Meter Jam
Say NO! to Taxi's and autowallah's on 12th August. A commuter's protest against taxi's and riks who refuse short fares, carry fake meter cards, regularly overcharge, etc - their usual dadagiri. Love the idea, right up my alley, and it's doable in Bombay because of a working and efficient bus and train system. Not sure about other cities though, Pune has really infrequent buses, and Bangalore's bus system doesn't cover all areas properly.
[Image from Meter Jam's Facebook page]
Parel Station
Also called Elphinstine by the Western line travellers, these are some quick shots I managed to take of the street right outside the station. Somehow Bombay always looks more adventurous in the evenings :)
Hitchcock, 3 short plays in shades of Black, White and Blood Red.
If you're in Chennai on the 17th or 25th of July, then don't miss this exciting rendition of 3 short plays from Hitchcock's popular 50's series 'Alfred Hitchcock presents'. Stray Factory has brought together local and global music, art and theater collaborators to make this neo-noir mystery play possible.Tickets?
Also check out a few members of the cast in character: [Photo credits to Ram Prabhu and Nayantara Kurma]
Aishwarya Mahesh is 'Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray'
Rajiv Rajaram is 'Red'
Nisha Krithivasan is 'Maggie
Sandeep John is 'Del'
HITCHCOCK runs for 90 minutes, and you can book tickets here.
Update: The play is in the press! And you can find me under those responsible for set design :) Update #2: Check out the rave reviews.
Shops Demolished
Bulldozers destroyed a string of tiny stores near my home yesterday evening because they were illegally built. The shop keepers lost their possessions because their shops partially blocked the main road.
Unfortunately I'm sure they paid rent for those spaces, as does everyone in Mumbai; whether that space is legal or illegal. Even pavement dwellers pay rent, and sometimes it runs into huge amounts. For e.g. my maid paid about two lakhs for a tiny room in a slum in Thane, even though it was illegal. When the bulldozers arrive and raze everything to the ground, these people lose everything, their illegal rent/bribe, their things, and their space.
Who do they pay this illegal rent to, you ask. An excellent question which has several answers, most of which point to one thing - corrupt government officials aka "the system".
Another e.g. - We were studying mini-economies in Ahmedabad, and talked at length with a paani-puri wallah who also paid this "rent" to the local municipality officials. His stall was illegal but with the support of the local corrupt municipality official with a taste for paani-puri and a home owner nearby who supplied him with clean drinking water, he ended up with a small profit; just enough to support his family.
Train Tracks
It's at times like this that I wish my digicam didn't degrade to pixelated blurs when exposure is increased by one "point".
Vegetable Sellers on the Train
All kinds of stuff gets sold on local Bombay trains, especially in the women's compartments: vegetables, fruits, safety pins, cell phone covers, earrings, rings, bangles, sarees, stationary, dress material, make-up, evening snacks, you name it. What caught my eye this time was the last of the vegetable stock being sold off late in the evening - past 9pm. Within a few minutes everything is gone, because almost every woman in the compartment has to go home and cook for the family.
Local Train Signage
Crudely painted stenciled signage from the relatively new Mumbai local trains. The 'Alarm' sign inside the compartment is pretty legible, but do the same in Marathi, and suddenly it is more difficult to read especially because it's partly scratched off.
I can figure out the first and last word, it says apatkaleen (something) uplabdh. Then the arrow points to the footboard of the compartment door. A real puzzle, typical of the Indian government or should I say Railway authorities. I can guess it means 'In case of emergency (aapatkaleen) use this (uplabdh)' then the arrow pointing to the footboard. God only knows what it's supposed to point to.
It's an excellent example of the typical contradictions you face everyday in Bombay. The new trains have this cool new speaker system which announces the nearest station in three languages, and at the same time the emergency help services and signage are at this level.
My First Time
It's actually a surprise to me that I've lived this long - a grand total of 24 years - without bribing anyone. My first time bribing someone all on my lonesome was a few days ago. It was an interesting experience, and I suddenly understand something fundamental about this system - it works. So what is the difference between tipping and bribing? A tip is something you give someone for a service they have already done properly, whereas a bribe is giving a token amount to someone to do their job, which they should be doing anyway. So they either hold it over your head demanding a bribe (this often happens) or you coerce them to give you unfair preference with more money. Clearly unethical.
So these are my excuses: I was tired, I was not getting a taxi, the bus on my route was so crowded I couldn't get in, and I didn't want to "hang out" as people often do. My entire journey home was going to take me two hours, which is my daily commute, and I was tired. Taxi's were refusing to go the train station because its too close - only a 15 Rs. fare. So I offered the tenth refusing taxi 50 Rs. I thought, that's a nice round number, and Voila, it worked. Awesomeness, special treatment (he dropped me all the way into the station, which never happens) ensued. This is not an anecdote on how everyone should start bribing the evil taxi wallah's, but an honest account on why this happens.
You could also quite easily say that I haven't done anything wrong, this isn't the bribing the government type of thing, or the "criminal" type of bribing. But our easy tolerance and acceptance of this system reflects how deeply ingrained this is in our society. Everyone gives it, everyone accepts it, it is unsurprising. It's common practice to bribe a traffic cop when you're caught cutting a light or worse, most of my friends do it. I usually avoid such situations because I don't drive and when a taxi acts pricey, I'd rather take the trouble to find out which buses ply that route and move on. Eventually though, such a situation seems unavoidable.
Blue and Yellow Tarpaulin
The rains are here tomorrow, and as you can see tarpaulin is being sold on the streets of Bombay, one giant roll after another. Seeing huge quantities of water proof stuff put a smile on my face. And I remembered that summer will finally crack into the awesome monsoons, (which will probably bring the city to a halt again, I know). And with the first few pre-monsoon showers there is unanimous cheering across the streets nearby. Drop everything and get outside to celebrate is a natural reaction. I heard it all the way in my office. I love this about Mumbai.
6 yr old girls injected with Oxytocin
This TED talk by Sunitha Krishnan is a great way to get started if you want to know more about human slavery today.
From a Taxi
These were taken when my taxi was speeding through the new Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
In the fast lane (for once)
"Life in the fast lane" is true for Bombay in some ways [metaphorically], but completely impossible in reality - traffic is crawling at 20 kmph all the time, wherever you are, and after a while you give up on planning, re-planning, and calculating which direction the rush hour is going towards. Of course like everyone else, you never completely give up. And still invest in long conversations discussing the most efficient, and least troublesome routes.
Khadakwasla Lake
Khadakwasla Lake is an easy 20 km from Pune. It's a great place to take a break after a long drive.
Radioactive Waste Dumped by Delhi University
A scrap metal worker died when he tried to dismantle an irradiation machine sold by Delhi University at an auction. Several others that were exposed have been hospitalized. Cobalt-60 had leaked from the machine, and on investigation it was found that several scrap shops in the area had similar leaking machines. Apparently, they are still trying to contain the incident because only a few of the 48 Cobalt-60 pencils have been found. When respected institutions like Delhi University cannot handle radioactive materials responsibly (or at least without killing people) one can only wonder how the Government is handling such waste materials across the nuclear plants we already have.
Clearly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. A university chemist, Professor Ramesh Chandra says that 20 kg's of radioactive waste was buried on the campus itself 20 yrs back,
"...More than 20kg...was buried in front of the physics department during 1986-87." [BBC]
I can only pray that the authorities are going to come down hard on these criminals, quickly and effectively. Though that is probably just wishful thinking. Already the media has stopped reporting the incident, on to its next, more spicy topic of interest.