Tag: mumbai

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Chapter One

That girl…

Is it possible to feel a stranger’s pain without exchanging a word? Why did her tears move the young boy?
Siddharth Shekharby Siddharth Shekhar

It was one of those days when I feel this urge to explore a city how people who live in it, do on a regular basis. So I decided to travel from Virar to Churchgate (changed in the middle to a slow train, just to get the feel of all the stations). It wasn’t peak traffic time, but the second class was as full as it can possibly be – I plugged in my earphones and turned on some soothing music hoping it would help me cut off from the chaos I had willingly pushed myself in.

I wanted to absorb the sights alone – it’s amazing how letting go of one sense makes so much of a difference to the experience. Suddenly, the train was not the hot-box of gyrating pelvises I was used to. If you’ve ever chanced upon a conversation about Mumbai locals, you’d know that the zeal of people to reach from the place they’re at to the one they want to be at, completely overshadows the need for space, safety, comfort and things I can’t fathom on the Mumbai local.

It took me four stations to reach from hanging on the gate with my legs and upper body in two parallel universes, squished between two body builders of the badi body, chhoti T-shirt variety and surviving an injury in my beloved man-part by an unforgiving umbrella that refused to stay with the owner before I found a comfortable spot to stand. (By comfortable, I mean, enough space where I could stand straight under the same handlebar and not have to engage in a duel for my right to stand.) Having conquered Level 1 of the ordeal, I directed my physical, mental and spiritual powers to acquiring a spot to rest a third of my buttock.

By now, I have devised strategy to beat the system – I am methodical and fast unlike the tub thumping ways that the masses seem to follow.  I looked at probable people who might mumbai crowded local trainmake themselves scarce after a few stations. On my left there were a couple of men, who I presume were having a heated discussion about cricket. Since this is my story, I am going to presume that one had been hit by a stone in the head and then had picked up the same stone to chase away the guy who threw it at him. Who they were and what they were talking about is of no interest to me, but it must have been pretty intense since they were soon joined by more people, killing my interest, his conversation or any hope that I might have had of getting a seat in his turf.

I directed my powers to the other side of the compartment – I spotted eight people. A deeper stare gave in to the fact that six of them belonged to one family and the other two were unrelated old men. By the way the family had made themselves comfortable (snacks laid out, legs stretched etc) I could say that the family was going till the last station. Now, my only hope was to bank on the old couple – but isn’t it how the world works, somebody old gets off the life’s train and you take their place in this world. But I was there to win – I carefully rooted myself in a position such that no matter which old guy gets up, it would be me who gets their spot. At that time I completely disregarded any other passengers around me – man, woman, old or child, all I cared was about that one seat which would make my journey a little more comfortable than the rest of the people there. And it did happen – I swung into action the moment I saw one of the old guys merely straightening his back, and in action did I stay until I had replaced his bony behind with my cushy bum in that sweet spot on the seat. This to me was a victory against all those people who were trying to impart ‘death by squeeze’ to me till a minute ago. Even though they might not have thought of this as a battle, I had won.

As I began enjoying the sweet reward of my battle- a long journey with a place to sit, my favourite music to get lost in and a multitude of mute movies to watch which strangers around me were building on every passing moment. For example, the movie right next to me was about the family that was definitely doing till the last station. The characters – the father- with more grey on his head than should have been, the mother – a woman with a motherly look (one that we all know far too well, yet is impossible to describe in words), the son – a typical young brat, jumping around standing with his face against the window somehow enjoying the hot humid air against his face, and the daughter.

lonely girlThe daughter looked out of place in this typical family – she just sat still looking outside the window, lost somewhere. There were two more people in the same alleged family, and since there was nothing typical about their behaviour, I assumed that were just distant relatives of this tight knit family. The ride was just other chatty ride for the family, but for the girl, it seemed to me, this ride was out of the ordinary. The chatter of the family seemed to annoy her and she quietly exchanged seats with her father to be next to her mother.

