Listening to walls

The curious but busy Mumbaikar has something to look forward to. The stories of buildings, houses and lanes which are fascinating but there was no way to find out more will now be unravelled.

Retailers sell Ramzan sweets and delicacies at Bohri Mohalla. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Alliance Francaise de Bombay is organising several guided tours around Mumbai, echoing the Heritage Week in europe around this time. "We organise such events following a broad outline of festivals in europe. Heritage Week has been celebrated around this time in europe for several years now.

Alfred Theatre at Grant Road (E). Pic/Suresh KK

There are other such festivals like the Taste Week in October," Sheryn Mulla, an official in the cultural wing at Alliance Francaise says. She informs that this is the seventh year of the Heritage Days event.

The walks, scheduled from September 20 to 23, will begin with a tribute to cinema in the city, which completed 100 years, with a tour of Grant Road and single screen theatres with historian Rafique Baghdadi. On September 21, there will be a visit to the Bohri Mohalla, with Baghdadi again, where the lanes come alive in the evening with throngs of people and aroma of delicacies.

It will be followed by a trail of Irani cafes, with Baghdadi, the following day and on September 22, the group will explore Bandra with local historian, David Cardozes. "The idea behind organising such an event is to involve more people in the city to talk about themselves and also to know their city better.

Now, we have Baghdadi and Cardozes talking about the parts they know well. With events like this, more people will come up with stories of other parts," she hopes. The event is free but one needs to register online and Mulla points out that they are planning to close when about 25 people have registered to keep the crowd manageable.

Dates: September 20 to 23
Call: 22036187/22035993
Register: sheryn@afindia.org