The three wishes of Macbeth Lane

Ever since my amazing filmmaker friend Byculla boy Rafeeq Ellias mentioned a midtown gully of his childhood I havenrsquot quit thinking about intriguing Macbeth Lane Not a trace of it on Google Maps this is today Nasratullah Abbasi Marg honouring the freedom fighter participating in the Civil Disobedience and Quit India strugglesWould a classic tragic hero likely inspire a narrow path linking Clare Road Mirza Ghalib Marg today of Byculla to Ripon Road Maulana Azad Road of Madanpura To action Mission Macbeth Lane has meant tramping through it clueless for quite a while Till an eventual aha moment hit thanks to information shared by Emil Carvalho from the family owning American Express Bakery AEB It reveals nothing remotely Shakespearean about this little laneAbdul Hamid Ansari patriot and founderpublisher of Inquilab the daily produced at Inquilab Manzil on the lane corner An early portrait of his son Khalid Ansari who established Sportsweek and middayldquoAEB House was bought from Noman Bruce Macbeth of Petersfield Hants England and John Noel Macbeth in 1939 The property was known as Macbeth Houserdquo Carvalho explains ldquoThere was no wall facade fronting the road probably to enable hauling the heavy farming equipment they dealt inrdquoWalked in from its east end on Clare Road where oldtimers confirm the Macbeth Lane sign hung the grimy gully is flanked by AEB House and Masina Building Its flour power producing popular breads savouries and sweets for well over a century AEB was started by Emilrsquos great grandfather Francisco Carvalho in 1908 from a Grant Road outlet It was named on account of the reputation of speedily delivering items to wartime US ships docking in Bombay harbour From the landmark pink heritage structure headquarters ovenfresh aromas waft comfortingly round the blockMasina Building came to be so known because it housed the precursor to Masina Hospital now further north on Victoria Road or Sant Savta Marg Dr Hormasji Manekji Masinarsquos tiny facility in 1902 for four patients in this building soon grew to two adjacent buildings accommodating over 100 cases Suffering an acute hernia attack which Dr Masina alone cured satisfactorily the philanthropic merchant David Sassoon gave the good doctor his palatial property Sans Souci for Rs 25000Javed Ahmed Ansari and Ubaidullah Ansari holding up a copy of Inquilab at The Bombay City Weavers Cooperative Society store at Inquilab ManzilldquoI have heard that the nursesrsquo quarters were located in nearby Jubilee Mansionrdquo says Brian Valdeiro His father Charles opened Model Laundry in Masina Building in the 1960s Possibly the shop bordering Alishan whose signboard reads ldquoSince 1952 All types of police and security items availablerdquoValdeiro adds ldquoLarge numbers of Catholics Anglo Indians Parsis a few Muslim families and plenty of Jews till Israel began claiming them back made Byculla and Mazgaon pleasant happening addresses with posh hotels the best parties and smart tailoring establishments catering to stylish clientsrdquo The scene naturally dazzled brightest toward Christmas and New Year with elegant dances formally staged in the gully under rows of twinkling Xmas stars Macbeth Lanersquos west tip tells a particularly poignant genesis tale at Inquilab Manzil earlier Imperial Mansion It witnessed the initial years of Inquilab the mothership of the midday newspaper Appearing in 193738 as the Urdu voice championing the poor and helpless Inquilab was born as a result of the fervour and foresight of freedom patriot Abdul Hamid Ansari the father of veteran publisherwriter Khalid Ansari who started the iconic Sportsweek and midday Deeply involved with milestones leading to Independence including the Salt Satyagraha Abdul Hamid was jailed on several occasions between 1920 and 1947 The Khada Parsi statue junction northending Clare Road has been renamed Abdul Hamid Ansari ChowkHilda and Richard Patrao longtime residents of Noor Building formerly Deccan House PicSameer MarkandeHailed as fakhresahafat pride of journalism and mujahideazaadi soldier of freedom for the nationalist ideals his daily publication fearlessly expressed Abdul Hamid attracted the attention of Mohammad Ali Jinnah Invited to continue bringing out Inquilab in Karachi of newlycreated Pakistan he shot back ldquoIrsquoll not migrate as long as even one Muslim is left on Indian soilrdquoWandering on I ask wizened old men perched on parked scooters outside the mosque ldquoIss raaste ko Batak Gully kyon kehtey hainrdquo Simple one offers stroking his beard sagely ldquoAngrez log aur Parsi log ke alaava koi Macbeth sahi nahin bol sakte Toh baaki log BatakBatak bolne lageyrdquoKhalid Ansarirsquos memoir Itrsquos A Wonderful World shines more authenticsounding light on the issue ldquoOur play area next to the ramshackle building grandiosely named Imperial Mansion where children played barefoot cricket football hockey Seven Tiles and Robbers and Thieves was congested