Author: The Metrognome

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Bombay wanted to fight China in 1962

…as did all of Maharashtra. Secret report made by then Governor to President S Radhakrishnan reveals anti-China angst and jingoism.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Governor of Maharashtra has just brought a bit of history to you. Recently, a report filed by the Governor of the State in 1962, Justice HK Chainani, and submitted to the then President Dr S Radhakrishnan immediately after the Chinese aggression on the country’s northern borders, which resulted in the Indo-China war of 1962, was made available to the public archives of the Raj Bhavan. The report gives an insight into the unrest and nationalism brewing in Bombay and Maharashtra at the time.

As per the report, which is dated November 1, 1962, the citizens of the city and the State were fully committed to fight the Chinese in whichever way possible – whether through joining the Army, giving up a day’s wages, holding demonstrations, refusing to strike work, donating blood, signing up to knit jackets for jawans or contributing to realise the target of Rs 10 crore for the National Defence Fund.

The report writes glowingly of Maharashtra so willing to go to war against China, that thousands of people waited in queues to enlist at the Apollo Bunder Army Recruitment Centre; when the Centre was opened, the oncoming rush broke a few wooden gates and the police had to be summoned to restrain the crowd.

Apart from a strong anti-Communist feeling in Mumbai and the State, the rush to donate blood for soldiers fighting at the borders was also high, as was the desire to donate wages  and abstain from leaves at work. The report says, “Donations to the National Defence Fund are pouring in. Large number of people, including Government servants, have donated their blood for being used for the jawans fighting on the front. Various Labour Unions have resolved to abstain from strikes during the period of emergency. Some of them have directed their members to contribute one day’s wages to the National Defence Fund. All the parties, except a section of the Communists, are now united in a common determination to defend the country and its freedom.”

Further, the report adds, “At a meeting of representatives of all political parties excluding Communists, and prominent industrialists and citizens convened by the Chief Minister on October 27, it was decided to form Citizens’ Committees at the State and city levels and in every ward in Greater Bombay. These Committees will collect funds, keep up public morale and also see that no anti social elements take advantage of the existing emergency. They will also coordinate the activities of the various other organisations.”

Read the entire report below.

(Featured image courtesy www.indiadefencereview.com)

 

 

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Achieve

How a Guinness World Record was created

2,639 women danced at Dombivali this year, and the event made its way to the Guinness Book of World Records. Here’s how.
by The Diarist | thediarist@themetrognome.in

It was a sight for the Gods and those recording momentous achievements. On November 10 this year, the well-lit KDMC Grounds in Dombivli played host to a Kaikottikali dance event, in which a stunning 2,639 women danced to synchronised steps. The women – girls as young as 13, a woman as old as 74 and all ages in between – were dressed alike in traditional Kerala cream-coloured saris, and the performance, while astonishing in its scope, was good enough to qualify as an entry to the Guinness Book of World Records this year.

Speaking to The Metrognome, event coordinator Girish Nair (36, pictured at left), explained the logistical planning that went into making the record. “Last year’s dance (also at the Mumbai Pooram, a three-day annual Kerala festival) made it to the Limca Book of Records. After that, we decided to try for the Guinness Book of World Records. Accordingly, we started preparing for the event since January last year.”

The actual preparations involved making a video of the dance steps, so that all participants could study the video and learn the choreography. “We got the visuals for the dance set up, finalised the dress code for the dance, and then started meeting the Samajams in the city,” Girish explained. The Samajams are located wherever south Indians reside in reasonably large numbers, and apart from the big 30 to 35 Samajams in the city, there are several smaller ones as well.

“We asked them to spread the word about the event, and get women to participate,” Nair said. “We even went to temples to inform about the event. And not just Malayalis, but even Muslims, Biharis, UPites and Maharashtrians entered their names for the event.” However, despite a registration of 2,800 names, only 2,639 women participated – the dropouts were mostly college students appearing for exams.

