Mapro Farms: Mahabaleshwar

Cold Stone Ice cream

It was a one-day trip to Mahabaleshwar. Now, if you are not too interested in shopping around, there are very few things that you can do in Mahabaleshwar. There are various points in and around the city, which offer a glimpse of the Sahaydri valley from various angles. Then there is the Venna Lake, in which you can go boating, or ride horses on its bank or just idle around the bank. But, you can spend an ample amount of time at Mapro Gardens. 

Mapro Gardens is a diversification by Mapro Foods, which is very popular in Maharashtra state for its processed fruit products like fruit crushes, squash, etc. Mapro has also diversified into products like chocolates, honey, gulkand and many more. Mapro Gardens is located on the  road from Panchagani to Mahabaleshwar. It is an open garden restaurant, almost like a resort. The garden restaurant serves various food and (non-alcoholic) drinks to keep you busy through the day. The best part of their menu are the ice-creams and juices. Since Mahabaleshwar is pretty famous for its strawberries, all their ice-creams have generous portions of fresh strawberries. And the portions are large enough to fill you up.

Fresh Strawberry with whipped cream

You can enjoy the foods and drinks at tables spread in an area shaded with trees, over looking the farms and valley across Mahabaleshwar. The choice of food, though, is  limited. They serve a few types of pizza and sandwiches, strictly vegetarian stuff. But, the good part is, the pizza base and bread loaves are freshly baked in Mapro's kitchen. You can see the guys rolling the pizza bases and bread and bake them in the ovens in front of you. The choice of juices too is good, it varies from soda-based juices to thick shakes.

And while you sip your juice or milk shake, or enjoy your ice-cream, you can have a look around the Mapro gardens. They have a nursery where they've planted strawberry. You can see the strawberry in various stages of growth. You can also enjoy by the fountain in the garden.

The best part is that most of the ingredients used to make these food stuff come from the area in and around Mahabaleshwar. And it has provided an employment and business opportunity for many locals in the local area.

Mapro has also conveniently placed a sales counter in Mapro Gardens, which sells most of Mapro's process food products. It is good to buy them here, as you get a 10% discount on the M.R.P. mentioned in there. It is good to go for fruit crushes or squashes, as they are locally made. Mapro also makes chocolates under the Mazzana brand. You might want to take home a few of those too. And their chocolate factory is located right next to Mapro Gardens. Take your little ones there to see how their chocolates are actually made.

Mapro Gardens is a wonderful place, where you can easily relax for 3-4 hours. They could do with some entertainment options for children. Otherwise, it is a wonderful place. And a must do, when you are travelling to Mahabaleshwar.

Mr. Gumaste, Belgaum is not about the city only

By now, most of the net-savvy people must be aware of the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka, related to the district of Belgaum. And every nationalist has something to say against "regionalism" and every regionalist has something to say about the importance of local language and the injustice meted out to the disputed areas in Karnataka. In all this, rediff.com took efforts to publish an article by a common man from Belgaum, Vikas Gumaste. He argues how language shouldn't be at the centre-stage and that development is more important and all other nationalistic and historical clichés.

And of course, I would like to differ with Mr. Gumaste, not only because I am a Maharashtrian, but also be the issue needs deeper thinking than what Mr. Gumaste has written about. He begins the article, bragging about how he cornered a family member with unanswerable questions like

Does it really matter if Belgaum becomes a part of Maharashtra or not? Are you prevented from running Marathi schools or learning Marathi in Belgaum? Do you feel like an outsider when you walk down the streets of Belgaum? And are you discriminated against when you apply for jobs because you speak Marathi?

Well, Mr. Gumaste, it may not matter to you. People might not have been prevented from running Marathi schools. But, what if all state government documents are published in Kannada only? Will your Marathi education help you in grasping all that those documents have to say? Now, you might be able to read the English part of the document, since our governments would be proud in publishing the text in English, but not publish it in a language that is locally dominant. But, what about those people in small towns and villages, where vernacular language is still the dominating medium of instruction? Or where, they do not have people who can speak or understand the impeccable English in government documents? For them, it is most convenient if it is published in Marathi. Now, won't you feel like an outsider, if the government does not give you its documents published in Marathi language?

Then, Mr. Gumaste goes on to point out how he is a Marathi from his father's side, but Kannad from his mother's and hence he is confused about the identity of a Marathi. Well, Mr. Gumaste, for that purpose, we all evolved from monkeys (if you believe in the Theory of Evolution). Does it mean, we forget our regional identities? And you may be of such mixed ancestry, but what about people who know their ancestry upto a large extent? Just as you put forward being confused about what constitutes a Marathi and hence argue that Belgaum need not be a part of Maharashtra, some one can come and argue about being a Marathi and hence Belgaum should be a part of Maharashtra. Yours is an individual case, and a movement cannot be based on individual considerations.

