![mid-day editorial: Hold the doubts and pay respect where it's due]()
As millions here watched Mother Teresa become Saint Teresa in an moving and memorable ceremony at the Vatican, her detractors too seemed to have gained traction, especially on social media.
Since the past few days, as the canonisation drew near, her critics were belting out opinions thick and fast. From pieces about her so-called questionable methods of treating the sick to the age-old accusation that she only treated the poor because she could convert them, allegations were flying thick and fast. The hashtag fraudteresa was trending on Twitter.
When such a world event takes place there are bound to be detractors and differences of opinion. In fact, debate is healthy and essential. It presents different perspectives. And, when an event of such mammoth proportions takes place, it is also inevitable that social media will weigh in, given its place in the world we live in.
Yet, having said all that, we think this was a time to look at the bigger picture. Sweeping criticism and trenchant proclamations, many or almost all from people who have very little idea about St Teresa’s life and work, were unwarranted. To simply join the critics bandwagon because it is fashionable to do so was unfair and infantile.
Yesterday was a day of introspection and pride too. A day to celebrate and venerate, instead of being so quick to denigrate.
Smears will always be there, questions and doubts remain, but just for a day, we could have put it all aside and given the glorious moment the respect it deserved.
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Boyfriend of 19-year-old, who refused the sexual advances of the friend and was hence hacked to death has also been arrested by the Virar Police. Police sources have however not disclosed the exact role of his involvement in the girl's murder.
Superintendent of Police Palghar District Sharda Rawut confirmed the arrest of Sohail Shaikh, boyfriend of the deceased, Aishwarya Rajkumar Agarwal, who was brutally murdered by Deepak Wagri, who confessed to murdering her after she refused sex. Although adding that the police are making their investigations into the matter, she wouldn't speak on the extent on Sohail's involvement in the murder.*A group of residents participated in a peaceful candlelight march in front of the Virar Police Station in light of Aishwarya's murder*
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A 14-year-old boy committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in Kalyan on Thursday afternoon. The boy explained in his suicide note that he felt guilty after his teacher beat him up for copying.
The Khadakpada police have registered a case of accidental death but the boy's mother claims the teacher should be booked for it.
Sarchak Pohekar 14, a Std IX student from Patil Vidyalay in Kalyan West resided with his brother Smit 11, and mother Vrushali, who worked as a nurse in a private hospital. His father stayed outdoors most of the time.
On Wednesday, August 31, Sarchak was caught copying during the school exams after which his teacher beat him up. After returning home he committed suicide the following day.
Vrushali, the mother claims that on Wednesday he told her that he will never go to school again as he was beaten up by the teacher. "On Thursday Smit my younger son left for school, but he didn't. I thought it wasn't unusual and let him take a leave and left for work. In the evening when I returned I found him hanging," added the mother crying.
The school friends of the deceased told the mother that Suryanshi Guruji had beaten him up badly. "My son was shy and after he was beaten he felt guilty and took the extreme step. The professor should be booked for the same as he had beaten and defamed him badly," added the mother.
Gulab Gore, Senior Police Inspector, Khadakpada police station said, "We have registered a case of accidental death as the boy committed suicide by hanging himself. A suicide note was also found from the spot."
*The suicide note transcribed in English from its original Marathi...*
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/04sunshine-story-s.jpg*The zilla parishad school in Gadchiroli’s Mauja Dholdongari village has only two rooms, and runs classes for students between Std 1 to 5 through the day*
In 2004, when Dudhakuwar, a BA Marathi graduate, first arrived at the tiny tribal hamlet of Mauja Dholdongari, situated in Kurkheda taluka, 75 km north of Gadchiroli district, the plan was that he would stay in the village for not more than two weeks. Dudhakuwar was appointed as the headmaster of the village’s first zilla parishad school, on a temporary basis for 15 days. However, the miraculous changes he brought within the school and the 160-member village, within the next few days, convinced the education department that he was the right man for the job.
*A school rebuilt, brick by brick*
The village’s first zilla parishad school was established on January 1, 1995, with DD Sahare as the school’s first teacher. However, when Dudhakuwar joined, he realised that there was no proper building to run the establishment. All classes were being conducted at the house of the village head, Sanau Hilako, who passed away recently at the age of 80.*Dhanraj Dudhakuwar*
Dudhakuwar recalls that initially, the villagers were suspicious of every outsider who visited them. “They warned me to stay away from their hamlet and also tried to scare me, saying that the Maoists were regular visitors to their village. Had it not been for the support of Hilako, it would have been very difficult to convince them to send their children to school,” says Dudhakuwar. He paid Hilako Rs 25 for renting his home.
Another barrier was language. The villagers only spoke in their mother tongue, Gondi, which made it difficult for him to communicate with students when conducting classes.
Dudhakuwar then sought the help of Hilako’s eldest son Raisu, who had just cleared his Std 10, to overcome this deadlock.
He used to teach the class in Marathi, while Raisu would translate the session in Gondi to the students. Dudhakuwar paid Raisu Rs 1,000 from his own salary, for his efforts.
Together, they successfully managed to get past the first academic year. In the process, the students also picked up Marathi.
Dudhakuwar would also meet the parents regularly to try and convince them to send their kids to school.
