{"product_id":"colaba-the-diamond-at-the-tip-of-mumbai-9789389958928","title":"Colaba: The Diamond at the Tip of Mumbai","description":"\u003cp\u003eDescription\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eColaba, the southernmost tip of Mumbai-a bustling locality with the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGateway of India, the famous Taj Mahal Hotel, and Colaba Causeway, a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eshopper's paradise-is the city's most iconic neighbourhood. But barely 200\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eyears ago, it was a rocky, jackal-infested island, separated from the rest of the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egreat metropolis by a temperamental creek.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this compelling biography, Shabnam Minwalla, journalist, author and long-time\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eresident of the area, tells the tale of the unexpected forces that reshaped land and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esea; and allowed this remote corner of Bombay-Mumbai to evolve into one of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eits liveliest, quirkiest neighbourhoods. Trying to figure out the exact area limits, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eshe unravels accounts of colonial rivalries and dowry negotiations, and of shrewd\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eindustrialists who transformed the doomed island into the centre of trade during\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe cotton boom of the 1860s. She navigates the sometimes charming, sometimes\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eseedy streets to track the area's evolution from a retreat for British soldiers and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esailors to a coveted residential area for the English and Indians alike. She digs\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003einto her childhood memories to introduce us to the eccentric Parsis of Cusrow\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBaug, the warm yet persistent shopkeepers and hawkers of the Causeway, the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eindustrious Sindhis who pioneered co-operative housing societies, the colourful\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emusicians, theatre artists and writers who frequented her corner of Colaba, and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe Arabs who come there every year to witness the city's monsoons. And in a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emoving section, she records how the neighbourhood rose like a phoenix from the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eashes after the 26\/11 terrorist attack.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCombining a remarkable flair for storytelling with sound journalistic\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egroundwork, and drawing upon three generations of family memory, Shabnam\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epaints an intimate and dynamic portrait of a great and fabled neighbourhood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Speaking Tiger Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50380314607890,"sku":"9789389958928","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_90de6397-f399-4e57-a76e-44ac38372289.jpg?v=1728680533","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/colaba-the-diamond-at-the-tip-of-mumbai-9789389958928","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}