Attire – A Basis To Judge Someone’s Character?
People’s major problem in a city like Mumbai is that they judge people by their attire and looks. The perfect example of the above was witnessed by this reporter when she was heading towards her office from CST station on Thursday evening. This reporter got into the bus from CST’s bus depot and immediately got a seat. Along with her, three other women got into the bus, of which two were middle-aged, office-going women and the third was a foreigner who looked to be in her late 20s.
With the commencement of the journey, the two women were laughing and passing comments about the foreigner’s attire. The foreigner had worn an off-shoulder denim dress, which was reached her knees. Looking at her choice of apparel, the two women were discussing about how such kind of women create a bad impact on their young children. In the meantime, the foreigner sensed that the two women were talking about her and she asked the reporter what the matter was. To which the reporter replied saying it is nothing important. But the foreigner insisted and asked the reporter, “Are the two women talking about me and my attire?” The reporter nodded her head, saying yes.
Soon, the foreigner asked the reporter, “Have I dressed in a wrong way?” The reporter replied politely saying, “There is nothing wrong in your clothes. In fact, it’s the other way round. People’s mentality and way of thinking is wrong. Here, people judge your character by your clothes and don’t think twice before giving you a tag. This is the harsh reality that every girl has to go through in a ‘metropolitan’ city like ‘Mumbai’.”
The all-wise, all-smart: Mumbai’s traffic cop
On Friday this reporter came across a man who was on his way to his office on his motorcycle. When the motorcyclist saw the police’s nakabandi at a junction and realised that his driving license has been damaged and was beyond recognition due to getting washed along with his clothes in the washing machine.
When the cops stopped him and asked about his license the motorcyclist told the fact and said that he is going to the RTO at Tardeo to get a duplicate copy of his license. The motorcyclist, assuming that the policeman would trust him and will let him go, tried to trick the cop into accepting the excuse. However, the cop turned out to be smarter than the motorcyclist. He said if the motorcyclist was going to the RTO, he might as well take the cop along as he too had some work there. And as such the cop requested the motorcyclist to drop him at the RTO at Tardeo.
The motorcyclist, being at a loss, had no choice but to go to the RTO, if only to drop the cop and keep up the pretence of wanting to get a duplicate of his licence.
Not bad enough
Corporators getting disqualified for various reasons is becoming a common occurrence in the city. But what is surprising is the political parties’ attitude towards the illegality. Congress corporator Dyanraj Nikam’s anticipatory bail got cancelled earlier this week and he was disqualified for submitting a forged caste certificate. And so, this diarist called the Congress leader in BMC Devendra Amberkar to discuss the matter. Amberkar maintained that it is the court which will take the necessary action against the ex-leader of opposition of his own party, but when this diarist asked him what action is the political party going to take against the defaulting corporator, his answer stunned her. Amberkar said that Nikam had neither molested nor raped anyone and therefore he did not think any internal action was necessary against him. But this diarist pressed him on, asking whether submitting a forged caste certificate was not serious enough? After which Amberkar mellowed down and said that he will discuss the matter with the Mumbai Congress chief who will take the final decision.
New generation’s bane (even for cops): mental stress
Last week while this reporter was waiting for the head of traffic police, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), B K Upadhyay, she and a constable from the joint commissioner’s office were chatting about their respective professions. This reporter who covers crime naturally wanted to know more about the constable’s work, and he in turn was interested in a reporter’s work – as he got to see many of them wanting to meet his boss regularly.
The constable then went on to tell this reporter how he would any day prefer physical stress over mental stress, and how different departments in the police made him come to the conclusion. He explained to this reporter how, when he had worked for the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad’s (ATS) headquarters in Byculla, the work was so stressful, that he used to get sleepless nights over his work. “The nature of the work is so sensitive, that even when I did get to sleep I was haunted by nightmares – that I had been careless at work, or left some file where I was not supposed to, or that I left some work incomplete,” he said.
He further said that he could only be thankful that he wasn’t with that particular department anymore, but in a more relaxed environment, where he might have to stand for hours together, but at least did not have the mental stress.
Allow me to go
As a reporter, one gets to experience a variety of incidents, one gets to be a part of someone’s happiness as well as agony. One such incident as the reporter recalls is a criminal trial going on at the Sessions court. It is here that the three months long trial had called for all types of witnesses to depose.
In a cross examination of a fossilised senior citizen, who had a weary and worn out look, the lawyer cross examining him bombarded him with questions. The shooting kept increasing every time the witness gave a reply in the affirmative. The old man managed to duck a question by being silent. The lawyer kept piercing the question to him by raising his voice.
The aged man with folded hands pleaded the advocate and then turned to the judge saying, “I don’t know anything. Please let me to go. I just have 16 days to retire.”
Tail-Piece
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it’s H to O.
Contributed by Manasi Tahalani, Pandurang Mhaske, Tanvi Deshpande, Sindhu J Mansukhani, Sonam Saigal
Compiled by Sindhu J Mansukhani
The Squatter Landlord
Money. Money. Money. So went the ABBA song. And trust Mumbaikars TO MAKE MONEY
, in ways that you would not imagine. For example, for a very long time squatters in addition to a handful of the original Kolis occupied a sizable tract of land at one end of the Free Press Journal Marg which is in Nariman Point, the heart of Mumbai’s business district. For decades, they enjoyed the government hospitality in terms of electric connections, water connection and so on. Last year, a builder decided to construct a multi-storey on the encroached plot. As compensation, he gave each squatter a small tenement next to the building. Each room now fetches Rs 35, 000 as rent and is worth over Rs 1.5 crore. And you would guess that the new room owners would be happy with this manna from heaven right? They are, but a few extra thousand rupees would also help.
So many of them promptly squatted on a small plot of land behind this building, which is surprise, surprise, government land. And meanwhile they have rented out their spanking new rooms. During the night, these millionaires sleep on the road openly and conduct their morning rituals at the Sulabh Sauchalaya built especially for them by the government.