“The parents wanted me to teach the kids only for an hour, as they wanted their boys to help them in farming and the girls to do domestic work. But, gradually, after some counselling, this mindset began to change,” said Dudhakuwar, who originally hails from Chope village, which is also situated in the Gadchiroli district. A year later, after several follow-ups with the gram panchayat, he was able to rustle up R3.5 lakh to build a two-room school. Soon after work on the school building was completed, the village got permission to construct an unpaved road to make commuting easier for students.
*In the throes of change*
Today, the literacy rate, which was once very low, has improved drastically. Dudhakuwar has been working round-the-clock to ensure that children from the village attend school. Currently, 19 children (10 boys and nine girls) attend school daily.
“Despite being located in the sensitive Maoist-affected area, the tribal hamlet of Dholdongri has seen a positive change because of Dudhakuwar. The tribals have even started communicating in Marathi with outsiders, which was not the case before,” said NGO-worker Chandikar.
Two months ago, the hamlet also got its first electric poles installed. While the area now has power connection, Dudhakuwar’s school is still devoid of electricity. Once the school gets power supply, Dudhakuwar intends to begin special evening classes for students appearing for their board exams. The school only holds classes till the primary section, but Dudhakuwar hopes to extend it to higher secondary section.
Ramla Harsingh Hilko (19), a former student of Dudhakuwar, is the most qualified female student in the village. She is now pursuing Vocational Commerce from a college at Malevada, which is 12 km from her village. “She is a bright student and her dream is to appear for the civil services examination. She even helps other children with their studies at the village school,” says Dudhakuwar.
Speaking to mid-day, ASR Naik, collector, Gadchiroli, said, “We will provide the required grants for installation of lights and fans, within the classroom soon. I will also speak to the education department heads within Gadchiroli and ensure that Dudhakuwar gets permission to hold classes till Std 12.”*Trailblazer*
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A 40-year-old Tardeo resident Rumy Zarir was, on August 31, dragged several yards by a moving taxi, following an argument he had with Chandrashekar Giri, the driver. Just moments before this incident, Zarir, who was in the Bhatia Hospital area in Tardeo, saw the driver refusing a couple who wanted to go to Prarthana Samaj. Zarir told him that he isn’t allowed to refuse fares, however, the driver was adamant.
Then, two women, both senior citizens were turned down by him. Zarir forced the driver to let them into the cab, who resorted to verbal abuse. Zarir called the police control room and narrated the entire incident to a lady officer. She told Zarir that they’d be sending the cops to the spot. Realising that cops are on their way, the driver tried to escape. He continued to speed up but when he realised that Zarir wouldn’t give in, he slowed down. Seeing an opportunity, Zarir turned off the ignition.
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Fresh trouble could be brewing for former irrigation minister Sunil Tatkare. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Thane, has registered an FIR against five retired officers and an official of the Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC) as well as contractor Nisar Fateh Mohammed Khatri, partner of FA Enterprises, over alleged irregularities in the tendering of the Kondhane dam in Konkan region.
“Our investigations are on and we are registering FIRs,” said an ACB official. The ACB had earlier registered two FIRs — over Balganga dam in Konkan and Gosirkhurd project in Vidarbha — on the irrigation scam. Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and Tatkare’s names had cropped up in the investigation for allegedly abetting the fraud.
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Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray continued to put the ruling partner BJP in a fix. He demanded that a special session of the state legislature be held to review the Prevention of Atrocities against SC and the ST Act, which is being opposed by the Maratha community.
Thackeray did not miss an opportunity to indicate that the law and order in the state wasn’t being handled properly by the BJP.
“People need a full-time home minister. The CM keeps occupied with several things. If he does not get enough time to look after law and order issues despite being a capable leader, we should have another able person to handle the responsibility,” he said.
Thackeray was talking to the media after a former Congress official was inducted in the Sena on Saturday. “Sharad Pawar says the Atrocities Act is being misused. But his party had been in power for so many years. Does that mean the NCP and Congress misused the act?” he stated, citing that he too was in favour of reviewing the law.
He said the Maratha community took out huge yet silent protest marches in the state. “The government must resolve the issue before the silent marches explode in violent protests,” he added.
Pawar, a Maratha strongman, tried to side with his community last week, but drew flak for changing statements on revising the law. “Pawar must take a clear stand,” Thackeray asserted.
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Having a song under a label as heavyweight as Universal Music India makes all the difference at the moment and it has taken them seven arduous years to get here. The track, Samne Yeh Kaun Aaya, is the first one to have been brought out by The Dharavi Project which is the CSR brainchild of Universal Music India and Qyuki.
Akash Dhangar, The Slumgods founder member, says, “It’s a remix track for which we collaborated with DJ Suketu and Thomson Andrews. Working with them was a great experience and the song has been getting some good feedback too.” Besides the band members, the music video features Brazilian actress and model Bruna Abdullah.
“It was the first time we were working with a model, but it was nice. There was no awkwardness, we did our job and she did hers,” Akash adds.
*Big B’s broomance**Pic/Datta Kumbhar*
Actor Amitabh Bachchan sweeps the street near JJ Hospital at the Maha Clean Marathon on Saturday.
