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Once Upon A Hill Yet, notwithstanding these noticeable flaws, the book suffers from, it is a thoroughly researched source of information on the legendary and historical background of Gilbert Hill and by the way on Bombay’s geological past. It also makes a critical survey of the life around the hill, like the exorcism, practised by the village folk, the Gaodevi shrine on the hill top and the municipal goddess Gaodevi, controller of village’s destiny. The description of authorial conversation with the local inhabitants and geologists is quite informative of Gilbert Hill before and after it was quarried. Also, there are some stylistic merits - the crystallising visuals (photographs, maps) a quotation at the beginning of each chapter turning the contents lyrically effective, impressive similes and metaphors adding a poetic touch to the prose - to supplement this otherwise heavy text, aiming to awaken the readers to the ravaged Gilbert Hill and to the havoc wrought on the wonders of nature.
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Reading of this comprehensive survey of the geological wonder, Gilbert Hill, in the suburbs of Bombay, demands a lot of patience for a rambling description of rock formation, a long search for the meaning of ‘basalt,' use of too much jargon, baffling details about ‘the curious cartographer’ Carter’s findings on Bombay’s geology and excess of authorial experiences of researching the hill.