Pritman Nakhva, the third generation of the family to grow up in this house, worked as a chef abroad. He returned home during the COVID-19 pandemic and now assists his brother in the shipbuilding business. Their combined income runs the household.
The family also cares for the neighbourhood cats, who roam freely around the household. They form intimate bonds with the neighbourhood residents and are considered members of the family.
Saraswati Nakhva’s father, Narsu Vithoba Nakhva, was involved in the fishing business, while her mother, Padmabai, also worked as a fisherwoman. Narsu was an astute businessman who made a fortune in the lucrative pearl industry. Using these profits, NV Nakhva built the family residence.
Saraswati Nakhva’s father’s fishing net once ensnared a wooden Ganesha from the sea. It depicts an eight-armed Natya Ganapati in a dancing posture, surrounded by smaller figures. The Nakhva house now proudly displays the cleaned and restored carving on its wall.
The drawing room is decorated with collectible items related to life at sea. Saraswati's brother, Om Prakash Nakhva, who worked as a marine engineer at the Colaba docks, acquired these items through customs office auctions.
In Koli tradition, the Tulsi plant holds great reverence and is situated in the courtyard of the home. Every evening, Meena Nakhva offers prayers at the Tulsi shrine, lighting incense sticks and a diya (oil lamp).
The kuladevata is the ancestral tutelary deity of the family kul (lineage), worshipped for the protection of family members. Khandoba is the kuladevata of the Nakhva family, with the main temple located in Jejuri, Pune district, Maharashtra.
Saraswati Narsu Nakhva, 85, resides in her ancestral home built by her father in Mazagaon Koliwada. She led an active life as a fisherwoman until retiring at 80 due to the severe impact of COVID-19 on her business.
Saraswati Nakhva remained unmarried and has spent her entire life at the family residence, which is a repository of her life’s memories. ‘I was born here, and I will die here. That is my wish,’ she says.