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BandraRoad’s Secrets of the Streets: Colaba Causeway (Mumbai)!

BandraRoad’s Secrets of the Streets: Colaba Causeway (Mumbai)!

Marv D'Souza
Antiques on display at a street stall on Colaba Causeway.

Last week, Surelee and I decided to spend a day walking down memory lane or what’s commonly known as Colaba Causeway (A.K.A. Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg). Back in the day, like most South Mumbai college kids do, we spent hours shopping on this street for junk jewellery and making the most out of the cool deals on clothes and accessories on our student budgets. This time, we visited Colaba Causeway in our current avatars – a fashion model and a stylist, as well as creative directors of BandraRoad on MissMalini. We were on the hunt for street goodies and fashion bargains while giving you an insider’s look into the Secrets of the Streets: Colaba Causeway!

Colaba Causeway is located near Fort and the Gateway of India in South Mumbai. It’s close to the Churchgate train station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) or Victoria Terminus (as it was formerly called).

Map from Churchgate Train Station to Colaba Causeway
Map from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Colaba Causeway

Considering the old British and Victoria architecture, the abundance of budget and ritzy hotels, and of course, the iconic landmarks like Regal Cinema and the Gateway of India located near it, Colaba Causeway is a must visit for tourists.

Gateway of India (Pic: Wiki Commons)
Regal cinema, Mumbai (Pic: Wiki Commons)

Our Favourite Shops

The moment you reach Cafe Mondegar on Colaba Causeway, the street shopping journey begins. You’re going to find everything, like book stalls, antique shops, leather stores, jewellery vendors… and the list goes on. The stores and vendors open for business by 11 am and are on till 9.30 pm. Be sure to explore the by-lanes too, as they are also stocked with interesting stores.

Fact: The vendors are friendly if you’re nice to them. They want to make a sale, so be kind and bargain wisely.

Colaba Causeway is big on Indian shawls and scarves. You’ll find stores that have a good variety in traditional fabrics and handicraft.
And if you look closely, you’ll spot something interesting, like this metal purse!
Tribal earrings or traditional balis. They’re all here by the truckloads and at bargain rates!
Antique clocks, and souvenirs are sold at every third street stall.
Junk jewelry sold all across the Colaba Causeway stretch.
A vendor selling footwear in one of the by-lanes of Colaba Causeway.
One of the many funny tees we spotted on Colaba Causeway.
Of course, at regular intervals you’ll stumble upon funny posters like this!

Our Finds

My favourite store in Colaba Causeway is Cotton Colour, which is a little ahead of Cafe Leopold. I shopped there as a college lad and picked up tonnes of cool shirts, shorts and tees. I had to make a stop there on this trip. The last time I went there (6 years after I graduated) the owner recognised me from my college days! That was a cool moment.

Cotton Colour on Colaba Causeway stocks a truck load of wardrobe options for men and women at beautifully reasonable prices!
I bought this blue motor vehicle print shirt for ₹350 from Cotton Colour and styled it with my jeans, white tee, boots and a pair of Lennon frames from Hill Road.

On this trip, we made a discovery! Pax is a garment and accessory store with two outlets, for men and women respectively, located close to each to other. We spent 30 minutes in the store and browsed their unending collection of dresses, jacket and tops. The store owners were kind to let us goof around and take pictures to show you guys. So if you stop  by Pax, give them a big “Hello!” from us! They’re the store opposite the Titan watch showroom and their shop number is 11-A in Metro House.

We couldn’t stop browsing through Pax’s collection of trendy dresses. Look at this look we found for ₹450!
Cool slogan Tote for ₹250 at Pax
All I Need Is This Bag tote for ₹250 at Pax

And finally, I found it. A store that sold vintage sunglasses! It was a couple of stores down the street from Pax and had the coolest vintage glasses from the ’80s as well some contemporary styles. Surelee and I bought a pair for ourselves for ₹750 each – pretty cool for a piece of history, eh?!

Vintages shades on Colaba Causeway. Follow us on @BandraRoad on Twitter to know more.
Cool vintages shades on Colaba Causeway. Follow us on @BandraRoad on Twitter to know more.

If ₹750 seems steep for you, then you could always get a pair of sunglasses at bargain rates on the street. Colaba Causeway has a ton of them.

Cool shades for less on Colaba Causeway

Once we got done with our shopping, we stopped by Cafe Leopold to have a beer for old times’ sake! I mean, we had to.

The iconic Leopold Sqaure and Cafe Leopold on Colaba Causeway.

Before we bid goodbye (for now) to Colaba Causeway, Sue had a genius plan of getting a personalised gift for a friend. We found a key chain-maker who carved messages and icons out of wood and polished it with “gold”.

Get a personalized key chain made out of wood and polished with metallic gold. A thoughtful custom gift!

This was our first instalment of Secrets of the Streets: Colaba Causeway. I am sure that we will be back shopping again there very soon! Read all our BandraRoad’s Secrets Of The Streets series here, and be sure to send us picture from your shopping trips by hashtagging #BandraRoad on social media or emailing us on bandraroad@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for more secrets, tips and details on street life and style with us on BandraRoad. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or just #BandraRoad!