*Married to the Mahatma*
Writer Neelima Dalmia Adhar describes herself as a passionate “people-watcher”, who is drawn to writing on human behaviour. No surprises why her new novel The Secret Diary of Kasturba (Tranquebar, Westland books), tells the story of the life of Kasturba Gandhi — the wife of the Mahatma.*Neelima Dalmia Adhar*
Though fiction, Adhar relays Kasturba’s story through the pages of an imaginary diary. From what we hear, it is has a lot of titillating details about what it could have been like to be married to MK Gandhi. Adhar has plans to introduce this fictional retelling to the world before India.
The book will be unveiled at the third annual Indo-American Arts Council Literary Festival at the Kimmel Centre in NYC next month. The festival will see Adhar discuss the inspiration for her new novel. Scandalous or not, India would like to here these stories, too.
*AB de Villiers and that dangerous prank*
What do cricketers do when they return to their hotel rooms after a hard day’s play? Some catch up on sleep, order room service and probably go back to bed. Others like South African great AB de Villiers, play pranks on teammates.*AB de Villiers*
AB mentions in his to-be-launched autobiography that one night in Kanpur, on SA’s 2008 tour of India, he climbed out of his third floor window and reached the back of captain Graeme Smith’s suite.
The locked windows prevented a “trespass” so he went back to his room, headed to Smith’s room, met his captain in the guise of a casual visit and loosened the window latch. He returned to his room and waited for an hour at which Smith was fast asleep. Convinced that the prank would work now, AB climbed out of his window again, got to Smith’s suite, entered and turned on the TV.
After increasing the volume, he hid behind a curtain and watched a stunned Smith wake up and lower the volume. AB repeated the prank. Next morning, he sat besides Smith at breakfast only for his captain to say that he was convinced that his room was haunted. AB revealed the true ghost before things got more scary for Smith.
*Ganga’s beat*
If you haven’t heard Beat pe Booty yet, you might as well be living under a rock. Everyone from Hrithik Roshan to Ekta Kapoor has made Instagram videos dancing to the song from the Tiger Shroff-starrer A Flying Jatt.*Singer and lyricist Vayu*
But the singer and writer of the song, Vayu, has moved to serious concerns. He has penned the Hindi lyrics for Namami Gange composed by the Chennai-based Trichur Brothers, which is the theme for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Clean Ganga campaign.
“I’ve described Ganga as the purest river that cleanses us and is like our mother,” he says and laughs, “From booty to Ganga – in life, one has to be a magician.”
*Conserving a partnership*
It was suits and silks all the way on Friday night for the opening of ‘Conserving the Collection — The caring path for 5,000 years of our art’ at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS).*Mukeeta Jhaveri*
The exhibition, which showcases the the museum’s conservation work, saw the launch of a book authored by Anupam Sah, head of art conservation. Among those who launched the book were Pramit Jhaveri, Citi India CEO, and wife, Mukeeta. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Mukeeta had initiated this partnership between Citi and CSMVS.
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A tanker driver, after panicking on seeing a police nakabandi, crashed into a police van, injuring five policemen, on Saturday. The driver, who was found to be drunk, has been arrested by Govandi Police station.
*Also read: Thane traffic cop survives harrowing movie-style car chase*
On Saturday evening, the Govandi police were conducting a nakabandi at Panzrapol Junction in Govandi. Mahadev Sakharam Pawar, a resident of Aurangabad, was driving a petrol tanker towards Navi Mumbai from Chembur.*One of the police officers, who were injured in the accident*
When Pawar reached Panzapol Junction at around 5.30 pm, he saw the nakabandi. As he was drunk, he panicked on seeing the police, lost control and dashed into the police van.Head constable, Sukhdev Kolhekar, 46, who was standing behind the van, got his left hand stuck between the two vehicles. As the tanker crashed into the van from the behind, it hit the other four constables. Head constable Ramdas Charolkar, 42, Arun Soni, 40, constable Surekha Pawar, 25 and Sunita Mane, 25, were all taken to Joy Hospital at Chembur. Every one except Kolhekar, has been discharged, who has been admitted with a facture and other injuries. They all belonged to the local arms unit.
*Also read: 2 cops, biker injured after being hit by drunk car driver in Haridwar*
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With less than 24 hours remaining for Ganeshotsav, potholes remain a major concern for devotees transporting ganpati idols to their mandals. The situation is grim in the western suburbs, where roads have not been repaired by the BMC, PWD and MMRDA. However, the situation is much better in SoBo, with fewer potholes compared to other parts of the city. One of the worst stretches is the road on Eastern Express Highway near Bimbisar Nagar in Goregaon.
*Also read: Ganesh mandals want BMC to repair potholes for Bappa*
PWD authorities have claimed that they would repair the road at the earliest. PWD Executive Engineer SS Deshmukh said, “Our team has already started repairing the road on WEH but the rainfall has slowed down our work. We are trying our level best to repair the road.”
The situation of the internal roads in western suburbs is not much different with many potholes on the 200-metre stretch passing from SV Road in Jogeshwari to Veera Desai. The Old Nagardas road in Andheri east is also patchy at few places. With many mandals in the vicinity, filling the potholes would be a daunting task for the authorities.
