City Bites: Mumbai Terror of 26/11; Justice Denied

This blog got featured in Mumbai DNA 'Around the Blog' on page 7, 5th Dec 2011.

This post isn't really a dedication to the people lost their lives and to those who are still suffering from the terror attacks in Mumbai on 26th November 2008 (26/11). The only dedication to them today, can be justice. 

Today, I saw political parties get another opportunity to put up banners and pay a tribute to the people who lost their lives in the terror attacks three years ago. What I also saw were elaborate photo and video shoots to show that 'We did something'. 

This is telling them that all of their something is nothing as long as justice is not served. We don't care if its a cold-blooded decision; we need it! Someone after all did say that justice is a meal best served cold!

Innocent Indian people here,

Candle marches as tribute to who are dear,

That’s how we people face the fears,

Innocent Indian people here!

Our government though takes us for a ride,

Only these simple things do they drive,

The only condemn the done and prise the peoples’ strive,

That’s how our government takes us for a ride!

How else would one explain this fact of life,

On the convict is spent 50 crores to keep alive,

But both justice and money is denied,

To all those families who lost a dear life!

Sadda Haq…Jhapad Rakh, The Harvinder Singh-Sharad Pawar Slapgate!

After a million requests, RTI, petitions and pleads; a hundred thousand peaceful protests and a few hundred candle marches, and one Anna Hazare, the common man lost it. A courageous Indian by the name of Harvider Singh slapped the daylights out of the Indian Agricultural Minster, Sharad Pawar at the New Delhi Municipal Centre; you can watch the video here. 

As always, there are divided views as to how can one slap a minister, this is sad and is condemned, and accolades for Harvinder Singh on the awesome job! It would have also been doing the rounds on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and likes. Sachin Tendulkar also must have heard about it during a forced drinks break and decided against his hundredth hundred; or postpone it to Friday. And then there were news that our PM Dr Manmohan Singh, who is in dire needs of a good PR, said he ‘condemns the act’. And now you know why; be it terror attacks, bomb blasts, scams or this slapgate, all our PM does is just condemning the act; and of course, nothing thereafter.

I came across a comment of an eminent news honcho Rajdeep Sardesai saying that ‘All those who justify the slapping of Pawar should be ashamed. Violence of the mind breeds physical violence.’ Whatever little bit I had towards the Indian media simply died off with that comment. Either Sardesai resides outside India, he too has a Swiss Bank Account that’s fed regularly by Indian politicians or is just another double-standard cold-blooded media guy who wants to stay within boundaries and run his channel as well. Does he forget the enormous corruption levels in the country fore fronted by politicians and the violence and vandalism political parties’ lead for their own motives? However, a common man’s slap is VIOLENCE, such is the travesty. And what if this was an act of an 80 year old retired man living on meager pension? Sardesai would have come out in support saying 'the common man has retaliated'. And I wouldn't be surprised if some years ago he loved Rang De Basanti and watch it with great adore!

As far as the slap goes, I’m a little disappointed with Sharad Pawar. If all Indian politicians claim to be avid Gandhi believers, why didn’t he put forth his other cheek and go ‘hit me baby one more time’? As far as Harvinder Singh goes, he’s building quite a name for himself to be a slapgate specialist. First he hurled slipper at Sukhram, the former telecom minister, when he was sentenced to jail for his involvement in a telecom scam and now Sharad Pawar. 

Now as much as I enjoyed the video of he slapping Sharad Pawar, the question that comes to my mind is how? How did Harvinder Singh make it out there and manage to slap Sharad Pawar with that ease? I perfectly understand terrorists coming across the seas and land, beating the shit out of our intelligence and conveniently killing a few hundred innocent people, but Sharad Pawar? Knowing that politicians can stoop to any level of disgust, I won’t entirely be surprised if Harvinder Singh could have been planted. Or may be just the political party came in the mood of vandalism and breaking loose and getting a public holiday and took to course as part of actions against their leader? Or a deep routed political move that we don’t see now?

For now though, I sincerely hope on being wrong on it and without being devil’s advocate, could the Harvinder Singhs please slap up a few more ministers; a lot more?

PS: Anna Hazare, the man who only supports non-violence, had the cheek to say 'Sirf ek hi mara?' (did he hit only one (slap)?); quite contrasting to his own personal belief, isn't it?

 

The Adrenaline Rush - We’re Boycotting the First Indian F1 Grand Prix Event

As India gears up for hosting its maiden Indian F1 Grand Prix, three key people who should have made it for the event, eventually decided to boycott it for its first year.