Now, I could see her face. A girl in her early 20’s, but with an expression that carried the sadness of decades. Just like I could hear nothing but the music, even she heard nothing but the silence within. She just sat there an expression so blank, that you would dare not uncover what it hid beneath. She had her kerchief pressed against her eyes, which when she removed made me realise that she had been sobbing. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks moist with tears. Sitting next to her mother, she sobbed the whole time, not making a scene, not talking to anyone, she just sat there and silently communed with her mother through her eyes. The mother also did not speak for the entire duration of the journey, but she held her hand and then looked at her daughter with those reassuring eyes, which said far more than any kind words ever could.

I don’t know why the girl was sad. But I could not stop thinking knowing fully that I’ll never know the answer. Maybe she had a bad husband who didn’t treat her well or worse, beat her up, or she could have done poorly in her exams or lost her job. I don’t know what it was, but it has been almost five days since this happened and I can’t get it out of my head. That girl in the train keeps coming back to me.

That girl in the train…that girl whose mother holding her hand made me think about my own mother. That girl with a broken dream. That girl who let go of her emotions during that journey. That girl who sat there amidst this mad city running around her still life at that moment. That girl with the stillness in her eyes that hid the storm in her head. That girl represented the Mumbai which as I see, after all the hardships every day, picks itself up and moves on. Moves on to dream some more and work towards making some of them come true and trade off some in the race to find that comfortable spot where they can stand under their own handlebar.

Siddharth Shekhar is a newbie to Mumbai, still trying to find his way around the city with a notepad and a camera. This story is based on a real-life incident.

(Pictures courtesy www.mamamia.com.au, favim.com, au.ibtimes.com) 

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Learn

Privatising BMC schools an assault on education: Experts

BMC’s proposal to allow privatisation in its schools will only worsen its flaws and introduce new ones, some experts feel.
by Nidhi Qazi

“World Bank’s agenda is demolition of public-funded school system and open gates for privatisation and commercialisation.”

“Education is not a component of social development but an investment for information society and market competition”- Ambani-Birla Report (2000)

These statements laid the tone for an evening dedicated to the current mess that our education is in. In a panel discussion titled ‘Neo-liberal Assault on India’s Education System and Corporatisation of Mumbai’s Municipal Schools under PPP’, Dr Anil Sadgopal and Simantini Dhuru, both educationists, spoke at length about the education system in India in general and of Mumbai in particular. The speakers also spoke against privatisation and how it is only going to worsen the system.

The talk came in the context of BMC’s recent proposal to allow public-private partnership (PPP) in the management of civic schools. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on January 23, 2013 took a decision to hand over all of its 1,174 schools to private organisations and companies under a ‘Public Private Partnership’ scheme of ‘School Adoption’.

At present

Dr Sadgopal and Ms DhuruSimantini Dhuru, Director, AVEHI ABACUS Project and member of Mumbai Samaan Mulbhoot Shikshan Hakk Samiti, talked of the present scenario of BMC schools.

She said, “The number of children going to non-BMC schools has been on a rise for a long time and thus, there has been a decrease in the number of teachers and children going to BMC schools. Also, the number of students going to English-medium schools has increased even though the percentage of English-medium schools remains low.”

There are two main reasons attributed to the decline in the number of students going to BMC schools. First, there has been a lack of secondary BMC schools for the past 25 years. Second, a large number of students drop out after Class 7.

Some concerns
Coming to the BMC’s proposal, Dhuru raised questions and concerns over the conditions under the Public Private Partnership Model.

There are four models of partnership: Type-i is Full School Management with Private Partner Teachers; Type-ii is Full School Support; Type-iii is Specific Services Partnership and lastly, Type-iv is School Input.

Dhuru pointed out that under the objective of PPP, there has been no mention of ‘Right of Children to Free and compulsory Education’ Act 2009. Also, the period of the PPP arrangement is 10 years, which Dhuru said “could ensure that the handover will acquire permanency.”

Dhuru also critiqued the arrangement for the proposed ground checks, under which supervisors of the Education Department are to visit the handed over schools four times a year. “This condition is contrary to the present practice wherein Government officials walk in to the schools as and when they feel like throughout the year. Why should the PPP schools  be visited by officials only four times?” said Dhuru.

