A small incident?

28

"Bade bade shehron mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hain," said Shah Rukh in DDLJ and endeared himself to the audiences. But yesterday, I was reminded of this dialogue when Maharashtra home minister R R Patil very shamelessly said, "Mumbai bahut bada shahar hai to aise ekadh hadse to hote hi rahenge. Voh 5000 logon ko maarne aaye the lekin us hisab se kam nuksaan hua hai." Really Mr. Patil, I wonder if you would have said that had your precious Mantralaya been the site of a hostage crisis. To say that the last four days have been an ordeal would be an understatement. I was posted at Nariman House throughout this time. And Mr. Patil believe me hearing grenades and bullet shots as close as 50 feet away is not a small thing. There were colleagues of mine who were out there at Taj....

Vada Pav politics

9

At the launch of the Shiv Sena's ethnic fast food chain, the Shiv Vada Pav, party spokesperson, Sanjay Raut said matter-of-factly, "I think this is the first of its kind sammelan where hundreds of us have gathered to celebrate a popular food item, that is the pride of Maharashtra." Agreed sir, I cannot even imagine a Jayalalitha or a Karunanidhi holding an Idli/Masala Dosa conference to bring together hundreds of their state's people and make a political statement based on identity. Maybe because in the South, language is the deciding factor for identity, whereas Mumbai has many symbols other than Marathi to prove your identity as a true blue Mumbaikar - the local train, the Gheun Taak attitude, the bun maska and irani chai. The humble vada pav however is one of the most common symbols. Vada pav stalls and Sena politics have probably the same relationship that coffee....

Houses of cards!

6

Atleast 19000 cessed buildings in Mumbai are just that. Every monsoon nearly a dozen buildings collapse in the island city and over the year around 100 buildings in the city partially or fully collapse. Every building leaves behind a story of mangled bodies, shattered families and government negligence. Syed House near Crawford market was no different. 6 lives were lost on the 12th of November as part of the building collapsed. And soon angry mobs gathered demanding why the BMC had never taken cognizance of their complaints about a new construction happening nearby which weakened Syed House's foundation. It's a story repeated across the island city especially in the areas like Dongri, Kalbadevi, Mohammed Ali Road, Bhendi Bazaar and other areas close by. Most of the buildings in these parts of town are more than 70 years old and built indiscriminately without any consideration to fire safety or any....