But haven’t Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padokone and like all said yes? They may have, but we haven’t. And we truly consider ourselves as are ardent F1 fans and devote fans for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. Oh yes, we love Fernando Alonso, SebastianVettel, Red Bull Racing and are very fond of  Force India F1, Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa and Mark Webber too!

Passion for F1 dates back long enough for us, so much so that even our initials spell out as CAR – Charan, Ashish and Rohit (yours truly)! We didn’t make money when we were delirious about the sport but even today, our passions run high enough for us to have travelled to the Singapore Street Circuit, F1’s only night race and Sepang, Kuala Lumpur. And we’re just ordinary hard working men with simple day jobs!

CAR and their leap of Joy at Sepang, 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. For more photos on the Malaysian Grand Prix, click here.
 

Schumacher made his return last year, and almost the year before that, and the one thing we rued the most was not having seeing the legend drive in person. Today for us, it is been there done that; one step further is that we’ve met the legend! That’s our adrenaline rush, that’s our passion. 

 Autograph signing at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. For more photos of Malaysia, click here.

And so, now that we’re in a classified but sadly unknown league above the who’s who and like, we bloody well have good reasons to skip the big daddy of all events.

• It happens only in India – We’re Indian to the core no matter how badly our government treats us and how corrupt it might be. And even though this is a private event, we’re known to have sweaty palms and cold feet for any major event. Dare I say it, but some disaster/embarrassment/fiasco is waiting to happen. The track was just about homogenised (approved) and ticket sales, scheduled for March, only began sales late September. 
• Event management - Having seen races before, we know for sure what treat and privileges fans get for an F1 event. Whether that would happen for the first Indian GP, we were not sure. And then we didn’t typically want to throw our unknown weight around trying to complain and advice how the show ought to be run. 
• Traffic Management – Singapore was excellent but we had our fair bit of problems on our way back from Sepang, Malaysia, who are 10+ years strong hosting F1 races, when we took an hour longer than what we should have. I can’t even imagine how our pot-bellied gutkha chewing and pan spitting traffic cops would have run the traffic. 
• Pricing – Rail/Air tickets, Race tickets, stay and food. Watching an F1 race is by no means a cheap and convenient affair like cricket might be. As the first ever event, the organisers have set the ticket pricing a little too steep instead of having promoting it. Being festivity times, train tickets were long gone, and that’s talking within 10 minutes on the opening day (90 days prior when we thought of going simply because Metallica were coming too) and the airfare is beyond reach. The city would no doubt be over crowded and stay wouldn’t come cheap either. Trust me when I say this – KL and Singapore worked out cheaper for us from Mumbai. 
• No Event Calendar – An integral part of any F1 race are the associated events. As fans, you also get to watch a few other races (Formula 2/3, Porsche/BMW series), air shows, take pit lane walks, go for autograph signing and much more.  None of this was listed on the official Web site, and didn’t make it even until early this week. Few of the above may not even happen; disappointing! 
• F1 Rocks – F1 is not just about the racing. Glamour has been an integral part to which music events like F1 rocks have been added. And these are part of the ticket price, where we managed to watch Shakira, Back Street Boys and likes. Metallica lured us and the only reason why we decided to go; but that was separate? Worse, the race is in Greater Nodia and the performance in Gurgaon? How on earth does that qualify as F1 Rocks? And let me not go to the money raking events like LAP, the after hours party with Lady Gaga, Roger Sanchez and many more international artists. 
• It’s the First – We love to brag and who better than the capital city; and so what if we don’t know what F1 is? I’m a VIP in Delhi (which every second person happens to be in the capital city) so I am going to get my contacts going and ensure that I’m there at the first ever Indian car racing thing or whatever that is; yeah the one that has Fraaree shraaree! And then – ‘Oye sale nu overtake karna bhi nahi aanda’ (the guy doesn’t even know how to overtake). VIPs, VVIPs, celebrities, their entourage cum dummies guide and their security. Thank you; we’re better off home. 
• A Virgin Track – The Greater Nodia tack, Buddh International Circuit is a fantastic track that’s going to be great for drivers and fans. But is it really ready yet for an F1 race? 

 Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull Racing F1 car at Sepang, 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. For more photos, on the Red Bull Racing team, click here.

 

Having said all that did we still feel that we are missing the event? Yes! We still wanted to be there and almost made a last minute impulsive dash as well. But in practicality, are we missing the event, probably not, because we’re having the last laugh/glad that we boycotted the event. 

