Hidden Mumbai Suburb with 400 years of History!

This is a story about my neighbourhood within the city of Mumbai and my changing relationship with it, through the medium of sketching. I live in a locality called Kalina. Kalina has mostly remained a rather unfancied corner of the city. The first time I heard of this place was 18 years ago, when my parents made the decision to move our family here. I was 15 at the time. As fate would have it, I moved away from the city a couple of years later. I moved back to Mumbai only in 2018 and then moved back with my parents and our Kalina home, around the time the pandemic hit.

Given how movement was restricted in 2020-2021, long neighbourhood walks and sketching became my way of coping. These activities sparked a genuine sense of curiosity in me. I discovered that my neighbourhood has a history going as far back as the 17^th century. It felt like a treasure map to which I keep adding pieces. Fast forward to 2023 and for the first time Kalina feels like home.

The oldest structure in the neighbourhood and probably one of the oldest in the city is the Our Lady of Egypt Church. It was founded in the year 1606 by Portuguese missionaries. Back then the area was mostly marshy mangroves ideal for paddy cultivation and a few elevated hills. The two prominent villages (gaothans) existed at the time and are still in existence today. However, prominent features such as wells, grottoes, village squares and old homes are near invisible from the main roads.

Kalina has been a melting pot of cultures for as long as I can remember. Not just in terms of religion but also with relation to the language and ethnicity. Being an unfancied locality meant that people moving to the city from far-off states, often find their first homes here. As the city’s financial hub slowly moves to central areas, there has been a growth in residential complexes. I too live in one such complex. Gentrification in inevitable, in a city as crowded as Mumbai. Having seen rapid change across my city time and again, it is always bitter-sweet.