According to the BMC’s road department, 4,170 potholes have been reported across the city till date. While the civic body has started repairing several stretches, the intermittent rain in last two days has added more than 200 odd potholes on the city roads.
The BMC has been given deadlines by Ganesh mandals to finish the work before Ganeshotsav begins on Monday. Office bearer of Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti, Naresh Dahibavkar said, “We have requested the CM to look into matter.”
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The blue tarpaulin sheets that make up the facade of Panchaganga Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal in Lower Parel (East) give no inkling of the 108 Ganesha idols that lie within. On entering the labyrinth, a Ganesha greets us at every step, each made up of vibrant natural colours and eco-friendly material. What’s interesting, though, is the story behind their creation.
The exhibition, which opens at the mandal on Monday, is the labour of love of art director Sumit Patil, who over the last one year has worked with 108 marginalised communities of India, in an effort to revive forgotten craft traditions. “Instead of lamenting the decline of our ancient craft traditions, we should recognise that they need our patronage,” the 26-year-old says, while explaining why he decided to pursue the project. “Each idol has been meticulously handcrafted by artisans, whose craft is fading into oblivion due to factory-made goods,” adds Patil, who has worked on popular Marathi films like Por Bazar, Yogi and Bioscope.*Patil holds a Ganesha carved by woodcutters of Mithbao village in Konkan, Maharashtra. Pcis/Sneha Kharabe*
Pointing to the miniature puppet Ganeshas, Patil tells us that this is the handiwork of artisans from Sawantwadi’s adivasi community. Artists from this community have been involved in leather puppetry for nearly 1,500 years. “Their puppetry usually dealt with the telling of stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata,” Patil says, adding that the local art form is also popular in the rural areas of Karnataka.
Patil has also recreated a Ganpati using antique oil and kerosene lanterns, which were once carried by tinglayajoshi — the men who would guard villages in Kudal, Maharashtra between midnight and 4 am. “While these men were also village storytellers, because they were entrusted with guarding villages at night, they also came to be seen as ‘chors’ (thieves) over the years. There are barely two or three such men now,” says Patil.
The art director began his research to identify such communities, early last year. “I had to make several trips to remote regions in Maharashtra, Kanpur, Rajasthan and Gujarat to locate them. There were days when we would arrive in the village at 7 am, but would have to wait till 6 pm to begin our ganpati-making workshop, because the people had to finish their daily chores,” he says.
The sessions, which would last for a day or two, would involve not just Ganpati-making, but also items that could help people eke out a living. “I taught them to make jewellery and accessories that could be sold through the year,”
he says.
The Parel resident even worked with visually-challenged students, cancer patients, women criminals in rehabilitation centres and old-age homes across Maharashtra. “My intention was to celebrate Ganeshotsav with people, who don’t get represented enough.”
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Following the death of a traffic cop after being attacked by two youths in Khar, another traffic constable was dragged half a kilometre stuck to a bonnet of a car. He survived with minor injuries only due to his clever thinking.*Driver Yogesh Bhamre*
Narisingh Mahapure, traffic constable attached with the traffic division of Thane police, Navpada division, was manning the streets as per his routine schedule in Thane’ s Teen Haath Naka on Saturday afternoon. Mahapure saw that a Maruti Ertiga was driving on the wrong side, but the driver didn’t stop.
*Also read: Traffic cop asks biker for personal details, gets beaten with stick*
Mahapure then stood in front of the car, but unfortunately, instead of stopping, the car sped on. It was then that Mahapure jumped on the bonnet of the car to save himself. “The driver kept braking to try and throw off the constable. He drove the car for 500 metres and also ran over the foot of traffic warden Namanish Singh and then finally, stopped,” said PG Kadbule, senior police inspector at Navpada police station. When the driver was taken out of the car, he was identified as Yogesh Bhamre, 27, a resident of Shashtri Nagar, Thane. “We have sent him for a medical test. We have found him to be drunk,” said Kadbule. “I had decided not to leave the bonnet. I managed to wedge my fingers in the air vents. I knew if I had fallen, the car would have run over me,” said 47-year-old Mahapure.
*Also read: Tempers soar as constable Vilas Shinde, assaulted by helmetless bikers, dies*
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The decomposed bodies of a couple were found at a flat in PMGP Colony, Andheri (East), on Friday night. Sources from MIDC police station said the duo might have committed suicide by consuming poison. Cops have also recovered a suicide note.
The deceased have been identified as Khyati Harilal Gohil (35) and Vivek Gupta (35). Police sources said they were in a live-in relationship. While Khyati — a resident of Dhanlaxmi Society, Andheri — was a nurse at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai Central, Vivek, who hails from Karnal, Haryana, had a degree in mass communication.*Dhanlaxmi Society in Andheri where the bodies were found*
Late on Friday night, neighbours alerted cops about a stench emanating from Khyati’s flat. MIDC police immediately reached the spot, but since nobody answered the door, they called the fire brigade to break in. On entering the flat, cops found two decomposed bodies on the bed.
Cops retrieved a suicide note, written in Hindi, addressed to Khyati’s father. An official from MIDC station said, “The letter highlights Khyati’s last wishes. She wanted her cremation to be done alongside Vivek’s.”
