(This post is reprinted from this blog, with due permission of course.)
The veil is not the same as the suicide belt. We can better pursue our values if we recognize the local and cultural context, and appreciate that people want to find their own balance between freedom and order, liberty and license.
--- Fareed Zakaria. Learning to Live With Radical Islam. Newsweek: February 28, 2009.
Sharia demands death for the adulteress
I am not an adulteress
I can learn to live with Sharia.
Sharia demands death for the gays
I am not a gay
I can learn to live with Sharia.
Sharia demands death for the blasphemer
I am not a blasphemer
I can learn to live with Sharia.
Sharia demands death for the apostate
I am not a Muslim
I can learn to live with Sharia.
Islam demands Sharia for everyone
I am no one
I learned to live with Islam.
An adaptation of "First they came...", a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984).
By, The Rational Fool
Comments : One of the reasons I like Desipundit is that it regularly introduces me to posts such as this. Something about the poem grabbed my attention when I read it. The wikipedia entry on Pastor Martin Niemoller and his poem was rivetting too. Am copying below the 1976 version of his poem.
- Zen
First They Came (1976 version)
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Obama vs. W - Different or Same ?
Today, contemplating while being snowed in, I started thinking about everything that Obama is doing in his first few days in office. Be it trying to save the economy by bailing out banks, insurance companies, car manufacturers, etc. OR pushing through a 10 year budget OR embarking upon health care reforms OR taxing the rich to feed the coffers & supposedly help the poor... Why is he rushing to get all this done now? Why not space it out over his first term?
So here is my epiphany, he is trying to push as much as possible right now when the country is in panic mode & looking hopefully to the new leader of the free world to fix it. In these "tough economic times", people are willing to overlook any so called inconveniences for the sake of the light at the end of the tunnel - SAVING THE ECONOMY!
Now here is my question - how is this different from the actions of W (Dubya) in 2001? There was panic in the US & in the name of security & defense against the axis of evil, so many initiatives were pushed through which may have made us a safer nation of people, but have also pushed the limit on constitutional rights or even basic human rights. Did we bat an eyelid? No siree! We were rallying around the Commander-in-Chief to save us from terror on our own soil!
In business this is called, taking a bath. So if nothing else, they have an intelligent set of advisors! But woe to the common man! We are being taken for a ride yet again. All my money (through taxes) are being ploughed into penny stock companies like CITI & AIG!
It is time not only to bat eyelids, but banding together to put an end to this nonsensical vicious spiral that we are being dragged into. If companies are not fit to run, let them sink. Do not try & throw these multi-billion dollar life preservers at them! Their mass is so ginormous & unwieldy & grotesque that drowning is inevitable. Live & let die! Survival of the fittest!!
By,
Alok Gupta
So here is my epiphany, he is trying to push as much as possible right now when the country is in panic mode & looking hopefully to the new leader of the free world to fix it. In these "tough economic times", people are willing to overlook any so called inconveniences for the sake of the light at the end of the tunnel - SAVING THE ECONOMY!
Now here is my question - how is this different from the actions of W (Dubya) in 2001? There was panic in the US & in the name of security & defense against the axis of evil, so many initiatives were pushed through which may have made us a safer nation of people, but have also pushed the limit on constitutional rights or even basic human rights. Did we bat an eyelid? No siree! We were rallying around the Commander-in-Chief to save us from terror on our own soil!
In business this is called, taking a bath. So if nothing else, they have an intelligent set of advisors! But woe to the common man! We are being taken for a ride yet again. All my money (through taxes) are being ploughed into penny stock companies like CITI & AIG!
It is time not only to bat eyelids, but banding together to put an end to this nonsensical vicious spiral that we are being dragged into. If companies are not fit to run, let them sink. Do not try & throw these multi-billion dollar life preservers at them! Their mass is so ginormous & unwieldy & grotesque that drowning is inevitable. Live & let die! Survival of the fittest!!
By,
Alok Gupta
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Bombay United - Suggestions Anyone ?
I feel that despite the large volumes of information available on the internet today, Google searches hold the key to where you end up finding what you're looking for.
I joined an outfit called "Bombay United" recently, in the hope that I can help develop their website http://www.bombayunited.org to be the first stop for all things related to the city's administration. The idea is to not duplicate information that's already out there, but instead organize it under one roof for easy access.
Preliminary ideas include:
About Us - mission, vision, members, you know the drill...
Blogs on Bombay - like BombayAddict, Sonia Faleiro, Mumbai Info, etc and possibly one of our own for members to post
Bombay Info - alphabetically organized e.g. [V]oter Registration, [W]ards, etc - our site will provide (working) links to information that's already been posted, like Jaago Re
Trivia of the Week - to encourage people to keep visiting (though I think this might be a bit ambitious. It may have to be fortnightly!
Important Links - like Traffic Police, MCGM, Maharashtra Govt. websites and also NGOs like AGNI and Karma Yog
Find Your Ward - perhaps the biggest mystery to some of us who don't know which ward and constituency we fall under
Other stuff like a calendar of events (Bombay United and other events), Contact Us, Mailing Lists, Meeting Minutes, etc
It would be really useful if you guys email me suggestions on what else could be included, or which of the above items you think are a waste of time / useless to readers.. All comments are welcome. Also, if you're willing to run the above post on your blog and spread the word, that would be fantastic.
Thanks,
Sanjana
(http://the-strawberry-fields.com)
I joined an outfit called "Bombay United" recently, in the hope that I can help develop their website http://www.bombayunited.org to be the first stop for all things related to the city's administration. The idea is to not duplicate information that's already out there, but instead organize it under one roof for easy access.
Preliminary ideas include:
About Us - mission, vision, members, you know the drill...
Blogs on Bombay - like BombayAddict, Sonia Faleiro, Mumbai Info, etc and possibly one of our own for members to post
Bombay Info - alphabetically organized e.g. [V]oter Registration, [W]ards, etc - our site will provide (working) links to information that's already been posted, like Jaago Re
Trivia of the Week - to encourage people to keep visiting (though I think this might be a bit ambitious. It may have to be fortnightly!
Important Links - like Traffic Police, MCGM, Maharashtra Govt. websites and also NGOs like AGNI and Karma Yog
Find Your Ward - perhaps the biggest mystery to some of us who don't know which ward and constituency we fall under
Other stuff like a calendar of events (Bombay United and other events), Contact Us, Mailing Lists, Meeting Minutes, etc
It would be really useful if you guys email me suggestions on what else could be included, or which of the above items you think are a waste of time / useless to readers.. All comments are welcome. Also, if you're willing to run the above post on your blog and spread the word, that would be fantastic.
Thanks,
Sanjana
(http://the-strawberry-fields.com)
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Bell Bajao !
