Why Mumbai burns... again and again....

Watch Times Now at 10pm..... I hope we get a few answers....

This is written for Bombay Times.....

Why Mumbai burns… over and over again….

Let’s not beat about the bush for once and call a spade a bloody shovel. The arson and rampant acts of violence that rocked Mumbai last Saturday evening, had very little to do with Assam or Myanmar, and everything with dangerous games ruthless politicians play. This was no ‘spontaneous’ show of anger by Muslims demonstrating their hurt sentiments , this was an orchestrated, well co-ordinated and deftly executed political ploy that went out of hand at some point. Or else, 800 cops would most certainly have managed to stop the attacks on innocent people,the systematic burning of buses, vans, cars and two wheelers which went on for a good hour before it was finally brought under control. Had the cops swung into action earlier and asked for reinforcements, two lives wouldn’t have been lost, nor would we have had to deal with over 60 injured people, cops included. This cannot be passed off as ‘mob mentality’, when protestors had come well prepared for violence. Through all this rampaging and rioting, the shadowy figures instigating all of this remained safe and sound in Delhi and Mumbai, remote controlling wanton destruction in order to gain the all important political advantage in 2014. I’m pretty certain, half the youth rounded up near Azad Maidan would not know how to pronounce Myanmar, leave aside be able to pin point its location on an atlas. Misguided, mislead and possibly paid to take to the streets, they did what they were ordered to… and Mumbai suffered yet another blow.

There is something decidedly perverse about Mumbaikars accepting someone like an R.R.Patil as Maharashtra’s Home Minister, given his track record. Who can forget his infamous comment after the 26/11 Terror Attacks when he glibly said “such small-small incidents do take place in big-big cities!” On Saturday, he was once again on television channels talking about the horrific incident and rationalizing why Mumbai was caught on the wrong foot yet again. Let’s get ready to listen to the same old homilies about intelligence failure and why the state government is forever napping while Mumbai heedlessly burns… again and again. What has really changed after 26/11 ? The answer is depressing and brutal : nothing. The cast of characters handling such a crisis remains virtually unchanged. The cops take their orders from one lot of politicians. There is zero unity in the State cabinet and evidently no real attempt at crisis management. The State administration gets into the act hours after the damage is done. Lame excuses and alibis are trotted out with a straight face. We have no choice but to listen to hollow justifications and wonder what went wrong. It is really pretty disingenuous to claim “ much more damage could have taken place.” Really? How much more? Can someone quantify it, please? There was a great deal of self -congratulation over the ‘timely action and the restraint showed.” By whom? This time, the mediawallas were not spared either. What did protestors gain by torching OB vans? Beating up photographers? Where were the cops when that was happening? Who gave the orders to open fire on rioters?The average Mumbaikar has the right to ask which individual was in charge during those crucial hours?Or are we supposed to remain mum, dumb and clueless as usual? Unfortunately, we are as vulnerable to attacks from within and without as we were three years ago. When a city turns on itself, that is far more dangerous than an assault that comes from other shores. The message this time is pretty clear : We need to be saved from despotic, power hungry politicians and preachers before we save ourselves from protestors. But who is brave enough to bell the Big Cat ?

Read More

Et tu, Fareed????

My take on the Fareed Zakaria mess....

It is really a shame that something as clumsy has taken place. For clumsy it most certainly is. What's the bet Fareed was clueless about the contents of his own column, which may well have been written by someone else? A careless intern, for example? This is a fairly common practice internationally. No different from hiring ghost writers and speech writers for big ticket celebrities who are too busy to pen their own speeches and columns. My guess is that Fareed must have left it to his team to file his columns and script his shows. Someone clearly goofed up. But the buck has to stop with Fareed. There wasn't sufficient scrutiny.. nor the required level of due diligence... and he has to pay the price for that lapse.

First Rajat Gupta, now Fareed Zakaria. Two of the most high profile icons in their respective fields have brought disgrace to their professions and also to India.

