In what the Art Deco Mumbai Trust calls its first attempt to go local, it will host a public lecture that revolves around the historical and cultural significance of the suburb of Vile Parle this Saturday. Conducting this bi-lingual lecture in Marathi and English is Mumbai-based historian, archaeologist, author and a Vile Parle-resident Sandeep Dahisarkar.

“It is the story of Vile Parle’s transformation from a hamlet to a modern suburb,” says Suhasini Krishnan, head of outreach and content. Dahisarkar, who was awarded the Gulestan Bilimoria Junior Research Fellowship by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai in 2017, has written two books. His first one, The Pathare Kshatriyas of Bombay was an outcome of this fellowship report, while the second one in Marathi named Parle: Jaat Agyat, published in 2023, is a collection of research articles on the history of Mumbai’s suburbs. Krishnan remarks, “Whenever we think about the history of suburbs, it somehow, always ends with Bandra. Even for Bandra, we have a lot of content available on religious history, and not much on the cultural front. It is important to explore suburbs like Vile Parle that have a lot of cultural significance. Few people know about the suburb as much as Sandeep, and of course, other residents who will make part of the audience.”