Once upon a time, Z lived in a flat adjoining one occupied by an ogre and his persecuted family. Z’s days were happy and fun-filled, yet sometimes she had nightmares and was unable to sleep properly. This used to happen on nights when she had heard shouting and shrieking from the ogre’s house as she began to fall asleep - she dreaded the times the ogre lost his temper and she would hear his gruff voice raised in anger. Sometimes she lay awake trying to convince herself that the high-pitched shrieks she heard were screams of frustration or retaliation and not of someone in pain; she tried to wrap herself in a snug cocoon of false conviction so that she did not feel guilty about doing nothing; but reality would insist on unraveling it, bringing along a bitter and feverish feeling in her stomach, a tightening of her face muscles and a grinding of teeth. She felt totally helpless – unable to block it out, unable to figure out what to do to stop it.
Z moved on, changed houses, continued to be happy and enjoy life (this is where you touch wood for luck). But every so often she wondered what would have been the appropriate course of action and about its consequences - alerting the police, alerting an NGO, speaking to the aggressor etc, would an intervention have made the victims’ life better or worse ?
……………………
If, like me, you have been through such a scenario, you will understand why I was thrilled to read this article in the newspaper one day.
Finally, there is an organization that has outlined a simple solution that a concerned individual can adopt in such a situation. It’s ‘Bell Bajao’
, or, ‘Ring the Bell’. (see the ads here, here, here and here)
Bell Bajao, an awareness and intervention campaign to bring domestic violence to an end was launched in August 2008 by Breakthrough, an organization dedicated to gender rights. Created pro bono by Ogilvy and Mather, the TV commercial has been distributed across popular TV channels. It has also been distributed across radio channels, press and the Internet. Video vans will follow with on-ground activation across six districts over 150 days to begin with, building awareness on issues regarding domestic violence and women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
This campaign asks men to take a stand in order to reduce the violence done by other men. It aims at killing the ‘it's not my business’ and ‘it will be of no use’ mentality. It seeks to engage men as direct partners ready to 'ring the bell', and intervene in situations of abuse - a path-breaking venture within the Indian context. Breakthrough sees the involvement of men as important for many reasons. Key amongst those are the fact that men are more likely to listen to other men, and less likely to see domestic violence as permissible if other men in their society look down on it. Also, men are an integral part of the community that supports and interacts with families dealing with violence - they are the majority of judges, police officers, and doctors who work with families in crisis.
My only quibble (and a tiny one) against this campaign is that it does not give concerned women any advice at all. How about a Bell Bajao phase 3 where women ring on the doorbell ? I would like to understand whether the thought of a woman – and an outsider at that - questioning him drive the aggressor to attack the victim with even more force than usual later ? Is there a chance of violence being committed on the woman ringing the door-bell too ? I would really like to know the answer to both these questions – there’s a doorbell in a nearby suburb that’s waiting for me and I want to be aware of the consequences first. (Yes, I am a coward. Don’t bother saying it. )
By,
Zenobia Driver
For those of you that want to read more :
This site gives information about what all constitutes domestic violence, statistics on violence, what to do if you know someone who is being abused, what can the abused do to help herself etc. The statistics on domestic violence are truly shocking – one out of three women in India faces some form of domestic violence at home ! 51% of the 75,000 men surveyed thought that hitting their wives is acceptable, if in-laws were disrespected; with a smaller number thinking that bad cooking/refusing sex were also legitimate reasons.
This is a short primer about the laws on domestic violence in India, and this is an article on the long struggle towards a law against domestic violence.
Go ahead now ! If you’ve read this far, you’ve read enough to be convinced - Take The Bell Bajao Pledge
p.s. Cannot end without mentioning this. Breakthrough is also the organization responsible for the ‘Mann ke Manjeere’ album, a collaborative effort with singer Shubha Mudgal, Prasoon Joshi and Shantanu Moitra. View the song here
Z moved on, changed houses, continued to be happy and enjoy life (this is where you touch wood for luck). But every so often she wondered what would have been the appropriate course of action and about its consequences - alerting the police, alerting an NGO, speaking to the aggressor etc, would an intervention have made the victims’ life better or worse ?
……………………
If, like me, you have been through such a scenario, you will understand why I was thrilled to read this article in the newspaper one day.
Finally, there is an organization that has outlined a simple solution that a concerned individual can adopt in such a situation. It’s ‘Bell Bajao’
, or, ‘Ring the Bell’. (see the ads here, here, here and here)
Bell Bajao, an awareness and intervention campaign to bring domestic violence to an end was launched in August 2008 by Breakthrough, an organization dedicated to gender rights. Created pro bono by Ogilvy and Mather, the TV commercial has been distributed across popular TV channels. It has also been distributed across radio channels, press and the Internet. Video vans will follow with on-ground activation across six districts over 150 days to begin with, building awareness on issues regarding domestic violence and women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
This campaign asks men to take a stand in order to reduce the violence done by other men. It aims at killing the ‘it's not my business’ and ‘it will be of no use’ mentality. It seeks to engage men as direct partners ready to 'ring the bell', and intervene in situations of abuse - a path-breaking venture within the Indian context. Breakthrough sees the involvement of men as important for many reasons. Key amongst those are the fact that men are more likely to listen to other men, and less likely to see domestic violence as permissible if other men in their society look down on it. Also, men are an integral part of the community that supports and interacts with families dealing with violence - they are the majority of judges, police officers, and doctors who work with families in crisis.
My only quibble (and a tiny one) against this campaign is that it does not give concerned women any advice at all. How about a Bell Bajao phase 3 where women ring on the doorbell ? I would like to understand whether the thought of a woman – and an outsider at that - questioning him drive the aggressor to attack the victim with even more force than usual later ? Is there a chance of violence being committed on the woman ringing the door-bell too ? I would really like to know the answer to both these questions – there’s a doorbell in a nearby suburb that’s waiting for me and I want to be aware of the consequences first. (Yes, I am a coward. Don’t bother saying it. )
By,
Zenobia Driver
For those of you that want to read more :
This site gives information about what all constitutes domestic violence, statistics on violence, what to do if you know someone who is being abused, what can the abused do to help herself etc. The statistics on domestic violence are truly shocking – one out of three women in India faces some form of domestic violence at home ! 51% of the 75,000 men surveyed thought that hitting their wives is acceptable, if in-laws were disrespected; with a smaller number thinking that bad cooking/refusing sex were also legitimate reasons.
This is a short primer about the laws on domestic violence in India, and this is an article on the long struggle towards a law against domestic violence.
Go ahead now ! If you’ve read this far, you’ve read enough to be convinced - Take The Bell Bajao Pledge
p.s. Cannot end without mentioning this. Breakthrough is also the organization responsible for the ‘Mann ke Manjeere’ album, a collaborative effort with singer Shubha Mudgal, Prasoon Joshi and Shantanu Moitra. View the song here
Sunday, January 18, 2009
When I'm 64
The Beatles
When i get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine ?
