“Aimai’s Star”

This is regarding S. J. Irani’s recollection of the Star Bakery and its owner Aimai Ghamat ("Aimai’s Star,” Readers’ Forum, Par­siana, August 2003). Nobody who lived in the Dadar-Matunga area can forget the fresh bread, biscuits and pastries of the Star Bakery shop which was located close to Khodadad Circle. I can proudly say that I grew up from infancy on Star Bakery bread and white butter. Two large loaves of bread and a packet of fresh white butter would be left by their delivery man very early in the morning. We had a separate entrance at the backside of the two-storied building where we used to hang a wire mesh basket in which the delivery man would leave the items on a daily basis. Their delivery man would come pushing a metal box cart and would lock the doors of the cart while making deliveries lest someone take away the goods during the period he left the cart unattend­ed.

On special occasions my father and I would go directly to the Bakery shop and purchase khari biscuit, nan-khatai and wine cakes. The success of Star Bakery and the heavy demand for its products led to another enterprise, the Mahavir Bakery, being opened next to it. In addition to bakery products this bakery sold popular items like potato wafers, sev-gathia, chevda, patrail, etc. This resulted in pulling some customers away from the Star Bakery which later closed down. Many Parsi-owned businesses disappeared from the Khodadad Circle area because the next generation did not see themselves as shopkeepers.

ARDESHIR B. DAMANIA

Davis, California