Short video clip of 1930s Bombay by James Fitzpatrick with pretty biased Western voice-over
The clip, Gateway To India - Bombay 1932, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob8n_Aaog58, produced and narrated by (American with seemingly limited exposure to Bombay), James A. Fitzpatrick, is 8 min. 27 secs. The video alone is a clear testament of how Bombay was in the 1930s. I found it fascinating to see the video of areas near Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel, which I have walked through (or driven through in some cab/vehicle) countless times. Of course, in my days (1980s to early 2000s) there were no bullock carts to be seen in this area! [Here, I must say, that I can see the co-existence of the new fancy cars and the old bullock carts in Puttaparthi even today! So that makes it easier for me to take in this video.]
I have never visited the Mahalaxmi race course in Bombay, shown in this video, though I have been around that area many times, as I never felt the desire to go inside!
It is very interesting to me to note that narrator had the view that Bombay was a cosmopolitan city even in the 1930s. In the racecourse part of the video the narrator says, "For here is gathered representatives of every nationality, creed and colour. ... Owing to its central position between the East and West, no city can show a greater variety of types than Bombay. Here we find gathered Parsi merchants, Arab traders, Afghans and Sikhs, Chinese, Japanese, Malayans, Americans and British, all part of the cosmopolitan crowd so characteristic of Bombay."
I was born in Bombay and have lived in various parts of Bombay and surrounding areas in most of the first four decades of my life (early 1960s to early 2000s). I took the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Bombay for granted. It took awhile for me to understand that the cosmopolitan nature of Bombay city was quite an exception in India. In my travels & stay in USA, some parts of Western Europe and Far East Asia, the only city which I felt was quite similar to Bombay city of my days (till early 2000s; don't know the situation now) in terms of its cosmopolitan nature was New York City. However, I have only visited New York City many times but not stayed there (have stayed on weekends with friends in nearby areas of New Jersey). So my view of New York City of the 1980s is also that of a visitor like Fitzpartick's view of Bombay in the 1930s.
The village shown in the video seems to be a typical Koli fishing village. Perhaps the village is one from southern end of Bombay, Colaba or perhaps a little bit towards central Bombay - Worli. What the narrator says, describes the Kolis of that village and does not apply to all Hindus.
Some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koli_people, "The Koli people are historically an ethnic Indian group native to Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states.
While the Koli are mostly Hindu, in Mumbai, Native Christians include autichtonous Koli East Indian Catholics, who were converted by the Portuguese during the 16th century.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Here is an interesting blog post on Kolis of Mumbai, http://mumkolis.blogspot.in/2011/06/koli-native-fisher-folk-of-mumbai.html.
Any mention of Kolis from a guy like me has to include the all time great Koli song, Me Dolkara Dolkara Dolkara Dariyacha Raja (roughly translates, I think, to I am the rower/owner of the (small fishing) boat; I am the king of the sea). Here's the audio only of the song sung by Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar perhaps in 1969, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCy3PtAPj8Y, 6 min. 46 secs. This is an alternative youtube video of the same whose audio seems to be better, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuzRY_KFsHM, 7 min 2 secs.
The producer and narrator of the 1930s Mumbai video clip is James Fitzpatrick. Some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._FitzPatrick:
James Anthony Fitzpatrick was born in Shelton, Connecticut. After completing training in dramatic arts, he worked, for a while, as a journalist.
...
In 1930, FitzPatrick began filming travel documentaries for British and American viewers. MGM distributed the series under the umbrella title "Fitzpatrick Traveltalks."
...
FitzPatrick made nearly 300 films in a career that spanned five decades. He was, in some ways, the heir to Charles Urban's approach to making travelogues: they concentrated on the picturesque elements of a nation visited—architecture and landscape—and not, so much, the people. IMDB reproduces an unsourced quote from FitzPatrick which reads,
"How would I have gained admittance to those countries if I had commented on their social problems? [...] I made my pictures at a time when travel was almost impossible for the average person. I believe I showed people what they would have wanted to see if they could have gone themselves. [...] I don't recall anyone ever requesting a tour of slums and prisons."
