Mumbai Musings

Charcha and more:

While the whole world, literally, is busy analysing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's one year in office — and we did too at Marine Drive with a formidable panel — politicians in Mumbai were busy recounting the pros and cons depending on which side of the government they were. The state Congress had organised a memorial sort of function to mock the promise of ache din. Kapil Sibal on a visit here spoke about unclear foreign policy and inflation. Ashok Chavan spoke about unending farmers' crisis. As if the criticism from the outside was not good enough, ironically, the state BJP did let out that all was not well between its ally Sena and the party. 

At the inauguration of national executive of BJP in Kolhapur, party president Amit Shah urged the party leaders and members to strengthen their base and said that their position has only improved. CM Devendra Fadnavis also reiterated that going solo in assembly elections was a good idea and that BJP had performed its best in the state. 

However, the one thing to be noted was this. One of the biggest rallies and public gathering of tribals happened at Azad Maidan last week. Organised by Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch and Communist Party of India (Marxists), thousands of tribals came together to fight for their rights, which they feel are increasingly threatened because of Land Acquisition Bill and changes in forest rules and non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act. Not that the BJP or the Congress were listening. 

Parachuting aliens?

A small report about a Jet Airways flight getting delayed because of an unknown object in the airspace has turned out to be quite a deal. Five unmanned parachutes were seen in the airspace on Saturday evening. There has been no police complaint as of now but the security agencies — central and state ’ are investigating this breach. The Air Traffic Controller was informed by the Jet Airways pilot and now newspaper reports say that the CISF, IAF, ATC and the Mumbai police are trying to identify how the parachutes reached the Mumbai Airspace without any official's knowledge. 

Minority report:

Acche Din remain elusive for the minorities in the state. Zeeshan Ali Khan, a fresh management graduate received a rather warm welcome into the real world. After sending his resume to Hari Krishna Exports Pvt Ltd a diamond exporting company, he received a reply within minutes saying the firm does not hire Muslims. Thanks to super-active social media and an alert friend circle the screen grab of the mail went viral and the company has had to explain its stand. A mock job fair was held to protest against the incident and the media has taken the company to task. However, activists say this is a prevalent practice at higher level of jobs and this incident has come to light because of the brazenness of mail. 

In a far more disturbing incident, a 23-year-old young Dalit man was killed in Ahmednagar district — which is fast becoming notorious for atrocities against Dalits — for having a song praising Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar as his mobile ringtone. The scuffle occurred outside a liquor shop and four men attacked Sagar Shejwal objecting to the ringtone. He and his friend were beaten up and later the accused dragged him on their bikes 8 km away and attacked him several times. Reports say he was stripped and bikes were run over him. The police have arrested the accused but allegations of cops making a delayed entry to the scene of crime are growing louder. 

From fire to ashes:

City's Chief Fire Officer Sunil Nesarikar succumbed to the 50% burn injuries, which he had sustained during a firefight two weeks ago. On May 9, in the city's congested Kalbadevi area fire broke out at the Gokul Niwas building. Unfortunately, two senior fire officers M.N Desai and S. Rane died on the same day. Sudhir Amin, Deputy Fire Officer, and Mr. Nesarikar were grievously injured. Sudhir Amin died last week. 

Debates about an ailing fire department, lacking adequate equipment and training, have resurfaced. However, with the loss of its top rank, the department will take much longer than imagined to find its feet, let alone improve. Also the fact that the building had several illegal alterations — a problem that plagues several thousand old dilapidated buildings in the city — has not gone unnoticed. It is another matter that Mumbai's new constructions and redevelopments — both alike — leave little room for fire engines to pass through and with illegal alterations to the buildings — fires, short circuits, collapses during monsoon — are all part of the cityscape. 

Bye bye bhai:

Salmanbhai, as he is popularly known, can now travel to Dubai for the 'Indo-Arab Bollywood Awards' show on May 29. After being convicted, sentenced for killing one while drunk driving and later bailed pending appeal against the conviction, Salman Khan had to surrender his passport to the police. He requires permission of the High Court to travel abroad every time. In less than a month after his conviction on May 6, Khan had to apply for this permission because of his "professional commitments." Since his behaviour while on bail has been satisfactory, Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi allowed the application and noted that he has to share his travel plans, address in Dubai and contact numbers with the investigating agency. Routine begins for the superstar. 

RIP Aruna:

Much has been written about Aruna Shanbaug's early life, 40 years of comatose state spent in a room at the KEM Hospital with the hospital staff as her family, the mercy killing plea filed by Pinki Virani and following euthanasia debate which resulted in the Apex Court making a case for passive euthanasia. Now that she is gone, to a more peaceful place hopefully, KEM nursing staff is trying to get back to normalcy. After her funeral on May 18, her room was kept vacant with her picture on the bed. The hospital now plans to open the room for patients and display a message about Aruna — to keep her memory alive and serve the needy patients too. The spunky, intelligent and caring Aruna would have approved. RIP.