Dancing to a new record

The managing committee registered on the Guinness World Records website. “We submitted the application, after which they scrutinised the entry and approved it. After this, they told us that an adjudicator would come down to see the event – we paid £4,500 for a team of five to come and see the performance. They came down to see the dance.”

And a Guinness World Record was made.

(Pictures courtesy Girish Nair)

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Film

The Bollywood Book Club

Bollywood has been a good adapter – so many of our films come from classics by foreign or Indian authors.
by M | M@themetrognome.in

Life of Pi releases later this week, and it looks good. This got me thinking, how many books-to-films success stories does Bollywood have?  There are a few exceptions like Anurag Basu, who take a roundabout turn to inspiration – some portions of Barfi! were copied from the English film The Notebook, that was based on a novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.

Bollywood has largely been an early adapter. The first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913) was adapted from the folklore and legends of the Ramayana and Mahabharata.  Many have since then followed suit – Dil Diya Dard Liya (starring Dilip Kumar and Waheeda Rehman) was inspired by Emily Brönte’s classic Wuthering Heights. Dev Anand’s Tere Mere Sapne was based on The Citadel, a novel by AJ Cronin. Angoor, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma, was based on Shakespeare’s The Comedy Of Errors.

And while there have been several instances where filmmakers have failed to give credit to the author or even announce that their film is based on a book, most recent filmmakers have honestly included the name of the author in the opening or closing credits of their films. They even do some PR around the film’s release. Sanjay Leela Bhansali did this for Saawariya (based on Fyodor Dostoevsky′s White Nights) and Vishal Bharadwaj for Maqbool, Omkara, and The Blue Umbrella; the former two are based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello respectively, and the latter is a short story by Ruskin Bond.

Many times, you will also feel that the book has been wasted on the film; cases in point are Aisha, a bad adaptation of Emma or The Namesake, a film by Mira Nair and a book by Jhumpa Lahiri. But these have been few and far between.

Here’s our list of the best adaptations of books in Bollywood:

Guide: The RK Narayan classic was adapted with little difference, save for the end theatrics, for the silver screen. Dev Anand and Waheeda Raheman were brilliant in the film.

Black Friday: Undoubtedly Anurag Kashyap’s best work till date. S Hussain Zaidi’s book captures the essential details of the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts, and the actors in the film relive the characters from the book. The soundtrack by Indian Ocean is a hit!

Devdas:  Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s masterpiece has been adapted to Hindi cinema four times over two centuries. The one to watch is Bimal Roy’s starring Dilip Kumar and Suchitra Sen.

Maqbool: Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Macbeth is very, very close to the original. The phenomenal cast of Pankaj Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Tabu were all critically acclaimed for their performance.

Shatrang Ke Khiladi:  Adapted from Munshi Premchand′s story of the same name; the list would not be complete without Satyajit Ray’s work of art. This film was a nominee for the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival.

Note to readers: Chetan Bhagat was deliberately not included in this list. Don’t make me say why.

M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Picture courtesy www.santabanta.com)

Categories
Wellness

Mumbai consumed 200 pc more sugar this Diwali

E-commerce site survey shows Mumbai bought up to 7 kg of sugar and stayed in more during the festive season.

Mumbai may have tried to have a quieter Diwali this year, but by no means did it have a healthier one, at least if we go by survey findings from e-commerce and shopping site EkStop.com. The site conducted a survey on its customer base (6,000+ sample size), which showed that Mumbai did not shy away from the season’s excesses.

The survey findings from the company are:

Home cleaning: ‘Cleaning out our homes is probably top priority before the festive season but in classic Mumbai style, we think of this about five minutes before we should be starting our cleaning! In the 10 days prior to Diwali, EkStop.com saw a massive 60 per cent jump in sales of cleaning agents such as Lizol, Harpic, Colin etc.’

