How was life in Bombay in the 80s and 90s?

[MechEng]

I moved to Mumbai in 2002, before that I spent whole of my childhood in Goa till 6th grade. The transition phase from Goan culture to Mumbai culture was very difficult for me back then, I saw Mumbaikars as rude and hyper competitive in everything, but slowly with time I adapted to the culture and now I can call myself a complete Mumbaikar.

[MechEng]

4 hours ago, Yoda-esque said:

There was more of a Marathi/Gujju/Parsi vibe to the city earlier....

You must come to Parsi cafes in South Mumbai in case you plan a visit here, nothing has changed the old vibe still remains. Even the owners of Parsi cafes still use the restaurant bell when it comes to paying the bill.

Edited May 1, 2017 by MechEng

[Rajiv]

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

Really guys, there's no difference between underworld controlled Bombay of 90s and today's Mumbai?

You dont get to see open shootings, rules are tighter - 26/11 changed lot of things too. We all know where bhai giri came from, but our politicians are biggest bhais now. 

I will tell you that in my time 90s, basically everyone called themselves bhai's ( coz they knew a bhai ). If it werent sameer bhaiyuu, then it would Haadi or Ahwaq or Ali

The place I lived ( in Bandra ) was famous for this, if you guys recall Stomach Restaurant, Bombino vides, Rizvi complex

Funny thing is, no one fought a lot - the all ended up with guys and did "compro", the real bhais never spoke they just made a call and or bullet

[maniac]

2 hours ago, veer said:

For common man in Bombay, under world was just in movies.. not in reality.

 

Growing up in late 80s and 90s in Bombay was the best thing happened in my life.. Globalization didnt happen at that time.. Population wasnt that bad.. Eating at restaurant was an EVENT.. Eating Pizza was something to be talk about with friends.. Playing cricket all day long during summer, and then football in monsoon.. Sheild cricket matches formed friendships among strangers, Innocent flirting with Pretty Girls in neighborhoods formed memories.. Golden days..

 

The only time there were some fear was during 92.. and that too for may be a month max.. I remember muslims changing their name plates to hindu names.. and us (dad and his friends) patrolling society buildings at night.. but other than that we lived free as a bird life in Bombay..

 

As rajiv said, Bombay had breathing space back then.. now its just too crowded, too hot, too polluted, too much constructions, parking places took over play area in bombay buildings.. ...Watching old Bombay streets in movies like Anand, Manzil, Muqadar Ka Sikandar makes my heart cry a lil bit.. that life is gone.. Globalization and Extremist taking over now..

 

 

 

 

Unless we are talking 50's and 60's when did this ever happen.

 

Infact from what I remember lot of my friends where I grew up in Colaba area moved to bigger apartments in the suburbs-Lokhandwala complex etc by selling their smaller apartments in the colaba/cuffe parade area for a fortune....they could afford big sometimes even 2 apartments for the price of 1.

 

If anything more high rise buildings brought in more space.

 

Unless we are talking in terms of traffic then I agree.

 

But I haven't been to Mumbai in 15 years so I might be wrong here.

[Rajiv]

1 hour ago, MechEng said:

You must come to Parsi cafes in South Mumbai in case you plan a visit here, nothing has changed the old vibe still remains. Even the owners of Parsi cafes still use the restaurant bell when it comes to paying the bill.

You know there's something interesting on this, if you recall the movie Naseeb where Pran used to work in that Irani restaurant - he came back afer 20 years and his past cowrker recognized him and told his boss it was Namdev ( Pran ). I was like as a kid you never thought about it, but funny his coworker is still working  as a waiter since 20 years, had no promotion? like the guy is wearing the same clothes at the same restaurant - so unrealistic but actually there are many places whee these guys are still there, from young to old and the place hasn't changed. The pao bread and keema is still the same

[veer]

56 minutes ago, maniac said:

Unless we are talking 50's and 60's when did this ever happen.

 

Infact from what I remember lot of my friends where I grew up in Colaba area moved to bigger apartments in the suburbs-Lokhandwala complex etc by selling their smaller apartments in the colaba/cuffe parade area for a fortune....they could afford big sometimes even 2 apartments for the price of 1.

 

If anything more high rise buildings brought in more space.

 

Unless we are talking in terms of traffic then I agree.

 

But I haven't been to Mumbai in 15 years so I might be wrong here.

Boss. .visit Bombay now.. you'll be in shock. Space in front of our chawl where we used to play cricket is now full of cars..neighboring society which had big play area is also filled with cars.. Street where we used to play football/cricket is filled with cars or small huts or some construction is taking place.. Open ground where we used to play has now coaching sites for hockey/tennis/cricket etc.. its not open for public any more.. Now kids are more into cell phones, video games and TV..