And finally, Mr. Gumaste points out to the provisions in the Official Languages act, 1963 and 1981, which say that "areas where the linguistic minorities constitute 15 per cent or more of the local population arrangements have to be made to translate government circulars, orders, extracts and land records into the minority language." Well, acts in India are good on intention but not on implementation. While local bodies may do that, but what if the state level bodies refuse to do so?

These violations might be open and therefore difficult to commit in the days of news-hungry media channels, but there may be subtle discriminations. Like, enforcing the necessity of Kannada language for state level jobs, or not putting up official boards in Marathi language, etc.

All, in all, Mr. Gumaste, I would like to say that you are skimming the surface. You may never feel discriminated, because you speak English and Kannada, and fortunately, Marathi. But, Belgaum is not only about the city, but hundreds of villages that surround it, where there are people who have no access to English language education and Marathi is probably the only language they know. By forcing Kannada upon them or marginalising them by not accepting Marathi language, the Karnataka government is definitely making a case for the merger of such places with linguistic minorities into Maharashtra.

P.S. Before any reader tries to educate me in nationalism, please realise this: You may feel I am a regionalist and anti-national, but then isn't the Karnataka government too anti-national? When it suppresses the border area people and their aspirations by not accepting Marathi as their medium of communication and hence getting official work done in Marathi too? Isn't it promoting regionalism?And no one raises an eye-brow, when Karnataka government contemplates to make Kannada education compulsory even in CBSE/ICSE schools.

Ripping the Fabric, The Decline of Mumbai and its Mills: Darryl D'Monte

Realms of paper, hours, days and years of policy making (or changing), scores of protests have been spent analysing, dissecting and brooding over the Mumbai mills and its workers. Most of these point at the great textile strike of 1982 as the reason for decline of the mills. What has been made popular is that the workers were responsible for the decline, as they struck work in difficult times.

Darryl D'Monte's book is a refreshing change. D'Monte takes a holistic view of what caused the decline of Mumbai's production industry. The only problem (probably) is that D'Monte focusses on what has been done to make use of mill land, now that the mills have closed down. So, for those who are looking at what has been the effect of the 1982 strike on workers' lives, you will be disappointed.

D'Monte points out all that was wrong with the government- both state level and central-- policies that triggered the downfall of the manufacturing industry in Mumbai. He points out that the socialist India's policy of promoting handloom and cottage industry was the starting point of declining of mills. Organised mills, like the ones in Mumbai, were placed with restrictions that didn't allow them to compete freely in the market. On the other hand, unorganised powerlooms sprung up in the villages as cottage industries, which didn't have workers' unions, and used government policies to undercut the mills. Coupled with this, was the Maharashtra government's policy to not allow mills to expand but ask them to setup industries in the backward areas to develop those places.

Then, there were the mill owners, who did not reinvest the profits they earned, for modernising and improving productivity of the mills. Instead, they gave way hefty dividends to shareholders (of which, they were the largest). As time went by and as machinery became technologically backward, it made economic sense for mill owners to shut it down and sell off the land.

And last of all, the political parties. In 1946, the Bombay Industrial Relations (BIR) Act ruled that there would be only one union, the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh (RMMS), that would be allowed to represent all the mill workers. This union went into the control of the Congress, which was the ruling party of the day. And slowly, corruption crept into the union and union officers started colluding with the mill owners. D'Monte highlights the case of Khatau Mills, where the owner, Sunit Khatau, engineered the defeat of sitting mill president and brought in a person of his choice. This was done so that the new president would consent the sale of the mill's land in Byculla and Khatau would restart the mill with a reduced number of workers.

Now that the mills were closed, and the government and mill owners not interested in getting it started, what can be done with the mills? The mill redevelopment policy came in too late. By that time, even genuinely interested owners had lost the zeal to restart the mills. D'Monte goes into details of all the studies- official as well as unofficial- that have been done to make use of the mill land. Mill land measures upto 600 acres, and that too in the heart of Mumbai, most of it in Lalbag, Parel. He points out how different studies recommend using land for setting up convention centres, five-star hotels, hospitals, developing commercial spaces and open public spaces. The money from the proceeds were to be used to pay the workers. But, most of these plans do not address, what can be done to restore the workers' jobs? Only a few mention using the mill buildings to run non-polluting industries, where workers should be re-trained to take such jobs. The book points out to the rise of the underworld, which found its foot soldiers and bosses from the ex-workers in the mills. With no jobs coming their way, they joined the underworld to make money and help families survive.

