IN a city where every evening, along Bandra Bandstand, accidents in back seats cause children, Moses chose to be reborn as cultural minister. When it came to the commandments, the holy Jew never went into details. Pramod Navalkar did, like when he slapped notices on the immoral Savage Garden audience-no touching, no kissing, no taking-off-the-shirt, no bad language. It was in the midst of this reformation that model Marc Robinson planted a peck on VJ Sophia Haque's platonic cheek.
It became an issue marking a series of events that once and for all changed the way the rest of the country perceived Mumbai. It's not true that the Sena government changed the city's way of life. It just made it a trifle more difficult. Add to this the fact that theatres screening Deepa Mehta's Fire were ransacked and one simply didn't know what was safe for public consumption in Mumbai. Events, companies and investments have been slowly moving out of the city because living and frolicking in Mumbai is becoming very difficult.
It's in this context that one looks up to the new Congress government for deliverance. Is there any cause for hope? "No," says noted lyricist Javed Akhtar. "I don't think the new government will be any different. I don't see any commitment in the people who are going to rule Mumbai. Just because the Sena is out of power, it doesn't mean the the liberal fabric of the city will be restored. If some goons are going to ransack a theatre, will this coalition government have the competence to stop that? One shouldn't forget that when the communal riots happened, the Sena was not the party in power." However, he adds, "I hope the new government pleasantly surprises me. Today, any surprise will naturally be only pleasant."
Playwright Vijay Tendulkar mirrors this pervading sense of doom. "There is nothing fresh about this government. Mumbai is going to the dogs and it will continue to do so. The rulers are simply not bothered because their roots are outside Mumbai. The rot set in 50 years ago. Successive governments only made things worse." He explains that the reason Mumbai's cultural image and lifestyle has taken a beating is not only because of excessive moral policing. There has been no sincere planning to make this an appealing city.
Housing costs are prohibitive. The number of people per compartment in a local train during peak hours is more than the permitted limit to transport 'big animals' in the same area. There are not enough roads and some of the Sena's giant flyovers are something even Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq would've had difficulty thinking up. If Mumbai's become less attractive for mega-events, it may have something to do with the entertainment tax, which is an incredible 48 per cent of the projected revenue. It's zero per cent in Bangalore and Chennai, 25 per cent in Delhi.
Amol Palekar feels it's too early to evaluate the new government but he does point out with disappointment: "Choosing between the bad and the worse is not a very comfortable feeling. I don't want to go ga-ga over this new government but I hope better sense prevails this time. I hope that some good is done."
Most people doubt if the Sena will stop attacking Mumbai's liberal spirit just because it's out of power.
Afternoon Despatch and Courier editor Behram Contractor is cautiously optimistic. "As far as mentality is concerned, the current rulers are the same. Chhagan Bhujbal was a Sena man. But yes, the Congress government may go a bit easy on what are called moral issues. Earlier, it was a one-man government. We were subjected to his views. Now I think there'll be some change."
While it's not clear if the era of 'cultural policing' is over, Parmeshwar Godrej too finds reason to be positive. She blames the present state of Mumbai on "misgovernance and lack of political will to give back to Mumbai what it has given to the whole country". But, adds she: "The mood is upbeat. There is a sense of hope. We're going to see a revival of Mumbai, in terms of entertainment and everything that contributes to the quality of life."
It's tempting to ask whether Mumbai's attraction to the rest of the country is inextricably linked to what it does on a Saturday evening. Shobha De disagrees. Mumbai's strength is the "spirit of its people. Sena or Congress, the spirit is not going to change". She says that whatever Sena had done to rehabilitate the 'debauched' city was a "reflection of popular mentality. So, it's not going to change overnight with the Congress".
In the final analysis, one should understand there are two kinds of Mumbaikars. The ones on the top and the ones down below. There's always fun up there, no matter who's in Mantralaya. Lower down, people have bigger things on their mind. Like the 6:23 Virar fast.
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