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The proof lies in teetering piles of these at every corner of the 67-year-old’s Queens Road home, bursting at the beams with treasures stashed since boyhood. In Standard 1 of St Xavier’s School, he thrived on sneaking in adventure comics with other brazen six-year-olds, despite this being strictly forbidden by the principal, Fr Richard Pereira. “He was as addicted to super heroes as we were, and read our confiscated copies of Tarzan and Lone Ranger,” says Rao laughing.
This ardent Bombay lover is my go-to guru for stories generously shared in sessions of engaging trivia over tea. “I must be the first to read your articles at 5 am,” he tells me. They’re early birds, Rao and his paperwalla Bhupendra Upadhyay, son of Ram Kishore who left the fields of Uttar Pradesh to start doorstep deliveries of newspapers in the island city.*Rao holds up a cult title he claims even the St Xavier’s School principal was as great a fan of as his boys*
Tight paper stacks make Rao’s wife Bhanu circle her hands in mock despair, quipping: “This is a storehouse, not a house.” His response is a volley of informative nuggets shot in hyper happy mode. Jumping rapid-fire from “Trams had a different charm, defining the city’s pace — slow and steady”, to “I explore the city simply by walking and cycling”, to a comparison I love: “You drive on Worli sea link but you stop on Marine Drive. There’s life on The Queen’s Necklace promenade. It belongs to us all.”*In this classic array, DC and Dell Comics (top row) precede – as they did chronologically too – the Gold Key series (middle row). At extreme left is The Lone Ranger silver anniversary edition which broke away from painted superhero covers to feature actor Clayton Moore who played the role on screen from 1949 to 1957 in the television series and two films from the same producers. All In Pictures: Rip Kirby (bottom row) was a favourite after Rao inherited this collection from his father. Pics/Sayed Sameer Abedi*
The Bombay mania has genetic roots. Sanjiva Rao, his father, had a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics before joining the Intelligence branch of Bombay Customs in charge of anti-smuggling operations. Of Indumati, his mother, he says, “Unlike many 1940s women, she read history and literature voraciously, attended Tarkhadkar’s typing classes and worked for an insurance company.”*Abdullah Amir of Rita Circulating Library at New Marine Lines has kept Rao supplied with comic books for over 50 years since his childhood*
Excitement floods their third generation living room as Rao displays vintage gems. Among the amazing editions is the 1946 Directory of Bombay Province: With Karachi and Hyderabad State, and 15 handsome volumes of The Illustrated London News. But, the word “illustrated”, which warms me instantly is on the masthead of The Illustrated Weekly of India, the magazine earning me journalism stripes. Rao is justifiably possessive of issues he has through its 1880-1993 run.*Left: The opening pages of The Illustrated London News in August 1945, printed ads for foreign whisky, cigarettes, biscuits and blades; Centre: The special issue of a national weekly after Gandhiji’s assassination, dated February 8, 1948, sold at 8 annas; Right: Justice Bakhtawar Lentin, one of Rao’s most admired personalities, graced a 1987 cover of the then popular magazine, Bombay*
The energy peaks as he gingerly pulls out of impossibly tall ceiling spots, comic books from 1,000 cult titles. “All in Pictures: Rip Kirby was a favourite, serialised in The Evening News and a syndicated strip in the Bombay Chronicle,” Rao recalls. Social media-savvy fans get their fix of latest releases via apps; for him the thrill of this chase lasted till the 1970s when, he believes, the golden age of these books ended.
“Let’s visit the man I bought comics from as a kid,” he suggests. I’m incredulous. Yet, there he is, 83-year-old Abdullah Amir, proprietor of Rita Circulating Library at Marine Lines. Over fifty years ago, he stocked cutlery and Japanese fans ordered by the glamorous stars Suraiya and Nargis. Remembering Rao as a “badmaash baba”, the larger than life bookseller fills the tiny shop alcove. “I travel daily from my Mazagaon home,” he reveals, and invites me to browse. Faded Nick Carter and James Hadley Chase paperbacks rub spines with Enid Blyton’s Noddy. Inexplicably, Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar In A Sieve pops up too. “Who buys these anymore?” Amir rues rhetorically, adjusting broken wooden clips which string his wares.
Dulled ink stamps on inner jacket flaps featuring Roy Rogers and Gene Autry trigger memories of Westerns blazing screens in plush halls. Exhibiting MGM movies for the first time in town, Metro opened in June 1938 to protests from Parsi distributors monopolising the theatre trade (Rao has a photograph of this event). The community soon turned staunch American film buffs. Ahead in queues, booking seats for matinees between 60 paise and Rs 1.60 to pricier night shows, they thrilled to the MGM lion’s roar. “Metro’s publicity line was ‘Every seat a cool retreat’, when it was air-conditioned,” Rao remarks. Regal stuck to the curiously syrupy – ‘Our true intent is all for your Delight’.
Stroll around any cinema with Rao to realise he’s as deeply in love with neighbouring cafés, reeling off fascinating facts about them. Talk of five eateries topping his list softens those restless eyes. Only the last two survive. Closest home, MG Café was a childhood haunt in Pearl Mansion two gates away. “Mathurdas Goculdas, the owner, held Licence No. 1 for foreign liquor at Vine Vault across the Town Hall. For 45 years MG served the best mutton samosas and fish curry ever stirred by Goan cooks.” Famous for four ‘couple rooms’, it had a Kwality stall after that ice cream was introduced in 1957 – vanilla sticks for 25 paise, double price for Chocobar.