Uneven and narrow Macbeth Lane was also Batak Gully because ducks belonging to the East Indian community waddled there without check often felled by a truant cricket sixer much to the ownersrsquo chagrinrdquoThe description of the process of printing his fatherrsquos editions handrendered by calligraphers called katibs is excitingly detailed in the book ldquoAll Inquilab pages were written by hand on a specially coated yellow paper then transferred onto stone by a massive hand press before being moved to the antediluvian printing press Literally the Stone Age those days remain etched in my memory The newspaper was built on hardheaded nononsense honesty and sincerity of purposerdquoRecalling regulars on his way to St Maryrsquos School and back through the lane Khalid says ldquoHandsome Jafferbhai Mansuri my dear departed friend and mentor was wooing Gauhar Taj a beautiful Iranian lady He walked down Ripon Road through Batak Gully every single day at 4 pm I could almost set my watch but didnrsquot have one and on to Dongri where she resided He went on to marry the lovely lady who mothered Shahab Durazi and his siblingsrdquoOther wellremembered Inquilab Manzil neighbours include ldquothe dashing Douglas Rocha who reminded me of Douglas Fairbanks Jr and the Roy family at whose home I was a whole lotrdquo Wilfred Fernandes head honcho of the engineering firm Richardson amp Cruddas and his wife Hettie lived above the Roys They walked to Clare Road holding hands affectionately to twitters from passersby and shy amusement of conservative handweaver ladies working on the sidewalkldquoI recollect the women who wove satranji rugs and chaddars on charkhasrdquo says Ubaidullah Ansari thumping neat a pile of Solapur chaarsas and blankets in glass showcases of The Bombay City Weavers Cooperative Society shop at Inquilab Manzil where he has served behind the counter for 44 years His father a mazdoor with Hindustan Mills at Jacob Circle came from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh the ancestral base of many Ansari families excelling at weavingAbove the historic store the apartment of 81yearold Ira Roy is lined with Encyclopaedia Britannica volumes and other evidence of an intellectually stimulating life A feminist and activist for the Narmada Bachao Andolan she was a scientific librarian at Unileverrsquos Research CentreHer nephew Anand Roy a marketing strategy director in London messages ldquoBefore emigrating to Australia my motherrsquos family lived on the lane adjoining the mosque and American Express My parents had among the first unusual mixed marriages here My father Ashoke Roy was Hindu Bengali my mother Louisa Soares a Goan Catholic was on the Indian hockey team Spending five teen years at Inquilab Manzil it breaks my heart to see the area run to the ground You cannot believe how lovely it wasrdquoIrarsquos brother journalist Anoop Roy connects on a phone call from Delhi ldquoKhalid Ansarirsquos family tenanted the top floor of threestoreyed Imperial Mansion before they bought the property from the Peerbhoys changing its name to mirror his paper The weaving activity on the lane was famous enough for the site to be colloquially called the lsquoKhataara Khatrsquo spotmdashsuggesting that typical repetitive sound of the handworked loomrdquo Minah Haim a baker on Ripon Road sold her confections to customers on Macbeth Lane An Orthodox Jew her faith did not permit turning on the electricity on Shabbat As the sky darkened Saturdays saw kids vie to run and switch on lights for Haim Returning the favour she kept delicious date sweets on a kitchen table within their reach When His Majesty Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud came on a state visit in the winter of 1955 Abdul Hamid Ansari requested Anooprsquos father Abhay Charan Roy to join the mosquersquos official reception committee ldquoThe Saudi king expressed surprise at Hindus like my dad and Christians welcoming him with his community membersrdquo Anoop saysBut politically expedient religiosity has taken over Orange flags replace the red that fluttered in the neighbourhood united for being strongly labour class My eyes jump from one quaint shop sign to another Astrologer Roshanlal Shastriji announcing his services on the Masina Building door to pehelwans and bone setters opposite Inquilab Manzil Watching me wince trying to imagine how different the grotty but gritty gully must have been in its secular heyday Richard Patrao of Noor Building says ldquoOver a century old our building used to be called Deccan House My father decided to settle in the heart of the city with anything and everything one wants within convenient access Though this is true till date at what cost Overall deterioration has brought things close to ruin Some building entrances are too filthy to go inside Cleanliness cosmopolitanism and charactermdashonce the pride of our lanemdashare three qualities we wish it never lostrdquoAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacom