Thakkar Bappa Colony

Migrant God and now resident of Mumbai -
Goga Baba of Rajasthan/Marwar 

These figures make their appearance during Raksha bandhan in Mumbai.

Thakker Bappa Colony

Thakker Bappa Colony

Playgrounds of Mumbai: New Car. 

Thakker Bappa Colony

Slumgods of Mumbai:

In Thakker Bappa Colony, the shoe making hub in Chembur/Kurla, a new shrine was inaugurated. It is a place where Sant Ravidas is the face of their socio-economic and cultureal identity. This shrine however is dedicated to Shirdi's Sai Baba and Ramdev Peer Baba of Rajasthan. Many of the people in this ghetto is from Rajasthan. Also to be noted is the use of the Jai Bhim slogan. You rarely see a picture of Dr B R Ambedkar here. The people here seem shy to identify themselves with the larger Dalit identity icon.

SG Barve Marg

Not hooks. But scissors. Because this is Thakker Bappa Colony and here the waste to be recycled is mostly foam and other materials used to make shoes.

Thakkar Bappa Colony

Linguistic Map of Mumbai: Chappal Streets of Thakker Bappa Colony 



Imagine a network of streets filled with over a 100 chappal shops and you cannot wear the ones you have on your feet into any of the shops. This is Thakker Bappa Colony for you.

Thakker Bappa colony was originally a Refugee Camp for Kutchi speaking people from Sindh who came to Mumbai after 1947. They belonged to a caste group that made chappals. Over the years, the demography has changed and now most of the people are of Rajasthani origin, however the main trade of this colony remains unchanged. It is still chappals and shoes.


The shops that sell chappals and raw materials line the main street, the gallis are filled with workshops and homes. This is the home of "taste-makers" of shoe style in Mumbai.

Gangeshwar Mahadev temple with the colours of North Western India

The streets are also filled with chappals and shoes waiting to be shipped to different parts of Mumbai and India and wholesale buyers.

The political leaning is BJP with Poonam Mahajan smiling brightly at everyone and there are a handful  of establishments that have the traditional saints that cobblers use to mark their establishment in Mumbai like St. Rohidas.

Even the trash here is chappal waste. But them nothing goes waste in Mumbai.