Dear Listers, No one knows for certain how the place name Bhaykhala came into being, though it is certain that Byculla is its colonial corruption. The area is called BhaykhaLa in Marathi, with 'L' pronounced in a way that just has no approximation in English. The word clearly has two parts - Bhay and KhaLa. KhaLa means a low lying flat piece of ground. Bhay has always perplexed me, till I came upon the following at http://strayingaround.blogspot.com/2006/09/mumbai-names-3.html <Byculla: This name is supposed to be of early Hindu origin. This area used to have a lot of 'bhaya'-'cassia fistula' shrubs and this word was combined with 'khala' or level ground. Byculla is a very important train station on the Central Railway between Chinchpokli and Sandhurst Road.> This makes some sense to me. 'Cassia fistula' is Bahava or Indian Laburnum, a tree which flowers very profusely at the beginning of the hot season. At that time the whole tree is covered by bright yellow Bahava flowers. A profusion of Bahava trees in that locality might have given the name Bhaykhala to the place, from which arose Byculla, the Byculla Club, and of course the Byculla Souffle, with which this whole interesting discussion began! Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, August 04, 2008.