Read More

Rogues!

All set for the Olympics' Football this evening? Blown away by Bolt? Amused by the Lion King's view?

Saturday Nite Live is looking amazing! I have a date with my youngest - Gangs of Wasseypur - and then on to a veggie dinner. My last SHRAVAN SOMWAR on Monday... the month has whizzed past, just like Bolt at the finishing line. I like his irreverence and attitude. That's how champions should be... Bolt in victory is anything but robotic.

While on vegetarian food, I had two interesting meals - one in Pune, at a tiny Bong place called Rice and Curry, run by Dipto, who urged me to try his eggplant cooked in curds speciality. It was yummy!

Next, a meal at The Lalit's redone Baluchi restaurant, which has spectacular vistas of Old and New Delhi. Imagine demanding vegetarian dishes at a resturant that specialises in North West Frontier kebab-heavy cuisine! But thanks to Mr.Vivek Shukla, the dynamic G.M. I got to sample bran phulkas and palak so green, I was on a chlorophyll high! This was right after the elegant soiree hosted by the Alliance Francaise as a part of their Writers' series. I was really happy to meet a couple of Blogdosts at the venue.

*******************

This appeared in the Asian Age today....

Rogues’ Gallery in Haryana…

Whether or not Anna Hazare’s rag tag army can actually make the difference to the nation’s moral compass, the rather obvious truth of the matter is, things on every level seem to be falling apart. Corruption rules. And women are the worst hit . Take what happened in Haryana. Today, men in power are safe in the knowledge that nobody can touch them, even if they are responsible for exploiting and killing women they have no further use for. A person like Haryana Minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, for example. He must not be allowed to get away with his crime… and a crime , it is … only because that has become the culture of our abjectly conscienceless society. Driving a woman to suicide after prolonged intimidation and harassment, is so routine, so shockingly ‘accepted’, nobody reacts with the level of outrage that such a terrible act warrants Unless Geetika Sharma’s family finds influential supporters in high places, chances are, her tragic death will go unpunished, and the brazen Minister will go on with his dissipated life, treating Geetika’s suicide as just another slightly annoying inconvenience which the media is wasting its time on. The same goes for the fiery Fiza, who met an equally grim end in Mohali, after her well publicized and very dramatic ‘marriage’ to another rogue-politician called Chander Mohan, a former Deputy Chief Minister of a State that produces arch villains. It makes one wonder what it is about Haryana and its men ? Is it their diet? What do these nasty men eat and drink that turns them into beasts? Where were their own mothers and sisters during those formative years when good values are supposed to be imparted to children? Or their fathers? Grand parents? Teachers? Friends?What has created this brutal climate of violence against women in the State? Booze? Murgi? Or just the narcotic called unbridled power?

Geetika was clearly a victim in the relationship, going by the evidence provided to the police. Kanda stalked and blackmailed a beautiful woman – an employee, and was willing to go to any length to destroy her subsequently.What was her crime? She had dared to move on with her life and wasn’t interested in continuing the relationship with her old boss. That was enough of an ‘insult’ for Kanda, to hound her relentlessly… get her fired from a new job… attack her character… accuse her of committing a financial fraud . To make matters worse, Kanda involved Aruna Chaddha, another female employee, to threaten and bully Geetika into submission. That Geetika preferred death over surrender to such a tormentor, shows the extent of her despair. Fiza’s case is equally pathetic. But unlike Geetika, Fiza ( originally Anuradha Bali) was an ambitious, go- getter, ready to switch religions and loyalties to ‘marry’ the much married Chandermohan ( Chand Mohammed, post-conversion to Islam), and launch a political party. That nobody around her realized she’d killed herself till her body was discovered four days later, is an even sadder comment on how we devalue women’s lives. And how easily the men who drive them to these extremes, generally get away with the crime, only because society at large has no sympathy for ‘such’ women. The operative word, of course, is ‘such’. If the woman happens to be clever AND gorgeous, God help her! She gets instantly branded .Finger pointing follows - the standard put downs (“ she must be conniving, calculating, cheap …she must have trapped that poor fellow…”) pile up. And when a tragedy does take place, most agree the woman had it coming. Or that ‘she asked for it.’ Even family members lack understanding and sympathy. They sound pretty relieved!They are often the very people who may have profited from the woman’s proximity to power and all the trappings that go with it. Geetika’s parents have released telling photographs taken on family holidays with Kanda. Were they that naïve as to not be aware of the nature of their daughter’s relationship with the Minister? Or, were they passive witnesses to the liaison? Happy to look the other way while the going was good? Now, her brother claims their lives are under threat and has asked for police protection. But why didn’t these same family members protect poor Geetika from this sadistic man and his cohort when she was being mentally tortured?

