matharpacady-mazgaon

Mazgaon lies hidden, tucked away. The new Eastern freeway runs right over it on tall, thick pillars, alienating itself from the people below. Mazgaon has been forgotten for a long time as we seem to want to live and be present in the latest hip and happening suburb, forgetting the past that lies languishing in the corner… decaying.

As I walked around Mazgaon, it felt like an old, forgotten masterpiece.  And it exemplifies secularism with people from many religions living harmoniously with each other and that sentiment is under threat elsewhere in the name of religious fundamentalism.  What Mazgaon holds in its past is priceless. The church leads to the Jew’s house which is close to a Parsi Baug (a place where the Parsis live) next to a Masjid which shares a wall with a Shia cemetery that lies next to the only Jewish cemetery!  Phew…  the list goes on.  It’s a beautiful potpourri of religions! Though it is fast fading  and all we see are decaying reminders… what with few Catholics left, hardly any Jews, the Chinese have all packed up and gone and the Parsis  are few and far between.

But the past held a beautiful story of harmony, of peace and of tolerance… a lesson we could all learn today!

For more pictures of Mazgaon..click here..http://merrytogoaround.com/2013/07/27/mazgaon-mumbai-a-beautiful-suburb/

Bhavani Ramesh is a traveler by choice, photographer by interest and writer by desire. She works at audiocompass.in. She blogs at merrytogoaround.com & tweets @bhavan1.