--- end extracts ---
Ravi: Given the above extracts, one understands the inaccuracies and biased view of the voice-over. I mean, FitzPatrick was not an expert on the history and sociology of Bombay. The video is a visitor's view at a time when Bombay was a vital part of British ruled India, and so projects the biased British view of Bombay then.
Here's an interesting blog post on Fitzpatrick and his short films of India, http://www.shunya.net/Text/Blog/FitzPatrickIndia.htm.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
I have never visited the Mahalaxmi race course in Bombay, shown in this video, though I have been around that area many times, as I never felt the desire to go inside!
I was born in Bombay and have lived in various parts of Bombay and surrounding areas in most of the first four decades of my life (early 1960s to early 2000s). I took the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Bombay for granted. It took awhile for me to understand that the cosmopolitan nature of Bombay city was quite an exception in India. In my travels & stay in USA, some parts of Western Europe and Far East Asia, the only city which I felt was quite similar to Bombay city of my days (till early 2000s; don't know the situation now) in terms of its cosmopolitan nature was New York City. However, I have only visited New York City many times but not stayed there (have stayed on weekends with friends in nearby areas of New Jersey). So my view of New York City of the 1980s is also that of a visitor like Fitzpartick's view of Bombay in the 1930s.
The village shown in the video seems to be a typical Koli fishing village. Perhaps the village is one from southern end of Bombay, Colaba or perhaps a little bit towards central Bombay - Worli. What the narrator says, describes the Kolis of that village and does not apply to all Hindus.
Some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koli_people, "The Koli people are historically an ethnic Indian group native to Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states.
While the Koli are mostly Hindu, in Mumbai, Native Christians include autichtonous Koli East Indian Catholics, who were converted by the Portuguese during the 16th century.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Here is an interesting blog post on Kolis of Mumbai, http://mumkolis.blogspot.in/2011/06/koli-native-fisher-folk-of-mumbai.html.
Any mention of Kolis from a guy like me has to include the all time great Koli song, Me Dolkara Dolkara Dolkara Dariyacha Raja (roughly translates, I think, to I am the rower/owner of the (small fishing) boat; I am the king of the sea). Here's the audio only of the song sung by Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar perhaps in 1969, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCy3PtAPj8Y, 6 min. 46 secs. This is an alternative youtube video of the same whose audio seems to be better, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuzRY_KFsHM, 7 min 2 secs.
The producer and narrator of the 1930s Mumbai video clip is James Fitzpatrick. Some extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._FitzPatrick:
James Anthony Fitzpatrick was born in Shelton, Connecticut. After completing training in dramatic arts, he worked, for a while, as a journalist.
...
In 1930, FitzPatrick began filming travel documentaries for British and American viewers. MGM distributed the series under the umbrella title "Fitzpatrick Traveltalks."
...
FitzPatrick made nearly 300 films in a career that spanned five decades. He was, in some ways, the heir to Charles Urban's approach to making travelogues: they concentrated on the picturesque elements of a nation visited—architecture and landscape—and not, so much, the people. IMDB reproduces an unsourced quote from FitzPatrick which reads,
"How would I have gained admittance to those countries if I had commented on their social problems? [...] I made my pictures at a time when travel was almost impossible for the average person. I believe I showed people what they would have wanted to see if they could have gone themselves. [...] I don't recall anyone ever requesting a tour of slums and prisons."
--- end extracts ---
Ravi: Given the above extracts, one understands the inaccuracies and biased view of the voice-over. I mean, FitzPatrick was not an expert on the history and sociology of Bombay. The video is a visitor's view at a time when Bombay was a vital part of British ruled India, and so projects the biased British view of Bombay then.
Here's an interesting blog post on Fitzpatrick and his short films of India, http://www.shunya.net/Text/Blog/FitzPatrickIndia.htm.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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