During the colonial period, Goan migrants worked as pantry boys, dhobis, bakers, tailors, shoemakers, musicians, clerks, and other sundry jobs at Mazagaon. Some found employment in factories, hotels, offices, railways, and mills that dotted Mazagaon and Byculla. Many worked as sailors on ships that had to transit through the dockyards. Due to their itinerant lifestyle, they would leave their personal belongings at the kudd, locked away in trunks.
After decades of neglect, the building underwent a facelift, thanks to a collective effort by community members of Deussua. During the restoration, some material and structural changes were made to the century-old building. The original wooden flooring was replaced by marble flooring, and metal grilles were added to the windows. Even post-restoration, there is an overall sense of dilapidation and ageing, as evident from the peeled plaster on the walls of the veranda.
Accommodation at the club is cheap but basic. Guests are provided a single bed in the dormitory. Only members of the club are allowed to stay in dormitories. Those who are not members stay in the adjacent building as tenants. Unlike a hotel, there are no hard-and-fast rules for guests. However, every guest is expected to maintain decorum and discipline and not create nuisances for others.
The front veranda is divided by five semi-circular arches. Corinthian pillars support the brackets on the first-floor balcony. Over the years, the building has undergone many structural changes. For example, the second floor was added later and was originally not part of the building. The building on the right was also added later and has a staircase leading directly to the first and second floors. This new building has partly obstructed the front view of the façade of the older building.
The Star of David (a six-pointed star recognised as a symbol of Judaism) features in pairs of two on the parapet of the veranda. A flower motif is placed in the central part of the hexagram. The sets are separated by balusters. The presence of this Jewish symbol may be associated with the previous owners of the building, who could have been Baghdadi Jews, who had a sizable population living in Mazagaon in the 19th century but have since migrated to other countries.
The reception hall is used as a community space and for meeting outside visitors. Up until the early 2000s, the feast day of St. Anthony, which falls on June 13th each year, was celebrated in the club with dance balls in the hall and dinners. Nowadays, it is a much quieter place, occasionally used by visitors for watching TV.
Mr Rafique Baghdadi is a long-time resident of Mazagaon and an expert on the culture and heritage of his neighbourhood. He is a veteran film journalist by profession and often visits the kudd with fellow heritage enthusiasts to give them an introduction to the multicultural history of Mazagaon.
The chapel at the Club of St. Anthony is typical of those found in Goan homes, where a chapel is designated for use by family members. The chapel offers a shared space for prayer, reflection, and gathering during festivals. Spaces like these emphasize the importance of Goan identity, religious traditions, and the sense of community that defines the unique character of the clubs.
The fluted Corinthian pillars sport elaborate mouldings of stylized acanthus leaves and floral scrolls on their capitals. Camouflaged within the flora are figures of birds and beasts, some real and some imaginary. For example, the pillar capital in the foreground (on the right) has a hybrid creature with a human head and the body of a bird, similar to the sphinx from Greek mythology.
The Club of St. Anthony has trappings of a space from another era, caught in a time-wrap. A curious anachronistic detail is a bell pull hung from the ceiling of the reception hall. The bell is connected to a wire that can be pulled from outside to alert the manager if a visitor finds the gate locked from inside. There is no electric calling bell.