INDIA New England News
By Vishnu Makhijani
New Delhi– It was once home to some 130 textile mills employing 300,000 workers but then came the Great Bombay Textile Strike of 1982 over salary increases and wages that prolonged for 18 months and triggered the end of the once thriving industry. In the 1990s came the revival some say it was the hidden agenda behind the shutdown.
Today, Lalbaug in central Mumbai is the heart of a thriving commercial district of plush corporate offices, financial institutions, design studios, ritzy malls, fancy bars and high-end hotels. Into this gentrification, author Rucha Chitrodia weaves the story of a young girl’s coming of age that in many ways reflects the transformation of what could easily have deteriorated into the city’s underbelly.