Updated On: 20 February, 2024 07:12 PM IST | Mumbai | Nascimento Pinto
Mumbai boasts of many beautiful neighbourhoods. However, as some of them come to the light, others are left basking in the past glory. Some Mumbaikars are taking it upon themselves to archive and create an online repository for the future, and even propose a new model

Jaee Naik, Mihir Vaidya and Matungawalla have been creating archives of Mazgaon, Girgaon and Matunga East. Photo Courtesy: Matungawalla/Mihir Vaidya/Jaee Naik
When Mumbai-based architect Jaee Naik`s workplace moved from Santacruz to Mazgaon in April 2022, little did the Borivali resident know that she would fall in love with the neighbourhood within the first few walks she took after lunch and in the evenings. "My perspective of Mazgaon is an outsider`s perspective. The houses in Matherpacady village are centuries old, and it is only five minutes away from my studio. During my walks, I came across these beautiful houses," she shares.
It was only natural that she would click pictures of them over the next one year, which then became a repository of small and big houses, which had different unique elements. In June, when Naik was talking to her colleague, she made an observation. "In architectural circles, Ranwar village and Pali village in Bandra, and Khotachiwadi are well-documented and spoken about along with the chawls in Girgaum and Parel," she says, continuing, "However, Mazgaon isn`t documented as much or spoken about in that way. Everybody knows about the docks and the few mills there. So, I told my colleague, `why don`t I document this?"
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