A kaleidoscope of men, matters & moments that make the madness & magic of Mumbai
No tips, please
The job of a reporter throws unexpected life’s lessons, as through the course of their work reporters realise how stories lie everywhere, especially in the most unexpected encounters. Following is a story that has impacted this reporter in many meaningful ways.
This reporter boards a train to work from Goregaon everyday and seeing this 50-year-old sitting on the footover bridge at Goregaon station, has also become part of his routine. Dilip Jain is a tiny figure of a person, and is a spastic. Even though this condition has shrivelled his body, his self respect and honesty remain whole, and mountainous!
In what can be called a brief embarrassment, this reporter initially mistook Dilip Jain to be a beggar, and walking down the footover bridge, offered him money. But Dilip isn’t a beggar he sells insignificant items such as pens, combs, pass-holder, etc to earn money respectably. Dilip
innocently asked, “The items on display
cost between Rs 5 and and Rs 25. What will you buy?” The dialogue became more clouded with confusion as the reporter said he didn’t want to buy anything.
Recovering quickly, the reporter asked for a pen and pass-holder, costing Rs 25. He offered Dilip Rs 30 and began to walk away. Dilip urgently called out and said, “Take back your change atleast.” He then added, “I like to keep the sincerity in my work by taking only what I have earned. Plus, why do you want to pay more than the cost of that item? I don’t accept tips.”
Most vendors, auto-walas, taxi-drivers are bent upon over-charging customers, even if it is for a rupee or two. Dilip, on the other hand, might even desperately need the money, but wants to earn it. The above experience requires the justice of being told in the form of a long story. For lack of space it is a small narration only.
Missing native place!
Being relatively new to Mumbai, this reporter keeps discovering new and interesting facets of the city. One such realisation is about how keen everyone is to start up a conversation, be it a street-vendor, shop keeper, taxi driver, bus conductor or a co-passenger on the train. Besides, each of these people has their own set of topics to discuss. Street vendors and taxi-drivers are a very nostalgic lot and miss their native places terribly. This reporter has almost always de-boarded a cab knowing the entire background of the driver, where he is from, how much farmland he owns there, who tills the land, what
crops grows there, how they sell, and so on. The reporter also learns about the present hardships he faces and about how driving around town in a ‘bhade vali gaadi’ is the most non-lucrative business for a outsider in the city. As this reporter always boards the lady’s compartment of the train, conversations here range from children’s homework to dinner menus. This reporter thinks she has talked to more conversations with strangers in the past one year in Mumbai, than she has had throughout her growing up years.
On BMC vigil
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has tightened their action against street hawkers and it’s very difficult for a vendor to do a business on roads. Near the BMC headquarters there is a one cigarette vendor, who used to sell cigarettes and pan to advocates practising in Killa Court, corporators, BMC employees and some journos.
Nowadays, BMC’s squad from A ward is acting against all the vendors in the ward and frequently roams in the wards to take action against the hawkers. As the hawker sees the squad they ran away from the street to avoid the action. But it is not possible for one person to watch on the squad and also handle the customers. So the hawker appointed one of his friends to keep watch on the squad, as the squad moves on the streets the person informs the vendor in code language and the vendor vanish from the street before the squad arrives on the spot.
Contributed by Swapnil Rawal,
Eeshanpriya MS and
Pandurang Mhaske.
Compiled by Pandurang Mhaske.
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Bane To All, Boon To Some
Being jailed is a scary prospect – something that a person would run away from and try his best to not face in his life. No wonder then that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt comes out of Yerwada every chance he gets, and that his fellow actor Salman Khan, or rather his lawyer, has tried every trick in the book to keep the actor out of jail for several years.
While the above would apply to any average person, there are people for whom prison has a completely different meaning. This reporter recently met an officer who told her an interesting fact about India’s already overcrowded jails – that they are actually safe havens for homeless, petty criminals. These criminals purposely get in trouble with the law during the four months of monsoon, that is between June and September.
Many criminals do not have a roof over their heads and no source of income either. Things are especially difficult for them during monsoons when being homeless and hungry isn’t something anyone would want. And as such the population in jails rises three-fold during monsoons, where, overflowing with prisoners, they are practically bursting out of their seams. Not only does prison provide them with a home, but also food and some work.
How odd that something which is a bane to all, can be a boon to some.
– Sindhu J Mansukhani
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