Mehta, who grew up in Delhi during the first 10 years of his life, has fond memories of visiting his maternal relatives in the eastern suburb of Mumbai. “My grandfather would take me on his scooter to the Mazgaon gardens, built on a hilltop, and from where I could see the ships, docks, half of Mazgaon, Wadibunder, Haj House in VT,” he shares. “To me that was the image of Bombay.”

Two years ago, a feeling of nostalgia took him back to the gardens, “and it reconfirmed that it is a true memory and not an imagined one”.

What started as a personal documentation – “I went with my camera to Mazgaon, and captured all the spaces (homes at Mathar Pakhadi, Hasnabad Dargah) I visited during my childhood” – eventually grew into a two-year-long archival project comprising videos, photographs, paintings, books and installations, which is part of his recent exhibition, on display until October 15.

Holy Cross Oratory

A World Heritage Site, the Holy Cross Oratory was built by the residents of Mathar Pakhadi in the late 1890s when the city was struck by plague. They offered prayers to St Roque – the patron saint of epidemics. Legend has it that not a single resident fell prey to that epidemic. Residents have been hosting a thanksgiving feast on May 1 to mark the day. “Even those who have migrated, fly down each year for the feast. It’s a big community gathering.”

Kwan Tai Shek (City’s only Chinese Temple)

The present caretaker’s great-grandfather, who built the temple, like many Chinese who came to the city, belonged to a family of rich landlords and merchants targeted by Mao Zedong. Until 1962, there were nearly 5,000 Chinese families in the city. “However, during the Indo-China war, most fled or were taken to concentration camps,” says Mehta.

Pine Building

Built in the early 1900s by a gentleman who won the Pine races, the building houses one of the few surviving Iranian restaurants in the city. “The architecture is significant of a Bombay we once knew,” says Mehta. “The residents are fighting for heritage status, but the builder nexus is not allowing it.”