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The story of Mumbai Pav bhaji is as same as the Mumbai’s famous Vadapav.
The origin of the dish is traced back into the 1850’s, when textile mills were largely used.
170 years back when these mill workers used to have lunch breaks light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the workers had to return to strenuous physical labor.
A vendor outside one of the mills in Girangaon created this Pav bhaji using items or parts of other dishes available on the menu. 
Roti or rice was replaced with pav
(Thanks to the Portuguese) and the curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were amalgamated into just one spicy concoction, the ‘Bhaji’.

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What made me wonder about this story is that
initially, it remained the food of the mill-workers. It was considered as a low standard dish or worker’s dish and hotels refused to take this dish on their menucard for years. But with time the dish found its way into the restaurants and into the hearts of the people all around the world.