If i'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When i'm sixty-four.
You'll be older too,
And if you say the word,
I could stay with you.
I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride,
Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When i'm sixty-four.
Every summer we can rent a cottage,
In the isle of wight, if it's not too dear,
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera chuck & dave
Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When i'm sixty-four.
Comments : Have loved this song for years - it is just too cute. Thought of posting this the instant Anita posted a poem about turning 30. Yes, have decided that the theme for this month is poems relating to age and ageing.
Zen
When i get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine ?
If i'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When i'm sixty-four.
You'll be older too,
And if you say the word,
I could stay with you.
I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride,
Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When i'm sixty-four.
Every summer we can rent a cottage,
In the isle of wight, if it's not too dear,
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera chuck & dave
Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When i'm sixty-four.
Comments : Have loved this song for years - it is just too cute. Thought of posting this the instant Anita posted a poem about turning 30. Yes, have decided that the theme for this month is poems relating to age and ageing.
Zen
Indian of the year 2008 : You Decide
I'm sure that anyone who has been watching the news channels as much as I have lately will have seen ads urging you to vote for the "Indian of the Year" on NDTV 24x7. Curiosity got the better of me and I finally looked up the nominations. Some of the "reasons for nomination" really puzzled me. Pardon my ignorance but I really think it would've helped if NDTV added a few lines on what the nominees did IN 2008 that would make their nominations relevant.
· Katrina Kaif - "Tornado of Another Kind" - what on earth does that mean?
· Mayawati - "Sab Maya Hai"- maybe it's because she has decided to tone down her 53rd birthday celebrations in light of the 26/11 attacks. However party members refuse to discontinue her cake-cutting tradition.
· Shivraj Chauhan - "BJP's Golden Boy" - last I heard, he became Madhya Pradesh's Chief Minister in 2005 - so why nominate him for Indian of the Year 2008?
· L.K. Advani - "PM in Waiting" - he gets nominated because he's waiting? He's been waiting since 2005, so what makes 2008 special? Maybe we should add Rahul Gandhi to the list. He too has been waiting ever *so* long.
· M.F. Hussain - "Painter in Exile" - nomination for *voluntary* exile? I hear Salman Rushdie is upset at not being nominated for "Writer in Exile".
I would've added the following to the list:
· Shobhaa De - For shedding the "I'm so perfect, I can do no wrong" image and openly admitting to watching Slumdog Millionaire on a pirated DVD. I don't know if adding "Oh Danny Boyle, we love you so" was her attempt to dissuade him from suing.
· Mayor Shubha Raul - For suggesting that we give military training to slum kids so that they can work as security officers for the BMC. Here's an idea - how about we send them to school instead?
· MINT reporters - For telling us exactly what Ramalinga Raju ate, drank, what time he went to sleep and how thick the mattress was in the prison cell. Talk about investigative journalism! I think the nomination might have to be withdrawn on the grounds that we're still unclear whether Raju had any of the "chicken curry, rice and rasam" that the prison serves on Sundays. Seriously guys, how could you leave out this crucial piece of information?
· NDTV reporters - For outlining why British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's visit to Mumbai is very significant "because ONE Britisher was killed in the attacks".
· Priya Dutt - For her naivety in thinking there is any kind of loyalty in politics. · Last but certainly not the least - Ramalinga Raju - but the nomination has to be in the Cinema category. I think he can beat Nasseruddin Shah as "The Actor", what with such a convincing performance over the past 7 years. He sure had everybody fooled.
Now, who are you going to vote for?
By,
Sanjana
· Katrina Kaif - "Tornado of Another Kind" - what on earth does that mean?
· Mayawati - "Sab Maya Hai"- maybe it's because she has decided to tone down her 53rd birthday celebrations in light of the 26/11 attacks. However party members refuse to discontinue her cake-cutting tradition.
· Shivraj Chauhan - "BJP's Golden Boy" - last I heard, he became Madhya Pradesh's Chief Minister in 2005 - so why nominate him for Indian of the Year 2008?
· L.K. Advani - "PM in Waiting" - he gets nominated because he's waiting? He's been waiting since 2005, so what makes 2008 special? Maybe we should add Rahul Gandhi to the list. He too has been waiting ever *so* long.
· M.F. Hussain - "Painter in Exile" - nomination for *voluntary* exile? I hear Salman Rushdie is upset at not being nominated for "Writer in Exile".
I would've added the following to the list:
· Shobhaa De - For shedding the "I'm so perfect, I can do no wrong" image and openly admitting to watching Slumdog Millionaire on a pirated DVD. I don't know if adding "Oh Danny Boyle, we love you so" was her attempt to dissuade him from suing.
· Mayor Shubha Raul - For suggesting that we give military training to slum kids so that they can work as security officers for the BMC. Here's an idea - how about we send them to school instead?
· MINT reporters - For telling us exactly what Ramalinga Raju ate, drank, what time he went to sleep and how thick the mattress was in the prison cell. Talk about investigative journalism! I think the nomination might have to be withdrawn on the grounds that we're still unclear whether Raju had any of the "chicken curry, rice and rasam" that the prison serves on Sundays. Seriously guys, how could you leave out this crucial piece of information?
· NDTV reporters - For outlining why British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's visit to Mumbai is very significant "because ONE Britisher was killed in the attacks".
· Priya Dutt - For her naivety in thinking there is any kind of loyalty in politics. · Last but certainly not the least - Ramalinga Raju - but the nomination has to be in the Cinema category. I think he can beat Nasseruddin Shah as "The Actor", what with such a convincing performance over the past 7 years. He sure had everybody fooled.
Now, who are you going to vote for?
By,
Sanjana
Thursday, December 25, 2008
"I Told You So"
(reproduced from http://the-strawberry-fields.blogspot.com with permission from the author)
" I Told You So"
That's what S.K. Patil and Nehru would have said if they were alive today. They aren't alive, but you can almost hear them banging their heads against a wall in dismay.
First, a bit of history...
Prior to independence, British India was divided into provinces and princely states, each of which had elected legislatures and governors. In 1947, it was granted independence and was divided into India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The princely states were encouraged to join one of these countries. Bhutan and Hyderabad opted for independence, but Hyderabad was eventually brought under Indian control. Till 1950, there were 27 states
not quite the same as we have now), excluding Jammu and Kashmir which had special status till 1957.
The Indian National Congress had promised that states would be divided on a linguistic basis. Andhra was the first state to be formed where the Telegu-speaking part of the Madras State was merged with Hyderabad. Nehru was vehemently opposed to the linguistic divisions. He said "If you succeed in creating so-called linguistic states now, what will happen ten or twenty years hence? Are you going to stop people from moving from one state to another? This movement will change the linguistic composition of the state." Eventually he had to give in, and the Government set up the States Reorganization Committee in 1953. In 1956 the States Reorganization Act came into place. It recommended the division of India into 14 states and 7 union territories. The Bombay State was to include Saurashtra, Kutch, Marathi-speaking Nagpur district of Madhya Pradesh, and Marathwada part of Hyderabad.