Further, the clause that ‘Teachers appointed by the PPP schools will not do any administrative work and will not leave school for any work’ is contrary to the present practices in our schools.

For Type-ii of the model where NGOs appointed and BMC teachers work in combination if the BMC fails to appoint staff by August 31, the NGO may appoint its own staff. “This amounts to systematically disbanding BMC permanent staff and creating another layer of contractual teaching staff,” said Dhuru.

She also pointed out some clauses as a means of coercion: The first clause mentions that the PPP partner organisations will be allowed to evaluate the performance of the teachers appointed in their school and can demand that non-performing teachers be sent/transferred to another MMC school. Second clause mentions that the PPP organisation will have the right to record its remark in the teacher’s confidential report along with the head teacher.

“Besides coercion, the NGOs/Corporate houses will be allowed to lure teachers monetarily into supporting and continuing the PPP arrangement,” she said.

The overview of education

Dr Sadgopal (in pic on right), of the All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) and former dean, Delhi University, gave a critical overview of how the education system has deteriorated over Dr Sadgopaltime.

“In the last two years, expenditure by BMC schools has increased. That may be good news but do we question why or for whom has it been increased? It is simple. Funds are given to deck up these schools for corporates so that they don’t have to spend from their pockets,” he opined.

According to Dr Sadgopal, these private players comprise NGOs, corporates and religious bodies who will “worsen the disparity in education by increasing the cost of education under the garb of improving quality.”

Dr Sadgopal is a pioneer in the field of education and has been instrumental in successfully running the Hoshangabad Science Training Programme (HSTP), a first-of-its-kind national-level initiative for pedagogical improvement. Having been part of various government bodies like Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) and NCERT, the septuagenarian views education through the Constitution. “The BMC, due to its failure has decided to abdicate the entire constitutional responsibility in order to improve the quality of education, but how can it do that when the Constitution of India mandates it to run good schools and not bad schools?”

He talked of how this move is nothing but brushing off one’s responsibility. “The onus of improving Government schools lies with the Government but it seems to have given up before even trying.”

A supporter of the ‘Common School System’, Dr Sadgopal added, “Such a system is the most feasible system in our country which suffers from huge disparities. With such a system, all the students, irrespective of class and caste can study together. Besides, when schools ask fees, the very idea of equality gets violated and that is contrary to what the Preamble stands for.”

Referring to the Bihar tragedy where students of a primary school died after consuming food under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Dr Sadgopal critiqued the many school systems India has. “Such tragedies strike the poor. Media editorials suggest better participation of parents and teachers, better transparency, etc. But none of them question the layers having been created in this unjust system,” he said.

“The common refrain is that policies are good, their implementation is bad. On the contrary, I say policies are bad, they are anti-people but their implementation is good and with all dedication.”

 (Pictures courtesy www.afternoondc.in and Nidhi Qazi)

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Do

Bringing butterflies back to Mumbai

A new initiative by a city-based NGO, OASIS, hopes to attract butterflies – and colour – back to the city.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

In a city starved of green spaces and facing greatly diminished nesting areas for birds, any initiative that strives to welcome our feathered friends into the hustle and bustle of the city must be welcomed with open arms.

A few weeks ago, on June 5, World Environment Day, city-based NGO OASIS started a new initiative for Mumbai city, specifically targeting its public gardens, in an attempt to create ‘butterfly parks’ at various spots in the city. The initiative, called ‘Bring back butterflies’ aims to attract at least some of the 150 species of butterflies seen in Mumbai, to the city’s public gardens and parks.

Dr Puja SukhijaSpeaking to The Metrognome, OASIS’ (Organisation of Aware Saviours In Society) Dr Puja Sukhija (in pic on left), whose idea this initiative was, said, “In 2011, we had conducted a project on roughly mapping the flora and fauna of Mumbai. Under this, students took a survey of the birds in certain areas, and while the survey was being conducted, we all realised that we hadn’t spotted any butterflies.”

