Vidyavihar

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Vidyavihar is a suburb of Mumbai. It has a railway station with the same name on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Central Railway line.

1 Introduction
2 Rajawadi
- 2.1 History of Rajawadi

[edit] Introduction

Vidyavihar (Hindi for Abode of Education) is named due to the Somaiya Vidyavihar Campus, one of the largest education campuses in Mumbai and a landmark. The railway station was established to facilitate travel for students of Somaiya Vidyavihar. Vidyavihar station is about 2K.M. from Kurla Terminus, and an easy transfer point (however, it does not have a connecting railway).

The Western side of the suburb has institutions such as Fatima High School, and a Gymkhana called Jolly Gymkhana. Vidyavihar Bus Depot located near the railway station provides feeder services as well as alternate travel routes to other suburbs of Mumbai.

[edit] Rajawadi

Rajawadi is located on the eastern side of Vidyavihar. Besides the Somaiya College its most famous landmark is the Rajawadi Municipal General Hospital. The green and well maintained Rajawadi Municipal Garden is close by.

[edit] History of Rajawadi

[edit] The early days

Rajawadi was a quiet and sleepy place in the 1920's and 30's. Havelis (Mansions) built by rich Gujarati families who moved from the Island City dotted the landscape. There were also the residential complexes built by the Bhatia philanthropists for the members of their community. The Big Stable (In common parlance referred to as 'Tabela ') which exists till today at the junction of the road leading from MG Road, an arterial road of the suburb, to Vidyavihar station, was a dominating landmark . In fact, it could be one of the first structures to come up at Rajawadi.

Rajawadi then was located between the Municipal Hydraulic Pipe Line (supplying water to the island city from the lakes) and the main road, the present MG Road. The land between the pipe line and the railway line was a huge forest with mangroves, banyan trees and dense vegetation. Old timers talk of the area being inhabited by wild animals. The southern portion of this forest was bordered by a creek and beyond it was marshy land .

[edit] The 1940s

There was major change in the geography and topography in the 1940's. The thick mangroves in between the pipeline and railway lines were cleared to make way for the construction of residential houses for Government servants who were displaced due to the partition. Thus was born the Rajawadi Government Housing Colony (now called Chittaranjan Nagar). From its inception, the colony was cosmopolitan in nature. It had Maharashtrian, Sindhi, Tamil, Manglorean, Gujarati, Malayalee & Punjabi families, to name a few.

[edit] The opening up of Rajawadi

The 50's and the early 60's saw further major changes in Rajawadi. The available open space was gradually taken up for development of buildings with flats ( then popularly known as the Block system) . They were mainly inhabited by Gujarati famililes who moved in from the Island city. In fact, Ghatkopar was to all appearances an extension of Bhuleshwar and Khetwadi, then the predominant Gujarati localities in the island city. The narrow main road, then called the Ghatkopar-Mahul Road, was broadened & two BEST routes were introduced. A new post office was allotted to Rajawadi (pin code Bombay 77). In a way, the process of opening up Rajawadi had commenced.

The Housing Board also constructed a colony beyond the southern end of the Government Housing colony which is now popularly known as D Colony. At this stage Rajawadi could be termed as a typical suburban middle class locality, maintaining a small town charm with folks familiar with each other.

[edit] Hospitals and Colleges

During this period, two major developments contributed towards the further growth of Rajawadi. The Rajawadi Municipal Maternity hospital was set up around the late 50's. It was patronised by residents from as far as Bhandup and Trombay. Gradually new departments were added to the hospital and by 1976 it became the biggest Municipal hospital in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai. Post-graduate medical students are allotted posts here. The Seth VC Gandhi & MA Vora Municipal General Hospital popularly known as Rajawadi Hospital, is attached to a morgue and covers the area between Kurla and Mulund.

The second major development was the setting up of Somaiya Vidyavihar in 1960. As mentioned earlier, Vidyavihar station came up for the benefit of students attending colleges in Somaiya Vidyavihar. What started as an Arts and Science college is now a major educational institution in the country offering courses in virtually every stream.

[edit] The expansion

The last major development which brought about a change in Rajawadi's demography and topography took place in the 1970's and continued till the mid 1980's. The drought which affected Maharashtra in the early 70's saw a major influx of migrants into Bombay. There was also the migration of populace in search of jobs from other parts of India. There was an acute need for shelter for the new entrants to the city. The pressure was so intense that small houses came up in most of the open plots in the suburbs of Bombay belonging to the Collectorate, Bombay Municipal Corporation and in certain cases to individuals & private institutions. Rajawadi was also affected by this development. Houses came up on the creek bordering Rajawadi on the southern side & the area was named Shastri Nagar. Similar dwellings came up along the Hydraulic Pipe Line and the canal (popularly called the nullah) leading up to the creek and these areas were named, amongst others, Bhim Nagar, Mohan Nagar and Laxman Nagar.

[edit] Rajawadi today

The later part of the 80's also saw the development of an upmarket residential complex adjacent to the Somaiya Campus, Neelkanth Valley. Comprising tall buildings with a swimming pool, garden and jogging track, it attracted upper middle class families. This new push was again mainly from the island city. Rajawadi now transformed to an affluent area with the setting up of myriad shops including jewellery shops (most are clustered near Rajawadi Naka on MG Road). Enterprising jewellers like Bharati Jewellers started the trend^{[citation needed]}. Others followed and Rajawadi got the tag ' The Zaveri Bazar of the suburbs', Zaveri Bazar being the jewellery district of Mumbai. Of late, leading jewellers in Mumbai like Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri andWaman Hari Pethe have set up shop here.

However, the academic atmosphere that pervades Rajawadi still persists. Near Shastri Nagar a residential complex for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) of India was set up in the 1980's. It predominantly houses engineers & senior professionals employed with ONGC.

Coming to Vidyavihar(West), one can come across history related to the one of the original inhabitants of the Island called Bombay.. The East Indian community Again into fishing, the East Indians who migrated from Bassein and the neighbouring villages to habitats outside the seven islands...Chimbai, Chuim, Vakola, Kalina, Versova, Orlem , Marol & Kirol..The last named village related to Vidyavihar...Just beyond the railway lines on the west.

[edit] Banks in Vidyavihar

The suburb also has presumably the largest number of banks in a single area this is due to the fact that most of the people there are business class gujarathis who have business in Masjid bandar and other business districts , they prefer to have their banking done near home since most of them leave for office post lunch at about 11 am. the oldest bank in the area is the dena bank and state bank. most of the banks have a branch in ghatkopar. no of ATMS in ghatkopar are also quite high.

[edit] Software developers breeding ground

In the late 90's there was a boom in software education in the area. Satyam Complex had at one point in time more than 6 institutes like NIIT , Aptech , Lakotia computer , CCIT , German institute, even a computer droom. There were many small-time software training classes as well. The shopping center satyam complex became famous as a hub for training and many coaching classes operate from there.

Vidyavihar
Next station south: Kurla	Mumbai suburban railway : Central Railway			Next station north: Ghatkopar
	Stop No:12	KM from starting:?	Platforms:2

These are the stations on Central line of Mumbai suburban railway

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