The Story behind Horniman Circle - Fort, Bombay

Bombay is known to be a melting pot of cultures the world over; right from the the British Raj till today. Life in the city was brought to life through the apt and efficient reporting of many a prominent newspaper including the Bombay Samachar and the Times of India. Freedom Fighters would often quote many a line from the Bombay Samachar, in particular, due to its unbiased views during the end times of the Raj.

But unlike the popular papers that have survived today here is a small peek into a paper that was not so lucky but none the less created a legacy worth remembering!

In April 1913, Congress leader Pherozeshah Mehta started The Bombay Chronicle, a newspaper which was an important Nationalist newspaper of its time, and an important chronicler of the political upheavals of a volatile pre-independent India. It was during this time that Benjamin Guy Horniman, an English journalist, who held the position of News Editor and Assistant Editor at the Calcutta Statesman in 1906, made a name for himself in India with his articles on the investigation of the Hindu-Muslim riots in Eastern Bengal, was invited by Mehta to start the Bombay Chronicle.

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After the massacre of innocents at the now infamous Jallianwalla Baugh in the Punjab in 1919 and the subsequent glorification of General Dyer by the then British Authorities, it was Benjamin Guy Horniman, a British National and the then editor of the Bombay Chronicle [1913 - 1919] who decided to vociferously pursue the truth much to the dislike of the British Government.

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They repatriated him under the Defense of India Act.  Undeterred, he returned to Bombay in 1926 to the hearty welcome of the Bombay public. Upon his return, he reentered the ranks of the Bombay Chronicle as its editor but resigned in March 1926. After Independence, as a mark of gratitude to his integrity and work for the Indian people that they renamed the then Elphinstone Circle located opposite the Town Hall to today's Horniman Circle.

The newspaper came to a close in 1959 A.D. 

​An advert during the Independence struggle featured in the Bombay Chronicle

The Bombay Duck - Secrets Untold!

Did you Know?

The Bombay Duck!

We have all heard of the famous dish of the Bombay City called the Bombay Duck; but seldom do people know that its not actually a duck but rather an eel. Locally called the Bombil it is also called the Lizard Fish 

The Bombay duck lives in the tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific. It has been traditionally caught in the waters off Maharashtra in the Lakshadweep Sea, where it is an important item of the yearly catch. This fish is also caught in the Bay of Bengal and in the South China Sea, although in smaller numbers.​​

​​​​​​​The origin of the term "Bombay duck" is uncertain. One popular etymology relates to railways. When the rail links started on the Indian subcontinent, people from eastern Bengal were made aware of the great availability of the locally prized fish on India's western coasts and began importing them by the railways. Since the smell of the dried fish was overpowering, its transportation was later consigned to the mail train; the Bombay Mail (or Bombay Daak) thus reeked of the fish smell and "You smell like the Bombay Daak" was a common term in use in the days of the British Raj. In Bombay, the local English speakers then called it so, but it was eventually corrupted into "Bombay duck".

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The fish is often dried and salted before it is consumed, as its meat does not have a distinctive taste of its own. After drying, the odour of the fish is extremely powerful, and it is usually transported in air-tight containers. The Bombay duck is a popular food item in certain areas of India. Fresh fish are usually fried and served as a starter. In Mumbai, Konkan, and the western coastal areas in India, this dish is popularly known as "Bombil fry".