Malishwalas of Bombay

They appear usually at the brink of dusk and squeeze out the tensions and worries of the tired souls. They aren’t any Counselors or Angels but they are the Malishwalas of Bombay.You will usually find them seated on the banks of popular sea shores, whether its Chowpatty, Juhu beach and ofcourse Carter Road.Some of them will be walking around with a tray of oil boxes and chattais, and if they think you are a potential customer they will approach you and tell you about the various types of Malish that they can offer you. Obviously their main clientele is only men, however,women too have started taking some of their services, just like I got a foot massage from one of them at Carter road the other day.


The Malishwala connection

Malishwalas are people,who I had heard about all my life.Infact the Malishwalas of Chowpatty are also an integral part of my Birth story.

It was a dark winter night 21 Jan 1982 to be precise ,Pa was already tired and frustrated with the fact that I wasn’t coming out, He had made Ma,walk for more than an hour in the balcony of the hospital( I was to be born) facing the Queens Necklace,without any success. Having given up on getting any result that day, Pa walked down to the Ideal Corner restaurant, grabbed a beer and decided to unwind by getting his favourite Malish on the beach. As the masseur massaged his tired legs and head he starred at the stars and wondered in amazement how his first child would be.He wished it would be a girl,a girl who he could design exquisite dresses for, a girl who he could weave all his dreams into.Pa had always wanted his first child to be a daughter for some reason. At the end of that relaxing malish session,it was almost quarter past midnight and Pa thought it was a good idea to just drop by at the hospital before he went home just incase there was some development. Indeed Ma, had got her labour pains, and Pa was standing right next to her, the reluctant fool, I was I just wasn’t willing to come out, finally I did and when the doctor announced it was a girl, Pa just could not help but jump up in excitement,while my Nani (Mom`s Mother) who still subscribed to the old school thought in the 80`s, was quite grim with the addition of another granddaughter in her family.

Obviously, the Malishwalas had earned themselves a role in my birth story, but Pa, who himself was connoisseur of Champi Malish,ensured that I was introduced to the craft, as he would always Malish my head with oil.When I was younger I hated it, coz I hated putting oil in my hair, but when I was in college I liked it, it seemed so nice as it calmed my tired nerves, and then when I longed for it, my Malishwala, Pa was not there anymore and the magic of his champi fingers will remain only as beautiful memory in time


My Malishwala Encounter

One evening, after dinner me along with my friends were sitting at Carter road. My friends, who I suspect having some connection to the vampirish bahus of the sas bhi bahu soap operas who are always conspiring something against the other bahu, kept pestering me to get a malish done from one of the malishwalas walking across the promenade. With my tired feet, I was quite tempted, but part of me did not want to agree to the conspiring bahus and also a conservative part of me thought it wasn’t such a good idea to get your foot massaged in the middle of the road.

But finally my tired feet gave up, and we called one of the malishwalas. The foot massage was ok but what I really liked, is the vati malish, where they spread oil on the palm of your feet and rub the vati on it. It’s the most relaxing massage for 30 bucks. So next time you are on Carter road, and if you want to get your feet relaxed get the vati malish for 30 bucks. The Malishwala told me he was from Agra, and they usually sleep during the day and come here only in the evenings for their business.