The toothless tiger

The Shiv Sena was lying pretty low for a while, which was too good to be true. However, true to their image this publicity hungry party decided to tell the people they exist during this cricket frenzy season. One comment from Shahid Afridi saying an India-Pakistan final would be a good watch was enough to trigger of their anti-Pakistan sentiments and for Bal Thackeray to decide if he will allow the Pakistani team to play at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai if they reach the finals.

Till Bal Thackeray headed the Shiv Sena, the party did have somewhat a strong hold in Maharashtra. However, after his son Uddhav Thackeray took over the party reins and the formation of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (which unfortunately works on similar lines), the party soon became a toothless tiger.

Starting of as a cartoonist for a newspaper the politician Bal Thackeray was given birth to in the late 60’s thanks to the Congress who gave him a free hand to do whatever he wanted to in order to tighten his grip on Mumbai’s industrial unions. At that time too Thackeray was leading an anti-migrant campaign (which he is mostly known for). Though at that time it was against South Indians and Gujaratis and now it’s against Biharis and UPites.

Given the free hand to do whatever he wanted at that time, soon Thackeray considered himself the uncrowned king of Mumbai and promoted his brand of hate politics to such a level that people and other political parties in Maharashtra feared him and were forced to bend down to his flawed policies. However, during his entire political career his main problem was that his issues were never consistent. From the anti-migrant issues it shifted to anti-muslim. Then when that lost steam he went back to the anti-migrant and then the anti-Pakistani rant of his and of course the in between campaigns against western culture especially Valentines Day. The only think consistent about him is the way he communicated his messages – violence, hate speeches, fiery articles and vandalism.

However, things have changed. The party which is supposed to be for the Maharashtrians never really managed doing anything to uplift the Maharashtrians besides changing the names of cities, flyovers etc. All they managed to gain was the peoples hatred and honestly enough is enough with his hate and divisive politics. In Maharashtra, there may still be a few Maharashtrians who look up to him but anywhere else in India, I don’t think his views even matter.

So what does the party do now – resort to eyeball grabbing tactics, all of which have backtracked on him. He first shot his mouth off by slamming Sachin Tendulkar for saying that Mumbai belonged to all. The end result of that he was forced to eat his words. Next he condemned Shahrukh Khan for his comments on Pakistani players playing for the IPL and hence called for a ban on his movie. End result of that – the movie went on to become a blockbuster. Then he opposed Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Mumbai and called it a publicity gimmick, well, Rahul Gandhi at least managed to win the Mumbaikars hearts by bonding with them which the Shiv Sena never managed doing in all these years.

Now coming back to the present, Bal Thackeray has shot himself in the arm yet again by saying he will not allow the Pakistani team to play if they reach the finals. Firstly, he should have thought about this when Wankhede Stadium was decided as the finals venue, frankly not that his opinion makes a difference. Secondly, who exactly is asking for his permission? He isn’t exactly in power and no one really cares about his hooliganism anymore, so what makes him think the people will support him? And if this is supposed to be his idea to prove his nationalist sentiments, then he should realise that by disrupting the finals he will only cause worldwide shame amongst all the cricket playing countries. Lastly, do not mix politics in sports, as a matter of fact any form of entertainment and certainly not cricket. In this cricket crazy country, where cricketers are held at a higher pedestal than any politician, talking about causing problems during the World Cup is akin to playing with fire. This time Maharashtrian or non-Maharashtrian, no one will tolerate it.

So in conclusion, keep politics away from sports, because honestly enough is enough, I think we all have had enough of your hate politics and your parties deteriorating political standing is proof enough for that.

Monsoon magic in Mumbai

The monsoons have always been special for every Bombayite/Mumbaikar, and no matter how much the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) tries to make us hate the rains with the potholes, mismanaged traffic and water logging, one can’t help love the monsoon magic.

The city looks the best during this season as the skyline changes colours from different hues of crimson to blue to grey. Those endless walks on Marine Drive, Carter Road and Worli Sea Face suddenly seem to have a different appeal all together. The wind blows through your hair and the waves kiss your cheeks during high tide and splash onto the roads. Even Mumbai’s latest entrant – the Bandra Worli Sea Link has added to the beauty of monsoons. Driving in the midst of the ocean with the rains slashing against your car gives you different high all together. The only dampener is the speed limit. Also the view of the city is amazing especially with the foggy skyline.

How can I forget the fun of eating roadside food during the rains? Popping spicy pani puris which make you cry or eating chana chor garam as the smell of bhutta’s fill the air and even A1 sandwiches seem hard to resist.

The rains even change the atmosphere in my office. Everything seems so lazy. When it turns dark and grey outside its ironic how everyone in unison feels like having some chai or the canteenwalla’s coffee along with some kanda bhajia or hot wada pavs. It’s as though the rains and hunger pangs have some deep connection with each other.

Stuck in the Mumbai traffic, I look outside the window and see street kids jumping in puddles, dancing in the rains or making paper boats float brings and the scenes bring a smile to my face. It’s as though the rains have washed away all my troubles and made the world a better place. All you feel like doing is getting out in the rain tossing that umbrella and getting wet.

However, August is here and there is only a month more of the rains. After that it is summer heat and humidity all year long. These three months of monsoons are truly a blessing in disguise.