A major controversy surrounded the future of Bombay city. The Gujaratis felt that they had invested so much in the city's development, that it should be handed over to Gujarat. Maharashtra laid claim to it on the basis that there was a majority of Marathi-speakers. However, given the cosmopolitan nature of the city, Nehru proposed that Bombay be a city-state.
The issue was discussed in the Lok Sabha in 1955. S.K. Patil, a Marathi-speaking MP from Bombay, said that his city had a "cosmopolitan population in every respect" and that it had been "built with the labour of everybody". His hopes were for Bombay as a "a miniature India run on international standards", "a melting pot that will evolve a glorious new civilization" and he said it was "an extraordinary coincidence that the population of the city should be exactly one percent of the population of the whole country. This one percent drawn from all parts of the country will set the pace for other states in the practice of secularism and mutual understanding". He asked the Maharashtrians to give up their claim on Bombay, in the spirit of compromise.
N.V. Gadgil, a fellow Congressman, refused to accept Patil's proposition. Gadgil was categorical in his demand for a united Maharashtra (or Samyukta Maharashtra, as the movement was called). He said that if "these sentiments were unheeded, the future of Bombay would be decided on the streets of Bombay".
It was eventually decided that Bombay will be a city-state. This led to widespread protests led by the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, whose leaders included Keshavrao Jedhe, Acharya Atre, Prabodhankar Thackeray (yes, now you know where the genes came from!) and Senapati Bapat. There was rioting on the streets of the city and several demonstrators (~105) were fired at and killed by the police at Flora Fountain. Morarji Desai, the then chief minister of Bombay State was asked to resign (a tradition that continues today), and was replaced by YB Chavan. Eventually the Government had to give in, and in 1960, the state of Maharashtra was formed.
Fast forward to the present. 26/11 has started this debate all over again. The need for a CEO of Bombay, or a directly elected mayor. Our city has been held ransom by the state for long enough, but has anything really changed to allow for an independent state this time around?
An article in The Hindu puts it nicely, even though it was written over 5 years ago:
"To recall the debate between Patil and Gadgil is to remember a time when Indian parliamentarians were both independent-minded and intelligent. Patil's case, for retaining Bombay's cosmopolitan character, was made with logic and eloquence. But Gadgil's case, for the centrality of the city to Maharashtrian identity was compelling as well. Here were politicians from Maharashtra who could argue on the basis of principle and believe in what they said too. Can one say the same for their latter-day epigones?
In some ways, one can still hear the echoes of that old Lok Sabha debate. For, tragically, what was to N.V. Gadgil a matter of legitimate cultural pride, has degenerated, under a different kind of Maharashtrian leadership into an insular parochialism. The battle for Bombay continues. On the one side are those who see it as a truly cosmopolitan city, which can still set the pace for other states in the practice of secularism and mutual understanding". On the other side are the visceral chauvinists of the SS" and MNS.
*Addendum*
By sheer coincidence, I was emailed this link today, which is relevant to what I've written, so I'm adding it here. It's a letter written to the Linguistic Provinces Commission by B.R. Ambedkar in 1948. While his overall conclusion is very different from what I believe to be the solution, his is a very balanced and well-expressed argument, definitely worth reading. He says:
"While accepting the principle of Linguistic Provinces it must provide against the break-up of India's unity. My solution of the problem therefore is that, while accepting the demand for the re-constitution of Provinces on linguistic basis, the constitution should provide that the official language of every Province shall be the same as the official language of the Central Government. It is only on that footing that I am prepared to accept the demand for Linguistic Provinces."
"The idea of having a Linguistic Province has nothing to do with the question of what should be its official language. By a Linguistic Province, I mean a Province which by the social composition of its population is homogeneous and therefore more suited for the realisation of those social ends which a democratic Government must fulfil. In my view, a Linguistic Province has nothing to do with the language of the Province. In the scheme of Linguistic Provinces, language has necessarily to play its part. But its part can be limited to the creation of the Province, i.e., for demarcation of the boundaries of the Province. There is no categorical imperative in the scheme of Linguistic Provinces which compels us to make the language of the Province its official language. Nor is it necessary, for sustaining the cultural unity of the Province, to make the language of the Province its official language. For, the cultural unity of the Province, which already exists, is capable of being sustained by factors other than language such as common historic tradition, community of social customs, etc. To sustain Provincial cultural unity which already exists it does not require the use of the Provincial language for official purposes. Fortunately for the Provincialists there is no fear of a Maharashtrian not remaining a Maharashtrian because he spoke any other language. So also there is no fear of a Tamilian or an Andhra or a Bengali ceasing to be a Tamilian, Andhra or Bengali if he spoke any other language than his own mother-tongue."
"Under no circumstances, we must allow the Linguistic Provinces to make their Provincial languages their official languages."
For those interested in reading more, you should see:
The Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, 1946-1960
The 2003 Hindu Article mentioned above
Nehru Said It All
Nehru and Linguistic States
Merry Christmas everyone!
By,
Sanjana
" I Told You So"
That's what S.K. Patil and Nehru would have said if they were alive today. They aren't alive, but you can almost hear them banging their heads against a wall in dismay.
First, a bit of history...
Prior to independence, British India was divided into provinces and princely states, each of which had elected legislatures and governors. In 1947, it was granted independence and was divided into India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The princely states were encouraged to join one of these countries. Bhutan and Hyderabad opted for independence, but Hyderabad was eventually brought under Indian control. Till 1950, there were 27 states
not quite the same as we have now), excluding Jammu and Kashmir which had special status till 1957.
The Indian National Congress had promised that states would be divided on a linguistic basis. Andhra was the first state to be formed where the Telegu-speaking part of the Madras State was merged with Hyderabad. Nehru was vehemently opposed to the linguistic divisions. He said "If you succeed in creating so-called linguistic states now, what will happen ten or twenty years hence? Are you going to stop people from moving from one state to another? This movement will change the linguistic composition of the state." Eventually he had to give in, and the Government set up the States Reorganization Committee in 1953. In 1956 the States Reorganization Act came into place. It recommended the division of India into 14 states and 7 union territories. The Bombay State was to include Saurashtra, Kutch, Marathi-speaking Nagpur district of Madhya Pradesh, and Marathwada part of Hyderabad.
A major controversy surrounded the future of Bombay city. The Gujaratis felt that they had invested so much in the city's development, that it should be handed over to Gujarat. Maharashtra laid claim to it on the basis that there was a majority of Marathi-speakers. However, given the cosmopolitan nature of the city, Nehru proposed that Bombay be a city-state.
