GOLDEN THIMBLE: Kishore and Prabhu Budhwani's shop is a veritable showcase of Indian fabrics.

The bazaars of Mumbai have been like a sponge for the swelling population spilling in from the villages and smaller towns. People who came to the city, eased their transition by ekeing out a living by setting up thelas or stalls on the street. And leading down D N Road colonnades, past Victoria Terminus (or Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus) to the North gate of the Fort -- Bohra Bunder -- exists one such bazaar, an almost unchanged replica of a market which existed in Karachi till 1947. Now a part of the testy and strangely assimilated Mohammad Ali Road, the Mohatta Cloth Market came to Mumbai in 1952.

The Mohattas were an extremely successful business family which gave up its property in Pakistan after the partition and exchanged its 100-room palace with Jinnah's Napeansea Road house - this being a private transaction. In Karachi they also owned a building which housed a world-famous cloth market, named after the owners. Most of the shopkeepers there were Sindhis, who moved to James Siding, now called Ulhasnagar, in 1947. Around 1950, this group of shopkeepers approached Seth Rantanji Mohatta, who by now had given up his historical home to the government in exchange of property in various places. They requested him to start another market along the same lines, convinced that the old reputation would help establish the bazaar in a new country.

And in 1952, the two-storey Mohatta Building was constructed. In Karachi, the bazaar was the favourite shopping place for Muslim women catering to their penchant for shiny zari-rich fabrics. So, the Indian-version too was placed bang in the heartland of the Bohra community. Says Kishore Budhwani, who runs a very popular dupatta and material shop with his cousin Prabhu, "Even now, more than 80 per cent of our clientele is Muslim." Their shop, Rewachand Shamdas, was started by their fathers. And the sense of tradition is as overpowering as the incense that wafts across the market at the beginning of a new day. At 10.30 am, most shops have just opened their shutters and owners are busy with the morning's pooja.

Over the years, Mohatta market has also seen change. Today, it is a five storey-building with each floor catering to a specific clientele. On the ground floor there are around 75 retail and wholesale shops. The first floor has the export-shops who cater to the Nigerians, Arabs and Mauritians. The third and the fourth floors are mostly government offices and the fifth has some shops dealing in readymades. "Nigerians come here buy dupattas in lakhs," says a shop owner on the first floor. In fact the market is now supported by the tourists from Muslim countries where it has a better reputation than it has in the city. Rues Kishore, "Now we have to tell the cabwallahs Manish Market, (the poor man's Heera Panna) which is next door. Most people are forgetting that Mohatta market exists. The market is still very popular with the local Muslims. And some shops retain boards that declare `Famous in Bohra community'. They specialise in the tikli or sequins work that this sect favours.

But regulars complain that the standard has deteriorated. Shop owners protest that they deliver what sells most. For a fact the quality of materials you get there -- from Banglorean silk, chamois satin and the patola work of Banaras -- is just as good as the up-market outlets. And the difference in price is around Rs 60 to Rs 80 per meter enough to keep the faithfuls coming back. Good silk costs around Rs 140 per meter, crinkled tissue Rs 120 per meter. Dupattas vary from Rs 40 to Rs 120.

You also get Banarasi and Kanchivaram saris in this market. The range varies from Rs 700 to Rs 6,000. Quite a few shops have also diversified into readymades. Says Ramesh Chauhan, who has three shops in the building and exports heavily-worked Punjabi suits, "It was called the Mohatta Cloth Market, but when readymades came into fashion in the '80s we had to diversify." The '80s are also remembered as the golden period. Says Kishore, "That was the time of the Arabs. But after the riots, business went down by 60 per cent and it never really picked up again." Another reason for declining clientele is the encroachment on pavements which block the market's entrance completely. In fact, the 12 shops which face outwards are doing really badly as customers simply overlook them. The Mohattas say that they can't so anything without BMC's help. And though the building is in fairly good shape, most of the shopkeepers are pessimistic about the future.

"I don't see my children sitting in this heat for 12 hours a day. It is a tough life," says Kishore.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.