Dadar in Mumbai was once a smelly, boggy place that no one paid any attention to. But in the early 20th century, the ugly duckling transformed into a swan. At our landmark 200th Online Talk #DestinationDadar, writer and cultural columnist Shanta Gokhale, in an age when the city is rapidly submitting to vertical living, takes us back to a time when two and three-storeyed houses with independent self-contained flats gave birth to a new and suspiciously modern form of living. She traces the transition from the chawls of downtown Mumbai to the new residential colonies of the suburbs, of which Shivaji Park in Dadar was a prime example.

About the speaker

Shanta Gokhale is a bilingual writer, translator, theatre critic, playwright, film script writer and cultural columnist based in Mumbai. She has written three novels in Marathi, the first two of which have won the Maharashtra State award for the best novel of the year. She has also written books on theatre, and a memoir. Her last book was ‘Shivaji Park, Dadar 28: History, Places, People.’ She has won many awards for her work including the prestigious the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for overall contribution to the performing arts.