The issue was discussed in the Lok Sabha in 1955. S.K. Patil, a Marathi-speaking MP from Bombay, said that his city had a "cosmopolitan population in every respect" and that it had been "built with the labour of everybody". His hopes were for Bombay as a "a miniature India run on international standards", "a melting pot that will evolve a glorious new civilization" and he said it was "an extraordinary coincidence that the population of the city should be exactly one percent of the population of the whole country. This one percent drawn from all parts of the country will set the pace for other states in the practice of secularism and mutual understanding". He asked the Maharashtrians to give up their claim on Bombay, in the spirit of compromise.
N.V. Gadgil, a fellow Congressman, refused to accept Patil's proposition. Gadgil was categorical in his demand for a united Maharashtra (or Samyukta Maharashtra, as the movement was called). He said that if "these sentiments were unheeded, the future of Bombay would be decided on the streets of Bombay".
It was eventually decided that Bombay will be a city-state. This led to widespread protests led by the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, whose leaders included Keshavrao Jedhe, Acharya Atre, Prabodhankar Thackeray (yes, now you know where the genes came from!) and Senapati Bapat. There was rioting on the streets of the city and several demonstrators (~105) were fired at and killed by the police at Flora Fountain. Morarji Desai, the then chief minister of Bombay State was asked to resign (a tradition that continues today), and was replaced by YB Chavan. Eventually the Government had to give in, and in 1960, the state of Maharashtra was formed.
Fast forward to the present. 26/11 has started this debate all over again. The need for a CEO of Bombay, or a directly elected mayor. Our city has been held ransom by the state for long enough, but has anything really changed to allow for an independent state this time around?
An article in The Hindu puts it nicely, even though it was written over 5 years ago:
"To recall the debate between Patil and Gadgil is to remember a time when Indian parliamentarians were both independent-minded and intelligent. Patil's case, for retaining Bombay's cosmopolitan character, was made with logic and eloquence. But Gadgil's case, for the centrality of the city to Maharashtrian identity was compelling as well. Here were politicians from Maharashtra who could argue on the basis of principle and believe in what they said too. Can one say the same for their latter-day epigones?
In some ways, one can still hear the echoes of that old Lok Sabha debate. For, tragically, what was to N.V. Gadgil a matter of legitimate cultural pride, has degenerated, under a different kind of Maharashtrian leadership into an insular parochialism. The battle for Bombay continues. On the one side are those who see it as a truly cosmopolitan city, which can still set the pace for other states in the practice of secularism and mutual understanding". On the other side are the visceral chauvinists of the SS" and MNS.
*Addendum*
By sheer coincidence, I was emailed this link today, which is relevant to what I've written, so I'm adding it here. It's a letter written to the Linguistic Provinces Commission by B.R. Ambedkar in 1948. While his overall conclusion is very different from what I believe to be the solution, his is a very balanced and well-expressed argument, definitely worth reading. He says:
"While accepting the principle of Linguistic Provinces it must provide against the break-up of India's unity. My solution of the problem therefore is that, while accepting the demand for the re-constitution of Provinces on linguistic basis, the constitution should provide that the official language of every Province shall be the same as the official language of the Central Government. It is only on that footing that I am prepared to accept the demand for Linguistic Provinces."
"The idea of having a Linguistic Province has nothing to do with the question of what should be its official language. By a Linguistic Province, I mean a Province which by the social composition of its population is homogeneous and therefore more suited for the realisation of those social ends which a democratic Government must fulfil. In my view, a Linguistic Province has nothing to do with the language of the Province. In the scheme of Linguistic Provinces, language has necessarily to play its part. But its part can be limited to the creation of the Province, i.e., for demarcation of the boundaries of the Province. There is no categorical imperative in the scheme of Linguistic Provinces which compels us to make the language of the Province its official language. Nor is it necessary, for sustaining the cultural unity of the Province, to make the language of the Province its official language. For, the cultural unity of the Province, which already exists, is capable of being sustained by factors other than language such as common historic tradition, community of social customs, etc. To sustain Provincial cultural unity which already exists it does not require the use of the Provincial language for official purposes. Fortunately for the Provincialists there is no fear of a Maharashtrian not remaining a Maharashtrian because he spoke any other language. So also there is no fear of a Tamilian or an Andhra or a Bengali ceasing to be a Tamilian, Andhra or Bengali if he spoke any other language than his own mother-tongue."
"Under no circumstances, we must allow the Linguistic Provinces to make their Provincial languages their official languages."
For those interested in reading more, you should see:
The Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, 1946-1960
The 2003 Hindu Article mentioned above
Nehru Said It All
Nehru and Linguistic States
Merry Christmas everyone!
By,
Sanjana
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Review of 'All Thieves'
Summary : Interesting. Thought-provoking. Witty / cynical / tongue-in-cheek. Definitely worth a watch.
Those who want to know more can read on.
‘All Thieves’ is produced by ‘Motley’, with Denzel Smith, Heeba Shah, Imaad Shah, and Ankur Vikal as the cast. ‘All Thieves’ is not one full-length play, but a collection of seven short stories. Four of these are borrowed from Italo Calvino (‘The Black Sheep’, ‘Making Do’, ‘Good For Nothing’ and ‘Conscience’), and the rest from Haruki Murakami, Mohan Rakesh and Kamtanath.
A wide variety of themes are explored in these stories - love, marriage, people’s reactions to authority, outliers creating disorder where there was order (of a kind), the reason for being part of a war etc. Some of the stories are a wry and cynical look at social phenomena, while some twist an aspect of common happenings and then humourously focus on them. The dialogue is crisp and the denouement swift in most pieces.
Apart from an economy of words, the play also uses props sparsely; mostly minimal furniture, and in one story, a blackboard used well for maximum effect. The background score comprises some really good music, ranging from the song 'Bombshell Baby of Bombay' from an obscure Hindi movie called ‘Ek Phool Chaar Kaante’ to 'Everybody Knows' by Leonard Cohen and lots of jazz / blues.
I could feel my attention wandering during the two Hindi pieces and feel these would have benefited from tighter editing. Other than this, I have no quibbles with the play and thoroughly enjoyed it. The pieces written by Italo Calvino, in particular, were my favourites and I have decided that this is one author/playwright I must read in future.
By,
Zenobia D. Driver
(p.s. Links to two of the songs below :
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/compilations/s/album.9035/
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard+cohen/everybody+knows_20082809.html)
(p.p.s Link to a review of the play that expresses an opinion different from mine -
http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/theatre/theatre_details.asp?code=182&source=1)
Those who want to know more can read on.