On Churchgate Street, as Veer Nariman Road was known, Rao frequented “Little Gourdon” for pastries and patties. Though they came in appetising platefuls, patrons were billed just for those consumed. “Big Gourdon” beside boomed jazz as you scanned the day’s specials crisply typed on a white card. Six-course meals cost R9 as the 1940s breezed into 1950. Expat Emile Gourdon took culinary art seriously, as he did his post as honorary secretary of the Bombay Provincial Hockey Association. Lettuce salads tossed in garlic and olive oil were a worthy prelude to succulent steaks drowned in browned onions.
Rao’s friend Cyrus Irani’s father, Behram Khodaram, had invested 25 per cent partnership in Grand Oriental Hotel on Grant Road – “It faced Super Cinema, so customers on the restaurant terrace heard the trrrrrrrrring of metal openers clinked over soda bottles in the interval.” A rolling flip-board announced items available: patra ma pomfret and boomla (fried Bombay Duck), to humble lentils like masoor and titori whose lingering spicy taste regulars swore by.
“Lodgers paying R50 per day a floor above were Gujarat cop officers attending matters come up in Bombay courts, or diamond merchants,” says Rao. “And taporis,” adds Irani. “Kind employers like dad refused to raise the rate of a six-loaf bread laadi by 25 paise.” Passersby can still see the portico remains of Grand Oriental which downed shutters in 1990.
The hangout Rao can be caught at almost daily is Cafe Military in Tamarind Lane, Fort, where MF Husain would wander in for morning half portions of kheema while fellow artist Altaf sat sipping beer. Thursday teas at Military, replete with brun and brio, inspired the poet Arun Kolatkar: ‘The cockeyed Shah of Iran watches the cake/decompose carefully in the cracked showcase/distracted by a fly on the make/as it finds in a loafer’s wrist an operational base.’
At 103 years, Sassanian Restaurant in Dhobi Talao continues mixing melt-in-the-mouth mawa and plum cakes. Its fluffy chicken puffs were a hit with actresses Mumtaz and Helen, in an era when Bollywood beauties stayed stunning even as they consumed calories with gusto. Peppermints and sugared almonds on offer in its glass jars, this was Rao’s hangout because of the butter. “In the Polson brand reign, Sassanian sold the largest quantities. Margarine was used elsewhere but Polson packs opened here in front of satisfied customers. A coupon was tagged to each, and four won you free custard powder!”
Always immersed in researching a Bombay book (Mumbai’s Water is the second title he has authored), Rao’s next examines its war years, 1939-1945, from a police vantage point. Teaching the sensitisation course, ‘A surface exploration of Greater Bombay’ at Heras Institute, he says, “We should view heritage beyond the Gateway and museum. Some students have marvellously covered Byculla to Bandra, Malad to Kanjurmarg. I do urge youngsters, ‘Bambai ke deewane bano’ – be mad about your city!”
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/Karvi-flowers-s.jpg*Karvi flowers are found mainly in the Western Ghats of India*
Karvi is a collective name given to the 350-odd, shrubby plants from the Genus Strobilanthes, of which 46 species grow in the low hills of the Western Ghats, along the west coast of India. Ecologically, they are important soil binders and colonisers on wind-swept or disturbed slopes. Most species exhibit cyclic flowering from annual to 16-year blooming cycles. From Gujarat to Kerala, there is often confusion about which species is going to flower in which year.
The varied species of Karvi also look different, with some having stunted basket-like clumps which dot rocky plateaus to the 20-ft tall variety that we find in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Throughout the hilly tracts of Gujarat and Maharashtra, adivasi groups, such as Warlis, Katkaris and Dangis, build sturdy houses using the tall and 2-3 inch thick, square stems of Karvi plants. Interestingly, for the first seven years, Karvi plants give out only vegetative shoots from an underground corm during the monsoon, which lay leafless through the dry months. These dry but hard stems are extracted, strung together and covered with a plaster of mud and cowdung to construct one of the most cost-effective, eco-friendly and thermoregulated huts. The mud-walls are then decorated with tribal paintings. In the eighth year, however, between July and September, the vegetative stalks produce pinkish blue buds at every node, which bloom into mauve clusters. Since Karvi plants spread over entire hill slopes and valleys, the mass flowering transforms the windy forests into lavender waves, which are a sight to behold.
Naturalists, trekkers and photographers will definitely enjoy experiencing and documenting the hyperactivity seen around the nectar and pollen-rich Karvi flowers, which attract a host of butterflies, bees, flies, wasps, beetles, birds and even small mammal species. Following these prey species are their predators. The mildly toxic but velvety leaves of our local Karvi (Strobilanthes callosus) attract many caterpillars, grasshoppers and snails. Thus, the mass-flowering Karvi plants create a food surplus, setting off breeding cycles among many other creatures.