D'Monte also describes the unscrupulousness of the mill owners, who twisted the redevelopment policy to make money out of selling the land. Like showing that they didn't have 15% open space and selling the land off. Then, demolishing a few buildings and selling it off further. Phoenix Mills owners, the Ruias, even went to the extent of setting up a bowling alley and spa in the mill compound, after telling the BIFR that, it was the workers who have demanded these 'recreation facilities'. Naturally, workers are angered by such plans , as the areas that they once worshipped as their workplace, were being turned into amusement and entertainment areas. And they didn't have any place in these plans.

D'Monte closes with what can be done about the docklands in Mumbai, which too occupy large swathes of lands that may come up for development. He points out that since this land belongs to the public (government), there should be an all inclusive plan to develop it. Left to the market forces, this would see nothing but commercial structures and high rises for the rich coming up in the place of the docks. While this has happened with the mills, something needs to be done to prevent further use of land by speculators and realtors. The public needs to have something for it as the government has doled out enough concessions to all the industries in Mumbai.

After reading this book, we realise that the mill workers were least responsible for closure of the mills. It was a lethal combination of flawed government policy on priorities for industries, unscrupulous mill owners, corrupt union and politicians tying up with the mill owners to grab their share of the pie in the mill land. The hapless worker became a mere spectator in the bigger game for the mill lands.

Leaderless India?

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link has been thrown open to use for the general public. On 30th June 2009, Sonia Gandhi found time to do the honours. A good question to be asked is, what post does Sonia Gandhi hold? She is free of all constitutional responsibilities (except those that are thrust upon her while she is an M.P.) and hence not liable to any actions in case of government failure. But, the Congress likes to give her the credit of every "success" that either the central government or a Congress-ruled state government achieves.

An engineering marvel like the Sea Link should have been inaugurated by someone who holds a Constitutional post. The President was in Mumbai two days ago, she could have done the honours. Or the Prime Minister, who is the captain of the team that shapes the nation's future. But no, the government of Maharashtra felt that Sonia Gandhi has a standing that is higher than the President or Prime Minister. But, we have not protested against this. We are silently accepting all this. Why is there no protest? Why aren't there any protests visible? If the BJP would have called the RSS chief to inaugurate such a facility like this, imagine the uproar that would have taken place. But then, Congress is secular, while BJP is communal.

And the old wily fox, Sharad Pawar, also an off-shoot of the Congress culture sucked up to Sonia Gandhi and requested Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to name the bridge after Rajiv Gandhi. The CM, being a second generation Congressman, promptly agreed to the suggestion, in a bid to please his 'high-command'. The arguments put forward by Sharad Pawar to support his request were equally ridiculous. He said that Rajiv Gandhi was a 'son-of-the-soil' as he was born in Mumbai. Rubbish!! Mr. Pawar, are you forgetting the other leaders who have worked tirelessly for the benefit of the state of Maharashtra. Those 105 people who were killed when this very Congress wanted a bilingual state of Gujarat and Maharashtra have contributed more than Rajiv Gandhi. The only thing that I agree about Rajiv Gandhi was that he ushered in a technological revolution and had recognised the necessity of modern technology. But, he is the same Rajiv Gandhi who infamously agreed to amend the constitution to annul the Supreme Court's judgement in the Shah Bano case. He is the one who made the statement 'when a big tree falls, the earth shakes', thus backing those Congressmen involved in the anti-Sikh riots.

I would say, there were more worthy leaders than Rajiv Gandhi after whom the bridge could be named. Going back in history, there is Kanhoji Angre, the famous commander of the Maratha fleet. He tormented the English and Portuguese with his attacks on their ships. Since this bridge crosses the sea, his name should have been a favourite. Then there were Lokmanya Tilak, Acharya Atre, Shankarrao Chavan, Yashwantrao Chavan, Ahilyabai Rangekar, C.D. Deshmukh, and many more from politics. J.R.D. Tata from business. Homi Bhabha from science. Tata and Bhabha have been pioneers in their fields. Air India was Tata's baby. Homi Bhabha kick started atomic energy research. Both were Mumbaikars. There are many more social activists, famous cricket personalities, litterateurs who have contributed to the well-being of the people of Maharshtra. Anyone of them could be chosen. But no, the Congress doesn't know anybody beyond Nerhu and Gandhi. Thankfully, they aren't naming anything after Sanjay Gandhi now-a-days.