‘All Thieves’ is produced by ‘Motley’, with Denzel Smith, Heeba Shah, Imaad Shah, and Ankur Vikal as the cast. ‘All Thieves’ is not one full-length play, but a collection of seven short stories. Four of these are borrowed from Italo Calvino (‘The Black Sheep’, ‘Making Do’, ‘Good For Nothing’ and ‘Conscience’), and the rest from Haruki Murakami, Mohan Rakesh and Kamtanath.
A wide variety of themes are explored in these stories - love, marriage, people’s reactions to authority, outliers creating disorder where there was order (of a kind), the reason for being part of a war etc. Some of the stories are a wry and cynical look at social phenomena, while some twist an aspect of common happenings and then humourously focus on them. The dialogue is crisp and the denouement swift in most pieces.
Apart from an economy of words, the play also uses props sparsely; mostly minimal furniture, and in one story, a blackboard used well for maximum effect. The background score comprises some really good music, ranging from the song 'Bombshell Baby of Bombay' from an obscure Hindi movie called ‘Ek Phool Chaar Kaante’ to 'Everybody Knows' by Leonard Cohen and lots of jazz / blues.
I could feel my attention wandering during the two Hindi pieces and feel these would have benefited from tighter editing. Other than this, I have no quibbles with the play and thoroughly enjoyed it. The pieces written by Italo Calvino, in particular, were my favourites and I have decided that this is one author/playwright I must read in future.
By,
Zenobia D. Driver
(p.s. Links to two of the songs below :
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/compilations/s/album.9035/
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard+cohen/everybody+knows_20082809.html)
(p.p.s Link to a review of the play that expresses an opinion different from mine -
http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/theatre/theatre_details.asp?code=182&source=1)
Friday, December 05, 2008
Bombay Blast Aftermath
The last few days have exposed the gaping holes in India’s security. No one had a clue that such large tranches of arms and ammunition were being moved along the coast. The agencies which did suspect it passed on the information to people who could act but who chose not to act. When the terrorists struck, the Mumbai police was clearly out of its depth. It took the NSG ten hours to land in the scene of action. The media became a liability by providing information on what was happening at the three locations. Shivraj Patil in his interview to the media in the middle of Wednesday night sounded as clueless as the media about the reason behind the attacks and the scale of it. People stood around Nariman House cheering commandoes like a Trapeze artist had just finished his show in the circus and a couple of bystanders gawking at the scene in Taj actually got hurt in the crossfire.
The whole thing sounds like an unbelievable novel set in some impoverished nation in the 70s. Not like it happened in one of the world’s rapidly growing economic and nuclear powers. As a citizen of one, I would so love to kick some butt.
Why is our security not better than this?
We are surrounded by an elite crop of neighbours – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, and China. Pick any one name off this list and you cannot but wonder how we can be lax on security. What are we spending our money on if we don’t know what is going on right beneath our noses? And once hit, why is our response time so bad? While it is understandable that local cops can’t be expected to respond to extraordinary situations like this, why don’t we have specialized cops in all key places? It is not like this is a sudden occurrence. After all Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Assam – all of them were hit just this year. What is our strategy in the face of terror attacks and hostage situations? Do we fumble around before getting our act in place? Why did we have to lose our head of the Anti Terrorism Squad in the line of fire so early on when, with all due respect, he should have been planning strategy?
The fight going in the media about the exact number of terrorists was incredulous. Central sources claimed 15. Mumbai police said 10 landed and 5 went back. I am having a tough time trying to visualize 5 young, determined terrorists training for a year coming to Mumbai’s coast and saying to themselves ‘Oh dear, I don’t feel up to it. I am heading right back to Karachi’. The hatchet was buried when the Police commissioner clarified that the number was indeed ten and all terrorists were accounted for.
What are we doing about our esteemed neighbour, Pakistan, the hotspot of terrorists?
If anyone remembers Dawood Ibrahim (from the 93 Mumbai blasts, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Mumbai_bombings), it is probably from his sightings at social functions in Pakistan. The man will die a natural death before we can even extradite him. Our failure in bringing to task a man wanted in one of India’s most horrific attacks certainly sends out signals that we either don’t care or are incapable. Forget Dawood, the closest we have got to his on-the-ground guy in India, Tiger Memon, is to arrest his family including his younger brother, Yakub Memon, when they finally came back to India.
The universally accepted fact is that if ever a list of best training grounds in the world for an ambitious terrorist were to be made, Pakistan would be right up there in the list.
Does that mean we go to war with Pakistan?
Certainly not. If we did go to war, where would it stop? Unlike a boundary dispute where you know the purpose of aggression, this would just be ‘we will show them’ kind of war with no end in sight. On the other hand, the time has come to gang up with other nations. If Pakistan were to make inroads into Kashmir, it becomes a bilateral boundary dispute. If Pakistan were to train people to create terror situations, it is a global problem. The time is right, with such an outpouring of support from nations across the world, including the big daddy of all, the U.S., to put pressure through cutting them off. Stop dealing with them till they manage to demonstrate that they have put an end to ISI’s training-terrorists activities or managed to get some kind of control over the apparently wild North Western frontier which acts as a freeway in the arms trade.
So what are top honchos doing?
Bickering on TV. Vilas Rao Deshmukh had nothing useful to say and sulked in his interview (http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=hyJ8iIib3A0&feature=channel) outside the Trident on Friday, implying that Narendra Modi should have stayed at home. Then he decided to get some goodwill for son Ritesh by taking Ritesh and Ram Gopal Varma on a guided tour of the Trident (http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=qXqHP3peBUs) (Note to father and son – RGV’s films suck these days. You could have bet on someone else). R.R.Patil displayed his sensitive side by making a remark that sounded like a DDLJ quote on how small things happen in big cities (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Small_incidents_like_this_do_happen_RR_Patil/articleshow/3773971.cms). Kerela CM Achuthanathan’s massive ego made him make rude remarks about Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s family(http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1712278). Surely, these guys are not for real ?
Do we sack them ?
Oh yes. Deshmukh deserved to go. I don’t believe for one minute that his likely replacements are more competent or less corrupt than he is. What we however need to demonstrate is the minimum standards that we, as the voting public, expect from our leaders. We expect that they understand that it hurts to live in fear of where the next bomb would go off. We are shocked by how easily the sequence of events happened. We are outraged by the general air of cluelessness and silliness. We will put up with a lot and we do put up with a lot. But expecting us to put up with incompetence that threatens our lives, is really pushing us too far. If people in charge of our security cannot deliver, then we would like to see them pay for it.
So what do we do now?
No clue. Really. Taking part in candle vigils does not work for me. I can see it is a great outlet but am not sure if it is much of a solution. Not to mention, I am worried that it may provide an attractive venue for any leftover terrorists who did not take the boat back to Karachi as the Mumbai police claimed. Not being resilient and sitting at home is not an option. I have to pay my rent and feed myself.