Mumbai stayed in longer: ‘Delivery requests for time slots 12pm to 2pm and 5pm to 7pm increased by 30 per cent, compared to the usual 9 am to 11am and 8 pm to 10pm slots that working professionals tend to prefer.’

Sugar highs: ‘Mumbai’s sugar consumption spiked by a staggering 200 per cent from an average purchase of 2.5 kg to 7.5 kg this Diwali. This was coupled with a 60-80 per cent increase in besan and maida purchases.’

Eating healthy, too: ‘There was a 30 per cent spike in sales of healthy foods and snacks. EkStop’s ratio of Coke to Diet Coke sales is 15:1 in a typical month. This festive season, that ratio changed to 15:3.’

Bargain hunters: There was a 30 per cent increase in site traffic on EkStop.com during special discount periods. A Rs 29/kg sugar deal and a ‘Buy 1 Get 1’ promotions on certain products were a hit.

Gift packs: ‘On an average, Mumbaikars purchased four gift packs in the 10 days running up to Diwali.’

(Picture courtesy www.thehindu.com)

Categories
Big story

CM gives two days for Palghar arrests inquiry

Preliminary report from DGP indicates that Palghar police acted high-handededly in arresting the girls. Both girls are out on bail.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

A day after two girls in Palghar – Shaheen Dhada and her friend Rini Srinivasan, both 21 years old – were arrested by Palghar police for alleged defamatory and hurtful status message on Facebook, pressure is mounting on the Maharashtra state government to act against the errant cops as soon as possible. With the Press Council of India’s Chairman dashing off two letters to CM Prithviraj Chavan yesterday, and a storm of criticism across the Internet in India and abroad, Chavan has given his people two days to complete a high-level probe and furnish him with the facts of the case.

Chavan has directed the Konkan IG to investigate the matter in two days – the deadline for this ends tomorrow. DGP Sanjeev Dayal yesterday submitted a preliminary report to Additional Chief Secretary (Home department) Amitabh Rajan, in which he mentioned that there appeared to be “high-handedness on the part of the field officials” and the arrest of two girls appeared to be unwarranted and uncalled-for. Dayal has also asked the Palghar cops if they had “applied their minds” while charging the girl’s FB post under Section 295(A) (outraging religious feelings). Prior to this, the Palghar Sessions Court had remanded the two girls to 15 days’ judicial custody, but the girls were later let off on bail for a surety of Rs 15,000 each.

The case

Shaheen had posted a Facebook status message that criticised the complete shutdown of Mumbai in the wake of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s death on Saturday, November 17. Her friend Rini had ‘liked’ the message. Angered by the comment, a group of men, purportedly from the Shiv Sena, vandalised Dhada Hospital, which belongs to Shaheen’s uncle, Dr Abdul Dhada. The girl’s family has also alleged that a huge mob of Sainiks locked the girl and her family in their home, before forcefully taking Shaheen to the police station. A police complaint against the two girls had been filed by the Shiv Sena shakha pramukh of the area, Bhushan Sankhe.

The girls were initially questioned by the police and slapped with IPC Section 295A (outraging religious feelings) and Section 66A, IT Act (offensive message through a communication device). Later, Section 295A was changed to 505(2) (creating enmity). Interestingly, the girls were summoned to the police station after sunset – by law, an Indian woman may not be brought to the police station or arrested after sunset. The girls were arrested at about 7 am on Monday.

Shaheen apologised and took down the offending comment; however Sankhe said that the Sainiks were “angered” after the girl was asked to apologise and she refused to do so.

Update: Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has replied to Justice Katju’s letter. Chavan has assured Katju of the gravity of the investigations, and appraised him of the arrest of nine persons who attacked Dr Dhada’s clinic. Read the reply here.

(Picture courtesy www.arabnews.com)

 

Categories
Soft Coroner

The power of aa-darr

Prashant Shankarnarayan writes on how Mumbai decided to stay indoors on Sunday – and nobody was forced to do so.