 

I won't even mention the market, trains, stations, roads, eatery places....

 

Kids are joining coaching classes now for all sports.. and then come home and watch those sports on TV.. I couldn't believe craze for Manchester United in kids.. or Berca and Messi for that matter. I've hardly seen 80s-90s building/Society type cricket playing in my last few visits..

[Texan]

Born and brought up in Bombay, have very fond memories of the 90s. Yes, the underworld in Bombay/Mumbai was at its peak in the 90s. Most middle class people were not bothered though - it was the builders and Bollywood brigade that was under fire. The underworld was controlled because the Mumbai Police had enough of it and started staging encounters. When you think about this, Amit Shah landed himself in such a soup because he supposedly called for a fake encounter of some criminals. In Mumbai alone, at least about 200 gangsters were killed in fake encounters to put an end to this menace. If it weren't for these encounters, Mumbai would have been deeper in $hit in the next decade.

[Texan]

8 hours ago, maniac said:

Unless we are talking 50's and 60's when did this ever happen.

 

Infact from what I remember lot of my friends where I grew up in Colaba area moved to bigger apartments in the suburbs-Lokhandwala complex etc by selling their smaller apartments in the colaba/cuffe parade area for a fortune....they could afford big sometimes even 2 apartments for the price of 1.

 

If anything more high rise buildings brought in more space.

 

Unless we are talking in terms of traffic then I agree.

 

But I haven't been to Mumbai in 15 years so I might be wrong here.

Your last line says it all. Totally a different place now and I wouldn't call it better.

[MechEng]

9 hours ago, veer said:

Boss. .visit Bombay now.. you'll be in shock. Space in front of our chawl where we used to play cricket is now full of cars..neighboring society which had big play area is also filled with cars.. Street where we used to play football/cricket is filled with cars or small huts or some construction is taking place.. Open ground where we used to play has now coaching sites for hockey/tennis/cricket etc.. its not open for public any more.. Now kids are more into cell phones, video games and TV..

 

I won't even mention the market, trains, stations, roads, eatery places....

 

Kids are joining coaching classes now for all sports.. and then come home and watch those sports on TV.. I couldn't believe craze for Manchester United in kids.. or Berca and Messi for that matter. I've hardly seen 80s-90s building/Society type cricket playing in my last few visits..

We used to play cricket with those red coloured rubber balls, which were only available in Bombay. And when someone hit the ball very hard, the ball gets punctured and loses all the air. The society cricket culture disappeared by the late 2000's.

[Cricketics]

Last visited Bombay with family in 1996, about 21 years ago. Life seemed all right there. Though I do remember that there was lot of "Habad-Tabad", everyone was busy in their own and busy to take you for a ride(for ex-go to Juhu beach and different vendors/guide waiting to spot tourists).

 

Remember trying Franky for the first ever time there. Also, I remember getting hit by a Rikshaw-wala, who kept going and did not even acknowledge but then that could happen anywhere in India, even in Delhi.

 

Last memory of Bombay is that I  bought my first ever cricket video game from there, bought Sega 16bit Brian Lara 1996 game and having chaupathi's bhel puri or something.

 

Did not actually live there, but did visit a few times back in the days since my Dad used to visit regularly for business. Would love to visit again one day, especially to watch some game at Wankhede.

 

[tweaker]

22 hours ago, sandeep said:

Nice.  I was lucky enough to have a decent cricket ground, literally across from my building.  Hardly ever had problems finding space to play.  Banjo they converted it into a joggers park now, with a friking water fountain smack in the middle.  Regardless, Dad sold our place 15 years ago anyway, so it doesn't matter.   I wish I had the cash to buy it from him back then, would have quintupled the money easy.  

Our that ground is also gone.We were lucky we got to play, this generation has lost an opportunity to play on that ground.

Now everything is changed. Four storied building are making way for huge towers.Lot of crowd & no-one seems to know another person.

[sandeep]

6 hours ago, MechEng said:

We used to play cricket with those red coloured rubber balls, which were only available in Bombay. And when someone hit the ball very hard, the ball gets punctured and loses all the air. The society cricket culture disappeared by the late 2000's.

Man those rubbdi balls!  I could spin it bigger than Murali with those!   Back in my days, the pink ones used to crack a lot easier, the red ones were usually better.  

