A kaleidoscope of men, matters & moments that make the madness & magic of Mumbai
Modi-fied
With heavy security for Modi’s entry to the city, the police was on high alert at all corners especially in the Shivaji Park area. At one of the entry points to the Park, the area was cordoned off with pedestrians not being allowed to cross the road. The roads were devoid of any traffic – human, vehicular and even stray dogs. After waiting patiently for half an hour, people on
both sides started getting irritated.
An old man who wanted to go across the road to buy medicines, commented, “agar itni security ek ambulance paas hone ke liye karte toh kitni jaanein bachti.” Translated this means, “if the police cleared the way this efficiently for an ambulance, we’d have better chance to save more lives”
True words, I say.
Modi light
A journalist’s boring day can be turned around by one big story in a minute. This reporter had gone to the hospital to cover the Indrani story at around 9:45 at night which had taken the media by a storm.
After reaching the hospital, she saw all the reporters, cameraman and photographers from news channels and newspapers who were waiting for the official to come and give them the latest update.
This reporter joined the other reporters who were discussing about the story and were contemplating about different angles of the story. Amidst this, a lot of passersby seeing the crowd interrupted our conversation and asked,
“Why there is so much fuss over here? Is Narendra Modi coming?
To this question, we all were amazed and one of the reporters replied saying that, “That day is also not far when Modi comes in but not this time. So, for now, go and have a good sleep.”
Banning politicians
The ban on sale of beef has taken the city by storm. It has shaken the remotest corners of the country. Recently this correspondent was heading to Pune in a state transport bus. All the seats in the bus were occupied and the bus was just about to move. Everyone in the bus started indulging in an activity that would keep them entertained for the next four hours of the journey.
A man sitting right ahead of this correspondent started listening to a video out loud. The volume was high enough to grab attention. It spoke about emotions of animals and the problem in sacrificing them. Realizing it has something to do with the beef ban, this reporter started listening keenly. The video was by a popular Hindu spiritual leader who said, “Slaughtering an animal is bad but if a person is doing it in their house it should not be associated with any religion.”
The video went on for some time and soon the man received a call and was busy talking. It only left this correspondent wondering, if only the politicians of this country could pick something up. It would save so much of bloodshed and unnecessary trouble.
Tail Piece
Rahul Gandhi: “There is no peace in Gujarat. I have seen hundreds of people fighting with small laathis.”
Modi: “Oye, usko ‘DANDIYA’ kehte hai.”
Awaiting Navratri
Contributed by: Nivedita,
Manasi Tahalani, Iram Siddique
Compiled by Iram Siddique
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Rearview Mirror Swaraj in Dharavi
At a public meeting held on a Thursday afternoon in Dharavi where External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was going to address the residents of Dharavi, her speech regarding the development of Asia’s largest slum was hardly the topic of interest. Of all the public meetings that this reporter has attended during the
ongoing election, this was the first one that was held at a crossroad and not on a ground.
The stage was set at a turn of the road on a footpath and plastic chairs were arranged at another footpath exactly opposite to it. There were hardly 250 people present at the meeting, most of them being women. When Swaraj arrived, an hour late, at the spot, the very first reaction of the women was, “She looks so different on TV. I can
hardly recognise her.” Her arrival was announced by two men dressed as sentries from the Maratha empire, who sounded two bugles as she got out of her car and climbed up on the stage.
After Swaraj settled down on her seat at the stage, it was time for the women to settle down. Still mumbling about Swaraj’s appearance women struggled to make themselves comfortable in the crammed area and
some even propped up their legs on other chairs. By the time they were settled, the local leaders had finished speaking and Swaraj had come on to the dais to speak.
During her approximately seven-minute speech, the women listened to her only for the first four minutes, because during the last three minutes packaged water in plastic glasses was being distributed.
Forgetting Swaraj, the women started fighting and arguing about who got which or how many glasses of water. And as Swaraj got up to leave, the sentries sounded the bugles again, and all the women got up and rushed to have a closer look at her, because – “Sushma Swaraj looks very different in reality than on TV!”
(Sindhu Mansukhani)
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