It is rather ironic that on the same day as newspapers were filled with stories about Geetika and Fiza, another sensational society story in Mumbai took an unexpected turn. Sheetal Mafatlal who had been fighting a very public and bitter battle with her husband Atulya and his family, received an unconditional apology from him and her step daughter. This could well be the first time any ‘wronged’ woman has had the bitter-sweet pleasure of tasting victory in such a manner. As of now, Sheetal stands vindicated. All those vicious charges against her have been dropped by three family members, leaving just a very hostile, unbending mother-in-law and two others, to continue the fight. Sheetal must have really good karma for this to happen, and , of course, excellent lawyers. It is indeed unusual that a sexy socialite’s pricy lingerie gets washed in public, and she emerges smiling for the cameras, with a sheepish husband swearing eternal love, by her side. Sheetal is clearly made of reinforced steel. She fought long and hard to secure herself on her own terms. Geetika and Fiza obviously lacked what it takes to survive multiple assaults on their respective characters. Today, both women are dead. As for the men – is it a wonder that they have distanced themselves from the tragedy claiming they were not ‘in touch’ with the victims. While Fiza’s family has not blamed anybody so far, the Sharma’s are trying to drum up support by insisting they are afraid Kanda will now hurt them. In both cases, two well connected men from Haryana have destroyed the lives of their one-time lovers. Will the men pay for their crimes? Why not refer to the Ruchika Gehlot case? There we have the answer…

Read More

Fashion-Vashion....

Blogdosts, if you like the picture here, you must let Nitin Rai, also a Blogdost, know!! He is a superb photographer and I am going to invite him to share more images with us.

In fact, it would be a good way for Blogdosts to showcase and share different talents in this space... poems, short articles, sharp opinions.... and yes... photographs, too!

***************

This is written for Bombay Times...

Fashion-Vashion

Since Fashion Week fever is in the air, here’s a chhota sa quiz for dedicated fashionistas : How many Fashion Weeks are there in India - 4 or 40? In how many cities and talukas of the country do we celebrate these momentous events - 6 or 600? How many designers participate… take a wild guess, 100, 200, 1,000 ? Do you know the names of at least 5 of them? Are they the same names you have been reading about for the past 20 years? Are you aware of their signature lines – you will be disqualified if you answer – “ forty metres of embellished chiffon.” Do you know your peplum from a saree petticoat? ( Don’t worry if you don’t – most designers are equally clueless). Why is a show stopper called a show stopper ? Does the show really stop with that person? Do real people actually wear any of the clothes that are on the ramp? Have you ever seen someone on the street in fashion show garments? You have? Liar! Why do film stars walk for their designer-friends? Money, is a good answer. But generally it is for the prime coverage of their new movie. Would you buy something worn by an out-of-work tv actress or an ex-Diva? You would? Then you deserve it! Does anybody in India really care about ‘Fall Collections’? Do we even recognize such a season in this part of the World? Fall ? What’s that? Can experts tell the difference between assorted designer collections? Or is that irrelevant? Can designers themselves tell between their own collections? Where are the stated influences from Egypt / Ethiopia / Columbia / Myanmar in those embroidered bridal lehengas? Why not just pay a tribute to the actual inspiration – Karol Bagh? Why don’t we stage a few well timed, high profile wardrobe malfunctions just to jolly things up and relieve the boredom? What about inviting ACP Dhoble to the front row or even as a show stopper? Now, that worthy gentleman would literally stop the show! Talking of the front row cat fights, why not auction front row seats to the highest bidder? Any number of socialites would gladly cough up for this dodgy honour. Are you aware of the number of good causes designers support? Lost kittens. Lost souls. Lost focus?

