Through their efforts, Jaee Naik, Mihir Vaidya and Matungawalla are archiving lesser-known aspects of Mumbai. Photo Courtesy: Jaee Naik/Mihir Vaidya/Matungawalla
Mumbai-based architect Jaee Naik's workplace moved from Santacruz to Mazgaon in April 2022 and she fell in love with the Matharpacady village neighbourhood within the first few walks she took after lunch and in the evenings.
So, Naik decided to start documenting the area on her Instagram account, 'Houses of Mazgaon' because she made an observation. It was that in architectural circles while Ranwar village and Pali village in Bandra, and Khotachiwadi are well-documented and spoken about along with the chawls in Girgaum and Parel, Mazgaon isn't documented as much or spoken about in that way, apart from the docks and few mills there.
Just like Naik, another Mumbaikar, who prefers to go by the name, Matungawalla, is extremely fascinated by Matunga East, another neighbourhood in Mumbai. It has been their childhood dream to live there because they find it extremely beautiful and because it has an old-world charm to it.
Interestingly, it's only been five years since Matungawalla moved to the central suburb, as divided by the railway line, and it's not only the culture but also the architecture that amazes them every single day. It is one of two reasons that led them to start their page, 'Matungawalla' on Instagram, the other reason being the need to document the place because of how much it is rapidly changing.
Girgaum resident Mihir Vaidya is also one who has an affinity towards his neighbourhood. While Girgaum is really famous for Chowpatty and its eateries, there is a lot more to it and the chawls are an important aspect of the area. Vaidya decided to combine his love for architecture and chawls along with their culture to start documenting the chawls through his Instagram account 'Chawls of Girgaon', which he started in December 2022.
Such Vaidya's love for the area that he also studied the chawls and its culture as a part of his thesis in college. From here, the Mumbaikar wants to take his love for Girgaum chawls to the next level by mapping them with the help of a map from the 1980s. His ultimate intention is to approach a developer so that the chawl culture can be incorporated into a high rise building because he believes that locals might not be able to save the chawls but they can save the culture.
ADVERTISEMENT