Cut to 2013. Dr Sukhija envisaged a plan to convert the city’s public gardens into butterfly parks, with the help of school children from the nearest schools. “The idea is to plant saplings of such nectar-rich plants as lantanas, that attract the Grass Jewel Butterfly and the Blue Mormon. The Grass Jewel is among the tiniest butterflies in the world, while the Blue Mormon is most commonly found in India and Sri Lanka,” she explained. “We submitted our plan to the Environment Department, State of Maharashtra, and they were very happy with the idea. We have been sanctioned Rs 3,00,000 by them to plant saplings in as many BMC gardens and public parks as possible. We already have upwards of 15 gardens and we are largely focussed on BMC schools’ participation.”

The initiative largely hinges on identifying the best gardens after contacting the BMC, then looking for schools in the vicinity and getting Sapling plantation drive at Kharstudents on board. “We first speak with the students in school, then we take them to the garden and show them the site,” Dr Sukhija says. The planting of saplings is done on pre-determined days, and monitoring of the outcomes is done regularly.

The funds generated by the Government are used for such activities as digging, paying labour, maintenance and purchasing saplings. “We also need funds to conduct educational talks in schools and create awareness. So far, the response has been great – children are extremely receptive to the idea. We are now looking at having college students enroll in the initiative, so that we can scale up the project to include data collection, monitoring and general maintenance,” Dr Sukhija says.

Would you like to be a part of the ‘Bring butterflies back’ project? Contact OASIS on 9820403344 or write to them at info@oasisngo.org.

 (Pictures courtesy commons.wikimedia.org, OASIS) 

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Deal with it

Fake ransom calls and a bigger crime

Demanding ransom for a kidnap, man arrested and found to be a habitual bag snatcher with a past police record.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai sure does witness a lot of strange goings-on. Sizeable unemployment and the lure of fast money prompts several to take up a life of crime in Mumbai, and it is often while investigating a certain crime that another crime or criminal surfaces.

Take, for instance, the case of Yogesh Jaiswal (26). A few days ago, he saw the posters of a missing 20-year-old from Borivli. Studying the posters and the boy’s photo on them, Yogesh had a (or so he thought) bright idea to make some quick money. So he dialled the phone number listed on the poster, and finding that the number belonged to the missing boy’s father, demanded a ransom of Rs 10,000. He is said to have told the man that he had kidnapped his son, and that the money was to be deposited to an account in a bank located in Uttar Pradesh, if he was to see the boy alive.

A case had been registered at MHB police station, and police were suspicious about the fact that despite repeated pleas, the ‘kidnapper’ had not allowed the missing boy to speak with his father. A round of investigation later, Yogesh was arrested from Borivli railway station on July 13, and the mobile phone he had made the calls from was seized from him, as well as an ATM card.

Surprise!

But though Yogesh confessed to not knowing anything about the missing boy and having made the ransom call only to make some money, cops looked up his name and found a bigger story. “We found that he specialised in stealing bags from Government offices,” said an official connected with the investigation. “He would try to use the ATM cards he would find in the bags to steal money. Previously, he had stolen bags from the Income Tax building at Marine Lines and the CST Railway office. In 2010, the Azad Nagar police station had arrested him for stealing bags, and he had been to jail for the theft.”

Yogesh was out of jail a few months ago, and is not a permanent resident of Mumbai. As per police records, his native place is in Sambarkata, Gujarat.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the missing 20-year-old are still not known.

(Picture courtesy www.huffingtonpost.com)

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Learn

SMSes to remind Mumbaikars on eco-friendly Ganpati

BMC is, once again, stressing on eco-friendly Ganesh idols and less banners this year. Question is, are the citizens listening?
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Ganesh Chaturthi is still two months away; September 9, to be exact. But preparations for the Raja of Mumbai are already underway, with idols being prepared and readied for private residences and public pandals all over the city.

And like every year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is exhorting citizens to opt for eco-friendly idols, not Plaster of Paris (POP) ones.

Eco friendly idolsTo this effect, says Mayor Sunil Prabhu (in pic on left, inspecting eco-friendly idols in Vile Parle), the BMC will also send out regular text messages to people in Mumbai to create awareness of the issue – recently, the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan and Ajit Pawar, had taken the phone route to send personalised voice messages asking people to save water during Holi. Prabhu says, “Apart from sending text messages, we are hoping to create awareness about the many benefits of purchasing eco-friendly Ganesh idols.

