A timeless sweet shop

A sweet shop which opened in the 1800s and still open and running?

Yes, a shop in Mahim, Mumbai - Joshi Budhakaka Mahim Halwawala, or simply known as Mahim Halwawala is over 200 years old and it continues to remain as famous for its sweets if not more. The business was founded by Jetha Joshi, who first migrated from Pushkar, Rajasthan, to Gujarat and then to put in his roots in Bombay.

The shop is so old that, sometime in the 1880s, it was allotted Bombay’s fourth telephone number, 04, after the emergency services of the police, ambulance, and fire-brigade.

Today the shop is run by Kiran Joshi, 60, who is the eighth-generation owner of the business. Even Jawaharlal Nehru had placed an order with this shop in1964 and he ordered for the famous Mahim Halwa and Sutarfeni (shredded, flaky rice flour roasted in ghee).

The best part – the shop continues to follow the same over 200 year old receipe for the halwa and that is probably what makes it so famous.

Wish we had a compilation of such ‘heritage’ shops in the city, which themselves have so much history. Old buildings are being torn down and the city is becoming characterless; it is such shops which will keep that history of the city alive.