I don’t think that voting out a particular party is enough. My only hope is voting out specific politicians who screwed up this time. It is one thing when your party does not come to power. But it hurts at a very personal level if you lose and are faced with the threat of becoming inconsequential within your party.
I am certain that Shivraj Patil (http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14808590) will bounce back after a while. But in the interim, I am sure the ‘perks’ and the power he will lose on account of not being a cabinet minister for a couple of years will pinch. But if he just lost elections again… Presumably, sneaking in through the back door as a cabinet minister would become a difficult option then. Boy, that would sure keep him awake at nights the way I woke up in fits on Thursday night, very frightened. And when he comes back, hopefully, he will keep it in mind and deliver slightly better so as to not be sacked. And hopefully, other politicians in similar jobs will also sit up and take notice of how ephemeral their posts are when they don’t deliver.
I still have faith that you can use your vote to make your voice audible. Just think about what your minimum standards are.
By Anita B
(reproduced with permission from http://royalvilla.blogspot.com)
The whole thing sounds like an unbelievable novel set in some impoverished nation in the 70s. Not like it happened in one of the world’s rapidly growing economic and nuclear powers. As a citizen of one, I would so love to kick some butt.
Why is our security not better than this?
We are surrounded by an elite crop of neighbours – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, and China. Pick any one name off this list and you cannot but wonder how we can be lax on security. What are we spending our money on if we don’t know what is going on right beneath our noses? And once hit, why is our response time so bad? While it is understandable that local cops can’t be expected to respond to extraordinary situations like this, why don’t we have specialized cops in all key places? It is not like this is a sudden occurrence. After all Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Assam – all of them were hit just this year. What is our strategy in the face of terror attacks and hostage situations? Do we fumble around before getting our act in place? Why did we have to lose our head of the Anti Terrorism Squad in the line of fire so early on when, with all due respect, he should have been planning strategy?
The fight going in the media about the exact number of terrorists was incredulous. Central sources claimed 15. Mumbai police said 10 landed and 5 went back. I am having a tough time trying to visualize 5 young, determined terrorists training for a year coming to Mumbai’s coast and saying to themselves ‘Oh dear, I don’t feel up to it. I am heading right back to Karachi’. The hatchet was buried when the Police commissioner clarified that the number was indeed ten and all terrorists were accounted for.
What are we doing about our esteemed neighbour, Pakistan, the hotspot of terrorists?
If anyone remembers Dawood Ibrahim (from the 93 Mumbai blasts, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Mumbai_bombings), it is probably from his sightings at social functions in Pakistan. The man will die a natural death before we can even extradite him. Our failure in bringing to task a man wanted in one of India’s most horrific attacks certainly sends out signals that we either don’t care or are incapable. Forget Dawood, the closest we have got to his on-the-ground guy in India, Tiger Memon, is to arrest his family including his younger brother, Yakub Memon, when they finally came back to India.
The universally accepted fact is that if ever a list of best training grounds in the world for an ambitious terrorist were to be made, Pakistan would be right up there in the list.
Does that mean we go to war with Pakistan?
Certainly not. If we did go to war, where would it stop? Unlike a boundary dispute where you know the purpose of aggression, this would just be ‘we will show them’ kind of war with no end in sight. On the other hand, the time has come to gang up with other nations. If Pakistan were to make inroads into Kashmir, it becomes a bilateral boundary dispute. If Pakistan were to train people to create terror situations, it is a global problem. The time is right, with such an outpouring of support from nations across the world, including the big daddy of all, the U.S., to put pressure through cutting them off. Stop dealing with them till they manage to demonstrate that they have put an end to ISI’s training-terrorists activities or managed to get some kind of control over the apparently wild North Western frontier which acts as a freeway in the arms trade.
So what are top honchos doing?
Bickering on TV. Vilas Rao Deshmukh had nothing useful to say and sulked in his interview (http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=hyJ8iIib3A0&feature=channel) outside the Trident on Friday, implying that Narendra Modi should have stayed at home. Then he decided to get some goodwill for son Ritesh by taking Ritesh and Ram Gopal Varma on a guided tour of the Trident (http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=qXqHP3peBUs) (Note to father and son – RGV’s films suck these days. You could have bet on someone else). R.R.Patil displayed his sensitive side by making a remark that sounded like a DDLJ quote on how small things happen in big cities (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Small_incidents_like_this_do_happen_RR_Patil/articleshow/3773971.cms). Kerela CM Achuthanathan’s massive ego made him make rude remarks about Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s family(http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1712278). Surely, these guys are not for real ?
Do we sack them ?
Oh yes. Deshmukh deserved to go. I don’t believe for one minute that his likely replacements are more competent or less corrupt than he is. What we however need to demonstrate is the minimum standards that we, as the voting public, expect from our leaders. We expect that they understand that it hurts to live in fear of where the next bomb would go off. We are shocked by how easily the sequence of events happened. We are outraged by the general air of cluelessness and silliness. We will put up with a lot and we do put up with a lot. But expecting us to put up with incompetence that threatens our lives, is really pushing us too far. If people in charge of our security cannot deliver, then we would like to see them pay for it.
So what do we do now?
No clue. Really. Taking part in candle vigils does not work for me. I can see it is a great outlet but am not sure if it is much of a solution. Not to mention, I am worried that it may provide an attractive venue for any leftover terrorists who did not take the boat back to Karachi as the Mumbai police claimed. Not being resilient and sitting at home is not an option. I have to pay my rent and feed myself.
I don’t think that voting out a particular party is enough. My only hope is voting out specific politicians who screwed up this time. It is one thing when your party does not come to power. But it hurts at a very personal level if you lose and are faced with the threat of becoming inconsequential within your party.
I am certain that Shivraj Patil (http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14808590) will bounce back after a while. But in the interim, I am sure the ‘perks’ and the power he will lose on account of not being a cabinet minister for a couple of years will pinch. But if he just lost elections again… Presumably, sneaking in through the back door as a cabinet minister would become a difficult option then. Boy, that would sure keep him awake at nights the way I woke up in fits on Thursday night, very frightened. And when he comes back, hopefully, he will keep it in mind and deliver slightly better so as to not be sacked. And hopefully, other politicians in similar jobs will also sit up and take notice of how ephemeral their posts are when they don’t deliver.
I still have faith that you can use your vote to make your voice audible. Just think about what your minimum standards are.
By Anita B
(reproduced with permission from http://royalvilla.blogspot.com)
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Bombay : History of a City
Back to work now, and while everything I'm doing seems trivial compared to the crisis at hand, here are some fun and some useless facts I've learned about Bombay (back when it was still called that)...
- The physical history of Bombay is a story of land reclamation. The Great Breach (now called Breach Candy) was built to stop the ravaging sea waves from destroying construction in Worli and Mahalaxmi.
