Matthew Johnson, project designer of the High Line in New York, was a recent guest at the newly launched Spice Harbour, a tony hotel on Bazaar Road that was originally a warehouse storing spices. Matthew is part of the team credited with repurposing High Line, a leftover raised railway, into an urban park. Looking at the sensitive restoration and reappointment of the godown, in the run-down, history-rich neighbourhood, he is supposed to have said - Mattancherry is a wonder waiting to happen.
Visitors to the city, often charmed by the fading beauty of Bazaar Road, are quick to sense a huge touristy potential, but the area itself, rich and poor, in many ways, has been unable to leverage the boom in tourism or capitalise on the economics of the art Biennale. But things are changing.
Who would have ever thought of going for a bite of hummus wrap or for a swig of melon fizz by this backwater bastion of godowns, which was once deemed stinky and out of bounds? Who would have thought of jamming at a music café in a space which only a decade ago stacked rice sacks awaiting shipment? Who would have thought that an art gallery would be born out of a warehouse where screen printing and incense stick makers worked in partitioned halls with walls that are two feet thick? Of course these were not implausible scenarios but today are the reality at Bazaar Road.
A walk down the road itself is an exhilarating trip down shifting history and commonplace, day-to-day lives. From those hoary tales of the marauders and merchants who make most of its early history to its current metamorphosis, the road has nearly thousand double height godowns that line its three km stretch from Fort Kochi to Jew Town. The choppy waters beyond brought in the boats, the warehouses stocked the produce and workers and families lived in warrens in congested alleys and corners. Community living brought in spiritual centres; the 14th Century Cutchi Jamath Pally and the 1653 built Coonan Cross, a shrine of the St Thomas Christians remain till date a refuge of the faithful. The last 50 years have seen a slow attenuation in trade as the city opened up and Cochin lost favour to Ernakulam. Bazaar Road emptied out with only a lethargic market operating during the day. With nightfall came anti-social elements or their whiff and the area unfairly acquired a dark tag.
“It’s not an inviting place anymore,” says K.J. Sohan, former mayor of Kochi, adding that a holistic vision of redevelopment can change the area completely. “It can be a golden goose,” he says.
It may not have been be inviting to some but artist couple Sosa Joseph and Mohan Das saw the area as a great place for art, way back in 1990. They relocated to Bazaar Road from Thiruvanathapuram and found a studio space in a spices warehouse. “Where will you get such wall space and at such rents?” asks Sosa.
Dilip Narayan who opened Gallery OED in a godown space two years ago reiterates Sosa’s point. He was able to acquire 2,300 square feet space for a sum that would not fetch him even an attic space in the city. Besides the ambience of an old warehouse, right for art ventures would not be available in any modern construction.
Young as she may be Dhanya Johnson saw and sensed prospect the very time she returned from Mumbai to begin a music café, Springr. She quickly put together an art residency, a music studio, café and converted the hub into a swinging place for youngsters hosting Sunday brunch bazaars and evening jam sessions. Today Springr is a pad for young performers and a cool hangout.
Ismail Jani Sait’s family has been owners of many godowns in the area for generations. He speaks of 100 year- old leases and of no clarity on the lease and holdings of the godowns, which brings in the issue of sale and consequent redevelopment. Of the change that is coming, Ismail is hopeful. “It’s like a new thing that’s shaping up,” he says.
Mookken Devassy Ouseph and Sons is perhaps one of the few remaining businesses of yore in Bazaar Road. George Mookken who is renovating the over 4,000-odd square space of his warehouse sounds a note of warning on the dilapidated condition of most of the godowns in the area. He says, “The whole place is falling down. Many godowns have become dangerous and very few are being renovated.”
Mohan Pulimood, has been restoring some of the godowns and has turned one into a designer residence says, “The most important thing is to make the roof water proof. Most of the beams have decayed and the original high plinths have reached ground level. The biggest advantage is that the godowns have thick walls and double height so it is easy to make floors in between thus doubling the space.”
A challenge that Amie and Crist Inman faced when they began conservation of Spice Harbour was “bats” but on a serious side, Crist says, “what you see today is very much what was there before, but with reinforcements and finishing that give it new purpose—a restaurant—a perfect home.”
He hopes that their revamping a godown will be a stimulus and contribute to improving the neighbourhood.
Sosa beavering away in her studio is tickled by the high jinks on her otherwise forgotten road. She says in her artistic drawl, “I came here long ago. All are welcome to come here.”