Fashion Weeks, all 104 of them, are great equalizers. Each one of them throws up new names – mainly from Bollywood. Or at least, names of those who’d like to crash Bollywood - from the ramp to a blockbuster sort of story. As a platform for clothes horses who catwalk through movies, there is no better opportunity. But for the rest of the bewildered, unwashed masses, Fashion Weeks provide good entertainment. This year, we are authoritatively told, thighs are ‘in’. So they must be, going by the looooong slits on skirts that end at the waist. Angelina Jolie of the right leg fame, would approve.Colour blocking has been replaced by monochromes – please feel free to decode arbitrarily. Prints are on their way out – unless Kate Middleton decides otherwise. Pencil skirts still rule – because Victoria Beckham says so. Eco-friendly is good for the soul. But not the ramp. Statement jewellery … like diamante studded cycle tyres worn as neck pieces, is awesome. Aubergine ( purple, yaar!), is the new yellow. Bondage is big. And Fifty Shades of Grey dominate, even if you aren’t heavily into S & M. Confused? Don’t worry. Another Fashion Week beckons… and another. If you missed the one in Mumbai, you can catch all the action in Jamshedpur or Wasseypur. Better still, go to Karol Bagh.

Read More

Playing musical chairs in Delhi....

Was thinking strongly about Gautam Rajadhyaksha today, while in Pune. We had spent some wonderful times together in this marvelous city. Soon,it is will be a year since Gautam passed away. While going through my files, I came across this picture he had shot of the beautiful Rekha and me at his home one rainy afternoon. Just thought of sharing it with my Blogdosts...

This appeared in Sunday Times today....

****************8

Playing Musical Chairs in Delhi….

Musical Chairs was one kiddie game I detested as a child.And continue to detest even today.I used to wonder why over wrought mommies would want to encourage toddlers to occupy someone else’s just vacated kursi? Where did the thrill lie? What were the special skills on display? Why were kids made to run around a row of chairs to music that stopped and started arbitrarily? Did the game make any sense to those playing it? Worse, did anybody really enjoy it? As I remember this dreadful diversion, the only person getting a kick out of it was the one controlling the music…. and causing panic. Those poor innocents looking bewildered and feeling confused, frequently ended up in tears, or on their butts, as more aggressive children rushed past them to grab a free chair.Often, I would witness insensitive parents admonishing their bachchas for not being fast enough, smart enough, agile enough, to grab that free chair, leading to more tears. And yes, it was always the class bully who won the prize.

