When Busybee came to New Bombay

It felt like a school picnic day. That's going back 60 years and more, but never mind that. By 9.45 a.m., I was at Apollo Bunder, standing next to a public toilet, clearly designed like a mini Gateway of India. Nice, if it had not been stinking so much. The SKS Supercrafts booking office was next to the urinal, punching out tickets for the hovercraft that would take me across the harbour to Navi Mumbai (the official name for J.B. D'souza's New Bombay). Below me was a floating dock, steep steps leading to it, three chairs in one corner for VVIP passengers to sit on and rock to the gentle roll of the waves. My friend, Shankar Menon, IAS, recently retired from government service had arrived by then, apparently taking his retirement seriously, wearing a baseball, cap, keds, a poetry book under his arm. Also with us was S.S. Thakar of CIDCO. So, we were all set to spend a day in Navi Mumbai. As I said earlier, like going on a school picnic.

Read the archived article on Mumbainet. From nine years ago, and somewhat out of date as a consequence, but Behram sounds as fresh as ever. Rest in peace.