The situation – A total lockdown of Mumbai last weekend.

The observation: The lockdown was spontaneous and done to show respect.

A recent event shook the city to its foundations. It closed down all essential services for over a day, made people sit at home and watch TV, and gave rise to the kind of crowds Mumbai hasn’t witnessed in years. Most of those who thronged the streets that day were there out of respect for a leader. The others were forced to wait it out in their homes out of aadar that they were made to show in varied forms. But I believe we’re all making a fuss out of nothing. My life and those of the people I know was as normal as it always has been. Let me give you a few examples to show how nothing changed over the last weekend:

#1) Me: Psst…maal hai kya?

Guy on the street: Hai…kitna chahiye?

Me: Ek kilo milega?

Guy: Theek hai…aap zara aage jaake chupke khade ho jao, main leke aata hoon.

This is how I’ve always bought potatoes from my vendor – I dodge through alleys, hide in the shadows, tiptoe to my vendor and whisper my requirement to him. Similarly, he pretends to be asleep and when I approach, dumps a kilo of vegetables in a bag, eyes still closed. I glance around, quickly throw money at him, and let the shadows take me home. Everybody in my area has always shopped this way – housewives, youngsters, married couples, senior citizens. Nothing changed for us on Sunday.

#2) In front of my eyes, nobody snatched baskets from vegetable vendors and emptied them on the road. There were no onions, cabbages and other vegetables strewn about even as cars passed over them. Simple taxpaying onlookers and thela owners did not stare helplessly at the way their area was converted into a mini Deonar garbage dump.

#3) The shutter was almost down, but people had lined up outside the store. The supplier was selling his stock under the supervision of four policemen. This is how I have always bought milk – under police protection. No wonder I feel safe in Mumbai.

My friends also tell me that nothing happened elsewhere in the city.

#4) My friend stays on the fifth floor of a housing society in the Central suburbs. His ground floor neighbour did not pay him a visit to request him to ‘switch off his Diwali lights’ hanging on the window. Nobody had threatened the lady and told her to switch off her Diwali lights, and nobody told her to visit all other flats in the building and tell everyone to switch their lights off.

#5) My fiancée informed me that cabbies were not charging Rs 1,500 to drop passengers from the Airport to Santacruz.

#6) Cable operators did not block out entertainment channels in different pockets of Mumbai. Cinema houses, malls, multiplexes did not shut down – people just decided not to watch a movie or shop.

#7) A girl was arrested for updating her Facebook status because it was deemed ‘blasphemous’. Even her friend who ‘liked’ her status message was arrested. Nobody vandalised her uncle’s clinic.

On Saturday, nobody blocked traffic going towards Mahim and Dharavi, the media thrashed itself and broke its cameras with its own hands, two buses and a few autorickshaws were struck by lightning at Kalyan and Dombivli and hence got smashed, a neon sign of a closed shop at Bandra suddenly shattered on its own, and stones rained down on BEST buses from the heavens, at Ghatkopar, Pratiksha Nagar, Kamothe (Navi Mumbai) and Naupada (Thane). These were a few reported incidents; I’m sure they did not happen.

Nobody called for a total lockdown. The city chose to sit at home without milk, vegetables, medicines, food, water, and in some areas, newspapers, because the city spontaneously decided, “This is a great day to go hungry and watch the news!” The city was unanimously respectful and chose to go without food and entertainment on its own accord. Nobody was forced to do anything – has anyone ever been forced to down shop shutters or stop plying cabs and autos in this city?

Now excuse me while I go out to get milk. *calls for a posse of policemen to escort him to the milk store.*

Prashant Shankarnarayan is a mediaperson constantly on the lookout for content and auto rickshaws in Mumbai. ‘Soft Coroner’ tries to dissect situations that look innocuous at the surface but reveal uncomfortable complexities after a thorough post mortem.

(Featured image courtesy www.rediff.com. Picture used for representational purpose only)

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