Wajid Ali Mohammed Khan, the owner of Mohammed Khan Rotiwale, a sliver-thin shop on Guzar Street of Bohri Mohalla, is often not on his seat. These days, he spends a considerable part of his time away from the iconic establishment, looking for an alternate space across the road from where he can operate his 60-year-old roti-making business.
Over 1,000 rotis are sold each day — Mughlai, and the Special (the soft Kumachi sprinkled with sesame seeds) — to walk-in customers, caterers and restaurants from as far as Mulund and Dombivli to Pune, Dahod and Kolkata too. Why the move then? Khan struggles with the answer when a telephone call on his landline comes to the rescue. He hangs up in less than a minute, instructing his trusted roti-maker Mohammed Ismail to roast 35 Yahoodi rotis in the weather-beaten brick sigdi. By the time we pose the question again, Ismail is already done roasting four. Dodging the subject, Khan discusses his USP. "We don't use yeast, so the rotis remain unspoilt for as long as two weeks," he says, flipping open a notebook. Pointing to the address of a client from Akola, he discusses the 400-roti order for a family function that was delivered by passenger bus. The more celebrated story is about a supply of Malai and Butter rotis for thespian Dilip Kumar's engagement to Saira Banu.
Khan has little choice but to move. One of Mumbai's biggest cluster developments awaits Bhendi Bazaar's shop owners. Within a decade, skyscrapers — some as tall as 60 storeys — will tower over an area that is now packed with crammed low rises in a project undertaken by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), a charitable institution of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
Like Khan, his neighbour Ghulam Mustafa Surti of the famous Surti-12-Handi, is unhappy with the impending displacement. The shop that was the first to serve Mumbaikars the bara handi — a dish made by mixing different meats slow-cooking for hours in handis (bowls) set in a box-shaped oven — is joined to Mohammed Khan Rotiwale by the hip. Every order placed here is accompanied by a portion of Khan's rotis to mop up the luscious gravy with.
Which is why the promise of a rehabilitation package doesn't bring a gleam to Khan's eyes. "No compensation will be enough. Businesses on Mohammed Ali Road are interdependent," he says. Tourists, writers, businessmen and homemakers make their way to the special markets of Null Bazaar, Musafir Khana and Chor Bazaar to make purchases. While at it, they drop by for a meal at Khara Tank road's eateries. "It's they who pass the shop, and bring me business, packing rotis by the dozen. Redevelopment means the traditional markets will have to go."
Khan is right. One is not sure how feasible it will be to run a modest roti shop in a commercial arcade-like setup.
Khan hasn't been approached yet but he is not sure how much time he has left at his original den. "I've seen locals being shifted to MHADA buildings in Mazgaon. Staying put if the other establishments agree to move doesn't make sense either," he says, with a confused shrug.
Bhendi Bazaar's foodie gems have survived the Bombay to Mumbai transformation. But the race to become Shanghai might take a toll.
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