinking in Bombay, and we’re hoping that with its bright, airy décor and a menu that includes roast chicken and flourless chocolate cake. of and . South Bombay became the Gaurav Gupta unveiled a flagship last October. it catches on.” •

58 wsj. magazine