But, once the profusion of violet blooms is pollinated, plenty of seed-containing fruits are produced and the Karvi bush and its corm finally die out. Typically, a single Strobilanthes callosus bloom lasts between 15 to 20 days, though the entire mass blooming extends from mid-August to September-end. Protection of the fruits from forest fires that rage throughout the following dry season (October to June) is critical for the continuation of Karvi on our hill slopes. The next monsoon, the entire hillside is abuzz with the popping of the dry Karvi fruits, in the hope of producing saplings in the wet forest floor. If we don’t act fast, the mindless mining of our mountains may well make this the last Karvi Blossom Fest we may ever witness in Mumbai.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/Lifequard-s.jpg*An Australian lifequard talks to a young girl whilst wearing a burkini on her first surf lifesaving patrol at North Cronulla Beach in Sydney. The red and yellow ‘burkini’ was specially designed for Muslim lifesavers to allow females to fulfil both their patrolling and religious obligations. Pic/Getty Images*
So, it is a piquant sign of the times that you have to strip if you’re secular. Modesty is illegal, half-nanga is secular. Following France’s ban on the burkini/burqini (burqa + bikini, a full body suit) in Cannes and elsewhere — later lifted — French police forced some women wearing burkinis to strip off their outer wear to prove their ‘secularity.’ French vastraharan indeed.
I think the burkini is a great idea, if you want it. It allows a lot of women, young and old, who prefer to dress modestly, to get out there and have a blast in sports or swimming. Aheda Zanetti, designer of the burkini, has said she has sold 7,00,000 pieces. The burkini is only marginally different from the modest one-piece swimsuit, full leggings and swimming cap, that is swimwear for a lot of Indian women non-competitive swimmers. Of course men, and non-Islamic women, can get away wearing burkinis simply by calling them wetsuits.
I had gifted myself swimming lessons for a birthday and cringed when I had to get into even a one-piece swimsuit. Though it was utterly modest by swimsuit standards, covering my entire torso and bum, I was painfully self-conscious, nervously pulling the edges around my bum, my eyes always lowered. If only I could have found something elegant that covered my entire body, ah, I would have swum without a care in the world! Most of the other women in the pool were aunty types in nightie-style, one-piece swimsuits, with long frills worn over full leggings — a patent affront to the eye. I didn’t know of burkinis then, or I might have considered one.
In fact, it was my extreme shyness in a bikini that made me choose a women-only slot at the Willingdon Catholic Gym pool. But this was mainly in the afternoons, for housewives and the unemployed: you couldn’t possibly be a working woman and want to swim and be modest — c’est trop! I’ve since learnt to enjoy swimming — I tend to giggle madly when I enter a pool, I enjoy it so much — and don’t give a damn what others think of what I wear. The trick in defusing body shaming or ‘eye-rapes’ is to not make eye contact in the first place. Just look ahead and proceed jauntily in life, is my motto.
The French police, who forced some women wearing burkinis to strip off their outer wear, were hoping to find ‘secular bikinis’ beneath — but found the women fully clothed underneath. Indian ending to France’s Draupadi vastraharan. Most Indian women wade into the sea fully clothed in saris. I hope they won’t be asked to be secular.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/Sandeep-Kumar-s.jpg*AAP leader Sandeep Kumar. PIC/AFP*
Is there sexual seaminess in Bollywood? Are leaves green? Did the sting operation expose this? Not really. The facts one could glean from diligent viewing were: a young woman reporter pretending to be a film aspirant pursued Shakti Kapoor for six months for help with getting work. It culminated in the telecast conversation where she kept saying, “will you help me?” Kapoor said he couldn’t really but could try. Meanwhile, did she want to have sex? If yes, great. If not, he needed to go. There is no clear offer of work for sex, nor did Kapoor make any physical overtures to the woman.
There was, though, ambiguous footage and over-heated, commentary about Shakti Kapoor’s “vehshani harkat” (lustful antics).
In other words, the sting was a kind of theatre. It played on people’s memory of Shakti Kapoor’s roles as a rapist-villain and used the reality of him, already a has-been, in no serious position of power to get people roles or wreak retribution. Moreover, it allowed some Bollywood people well-entrenched in the power structures of which the casting couch is a part, to spout morally superior dialogues.
In other words, while seeming to speak truth to power, it did not actually touch the power structures at all. No big producer or A-list personality whose corrupt sexual practices might be an open secret, was affected as a result of this supposed sting. Sex was used to imply sleaze, while glossing over power. Playing on middle-class anxieties, it gave them a false sense of being able to hold power accountable through a sense of moral superiority.
Is it any wonder then that scandal — more implication, less substantiation,vocal outrage, little change — is an increasingly convenient staple of public culture on television and on Twitter? Where individual moral purity and svacchata, rather than justice, ethics and social inequality become the central values discussed?
The discovery of sex tapes featuring AAP MLA Sandeep Kumar in an apparently consensual threesome, and his sacking, plays out the same story. Grandstanding about moral purity of party and party leader, replaces narratives of political accountability. Making a false demon of sex allows you to burn its effigy and then pretend you have walked through fire to prove your purity and hence, superiority.
