The Tumultuous Transformation of Mumbai during the 80s

 

Like all cities, Mumbai, the city of dreams, has evolved and transformed over the years. One notable phase of transformation happened in the last two decades of the previous century and the watershed event that triggered this change was a major labor strike that happened exactly four decades ago- in 1982- in the heart of the city.

It was also the year in which I, a fresh commerce graduate, joined Raptakos, Brett & Co, a company engaged in manufacturing pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, their most popular product being Threptin biscuits. They had their office in Worli back then, and part of the premises also had manufacturing facilities and we would hear the siren going off every few hours usually notifying the change of the shift to the workmen in the factory. This was a familiar sound not only in Central Bombay (as it was called then) but also in vast portions of the entire city. This was because Bombay was until then, predominantly a manufacturing hub starting from the British era.

Just as I was making the transition from being a college student to an office goer, Bombay too was at the cusp of change. The key events which were driving this change were unfolding around the place where I started my career- Worli.  It was part of suburbs comprising Lalbaug, Parel, and other areas which were collectively known as Girangaon (“mill village”). During its peak phase, the region had 130 mills and employed 300,000 workers. These mills were often the inspiration for filmmakers who created stories around them. To cite one example, the 1973 Bollywood movie, Namak Haram, starring the then superstar, Rajesh Khanna, and Amitabh Bachchan, who would later dethrone him, was based on the theme of trade union activism in the backdrop of Bombay’s textile mills.  The mills had a high presence on other traditional media channels as well. Some popular radio programs on Vividh Bharati every Sunday afternoon (which was prime time then) were sponsored by textile mills- Kohinoor Geet Gunjar by Kohinoor Mills and Cricket with Vijay Merchant which was sponsored by Thackersey Group of Mills.

As the city ushered in the new decade of the 80s, the fortunes of the textile mill owners started declining. The mill workers were, however, distrustful of the owners, suspecting that they were deliberately understating profits to deny them better compensation. The stage was, therefore, set for a confrontation between the two.

Tensions mounted and ultimately led to the Bombay Textile strike of 1982 with Girangaon becoming the epicenter of tumultuous events in the heart of the city.

Labor strikes in the textile mills of Mumbai were not uncommon. But this was the “Mother of Labor Strikes”. The workmen had brushed aside the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh (RMMS), which was until then the representative of textile mill workers, and anointed the prominent union leader, Dr. Datta Samant, to spearhead their attack against the mill owners, who in their opinion, were deliberately denying them their legitimate rights. The mill owners refused to yield to their demands claiming that the profits of their mills were on the decline. The Government decided to turn a deaf ear to the demands of the striking workers, fearing that Mumbai, much like Kolkata, would fall into the clutches of trade unionists and this could derail its growth as the prominent business hub of the country. Other political leaders and trade unionists also did not lend much support to the agitation. The labor strike, inevitably, collapsed and this triggered a paradigm shift in the socio-economic fabric of the city. On the economic front, manufacturing activities gradually declined with many business owners, including those who owned the textile mills, moving their manufacturing facilities to more low-cost locations. Favorable legislative changes facilitating redevelopment of the land of textile mills for commercial purposes created opportunities for some of them to turn into real estate developers. The skyline of the area was overtime dotted with high-rise buildings housing swanky offices, bars, and restaurants. The term Girangaon gradually went out of vogue.

The place in Worli where I started my career four decades ago is now a site for the construction of a 30+ storied commercial complex.

By the early nineties, the services sector emerged as the dominant contributor to the economy of the city. The sub-sectors which thrived most prominently were the electronic media, the financial sector, and the aviation sector, all of which were thrown open to the private sector. The city thus lost the tag of being an industrial metropolis and grew in stature as the financial capital of the country. Simultaneously, the composition of blue-collared workers dwindled. Many displaced mill workers returned to their villages, particularly in the Konkan region. The new age, private sector-owned companies in the services sector recruited a new breed of white-collared workforce.

 

Subtle changes surfaced in the language spoken in the city. The language of the common Mumbaikar - “Bambiya Hindi” -gradually made way for the purer form of Hindi as spoken in North India.  By the mid-nineties, the city was rechristened and acquired the moniker of Mumbai.

Amidst all the change, what has endured till today is the more than century-old tradition of the ten-day long Ganesh festival and the strong sense of devotion of Mumbaikars to Ganapati Bappa,

On a personal level, I was fortunate that I could ride the tide of change and benefit from it- switching within six months (in 1983) from the manufacturing sector to the fast-growing financial services sector and joining India’s largest financial institution, the State Bank of India. Much like many business owners who relocated their production facilities outside Mumbai, I too shifted on transfer to the more peaceful and health-friendly city of Pune, where I preferred to settle down. Many of my fellow Mumbaikars, especially the mill workers, were less fortunate and struggled to earn livelihoods in the evolving environment.

Even today, my heart beats for the city where I was born and have spent half my life. I look back at the phase of transition with mixed feelings while accepting that every change brings joy to some and causes pain to others.

I recently made a trip down memory lane and visited the iconic Siddhivinayak temple in the erstwhile Girangaon area- at Prabhadevi- and offered prayers to Ganapati Bappa. I exhorted the Vighnaharta to use all his mighty powers and remove the obstacles in the lives of all his devotees and bless them with prosperity and happiness in the decades ahead.