Cool Colaba: from historical hub to hipster hang-out, Mumbai’s old British quarter has something for everyone
In Colaba the curious traveller will experience the perfect blend of past and present. Bohemian and corporate, filled with colonial charm, yet progressive and gentrified, it’s many contradictions make it well worth a visit
Vibrant Colaba on the southern tip of Mumbai hums with unbridled energy. On its streets, tourists and locals mix.
Old and new are seamlessly interwoven, from the brazen graffiti to the rustic cantilevered balcony of Rhythm House, a famous music store that shut down in 2016.
“Colaba is chichi and grungy, bohemian and corporate, highly cosmopolitan and super local,” says Mumbai local Leeza Mangaldas, a 28-year-old TV presenter and YouTuber.
Relics of the British East India Company – whose merchants profited from trade with India and ran large parts of the country until colonial officials took over – cast a regal shadow over recent modern additions.
Among the architectural gems in Colaba left from the 19th century are the Bombay High Court, Mumbai University, David Sassoon Library and the Regal Cinema. They and 90 other Victorian Gothic and art deco buildings have been inscribed on Unesco’s World Heritage list.
Old museums stand next to new art galleries; commercial banks and law firms thrive, as do the tourists who throng the Gateway of India and the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace hotel. “It’s hippie and yuppie, artsy and business-like, historic and hipster all at once,” says Mangaldas.