Political musical chairs are played in a similar fashion. It happened this week. And the game is likely to continue. After Pranabda was given the most prestigious kursi (and a horse carriage ride) in India, without having to run around too much, everybody thought the music had stopped. But they were wrong. Madam had merely pressed the pause button. Pranabda’s old kursi couldn’t be left empty for long. If anything, given the unholy mess he had created as F.M. that was one chair which needed someone’s derriere to warm it quickly. Before other ambitious contenders could stake their claim, Madam moved swiftly and brought in an old hand ( P.Chidambaram) to kick start the sluggish economy and get the much needed money flow going. Some said P.C. (not Priyanka Chopra, mind you) would occupy this particular hot seat for a shortish period, while Madam plotted the next move. If he managed to convince skeptics that he was capable of some bold initiatives that would undo the damage inflicted by his predecessor, he’d be promoted and given an even better kursi ( keep guessing which one) . Meanwhile, P.C.’s old job was going… and Madam brought in another party faithful to warm that chair. Sushil Kumar Shinde’s first day as Home Minister did not get off to a great start, unfortunately, what with his cancelled trip to Pune overlapping with the blasts that rocked it. Not the most auspicious beginning, made worse by his tepid response to the explosions.Terrible timing all around, considering Shinde’s just relinquished Power portfolio and the monumental blackout that crippled 60 crore people in North and East India the very next day.Shinde’s quotes on Pune were almost as bad as newly minted Power Minister Veerapa Moily’s on the worst power failure ever, when he assured very angry citizens that he wouldn’t ‘allow’ such a calamity to recur. Right! Through all these natural and man- made disasters, two people remained dumb struck and characteristically quiet – our Prime Minister, and the Son of India, Rahul Gandhi. The former is waiting for instructions as to which chair he will be allotted next. And the latter probably believes every chair is rightfully his – all he has to do is choose.

That brings us back to Madam. And the difficult job in front of her. Playing musical chairs at this delicate stage is riddled with risks. Nobody is in the mood to indulge her beyond a point. There are heavyweights like Sharad Pawar, who need not one, but five chairs, minimum. And are willing to shove others out of the way, if needed. Everybody is eyeing just one kursi – the one occupied for now by Manmohan Singh. If Madam so decides, she could easily move P.C. into the top job after testing the waters for a few months. P.C. would be the apt person to keep that kursi garma garam for Rahul Baba – provided Rahul Baba wants the job in the first place. Given the unmistakable signs of indifference and apathy on our Baba’s part ( poor guy…. let him party in peace in London and Jeddah, if he wants to, yaar), Madam will have to accelerate the tempo of the music and remove a few chairs from the long row. Finally,there will be just two people left in the game. God help us if the bigger bully wins! Well… if that happens, India will have to switch to Kho Kho and Kabbadi.

Read More

Oprah.... this one is for you!

https://wingspanproductions.box.com/shared/7d6cafdc0133c624f14b

Blogdosts, do watch this balanced, classy and fair portrayal of Mumbai. The presenter is Sir Christopher Meyer - a former Ambassador . "Networks of Power" is a series on cities like Moscow, London, New York, Paris, Shanghai - an engaging portrait that tries to decode these complex destinations for viewers who maybe unfamiliar with them. The narrative unfolds gently, through the voices of the people who make the city what it is. Sir Christopher is unfailingly polite, curious, non-intrusive and well-informed.

Watch it and let me have your comments.... compare this effort to Oprah's pathetic, poorly researched Next Chapter.

Read More

Lagey raho, Anna....

Two Lisbon views, one taken from the Esplanade under the beautiful bridge, where I went for a solo lunch of rubbery cod at a smart Cafe, and the other from the ramparts of the historic Castle on top of the hill.

**************

I was looking for a Raksha Bandhan image in my files but decided against it. I am not a raakhi tying type of sister... and in any case, it was never a family tradition. I honour my brother Ashok during bhai dooj at Diwali... and he honours me back. None of this protection-votection nonsense. I am capable of taking care of myself, thank you. If required, I am happy to 'protect' deserving men , too. And please spare me the bogus : "He's my rakhee bhaiyya,"rubbish.

***************

While listening to Anna Hazare's Jantar Mantar speech this afternoon, for the first time, I related to what he was saying. And I thought to myself, if only Anna had spoken in a similar vein earlier, without prompters and others speaking on his behalf, his movement would have gathered better momentum today. Power to the People is the only sensible way forward. And if Anna does decide to launch a political party ( why the hell did he wait this long?), there will be any number of young people willing to take the plunge. Let's not worry about the Blinking Game for now... if the fast is indeed broken tomorrow evening, it's all good.... point made. Point taken.

Read More