[narenpande1]

1 hour ago, sandeep said:

Man those rubbdi balls!  I could spin it bigger than Murali with those!   Back in my days, the pink ones used to crack a lot easier, the red ones were usually better.  

 

The best part about those red rubber balls was they made awesome chabook like noise when spanked. So much so that one could hear a game going on in a neighboring society by the sound of the rubber ball getting spanked.

 

Good old days those..  we even used the cloth beating dhoka ( that was like a miniature THICK cricket bat ) to play ...days when washing machines were very uncommon and the bai's used the dhoka stick to clean clothes. What memories ...

Edited May 2, 2017 by narenpande1

[Rajiv]

My last visit was in 2015 ( Bombay and Go ), but I went in 2012 after a gap of 10 years - it was a shock allright but worst opart was, I coudnt meet all friends due to traffic situation. It literally was unbearable

 

 

[maniac]

Anyone played matches in oval maidan 50rs per head * 22 to cover the cost of pitch booking and 2 season balls and a drum full of "water" and shredded keeping gloves

[coffee_rules]

The new terminal T2 is awesome.

I have lived couple of weeks in Bombay in 90s, never experienced gundagardi except when entering local trains where everybody has to become one.

[Texan]

12 hours ago, narenpande1 said:

 

The best part about those red rubber balls was they made awesome chabook like noise when spanked. So much so that one could hear a game going on in a neighboring society by the sound of the rubber ball getting spanked.

 

Good old days those..  we even used the cloth beating dhoka ( that was like a miniature THICK cricket bat ) to play ...days when washing machines were very uncommon and the bai's used the dhoka stick to clean clothes. What memories ...

Ohh man, that sound off the bat when you were batting was just music to the ears. Best part about those balls were that you could spin, seam and get good bounce from those as a bowler. Batsmen too could afford to play through the line. 

 

Every society had its gradation system. You started with underarm cricket and were classified as a kaccha limbu. You had to earn your way to the senior cricket played by the elder boys. I remember a time when we played underarm cricket and stumps were represented by three stones and whether you are bowled or not is determined by the keeper. No LBWs and no hit wickets. Sometimes, I used to have one leg behind the stumps while playing a shot and still didn't get out because hit wicket was not considered out. 

[maniac]

9 hours ago, Texan said:

Ohh man, that sound off the bat when you were batting was just music to the ears. Best part about those balls were that you could spin, seam and get good bounce from those as a bowler. Batsmen too could afford to play through the line. 

 

Every society had its gradation system. You started with underarm cricket and were classified as a kaccha limbu. You had to earn your way to the senior cricket played by the elder boys. I remember a time when we played underarm cricket and stumps were represented by three stones and whether you are bowled or not is determined by the keeper. No LBWs and no hit wickets. Sometimes, I used to have one leg behind the stumps while playing a shot and still didn't get out because hit wicket was not considered out. 

If ball went out of your building it was out...so it had to hit within a certain area to be considered a 4 or a 6.

 

sometimes there was a 2d (2 declared)to avoid running.foundation to Indian athleticism ...you could put your feet on the stone and take the catch to run someone out baseball style.

 

underarm was fun to there were so many variations like leg off slower ball 

 

 

[veer]

3 hours ago, maniac said:

If ball went out of your building it was out...so it had to hit within a certain area to be considered a 4 or a 6.

sometimes there was a 2d (2 declared)to avoid running.foundation to Indian athleticism ...you could put your feet on the stone and take the catch to run someone out baseball style.

underarm was fun to there were so many variations like leg off slower ball

Lol.. all those rules are just gold.

And then runs only beyond bowler's crease.. one bounce is also out.. there was no umpire so in those close run-out or catch decisions usually goes to whichever team has biigger bully type kid.. if ball hits tree and come back in your building it is still valid..

 

High speed under bowling is not allowed (too hard to handle.. lol).. If ball goes in stinky gutter then batsman has to take it out

[narenpande1]

10 hours ago, veer said:

Lol.. all those rules are just gold.

And then runs only beyond bowler's crease.. one bounce is also out.. there was no umpire so in those close run-out or catch decisions usually goes to whichever team has biigger bully type kid.. if ball hits tree and come back in your building it is still valid..

 

High speed under bowling is not allowed (too hard to handle.. lol).. If ball goes in stinky gutter then batsman has to take it out

 

 

The most ridiculous rule was one bounce catch by fielder is valid and out. (" Ek tappi out " ) . I dont know from where this originated 

but in all the different buildings we played in be it mine or relatives in  ( Borivali, Andheri, Parle or Ghatkopar) - every where " ek tappi out" 

was the building rule.