Chowakaran Musa and the Mapla Por of Bombay
Posted by Labels: Chowakaran Moosa, Malabar Moplah, Mappila Por Bombay, Mopla Por, Musa Bombay
Musa Mapla, the EIC
and his Bombay residence
Many decades ago, when I was working in Bombay and a
bachelor, I would walk aimlessly through the Colaba, Ballard estate and Flora
fountain areas often, stopping finally to munch a good meal at the Fort Ananda Bhavan.
In many of the road corners you could spot youngsters from Malabar desirous of
going to the Gulf, doing part time work by selling smuggled goods on the sly. Well
before all that, they sold coconuts or mats i.e. nariayal walas and chatai (grass
mat or pullu paya) walas of Malabar, but in my time those professions were not
popular and the malayali street hawker sold Casio calculators, perfumes, cigarettes
and small electronics like radios cassette players on these streets.