Midday Special | Marvelling at Marve: How this Mumbai village survives on the community’s togetherness

Corina Pereira was born and brought up in Marve village and has been living there for the last 51 years. Over the last five decades, the Mumbaikar has seen the village, or gaothan as it is called, change in more ways than one. However, she doesn't fail to reminisce the good old days. Corina shares, "As a child, all the children from the village came out to play together, climbing trees to pluck fruits, go swimming together and bond very well. Playing all those old games like - Itti Dandu and 7 tiles, are now nowhere to be found. There was this sense of utter togetherness and unity amongst all of us."

It is not only her time as a child but also their celebrations that showcase their culture. She explains, "Celebrating weddings traditionally over seven days has also been very exciting. The traditional music sung along to the beats of the ghumat, the scrumptious indyal (vindaloo) and sorpatel, the fugyas and varyas; the dancing at the umbracha paani, the hysterical laughter at patpatkars, all of it was exciting."

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Celebrating community
Just like Uttan village, Marve, which is situated off Malad is one of the lesser-known villages in Mumbai, that is surrounded by Manori and Madh Island, which are popular tourist destinations for the weekend in Mumbai. Even though people pass through it to go to Essel World, Water Kingdom and the Pagoda, the village may be well-known to picnickers in a small way. However, it is one that they haven't explored as they look towards the allure of the theme parks. However, they aren't bothered because they love their peace and sense of community that they have maintained for many years, says Corina. She explains, "Marve is unique because unlike other villages, it does not have chawls. All the houses are either cottages or bungalows. The residents of the village are all East Indians except for two-three families that have been living here for over 60-70 years. It is also surrounded by INS Hamla, which gives us a major sense of security."

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For the uninitiated, INS Hamla is the Indian Navy's premier training establishment for Logistics, Management, IT and Catering (Joint Services) situated in Malad. It has become an integral part of the neighbourhood ever since it was set up in the 1950s.
With INS Hamla being one significant change in the neighbourhood, the village has undergone quite a few changes in this time. The village has changed quite considerably, yet our culture has been conserved. For example, most of the old houses have now been transformed into cottages and ground-plus-one-storeyed bungalows. We have proper roads, streetlights, and a community ground exclusively for the villagers. I think education has played a very important role in the development of the village while preserving our culture."

With the growing number of content creators and influencers, Corina, who is also the sarpanch of the Marve Gaothan, says they have managed to avoid content creators till now. "We do not allow content creators to invade our village. Maintaining our peace and the sanctity of the village is of utmost importance to us," she adds. Over time, many tourists have visited the village and gone through to sit at Marve beach, which she believes is the highlight of their village, even though the area boasts of the popular Aksa beach nearby.

Having taken up the role of the head of the village only two years ago, the Mumbaikar who believes in the community, says she has liaised with the MLA and local BMC to try and uplift the neighbourhood. "I have ensured the Gaothan gutters have been replaced before the rains. The next on the agenda is doing up the roads and a community centre. I have already organised many functions like Mother Mary's procession, Boxing Day, Agera, Republic Day, Introze, Mothi Ladin Cross Rosary, San Jao celebrations and have many more planned down the line."

Finding joy in development
While Corina has seen the changes, her husband Kingston, who is originally from Juhu, and has been living in Marve since he got married, believes the beach has unfortunately become smaller. "Marve has a small beach now ever since INS Hamla was set up came in and made a border, making the beach very small and congested along with the jetty that has come up there, which has also taken up more space. It is not like how you go to Juhu beach or Manori beach where it is nice and huge." However, the Mumbaikars takes solace in the fact that there is Aksa beach, where people usually go to spend time near Marve. "The good thing is that people will still find good clean air here, which is very difficult to find in Mumbai today," he adds.

Over the years, he says many local East Indians, who lived on the border of INS Hamla, who had to move once it was built, and the closest place they usually moved to was Orlem, which is known to be one of the largest Catholic neighbourhoods in Mumbai.

Even though the naval base has changed the appearance of the neighbourhood, it has also brought a sense of security, the Pereiras believe. "The road network is bad because it is very narrow and that is the only bottleneck. However, we are still able to breathe fresh air and that is good for us," adds Kingston, who highlights that there are not many high-rises in the neighbourhood and that makes it even better.

Celebrating culture with food
Like Kingston, even Lynn D'lyma came to Marve in Malad a little over 28 years ago after getting married. While she was born and brought up between Kalina in Santacruz, and Andheri, as her father was from there, Lynn found a sense of belonging in Marve village. "Earlier, there weren't too many grocery shops but now that has increased over time and so we can get anything we want otherwise we had to travel to Malwani."

Being bound together by religion, the village which mostly comprises of East Indians, and Koli communities along the coastline, usually also hosts rosaries during October, where they go from house to house to pray. On the other hand, they go from cross to cross in the village to pray. It is one aspect of the Marve village that has bound the people to each other.

While the community is comfortable by itself, the popularity of the beach over the years has led many tourists to visit not only on weekdays but also on the weekends, as they also make their way to Manori and Madh Island. "We are seeing a lot of tourists come here especially on Saturday and Sunday going towards Manori and because of that, we have a lot of problems. It becomes so much that we have to also think whether we want to get out when we have a function to go to on Saturday-Sunday because we get stuck at Kharodi and Mitchowki."

However, she is quick to note that it is good for those locals who don't have jobs as they get to earn from the people who pass by the village. "Compared to the times we have trouble, we have to go for functions only about 10 times a year, so otherwise it is fine for us," she adds. Assuringly, Lynn adds that the tourists aren't troublesome to the people of the gaothan but only create traffic, which if managed, can ensure smooth functioning.

Beyond Marve beach and the sense of community within gaothan, Lynn says St Anthony's feast, which is the village's church situated off Marve Road in Malwani, is celebrated in a big way. They not only have food, drink and games but also a medium for the community to come together. While the church maybe geographically under Malwani, it holds a place of importance among all Marve locals.

Built somewhere in 1834, according to the church website, it is now close to 200 years and sees devotees come from all over to pray to the saint, known as the 'Patron Saint of Miracles and Lost Things'.
Apart from the Cross feasts and rosaries that were another such event when all the villagers came together to pray and celebrate, the feast stands out. "St. Anthony's feast was and will always be a day of celebration for all of us," Corina adds.

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With every feast celebration comes the food, and that's how typical dishes like Indyal, Sorpatel and Moile with hand bread are relished. Lynn being one to make them every year over the years, has continued to make bottle masala, an integral part of East Indian cuisine, and even sells it. She shares, "The bottle masala doesn't only go to people in Mumbai beyond Marve in Vile Parle but also Dubai and New Zealand."

As the community is known to not share the treasured family recipe of the masala, D'lyma says she doesn't believe in it and has shared the recipe with everybody around her. "My recipes have gone all around the village," shares a happy D'lyma, who got her culinary skills from her aunties while growing up.