The Crawford Market fire that gutted a large section of the historic market in South Mumbai on Sunday (a day that the market is shut to buyers) saddened me, an ardent Crawford Market shopper — though it is almost two decades since I have relocated to New Delhi. I hear there was some renovation work going on and the premises were off-limits for the public when the tragedy struck.
In my imagination, I saw a mischievous four-year-old boy — Rudyard Kipling (born on December 30, 1865 in Mumbai) — prance around the near-completed site of the Crawford Market in 1869, as his artistic father John Lockwood Kipling worked on the edifices of the building’s ornate exteriors and the Kipling’s fountain in the premises.
I shall tell you more about the Kipling connection soon, but first about what the market had meant to me.
When my daughter, now 18, was a toddler, the Crawford Market toy shops were a shopping haven for me. I could buy electronic toys, birthday party memorabilia and everything from a small ping pong ball to a battery-driven car for the child in the house and the child in me.
The shops were filled to the brim with attractive wares and one often felt rather inadequately funded as the heart lurched for one fantastic good after another. It was a wholesale market that catered to the middle-class buyer who likes neat bargains and long-lasting goods.
I would walk around the market to buy anything from serving trays, crystal clear glasses, designer mugs and cups, bottle openers, travel bags, fruits and vegetables, shoes, belts, other leather goods, bakery products … what have you. At nearby Musafir-khana, bright and attractive made-in-Pakistan cloth would be sold at throw-away prices.
As news of the fire reached me in Delhi, I felt sad as I recalled the times I had spent there and the rich history and heritage attached to it.
Did you know that the now called Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai (better known as Crawford Market) was earlier named after Arthur Crawford, the first Municipal Commissioner of the city and the building, completed in 1869, was donated to the city by Cowasji Jehangir. In 1882, the building was the first in India to be lit by electricity.
Wikipedia says the market was designed by British architect William Emerson. The edifice is a blend of Norman and Flemish architectural styles. The friezes on the outside entrance depicting Indian farmers, and the stone fountains inside, were designed by John Lockwood Kipling, father of novelist Rudyard Kipling of Jungle Book fame. The market covers an area of 22,471 sq m (2,41,877 sq ft), of which 5,515 sq m (59,363 sq ft) is occupied by the building itself.
John Kipling worked on many famous projects including the decorations for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. But what is most interesting to us, is that he designed the friezes on the Crawford Market building which showed scenes from Indian rural life.
Today you can see “Kipling’s Fountain” inside the Crawford’s bird market area with the tutelary animals and the Goddess Ganga shaped and painted brightly in classical style.
Other important works in the then Bombay (now Mumbai) designed by John Kipling include the notable railway station building of Victoria Terminus (now Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus) and the local government headquarters (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) or the BMC across the road from it.
Almost a stone’s throw away is the “Dean’s House” at the JJ School of Art, which is currently vacant but will hopefully turn into an art museum. These are the premises where John Kipling, who was Dean of the school, lived with his family, most notably the boy who would grow up to make Mowgli and Sher Khan more famous than any other Indian jungle character.
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