• Friday practice started with a show down between Lewis Hamilton and a dog!
• The track surroundings still look far from being ready; I wonder if Bernie Ecclestone would have okayed had it not been India.
• The track lacked grip, which was expected, but the amount of dust around it is just not acceptable; classic example was turn 5 and turn 7 that saw additional kerb being deployed and Massa eventually breaking his suspension going around it.
• The evident vibrations on the long straight after turn 4; I hope all cars endure it for 60 continuous laps.
• Lights out – Nodia faced a major power cut on Thursday which affected the media centre and pit garages. You’re saying they did not have adequate power backup?
• You’re now getting a 60% discount on F1 tickets. Good morning organisers!
• F1 Rocks or should I say sucks? Metallica’s live showdown in Gurgaon; need I say any more?

And the race hasn’t even begun!
 
At the end though, no matter what, today, 30th October 2011, will go down as an eventful day in the history of Indian sports or any Indian event for that matter. I just hope that it is not for ALL the wrong reasons.

City Bites - First Class Crap

This blog got featured in Mumbai DNA 'Around the Blog' on page 6, 17th Oct 2011.

After very many ages, I have had the misfortune to return travelling in Mumbai Suburban trains. For those fortunate enough to have not seen what the popularly known as local trains look like, by and large, they are nothing more than 12 massive ugly red and yellow garbage tins put together, with a few doors and windows, on rails with people infested during most hours. And this of course is the best possible treatment for India’s financial capital and highest tax paying city.

There are three routes; Western – which runs Churchgate to the Western suburb of Borivali and beyond; Central – which runs from CST to the Central suburb of Mulund and beyond; and finally harbour that runs from CST along the docks to Mankhurd and beyond. Society has always seen divides and the Suburban trains are no exception. The Western lines have now managed quite a few rather sophisticated and swanky trains, which the Central line is struggling with and the Harbour line has barely managed. 

Coming back to my misfortune; after debating whether there are more viruses/flies/mosquitoes and like in Mumbai or more people (and I think the later wins), I went ahead with a ‘First Class’ monthly pass. Now, apart from the compartment for ladies and those with special needs, the local trains have ‘First’ and ‘Second’ class. So, what do you get for a First class upgrade? State-of-the-art Shape-of-the-arse no-more-foam cushioned seats, only three people sit on a 3-foot long seat instead of 4 people, possible less infestation and a possible hint of a vague cologne amongst hundreds of perspiring bodies. Sure, you don’t want to know what goes on in the other Second class!

A view of the interiors of the First Class compartment in a Mumbai Suburban Train. For more pictures of Mumbai, click here. 

So yeah, I entered one such train on the severely step Harbour route and I am faced with a great travesty of recent times. After having paid 3.5 times the cost of a Second class season ticket, I was faced with even more sagging seats and backrests that what I ever imagined and a compartment that desperately needed to be sanitised; may be garbage trucks abroad are cleaner. 

You'll now understand why they need to be sanitised. For more pictures of India, click here.

There was a joke doing the rounds when I was a child – A foreign national touring Mumbai was caught by a ticket checker in a First class compartment with a second class ticket. The TC told him he did not have a valid ticket and hence he would need to pay a fine. The tourist replied that his ticket is valid indeed because the source and destination stations are correct. To which the TC replied, ‘That is correct, but having bought a Second class ticket, you’re in a compartment which is First class.’ The tourist jumped off and exclaimed, ‘You call this First Class?’ And yeah, the TC hung his head low, and walked off!

I wish we Mumbaikars can slap off the same statement!

The Adrenaline Rush - Indian Ministry is run by Jokers

‘Have you ever been involved in, supported, or encouraged terrorist activities in any country? Have you, ever been a member of, or given support to an organisation that has been concerned in terrorism?’

Visa forms for plenty of countries require you to answer this question; and I guess honestly. Though I wonder if a terrorist is ever going to tick Yes, but that’s another story altogether. What appears from the regular terrorist attacks on people in India is that India on the other hand seems to thrive on taking challenges. May be they do receive such applications with a Yes and also end up approving them. That seems to form the intelligence; the guys then probably pass that information to the police, who of course fail to take diligent action and ‘BOMB!’

