Orlem

Orlem is a village located in Malad (West), Mumbai, India. The original name of Orlem in the local language of the state (Marathi) is Valnai.

History

Orlem was just one of the many East-Indian villages that existed in Malad. The primary industry was agriculture and those closer to the beach and the now named 'Mitchowki creek' would fish.

In the 19th century, the Orlem (also known as Valnai) was a hamlet of just about 12 families in Malad. In 1880, Fr. Joseph Maria Braz de Souza, of the Principal family of Valnai, built, at his own expense, a private chapel dedicated to our Lady of Lourdes at Orlem. He was a former chaplain of military forces at Satara from 1861 to 1886.

In 1882, Bishop Leo Meurin declared officially that this chapel, under the chaplainship of Fr. D'Souza was part of the Apostolate of Bombay and affiliated to the church of Our Lady of Assumption, Kandivli. In 1908, Fr. D'Souza was elevated to the dignity of CAMARIERE SEGREDO EXTRA URBEM to Pius X. He died in December 1912 and was buried in the sanctuary of the chapel that he built.

As per the wishes of Msgr. J.M.B. D'Souza, in his will, that a priest from his family should be his successor, Fr. Justin D'Souza was lent by the Bishop of Daman to the Archdiocese of Bombay and appointed Chaplain at Orlem. He carried on the good work of Msgr. D'Souza and his brother Fr. Elias who bequeathed all his properties to the church. Fr. Justin built the first school, the St Anne's High School, in 1915. Through his efforts, Orlem was constituted a separate parish, in a decree dated July 2, 1916.

Fr. Justin extended the church and was assisted in this effort by Mrs. Mary Magdalene D'Souza who financed the elevation for the choir. Fr. Justin also donated all his lands to the Archdiocese and, the Cardinal Gracias Colony later developed on the land that Fr. Justin had donated for the welfare of Orlem. The parish priests that helped to raise Orlem to its present stature include Fr. Herman Mendes, Fr. Celestine Fonseca, Fr. Walter D’Souza, Msgr. Staney Pereira, Fr. Peter C. Gomes and Fr. Frank Noronha, who ventured to start the construction of the new school building in 1959. In the year 1976, Fr. Octavian Dias worked hard to make possible a new extension to the school, a Parochial House and the new Church. The parishioners and friends extended their co-operation through generous donations. Raymond H. D'Lima, the Chairman, worked very hard on the project.

Since the Solemn Inauguration of the new Church on Sunday 6th June 1976, by the then Rt. Rev. Dr, Simon Pimenta, Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay, there has been huge rise in the Catholic population (highest in the whole world in terms of per parish.

Although Orlem now boasts of being a highly developed commercial as well as residential area, it still maintains its original ambiance. Its come a long way from being a simple village to one of the most attractive places in Bombay (Mumbai).

The borders of Orlem are not clearly defined nor is it considered to be a matter of debate or concern. Orlem is sometimes considered to be the umbrella of the other smaller villages of Karodi, Kanchpada , Rathodi etc. Today Karodi and Rathodi do not belong to the Orlem parish.

Orlem originally consisted of a primary population of Roman Catholics. The main ethnic group within the Catholic community were East Indians followed by Goans, Mangloreans and other regional communities.

Location

Orlem is situated at the northern part of Mumbai in the western suburb of Malad. It is within the innards of Malad and can only be reached by road. Orlem branches from the main road called Marve Road, which is the main route to Marve beach from the Swami Vivekanand Road. Orlem is accessible from the Malad Railway station through the bus routes 271, 272, 273 and 243.

Landmarks

The Our lady of Lourdes Church [1], established in 1916, is the kernel spot and landmark for Orlem. It is also known as the Orlem Church. According to a Church census conducted in 2004, it was the largest parish in the Archdiocese of Bombay. The Orlem parish is divided into eight zones.

Orlem Market (also known as D'souza Market) is also well known. The famous eatery Uncles Kitchen is also in Orlem.

Localities

The major localities in Orlem are:

• Tank Colony
• Joe Braz Colony (J.B.C.)
• Lourdes Colony
• Baudi
• Mithchowki
• Evershine Nagar

Orlem is the channel for many beaches such as Marve, Aksa, Madh Island, Erangle, and Dhana Pani.

Demographics

Orlem was traditionally inhabitated by the East Indians. According to a 2004 Church census, there were around 7,000 Tamil Catholics in the Orlem parish. With the huge boom of the call centre service industry in the 2000s, Orlem witnessed a large influx of young working class executives. The real estate value of Orlem has increased considerably in past few years.

Sport

Orlem has been the home to many national and international-level sportspersons. The game of field hockey was the game that originally put Orlem on the Sports Roadmap. Hockey players like Francis D'Mello Adrian D'Souza, Gavin Ferreira,Romeo Albuquerqe, Jude Menezes and Reuben D'Souza are some of the major hockey players originally from Orlem. Orlem also excels at other sports such as Athletics, Football, basketball and cricket to some extent. Basketball stars such as Veneel have played at the state level. Football stars such as Clinton "Bulldog" Martis too have got a big fan-following among all the small boys and girls. Notable sports persons groomed by this sport-crazy neighborhood are Shreenivas Gadewar, Linesh Pathak, Ravindra Mahamuni, Brijesh Tripathi, Naveen Fernandes, Nagraj Shetty and Valentino Pereira who excelled in Athletics.

Most of Orlem's champion Athletes started their careers as young as age 10, as part of Orlem Sports Council's talent grooming program. This proved to be a boon for the youngsters in the area who participated in the program and made sporting careers for themselves. The grounds of St. Annes High School,Orlem are well-known for the training facilities available and as many as 10 different sporting disciplines are conducted here. The school is also responsible for the growth and development of sports in the area, and many of the area's National and International level sportsmen have studied and graduated from here. The encouragement for sports by the school is evident from the fact that the school displays the names of the top-performing sports wards every year right there in the school main lobby for everyone to see!

Music

Orlem is home to several professional musicians and DJs. DJs such as the late Dj Reeves D`costa having played all over India. Dj Rally who also travels around the world with his vast expertise in mixing and remixing music has been quite a popular name in the field.Other Famous DJs are and Dj Craig and Heslyn and DJ John .The ever popular Youth Week Talent show has usually been full of talented contestants who are almost at tooth and nail with the strong competition. Amongst musical talents that Orlem has produced were the Acapella group 'Harmony'. Orlem has also contributed its talents to other Acapella/Entertainment groups like Conchorde. The Shadows and Rock bands like 'My Dead Valentine' 'Purple Fire', the Gospel Band 'By Grace' and small other ones like 'Endangered Symphony' are some of the other talents nutured by Orlem.

Business

Though Orlem has been more of a sailor's destination (which means that most of the houses belong to owners working abroad or sailing), there are also many business activities taking place by people who have been living here for more than 40 years. A prime example is the once-upon-a-time tiny shop called 20th Century Stores which is one of those establishments that have proven to be a familiar name among Orlemites. Another example would be that of the Orlem market (also known as D'souza market started by Wency D'souza) which had just a few shops and today, has an entire market standing in that very place. A number of restauratnts and eateries have also sprung up in Orlem. Now, close by we also have the InOrbit mall.

Education

The major schools in Orlem are St. Anne's High School and Junior College, Carmel Of St. Josephs School, St. Josephs School and the Ryan International school.

Links

Orlem's own social networking website
Orlem Church Site
Another Orlem Church site