An India that dreams of becoming a super power, doesn't look at leaders apart from the Nehru-Gandhi family as worthy to be remembered through engineering and technology marvels. This picture doesn't look good. Though, it would have been nice if the sea-link was simply called Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

Down the city's history lane

The beauty of a city lies in its history. History has a lot to explain about the character of the city, the way it lived the way it developed. It also throws light on interesting facts that one cannot imagine. For e.g., the Charni Road station (a railway station on Western Railway in Mumbai) got its name from the fact that there were large tracts of land where cattle belonging to the natives used to graze on. The name "charni" is derived from the Marathi word "charne", which means grazing. Or that the entire Girgaum area was once nothing but a swamp filled with plantations. Life was so much functional then. In Girgaum, most streets or areas are named after the type of trade or plantation that existed in the area. For e.g. Phanaswadi meant that it had plantations of jack fruit around the homes, Kandewadi dealt with onions and so on.

The past Sunday, I set out to learn something about the city's history. Thanks to the people at Bombay Heritage Walks, I undertook a tour of a small hamlet in Girgaum known as Khotachiwadi. Two wadis- Khotachiwadi and Angrewadi- are the only wadis in Girgaum, that are not named after any trade or plantation. The Khotachiwadi is named after Dadoba Waman Khot, a revenue officer who worked for the British. When we started, our guide Ms. Brinda Gaitonde told us that the Girgaum area is situated between two hill-stations of the yester-yester years!!! Hard to believe, but true. On one side was the Malabar Hill and on the other was Dongri. Now, none of these bear the looks of a hill station at all. Neither has Girgaum remained the same.

So, as I walked along with the entire group, listening to the history of Girgaum, I realised that this area has been responsible for the birth of a lot of cultural activities that go on in Maharashtra. The chawls of Girgaum provided a platform for various social activists, freedom fighters and reformists. The Majestic theatre hosted a still on-going series of Marathi talks known as Majestic Gappa (discussions at Majestic). This provided a forum for socialists and freedom fighters to put their views across to the general public that attended the show. The Majestic Gappa still runs at Vile Parle. The Majestic theatre, however, no more exists. It has been torn down and a new sky-rise has come up in its place.

Opposite the erstwhile Majestic theatre, is a you-blink-and-you-miss board that points towards Khotachiwadi. Enter the lane and there is a feeling that you have stepped out of the city and entered a village. The hamlet, whose residents are East Indians and Maharashtrians, was established over the later half of the 19th century. All the houses are single or at the most double storey. Most of them are over one hundred fifty years old and the construction is mostly of wood or cast iron and built to meet the requirements of traditional Indian homes. For e.g. most homes have an inner courtyard, a small balcony in the front and extensive ventilation to allow ample light and air circulation. The roofs too are designed in a sloping manner, which is de facto in places that receive heavy rains. All this was accomplished without the help of an architect, the person who knows best, how to design a livable house.

The hamlet of Khotachiwadi has not as yet been declared a heritage structure. Individual homes have, however, been given heritage status. This means that the powerful builder-lobby can force residents to sell their homes, so that high rises can take their place. The area of Girgaum is a prime area in terms of real estate, where the ongoing rates are more than Rs. 20000 per sq. ft. The houses in Khotachiwadi are very old and therefore require a lot of maintenance, which costs. Also, most families residing in Khotachiwadi are senior citizens, whose children have moved to other cities to pursue their career or into their own homes. Thus, many houses get sold off, because the owners are themselves not interested in residing there.

The residents of Khotachiwadi have come together to form an association (The Khotachiwadi Heritage Trust) that works to preserve the identity of Khotachiwadi. The association functions from the Ferrera house, which acts a headquarter for the association. The Ferreras have also preserved many antiques from the yester years. The association has been organising the Khotachiwadi festival every year, since 2005. The festival is The festival aims at bringing awareness about the Khotachiwadi and introducing the new generation to this fabulous heritage of ours.

The Khotachiwadi needs the support of the citizens of the nation in order to preserve itself. We need to rise to the occasion and thwart every attempt of erosion of the Khotachiwadi. However, nothing much can be done against the will of individuals. If an individual decides to sell the house based on his/her free will, we cannot interfere. But the society can support the attempts of those individuals who intend to preserve the heritage. The hamlet can serve as a good model for functional existence as well as building houses that give a sense of living. It keeps reminding us about co-existence with nature and the ability of our forefathers to build communities that are social, but still provide for the requisite privacy of the individual.

Photos of Khotachiwadi can be found over here.