IMP Logo
Image001 1 low
My mother (center) Maya Shivdasani, with her parents, Dr Manghanmal Kripalani, an eminent physician and Sarsati Kripalani, Hyderabad Sind, 1939

Image and Narrative contributed by Usha Bhandarkar

My mother Maya Shivdasani is now 90 year old of age. She was born in Hyderabad Sind in 1919 and came to Bombay after her marriage in 1937. After her marriage in 1937 Maya moved to Bombay but would visit her parents in Hyderabad Sind (Now Pakistan) at least twice a year. This photograph was taken on one of her visits to Hyderabad where she was the epitome of style and sophistication: sleeveless sari blouse, short hair, long, painted fingernails. Her father Manghanmal Kripalani was an eminent physician.

She has lived in Cuffe Parade all these 73 years, read the Times of India every single day and visits the Cricket Club of India once a week. One of her favourite haunts is the Sea Lounge at the Taj Mahal Hotel. She was truly saddened to see it damaged in the Mumbai attacks of 2008. On the day the Sea Lounge reopened she was there sitting at a window table, sipping their wonderful Viennoise Coffee.

2 Responses

  1. Just my do-anna – may be you should keep all comments especially the personal ones. The photos are making these people come alive and every detail seems interesting. For a lot of blogs a well moderated (nothing offensive) but lively comments section is an asset. It would be nice to see people connecting across time and space through the pictures. Fantastic job by the way!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

STORY SUBJECTS

MORE STORIES

/ USAGE GUIDELINES

No image or text may be used or published elsewhere without prior permission. Any unauthorised use may lead to prompt legal action. Permission requests can be sent to hello@indianmemoryproject.com

• Image rights belong to the guardian(s) of the photograph.
• Text rights belong to Indian Memory Project unless stated otherwise.
• The project does not share any information about contributors without their explicit permission.

We hope you enjoy this archive as much as we enjoy building it.

/ CIRCLE OF PATRONS

A culture’s memory survives because a few understood that their stories were worth keeping.

Our Circle of Patrons are the people who carry that understanding forward — whose support allows us to seek out, document, and preserve personal histories that would otherwise disappear. Their generosity has helped build an archive that now reaches schools, institutions, researchers, and families across the Subcontinent and the world.

This is quiet, lasting work. And it has been made possible with people like them. If you’d like to become a patron of the project please write to us at hello@indianmemoryproject.com

SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE THE BEST STORIES AND NEWS FROM INDIAN MEMORY PROJECT

MENU

COMPANION WORKS