So what happens when you tick ‘No’; well that’s something Nico Rosberg of Petronas Mercedes GP and half of the Formula 1 teams would know because they just learnt it first hand. It is ridiculous and embarrassing for India and we as Indians that visas are denied and/or rejected for sports persons, media, journalists, musicians and people of similar acclaim. Yes, we might be amongst the rare commonwealth nations to deny direct entry to British passport holders, but that’s just a fair and square protocol. No doubt, the visa should be required and must be issued with appropriate documentation, but can it and should it not be better facilitated for people who’s biography is easily available on Wikipedia coming for an event half the world knows about?

Nico Rosberg of Petronas Mercedes GP at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. For more photos on Formula 1, click here.

 

It is also pathetic of the customs department to levy an INR 400 crore import duty for the equipment being used for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, which is supposed to be held in Greater Noida in October 2011. They would refund the same with a 2% deduction after the goods leave India, but that is just such an opportunistic way to get some money off a privately managed event. Why; just because the government hasn’t been able to make money and mockery like the Commonwealth Games last year?

This lame, irresponsible and shallow behaviour of the Indian Ministry is not going to help an international event of the magnitude of the F1. It may be a private event, but it is going to fetch the government hoards of money in form of taxes and tourism. In any event, it is certainly not a way to spread India’s name across the many first timers who are simply excited and delighted to be coming and participating in India. 

It’s time to wake up and take a step forward and assist Jaypee in putting up a smooth and successful event rather than causing embarrassment to the entire nation. If the Jokers in the Ministry don’t wake up, we’ll be a global laughing stock for the second year in succession!

The Capped Crusader

When corruption and crime took over Gotham city, the city desperately needed a messiah; a saviour who could take on the menace that existed in their society and restore law-and-order. One man took upon the act of cleaning up the city and we know him as Batman!

Of course, one man taking down the organised crime, which was coordinated and executed with the political and police force, was impossible. So, he too had support from a few accomplices in his butler Alfred, his RND business manager Lucius Fox, Commissioner James Gordon, Harvey Dent and Robin to name a few.

That of course is a fable, which they say, do come true. The wars of liberation, fight against corruption, monopoly and dictatorship, have begun across the world. And that movement has now hit India. Unlike the other nations that have faced these movements marred with violence, India, known for its stand on peace, has a man leading the movement peacefully sans any violence. He is what I would call a Capped Crusader – Anna Hazare.

I am not a Gandhi fan so I cannot say that I am all up for Anna Hazare’s method. However, what I like about him, which is why I might eventually be his fan and, is that he has managed to bring about a revolution in the country without much turmoil. Unlike previous instances when political parties who in the past, to have their way, only resorted to vandalism. We’re still a developing nation or as analysts would call an emerging market and cannot afford frivolous strikes and damage to property, knowing the fact that restoration will burn out funds by 420%; apt, considering that it is yet another opportunity for politicians, contractors, workers and everyone falling in queue to make quick big bucks.

Of course there are many arguments from the antagonists as to what and how much will a lone aging man do? But with this stand, he has made himself more than just an ordinary man.  He has devoted himself to an ideal, and the establishment haven’t been able to stop him; they’ve had to give in to his demands. It may not be long until be become something else entirely – a legend. He is gathering enough moss to make the establishment fall and that sure will go down in history if he succeeds. And his support is coming from all ends – school kids, collegians, housewives, the service class, the business class and even the public servants.

We needed a face or a leader because somewhere we’re all just too busy in our daily chores. However, we’re all livid with all the news that’s doing the rounds for the past year or so. The CWG scam, 3G scam, mining scam, politicians spending our money on building their houses, their own statues and fuelling their pockets with our money! In the bargain, doing nothing visible on inflation and rising costs, terrorism, increase in the number and amount of taxes, traffic snarls that plague people in covering 10 km over two hours, and the roads that have broken enough suspensions and backs along with taking a few lives as well.

The face may be Anna, but what’s certain is that the general Indian public is taking a critical stand on it. However, I don’t believe that it can just go on with fasting and having peaceful marches. Nor do I believe that by me not giving a 100 rupee bribe to be let off by a traffic cop is going to stop corruption. If corruption is to stop, it needs to be top-down and not bottom-up. The entire system needs to be reformed for transparency and accountability. And eventually down to the smallest of things where a common man does not need to spend hours and multiple follow ups to get his licence back for a petty traffic offence.

Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos.

The initial revolt succeeded because it caught the government off guard. We need some anarchy on a regular basis for a change to come about. Sometime soon, how about a non-cooperative movement – citizens not paying taxes and the government having to recover all financials lost in these scams and running the show?