Not only do these idols dissolve completely during visarjan, thus sparing us the horrifying spectacle of half-dissolved POP idols still left behind in the city’s major water bodies, but these idols afford employment to several women’s groups and marginalised sections in society. We are even charting out a plan to go door-to-door in the city to ask people to buy eco-friendly idols – they are just as beautiful without any of the environmental hazards associated with POP idols.”

Interestingly, despite repeated requests every year, the city’s major Ganpati pandals still boast of POP murtis.

The BMC is also going to insist on only two banners announcing each sarvajanik Ganpati in the area, and will take strict action against those who festoon the streets with lots of banners.

(Pictures courtesy festivals.iloveindia.com, BMC)

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Trends

Young and the restless investing in realty

Majority of urban young are shying away from investing in gold and stocks, preferring real estate amidst a global slowdown.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

With the rupee showing further signs of a slide, and stocks and mutual funds becoming a riskier investment proposition, about 85 per cent of the urban working class is preferring to invest in real estate, finds a survey.

The survey, titled ‘Rise in demand for real estate in urban cities’ was conducted by premier industry body ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce) in the metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata – and other cities such as Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The survey sample included directors of companies, officers/managers in Central/State bodies, teachers and self-employed professionals like lawyer, CAs, doctors, consultants, druggists and small traders. A unanimous thought to emerge from the survey was that a global slowdown and a weak rupee have started casting a shadow on stocks.

The Mumbai city skyline is seen from a s“Over 1,500 respondents felt that investments in real estate, residential and commercial properties are found to be lucrative and much safer these days as such investments are completely insured as against those in gold, stocks and mutual funds,” the survey found. “As many as 82 per cent said that real estate should be the preferred investment option compared to gold and other traditional investment instruments.

“According to them, investment in yellow metal is not as profitable as that of real estate, as they expect that gold prices to further fall. The recent fall in prices has led many to believe that funds can face increased redemption pressures because of the general change in belief that gold is a safe haven. This trend has slowly changed in the country, especially among the investment-savvy class.”

Releasing the survey on Sunday, June 30, the ASSOCHAM Secretary General, DS Rawat said, “About 78 per cent of the urban working class remain keen to park their surpluses in buying residential properties in view of better connectivity, infrastructure and basic facilities and they attach not much preference towards buying commercial properties as these properties are beyond their means which involve higher volumes of investments. On the other hand, about 22 per cent working class and professionals give preference to the commercial properties especially in tier I and tier II cities as they feel that within one or two years, prices of commercial properties will also jump up substantially to get them an attractive premium.”

The survey also revealed that the  maximum concentration of real estate investments from urban working class and professionals are seen towards residential properties in emerging tier II and III cities which include Jaipur, Bhiwadi, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Nainital, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Sonepat, Panipat, Pune, Nasik, Jaipur etc. Moreover, this is also indicative of the fact that buyers in tier II and III cities are looking for quality development and developers with proven track records are reaping the benefits on those given scale of expectations. Over 62 per cent respondents from the professionals’ lot chose real estate properties in Tier I cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, entire NCR, Hyderabad and Bangalore for maximum returns.

Expressing their opinion about the investment in stock markets, a majority of respondents felt that with global slowdown most of the corporations are rationalising the salary structure of their employees with emphasis on cost cuttings, thus dampening the spirit of investment in capital markets.

Nearly 200 respondents, however, still favour stock markets to park their funds and feel that it can give them best returns in a shorter and longer time. They expressed hope that in future, stock markets will bounce back and catch investors’ attention as usual.

As far as urban working class, the investment in gold is concerned, the survey has revealed that the fall in gold and jewellery prices have discouraged the working class to invest in it.

More than half of them said they would prefer to stay in rented apartments and instead, invest in their tier II and tier III city home town for better appreciation potential. About 78 per cent of those working professionals with double income, who bought a house in a metro city, wanted to invest in their home town for a second home.

(Pictures courtesy www.vakilhousing.com, india.nydailynews.com)

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