The Locked Gardens of Mumbai

I am determined, in these entries, not to believe the popular myths about Mumbai or India unless I find evidence proving them true.
One profile of India says that it is a Land of Inflexible Rules laid down by invisible bureaucrats, seemingly incomprehensible diktats, whose rhyme and reason has long disappeared into history – but which nobody can be bothered to update or challenge. And so the Rules live on.

Take the case of public gardens.
In this hot crowded city, where green space is at a premium, cultivated gardens and parks are… amazingly… shut during the hottest hours of the day, just when they are most needed. No one seems to know why.


Mumbai is studded with gardens and small parks. Some are fairly sorry affairs, but some are really very inviting. The one on Bhulabhai Desai Road is a long cool stretch of green running alongside the sea line at Breach Candy; the ‘Residents Garden’ on Cuffe Parade has some luxurious plants and sleepy places to laze; the one by Charni Road has a delightful play area; the one at CST railway station has an extraordinary statue; BPT Gardens have an amazing collection of plants; Priyadarshini park (by the sea, again) by Malabar Hill has a jogging track; and so on and so on.

But in fact, all the gardens mentioned, and nine out of ten of Mumbai’s other numerous gardens that I’ve been able to check out, are closed for over four hours in the middle of the day. From 11am to 3.30pm, locks guard their precious trees and shrubs from visitors. Why? What on earth is it all about?
(And don’t talk to me about the lovely flowerbed gardens at the Prince of Wales Museum. They are shut – completely. Irritating little ribbons mark off the gardens from any visitor, who is only ever allowed to observe from a distance. Maddening.)

One honourable exception is the Horniman Circle Garden, which remains open through the lunch hour. And so it should. The office-weary heroes of this area, the financial district, are surely desperate for somewhere to shake the a/c out of their clothes, and just relax away from the computer.
And not just them. Tourists, footsore after trekking around the streets of Fort, take a break and eat some chaat here under the shade of the tall trees. In the heat of the day (and don’t forget… it’s hot all year round here), to have somewhere to stop and cool off is worth its weight in gold.
If The Horniman Garden authorities can allow it, why not others?

At first, I thought this closed-when-most-needed idea must be just a ploy by lazy park officials. At Priyadarshini Park, where parkies sat around in chairs chatting inside as I banged on the gate outside, I was ready for an argument. Even more so, when some lycra-clad lovelies could be seen in the distance on the joggers’ track. “And why are they here, and not the rest of us?” - “They are in an official club” was the smug answer. (Do you remember me saying there’s a usually a rule but it’s hard to know it? Also, the reasoning behind that rule escapes me).

So what’s it all about? No official has yet explained to me the reason. Theories from acquaintances spring up, and then die – for want of sustenance.
Could it be to stop pavement-dwellers sneaking in and building tarpaulin tents for themselves? (But then what’s to stop them doing that at 4pm?)
Perhaps many of the gardens are privately owned, and don’t want the public in? (But why then let the public in at all?)
Is it that the cost of paying for the places to be manned by guards at that time is too high? (Nope – one of the most infuriating things is to see the clumps of men in brown overalls lounging about inside doing very little).

It’s an exasperating mystery – and I would welcome any answers from those who know. It’s one thing that puzzles visitors immensely.

Perhaps a campaign could be started – Free the Mumbai Gardens!

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Links: Mumbai Municipal Parks & Gardens Department