The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History

by Sanjeev Sanyal

Sassoon’s palatial house survives as Masina Hospital in the neighbourhood of Byculla. Readers familiar with Mumbai may wonder why one of the city’s richest residents built a house in such a crowded area but Byculla was in fact a fashionable suburb in the nineteenth century. The exterior of the main building is in good condition but the interiors have been haphazardly divided into cubicles for various medical activities. I did, however, find a grand wooden staircase that has survived largely unscathed and retains the feel of a merchant prince’s house. The David Sassoon Library, built in Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda area, is another elegant example of the period’s architecture. The Sassoon Docks in Colaba were built by David’s son Albert-Abdullah. It is now used to land Mumbai’s daily supply of fish. This is the reason that on a hot day, when the wind is blowing from the east, Mumbai’s expensive Cuffe Parade neighbourhood finds itself cloaked in a strong fishy odour.