So, it is too with the supposed scandal of Karan Johar perhaps paying Kamal R Khan to praise his film and trash Ajay Devgn’s. It provides opportunity to make shocked emoji faces about Bollywood corruption and even allows real (KRK) and self-perceived (Devgn) underdogs a feeling of power. But, it leaves untouched the extent to which showbiz and media are in a consensually corrupt bed together, so that publicity masquerades as exclusive news and critics are friends with filmmakers.
Scandal may be the smoke which never grows without fire. But, it can also be the smoke that obscures the fire.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/04-Rahul-da-Cunha-s.jpg
One day, the monk was invited by a wise man of this land to come and address a Legislative Assembly. The monk agreed and stood on the dais and spoke passionately to this august gathering. Among other things, he spoke about the role of husbands and how they must discipline their wives. All the women in the Assembly were seeing running out of the room screaming in a state of semi shock.*Illustration/Uday Mohite*
The reason? The monk’s views on female foeticide and his frontal view.
That same day there appeared on the horizon a musician with strong political opinions — you could say he was a cross between Tansen and Birbal. The musician spoke freely of what he thought of the monk’s sartorial sense and his speech. #Forget Acche Din, here’s #NoKaccheDin, was his response on a new rant platform called Twitter.
It was a witty tweet, but in the Land of No Laughter the musician soon discovered that free expression had a price. A moronic mob known as the ‘Troll Brigade’ complained of ‘hurting religious sentiments’ even though the kind monk had forgiven the musician. But, this was a land where anonymous cowards were looking for their two minutes of fame and desperate recognition.
In another part of this land, known as ‘Talk Without Thinking, Then Back Track’, another wise man announced that female tourists to this land should refrain from wearing short skirts and other skimpy clothing. Also, they should not go out alone at night.
This was no ordinary wise man. This was a man whose task it was to tempt foreigners with the treasures of the land. To convince fair-skinned lady tourists that this was a land where there was nothing to fear. Overnight the Land of Seven Rivers became The Land of Seven Thousand Cancelled Visas, and that was just the chartered groups from France.
The wise man tried to justify his words.
“It’s not what I meant,” he bleated, adding, “I was referring merely to them covering their bodies in places of worship.”
But, it was too late as he saw his status as Union Minister plummet to Unemployed Minister.
A wise woman suggested why not ‘cover up’ these foreign ladies in burkinis, so they may sunbathe and supplicate in the same garb.
Simultaneously, in another part of the land, a private army took the warning of ‘covering up’ quite seriously — this was an army whose uniform was white shirts and billowing shorts. This private army had three regiments:
1. The Thunder Thighs
2. Knights of the cellulite
3. The Varicose Veins
Overnight their shorts lengthened to ‘long pants’.
All this occurred in one tumultuous week in this land.
In addition to seismic sartorial tremors, a nun was canonised and 4G was launched by the supreme leader of this land.
And so it came to pass that he was no more referred to as Modi ji. He was now Modi-jio.
http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/04-Devdutt-Pattanaik-s.jpg*Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik*
Human beings are meaning-making animals. We can bestow meaning to sound, or to a stroke of a line and thus create words. We can bestow meaning to images, or to a gesture and thus create symbols. We can create layers of meaning by which a tree is not just a tree, and a cigar is not just a cigar. So it is with nudity. Depending on the gaze, depending on the context, it has a different meaning. It can be asexual or sexual, a celebration of the flesh or an indicator of something spiritual. The difference is evident when we compare and contrast the 14-feet-tall marble statue of David, carved in 16th century Italy by Michelangelo, with the 57-feet image of Gomateshwara Bahubali carved in Shravanabelegola, in Karnataka, in the 10th century.
In the Bible, humans were naked in Eden when they were innocent, but when they ate the Forbidden Fruit they became aware of their nakedness. And so they covered themselves with leaves. Any act of nudity after this Original Sin, and the subsequent Fall from the grace of God, is deemed vulgar, even offensive. In the Old Testament tale of King David dancing naked before the Ark of the Covenant evokes much outrage, with many people arguing he should not have done so, or would not do so, as such dancing is disrespectful, seen only amongst pagans. Yet, Michelangelo carves this very same David, in his younger days, when he defeated the giant Goliath, in the nude, in the style used by ancient Greeks to depict heroes such as Perseus. The polytheistic ‘pagan’ Greeks celebrated the flesh and the human form. In the age of the Renaissance, when Greek thought was being rediscovered, the male nude was no big deal, as it would have been one in the previous Dark Ages. In fact, no one saw the nudity of the statue when it was unveiled. The focus was on the statue’s remarkable self-confidence, concentration, beauty and grace.
Carved five centuries earlier, the gigantic Bahubali embodies the struggle to break free from the material world. He stands tall, looking at the horizon, vines wrapping around his calves and thighs, indicating both the duration of his struggle as well as its earthly nature. He is neither a Tirthankara like his father, nor a Chakravarti like his brother. He is between, sage and king, earning the empathy of lay followers of Jainism’s Digambara order. Here, the nudity embodies renunciation, and has nothing to do with male beauty or power.
How we see the male nude ultimately is both a function of our own conditioning, our own education and maturity, as well as the culture we live in. Neither of these images would be welcomed in most Middle Eastern countries, notwithstanding their gender, or their refined meanings.
*Devdutt Pattanaik writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Reach him at devdutt@devdutt.com*
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Submitt edby Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
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