Visiting the ever kind and child like Salik Ansari in Bhiwandi whose mum made us an extensive lunch of biryani , chicken curry , lollipops and fruit salad , we were in Bhiwandi having just arrived fro…

Visiting the ever kind and child like Salik Ansari in Bhiwandi whose mum made us an extensive lunch of biryani , chicken curry , lollipops and fruit salad , we were in Bhiwandi having just arrived from Mumbra where we ate a breakfast of #sanjan #kheema #muttonchops and #eggbhurji at the home of the artist who holds excellent humour Mukhtar Kazi . His father Abdul Rauf Kazi a kind man spoke of their long history in Mumbra in Naval pursuits . The Ansari and Momin Jamaat came from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar just after the First War of Independence in 1857 fleeing British persecution and the man made indigo famines . By 1940s Haji Samad Seth established the powerloom industry in Bhiwandi employing lakhs producing textile . The food at Salik’s home comes from the north but at Mukhtar ‘s home it’s was Muslim Kokni cuisine . The Kokni Muslims along with Surti Muslims , Nawayaths of Karnataka the Mapillas of Malabar and the Lebbes of Sri Lanka are the descendants of Yemeni Arab seafarers and traders who came married locals and settled in the ports and emporiums of Surat, Bhiwandi , Mumbra , Vasai Chaul , Bhatkal , Mangalore and Calicut . They speak Konkani and like the others follow the Shafi School of Islam . Mukhtar’s grandfather Ibrahim Sarang was a great naval seafarer and a pillar of Mumbra as well as one of the founders of Shiv Sena . Sarang or Captain was a title bestowed on him as a community leader . Both the cities are a beautiful mix of Ocean Cosmopolitanism and Industrial Modernism . #bhiwandi #mumbra #salikansari #mukhtarkazi #koknimuslim #konkanimuslim #koknimuslimcuisine @words_and_images @mukhtarkazi1 @prabhakar_kamble_1986 @bb_bhushanbhombale