- 179.96 lakh (where 1 lakh = 100,000) bottles of Energee Milk bottles of 200ml each were produced and distributed in 1984-85, along with 0.7 lakh bottles of masala milk and 0.96 lakh cups of ice-cream
- Commemorative coins were introduced by the Bombay mint every now and then including "Equality, Development and Peace" in 1975, "Happy Child,Nation's Pride" in 1979 and "Rural Women's Advancement" in 1980.
- Licence fees for squatters and hawkers in 1972 were Rs. 2 for itinerant hawkers, Rs. 10 for hawkers using vehicles drawn by animals and Rs. 15 for stationary handcarts
- A 1975 Economic Times article described the opening ceremony of the first train in Bombay as :
"It was a warm sticky, sultry Saturday (16th April 1853) afternoon with the sun shining rather unkindly. That time there steamed from a little wooden station (that was Bori Bunder, 122 years ago), a little train that heralded the introduction of Railway to India and the East. It was a different Bombay which witnessed momentous scene—a Bombay bereft of its architectural beauties and its industrial horrors, of its hurtling trains and roaring buses—a Bombay which one would have to see to believe.
The day was declared a public holiday. A space around the railway shed was thickly thronged with people of all classes, creeds and colours. Bands played, guns fired from the fort's rampart, when, at the signalled moment, the train with 400 guests comfortably started was set in motion and went majestically along its course to the astonishment and wonder of the assembled thousands.
The whole line densely crowded with spectators from the terminus to the flats beyond Byculla, tier after tier of the houses in the native town were tilled as thickly as they could be by men, women and children. The scene altogether was one of the great beauty and excitement."
- The first tramways from Colaba and VT were opened in 1874. In 1920, two-storey tram cars were introduced that became a popular means of transport, with a restricted speed of 8kmph! The last tram ran from VT to Dadar in 1964.
- The Taj Hotel was inaugurated in 1904 and was a cherished project of Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata. He is said to have built this hotel after being denied entry to the Watson's Hotel, which was considered one of the best in Bombay at that time.
- In 1870, the number of passengers travelling daily between VT and Dadar was 37, and between VT and Thana, 160!
How many questions can you answer (without googling of course!):
1) The first railway line opened in 1853, between Bombay and which suburb?
2) On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Air India on 15 October 1982, JRD Tata piloted an old tiny aircraft called Puss Moth. How old was he?
3) What was the original name of what we now know as B.E.S.T or Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking?
4) How much were bus fares on the first buses introduced in 1926?
5) How many female beauticians and hairdressers were there in Bombay in 1911?
6) Even though the Taj was built in 1904, it was not the first 5-star hotel in Mumbai. The first one to have this honour was Sea Princess in Juhu. Why?
Answers:
1) Thane
2) 75!
3) Bombay Elecric Supply and Tramways Co. Ltd
4) Ranged from 2 annas to 6 annas depending on the distance
5) 4
6) The Taj did not have a swimming pool :-)
Check out the online version of the Bombay Gazetteer, for the most comprehensive information you'll ever find on this city (unfortunately the process was discontinued after 1986.
Some really nice pictures of "Lost Mumbai" here, though most of you must have seen these already.
Disclaimer: I'm not entirely sure about question #6. I heard it on the radio as part of a quiz, and thought it was interesting. I haven't been able to verify it yet.
By,
Sanjana
(Read more by her at http://visionmumbai.blogspot.com)
- The physical history of Bombay is a story of land reclamation. The Great Breach (now called Breach Candy) was built to stop the ravaging sea waves from destroying construction in Worli and Mahalaxmi.
- 179.96 lakh (where 1 lakh = 100,000) bottles of Energee Milk bottles of 200ml each were produced and distributed in 1984-85, along with 0.7 lakh bottles of masala milk and 0.96 lakh cups of ice-cream
- Commemorative coins were introduced by the Bombay mint every now and then including "Equality, Development and Peace" in 1975, "Happy Child,Nation's Pride" in 1979 and "Rural Women's Advancement" in 1980.
- Licence fees for squatters and hawkers in 1972 were Rs. 2 for itinerant hawkers, Rs. 10 for hawkers using vehicles drawn by animals and Rs. 15 for stationary handcarts
- A 1975 Economic Times article described the opening ceremony of the first train in Bombay as :
"It was a warm sticky, sultry Saturday (16th April 1853) afternoon with the sun shining rather unkindly. That time there steamed from a little wooden station (that was Bori Bunder, 122 years ago), a little train that heralded the introduction of Railway to India and the East. It was a different Bombay which witnessed momentous scene—a Bombay bereft of its architectural beauties and its industrial horrors, of its hurtling trains and roaring buses—a Bombay which one would have to see to believe.
The day was declared a public holiday. A space around the railway shed was thickly thronged with people of all classes, creeds and colours. Bands played, guns fired from the fort's rampart, when, at the signalled moment, the train with 400 guests comfortably started was set in motion and went majestically along its course to the astonishment and wonder of the assembled thousands.
The whole line densely crowded with spectators from the terminus to the flats beyond Byculla, tier after tier of the houses in the native town were tilled as thickly as they could be by men, women and children. The scene altogether was one of the great beauty and excitement."
- The first tramways from Colaba and VT were opened in 1874. In 1920, two-storey tram cars were introduced that became a popular means of transport, with a restricted speed of 8kmph! The last tram ran from VT to Dadar in 1964.
- The Taj Hotel was inaugurated in 1904 and was a cherished project of Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata. He is said to have built this hotel after being denied entry to the Watson's Hotel, which was considered one of the best in Bombay at that time.
- In 1870, the number of passengers travelling daily between VT and Dadar was 37, and between VT and Thana, 160!
How many questions can you answer (without googling of course!):
1) The first railway line opened in 1853, between Bombay and which suburb?
2) On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Air India on 15 October 1982, JRD Tata piloted an old tiny aircraft called Puss Moth. How old was he?
3) What was the original name of what we now know as B.E.S.T or Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking?
4) How much were bus fares on the first buses introduced in 1926?
5) How many female beauticians and hairdressers were there in Bombay in 1911?
6) Even though the Taj was built in 1904, it was not the first 5-star hotel in Mumbai. The first one to have this honour was Sea Princess in Juhu. Why?
Answers:
1) Thane
2) 75!
3) Bombay Elecric Supply and Tramways Co. Ltd
4) Ranged from 2 annas to 6 annas depending on the distance
5) 4
6) The Taj did not have a swimming pool :-)
Check out the online version of the Bombay Gazetteer, for the most comprehensive information you'll ever find on this city (unfortunately the process was discontinued after 1986.
Some really nice pictures of "Lost Mumbai" here, though most of you must have seen these already.
Disclaimer: I'm not entirely sure about question #6. I heard it on the radio as part of a quiz, and thought it was interesting. I haven't been able to verify it yet.
By,
Sanjana
(Read more by her at http://visionmumbai.blogspot.com)
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