Nothing glows as warmly in Gandhiji's memory as Mani Bhavan but SoBo is peppered with buildings that bear his touch
In a shaded avenue lined with trees stands a stark white building soaring to the skies. Located squarely within Nariman Point, the building is unmistakeably a house of business. In fact, it is the Union Bank of India building, born nearly a hundred years ago, in November 1919.
The Union Bank was at the vanguard of India's nationalist movement, so much so that Mahatma Gandhi was called upon to inaugurate it. At the inauguration, Gandhiji said, "We should have the ability to carry on a big bank, to manage efficiently crores of rupees in the course of our national activities. Though we have not many banks amongst us, it does not follow that we are not capable of efficiently managing crores and tens of crores of rupees."
In the scrum and huddle of Charni Road lies the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Building, a concrete and glass-fronted affair; sometimes history comes in un-photogenic packages. It houses the Hindustani Prachar Sabha (HPS), an organisation that Gandhiji founded in 1942, to promote Hindi language. HPS is a treasure trove for linguists—it has a library overflowing with crumbling, rare manuscripts and 45,000 books in Hindi and Urdu.
Halfway up the sloping Malabar Hill lies Birla House, home to Yash Birla and his family. Birla House is awash in sepia-tinted memories. It all started in the 1930s when Birla's great-grandfather, Rameswar Das Birla, built the sprawling five-storey family home. The elder Birla was Gandhiji's confidante, who soon became a frequent visitor at the Birla House. (In fact, this was Gandhiji's residence during the time of his unsuccessful talks with Jinnah in September 1944). Birla House has leaping Gothic arches and ornate cornices that call to mind an English mansion. Set in a two-acre garden studded with mango and jackfruit trees, it is touched by a sleepy elegance—the perfect Gandhian legacy.
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