Behind the bustling Jumma Masjid Road in Shivajinagar, hidden amidst the bajillion tiny shops hawking anything from bags to shoes to buttons, there stands hidden, a 19,970 sq feet house; a historical structure that had once been the hub of cultural and political activities where Urdu poets would gather for special mushayara evenings, Congress party leaders and freedom fighters would gather to discuss their next political move and the British would park their horse-drawn carriages in the courtyard. Mohammad Ali House, built in 1934 by Yejman Mohammad Ali, one of the richest Bangaloreans of the British Era, was always bustling and was the centre of attraction.
Today, Yejman's house stands forgotten and dilapidated and is home to his descendants. His great grand children and their families, about 30 members, inhabit this 19,970 square feet house. The 28-room structure has been divided into three parts. The main entrance is on Veerapillai Street and the house extends all the way to the Jumma Masjid Road. On the Veerapillai street side is the Mohammad Ali Family Trust section that houses the 11-shed garage, the Mohammad Ali Hall and nine travellers’ rooms. On the Jumma Masjid Road side is the West wing of the house. It has been divided between Yejman’s children from his first and third wife.
It was not just a home for Yejman, it was his symbol of pride and philanthropic activities. The doors were thrown open to travellers, to the common public and to the British. Yejman, a British army contractor, was one of the most respected citizens. He rubbed shoulders with Sir KP Puttanna Chetty and Hajee Sir Ismail Sait. Today, he's a forgotten man and stands as a soiled life-size black and white photograph in the Mohammad Ali Hall; in the picture he's dressed in velvet robes and an Afghani turban, holding a teak walking stick -a contrast to the squalid surroundings of the present.
The entrance to this heritage home is a 5ft wide arched opening on Veerapillai Street. “My grandfather used to park his three cars – a Plymouth, a Dodge and a Buick in the gaadi qaana (car garage),” says 96-year-old Mohammed Azeemullah whose granny, Pacha Bi, was Yejman’s third wife. The gaadi qaana now houses cane shops and a non-vegetarian take-away counter. The broken-down garage’s wooden monkey tops are withering away.
The 11 sheds were rented out decades ago and none of the family members took the initiative to save the place. “Sibling rivalries led to the building being passed on to incapable hands,” says Noor Ahmed, great grandson of Yejman. Ahmed is the 5th generation grandson from Yejman’s first wife Amatur Bi. “Three years ago when we formed a committee to revive the trust, we realised the mistakes done by earlier guardians. One of the cane shop owners is paying Rs 20 as rent per month for a 10ftX20ft shed even to this day,” says Ahmed. But the committee managed to convince the other 10 shops to pay a higher rent of Rs. 3,500 from the Rs. 700 earlier.
The Mohammad Ali Hall
Adjacent to the gaadi qaana is a teak wood staircase. The smoothened wooden stairs look brittle and lead up to the once-upon-a-time grand Mohammad Ali Hall and nine travellers’ rooms.
If the walls of this hall could speak it would have tomes to tell for this was the hotspot of all political and cultural activities. “For the house warming, Yejman had invited the famous Syeda Akhtari Begum for a qawwali evening. Hajee Sir Ismail Sait who attended theceremony was appalled. He told Yejman, ‘Kya re masjid banakar, iss se gaana gawariya.‘ (You built a mosque like structure and are getting this woman to sing?)
After that all musical programmes were stopped. Only mushayara evenings were held,” says Azeemullah. From Congress meetings, poetry evenings, weddings to hosting dinners for the British, the 120ft X 25ft rectangular hall was the venue for important events. Furniture, rugs, chandeliers, clocks from England added to the plush interiors of the hall. “Yejman was a leather exporter… so each time he went to England to settle bills, he would bring back furniture and other items in exchange for currency, he was very keen on collecting such posh items,” says Azeemullah.
Years later, the rivalry between Yejman’s descendants led to the ruin of this regal hall. Nobody was interested in preserving the hall or the things in it. Today, only Yejman’s life size portrait, an old antique clock, three dusty chandeliers, two British era fans and damaged furniture are lying in the hall. However, every week Quran readings are held and the hall is given for functions to anyone who requests, free of cost. During Yejman’s time, the adjacent nine rooms would be let out for travellers from Bombay. Now six families, all descendants of Yejman, live in these rooms.
The Jumma Masjid Road wing
Noor Ahmed and Mohd Azeemullah’s families reside in the west wing of the house. This portion of the house is located on the 10ft wide Jumma Masjid Road. Two narrow entrances which look like alleys and are wide enough for only one person to enter at a time lead up to the doors. However, these two alleys have been rented out to bags and shoe sellers who hang their goods on the walls on either side of the narrow entryway. They pay the owners a rent of Rs.500 per day.
The first entrance leads to Ahmed’s 5,570 sq ft house and the second to Azeemullah’s eight-room property. Ahmed runs a watch store and Azeemullah used to sell milk for a living. Yejman's descendents are a far cry from his dynamic, modern and flamboyant self. “I studied at the Trust Madrasa up to the age of 15 and learnt only Arabic, Urdu and English,” says Azeemullah. “There were no degrees at that time and by the time I was old enough, the British had left India and I didn’t have the option of becoming an army contractor.”
So he chose to make a living by being a milkman and an occasional butcher. Now Azeemullah lives in the eight-room, 2,400 sq ft house with his grandson. The old man’s five siblings – one brother and four sisters, are no longer alive. His children and his brother and sisters’ kids live separately. Azeemullah continues to take care of his animals - two sheep, four lambs, two cows and 12 chickens . But he also earns Rs. 2,000 per day from the four shops that he has rented out.
Ahmed lives in his part of the house that comprises three halls and two rooms with his family of five children and his wife. “But this property does not belong to me or to my children alone… there are 76 other family members, my father’s siblings, Yejman’s great grand children who need to decide on the inheritance of this house,” he says. Both the houses are similarly structured. Vase-shaped wooden pillars, red-oxide tiled floor, the diamond-mesh balconies and teak wood staircases leading up to the homes. Even if they are not on talking terms, with each other, both the families hold Yejman in reverence.
The family is continuing with Yejman’s work of providing the house for people of the area through the family trust. But what pains the family is the ruined state of the building.
Lack of earnings (by some of the descendants) and sibling rivalries have led to the disgrace of the palatial house - a fate not envisaged by Yejman when he built the house in early last century.
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