Mumbai Musings

New Mayor, Old habits

Now the city can boast of having its first woman Dalit mayor, Snehal Ambekar of the Shiv Sena. While the chair was reserved for an SC category woman (do you really see it happening otherwise?), Ambekar’s election as Mumbai’s Mayor has received thumbs up from an otherwise critical organisation. Praja Foundation, that releases a report card on corporators and MLAs based on their attendance, number of questions asked and perception of citizens, has ranked Ambekar no.1 in the rankings of 227 municipal councillors. Be that as it may, the mayor has been caught on the wrong foot about wanting a "laal batti" or a red beacon on her car. She was reported to have said that the mayor is to the city what the chief minister is to the state and that the position must get its due respect. Now only if the Mayor also had some powers to make actual difference to city’s civic amenities, let alone any democratic or socio-economic issues, the city would happily put beacons on every public servant's cars.

But here is what the perception survey from Praja, also released last week, says: Even during the May 2014 general elections, opinion polls across the country showed that the top issues concerning citizens are good roads, clean water, drainage, sanitation, parks, play grounds and so on. These services are ensured by the local self government institutions and not the central or the state governments. “If we need a Mumbai that works for Mumbaikars then we clearly need to be more vigilant and engaged with Mumbai’s 227 elected Municipal Councillors and ‘not’ just with Prithviraj Chavan or Narendra Modi,” Milind Mhaske, Project Director, Praja Foundation adds.

Time to Elect

Finally the dates have been announced. Maharashtra goes to polls on October 15 and the counting of votes is scheduled for October 19. Although politicians would like to avoid launching big rallies and programmes during the ongoing pitru paksha, politicians like Pankaja Munde are beginning to make the “right or not” noise. She has been busy saying she would love to see a woman chief minister (ahem ahem!) and then clarifying that she is not in the race for the post of the CM. Uddhav Thackeray, in the meanwhile, has yet again reiterated his ambition of becoming the CM. He has also said that the situation for Maharashtra polls is quite different from the Modi wave (there are many waves in the sea, he said) and Lok Sabha elections and that the BJP must take its allies seriously. As the Shiv Sena stuck to its demand for 150 seats, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar warned of “pressure from cadre to contest all 288 seats”. Thackeray retorted by convening a meeting to review poll preparations for all 288 seats. All of this took place in the background of an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna which said,  “The demand for more sex can lead to divorce… Allies in the coalition must dream of a victory. For this, all parties must give up the lust for more seats.”  The metaphor was carried forward with a senior BJP leader responding, “I would like to warn that impotency can also become a cause of divorce.”  While the central BJP wants to soft-pedal the issue and talks about deciding the chief minister after the elections, Uddhav has once again stated today that Shiv Sena is ready to go it alone in the polls if it does not get the seats it is asking for. Also echoing the same sentiment is RPI (A) chief Ramdas Athawle who has demanded a minimum of “double digit” seats, or else. 

Valley of Fear

More than 200 tourists from the state have been stuck in different parts of Kashmir, even as relief and rescue picks up at an agonisingly slow pace. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan announced an aid of Rs 10 crore for flood relief. State minister for relief and rehabilitation Suresh Dhas has been sent to the valley to coordinate the rescue and transit of tourists from the state, especially because the telephone lines were completely shut down and families were unable to reach out to their loved ones stranded in the flood waters that refused to recede. Everyday, batches of people are returning and the situation should be under control in the state. But it is going to be a very long time before any normalcy can return to the valley. Amidst fake pictures and jingoistic messages trying to whip up an unnecessary storm over Kashmiri struggle and the army, there are some genuine NGOs and individuals trying to put together medical help, relief kits and money for the rehabilitation. Here's to the need to spread those positive life-affirming messages of hope!

A Friend in Need

This case becomes curiouser and curiouser by the day. Apart from the fact it is from the high society (and hence the high level curiosity), socialite Sheetal Mafatlal's troubles about her case regarding the theft and replacement of art works may only get worse. Her friends, Arif Patel, Farukh Wadia and Yasmin MY, were accused of replacing the original artworks she had entrusted to them with fake ones. The original art works together were valued at over Rs 100 crore. However, the police recovered original artworks from a warehouse belonging to one of her companies and submitted a report in the court saying the three were not at fault and Sheetal’s complaint may have been filed with malicious intent. The trio addressed a press conference last week and told the media about how they felt cheated and how they suspect that Sheetal may have colluded with husband Atulya and planned to frame them. They are also said to be considering a defamation suit.

The Word of Mouth

When Rahul Dravid talks, you listen. And that’s what we did when he came to the city to deliver the sixth Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture. Apparently the only one to have carried a “written speech” in the past six years, Dravid spoke about “Cricket’s Great Oral Tradition” in a seemingly light but extremely insightful manner. Peppered with examples of how informal chats helped cricketers and mentioning the IPL dressing rooms as a great forum for such chats between experienced, international players and youngsters, he also spoke about how back in the day youngsters were keen on getting any information/advice (through stories) but now they seem to leave the venue after practice. What I personally loved was his recalling of how players not too far back in the past undertook long train journeys in second class compartment for matches.

Later, he took questions on everything including Saeed Ajmal’s bowling action, his favourite innings, whether girlfriends and wives should accompany and which form of the game will survive and how. He was emphatic in his defending of young players, often accused of having only a 20-20 temperament, and said they apparently want to learn and talk about only (and all about) Test Cricketing skills from him. Organised at the lovely CCI by Nandini and Rajdeep Sardesai, it was an evening of warmth and fun and happy memories of the legendary Dilip Sardesai. Not to mention the yummy Batata Vada that was part of the spread. Cyrus Broacha, after relishing his sev puri, didn’t miss out on asking a question on Ajmal’s bowling and made everyone laugh except Dravid who answered most sincerely. Such a pleasure and privilege to hear a Bangalore boy, known for his Bombay-style of batting, speak so openly about cricket and its values.