Mumbai Dreams!

Enjoying a rare off on Sunday today I also had the rare luxury of going for an afternoon nap. To my surprise I managed some sleep, however in fits and starts. And, I had a series of dreams mostly taking me back to my native land Assam which was only natural because I paid a visit there recently and maybe also because our Spring festival (start of four seasons) Bohag or Rongali Bihu has begun—today being Goru Bihuwhen we worship cattle and tomorrow Manuh Bihu that is our New Year day. In Mumbai we hardly get the ambiance.

Anyway, one of the dreams was very interesting. I was walking out of some place in Guwahati and a man suddenly touched my shoulder from behind. I ignored it first thinking it was by mistake. But as I felt being touched again I stopped and the man came around blocking my way. He said,

“You live in Mumbai, no?”

“Yes, how can I help you?”

“Well, I see only posh high-rise buildings there with spacious balconies. I’m planning a visit there and don’t know where to put up!”

Shaking off the fear of an impending stranger guest in my humble lodgings I said,

“No worries. Around the railway stations and airports there are many hotels and lodges.”

“But are they affordable?”

“No problems even if you cannot afford. You can stay and sleep in the railway station platforms, in the pavements and even in the streets. You see, people of Mumbai sleep everywhere!” The man gave a bemused smile and dissolved away.

I laughed out as I woke up with a jerk. I realized how the very essence of a city where you live for long years gets not only into your conscious system but also into your subconscious.

Dreams in Mumbai get continuously shattered by the hard realities. Owning a flat here is now getting out of reach even for the upper middle classes. With population pressures increasing all the time thanks to immigration to the dream city people are occupying every possible place for living. Such has been the demand for sleeping and squatting facilities in the city and around that vested interests have been taking up illegal constructions, particularly in the satellite towns of Mumbai. On 4^th April, 2013 a seven-storey building constructed illegally and completed in mere months in Mumbra came down crashing killing 74 residents. The building was constructed to house people of labor class who, as per reports, were also illegal immigrants. In fact, nearly ninety percent of buildings in this satellite township are reportedly illegal. Some other reports reveal that even the bungalow of the town mayor was constructed illegally!

The tragedy rocked the Maharashtra Assembly in session, and the system had to wake up again as is usual after a mishap. A demolition campaign ensued in Mumbra and the municipal authorities cut off water and electricity supply to many other illegal buildings. To confound matters the inhabitants of the town called for a Mumbra Bandh against the government action. Well, they have to eke out their existence, housed legally or illegally; they hardly have any choice.

Mumbai—caught between dream and reality. Life goes on though.

Movies: Legendary Bollywood Villain Pran Gets Dadasaheb Phalke Award!

Pran—a name that terrorized us as little kids; a name that we loved to adore as we grew older and a name that has remained with us till now and forever. We were struck with awe by his villainous portrayals and yet we could not stop liking him—his gait, his style of talking, his looks, his smart dress code and the eternal cigarette in his hands. That time we were not capable of judging him as an actor, but the way he kept us spellbound was only due to his intensely powerful and effective performances. Since we loved him so much even as a villain we longed to see him as a good guy on the side of the fighting-for-truth hero. And, we got that hugely satisfying and gratifying experience too.

Pran Krishan Sikand (born 1920) turned 93 in February this year and yesterday, the 12^thof April, 2013, he was chosen for the supreme honour of Indian cinema—the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2012. Maybe a little late as the classic Bollywood actor is almost unable to walk around or talk articulately. But, never too late. As a media person I tried to capture his expressions and possibly his byte on camera on this momentous occasion by all means, but was advised against it by his closest kin. Quite understandable.  The superstar of the millennium Amitabh Bachchan responded immediately to speak on phone about the legendary villain of the millennium. Incidentally, in most of the 15 movies Amitabh acted with Pran the legendary villain invariably played the good guy or bad guy turned good roles. Some of these movies were runaway hits as we cherished two great superstars—one as the super hero and the other as the staunch and unflinching supporter.

In his six decade long film career Pran never had a low. Hits and super-hits followed him from the early forties to the late nineties. He had been the typical villain with all the classic heroes of those times—Sunil Dutt, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. For our generation a few of the most memorable movies of Pran as a villain that we watched much later were Gumnaam (1965), Ram Aur Shyam(1967), An Evening In Paris (1967), Sadhu Aur Shaitaan (1968) and as late as in 1983 in Andha Kanoon (with Amitabh Bachchan) where Pran played a villain still as lethal . In between he played one or two odd positive roles. 

However, his landmark positive role came in Manoj Kumar’s Upkar (1967) when his prowess in a strong supporting role got noticed. And then, Zanjeer (1973) happened.

In Zanjeerwe had the best of both worlds. We accepted the new angry superhero Amitabh Bachchan who became a household name after this movie. We were overwhelmed by the strong supporting role as the hero’s aide by Pran. For the first time we had two superstars fighting for a common cause—our cause rather considering how emotional and impulsive we were. In fact, Pran recommended Amitabh in the hero’s role for this blockbuster, and the close association between the two superstars that started then never ceased. In the late nineties when Amitabh was going through a crisis Pran helped the Big B by agreeing to act in two movies with him despite his deteriorating health.

We congratulate the perfect villain cum Robin Hood on screen and the perfect, soft spoken and amiable gentleman off screen, Pran Saheb, for this great honour that finally recognized his immense contribution to Indian cinema. He has won many other laurels and awards throughout his career, but this supreme honour just proves again how much he is still loved by people of all ages and walks of life. We hope he will have good health soon and will receive the Award in full flow and in full glow. We salute the great actor.

Politics: The Appalling Insensitivity!

The ‘of the people, for the people and by the people’ of democracy has been fast reduced to a myth, and the emerging truth being ‘of the politicians, for the politicians and by the politicians’. We have seen public eruptions of ire against the politicians regularly over the years in various parts of India, but the politicians remained stoic, incorrigible, uncaring as ever, and active in their usual way. Two recent instances just prove the point on democracy.

Firstly, the western state of Maharashtra has been facing the worst drought in forty years and the accompanying crisis of load shedding has made life difficult for the farmers. In a situation like this when immediate relief was the basic need, none other than the Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) of the state—Ajit Pawar—in a public rally recently chose to ridicule a fasting farmer by uttering that it was pointless to demand release of water from the dams since most of them were running dry, and even urinating in the dams would not solve the problem because without drinking water it was hard to do that. As some of the audience laughed largely due to servility, the Minister got bolder and his darkest of dark humor vented itself on the problem of load shedding too. The atrociously humorous politician opined that thanks to the long dark hours in the powerless nights the birth of children increased, because, the erudite leader added, people naturally had no other ‘work’ to do.

Following a national outrage the DCM apologized and admitted it was the biggest mistake of his political career. However, the opposing politicians got another opportunity to do politics and stall the proceedings of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for days demanding resignation of the DCM. Farmers of Maharashtra responded by holding protest rallies and burning of effigies.

Secondly, the North Eastern state of Assam has been under the absolute siege of illegal Syndicates for over a decade now. The politicians there feigned ignorance of the very existence of the Syndicates all the time and… suddenly there was action.

The Syndicate is not exactly a cartel and it is closer to being a mafia. Criminal minded people blessed as ever by the politicians constitute a Syndicate by taking in businesspersons and dealers of everyday commodities like fish, eggs and vegetables. The criminals extort money from the members assuring them of protection from any government action or income tax raids or other calamities. Leaving the Syndicate is dangerous and there was one case where the defecting businessperson was murdered. The protection money allegedly benefits all the politicians, agents and bureaucrats and the common buyers already under raging inflation suffer more in terms of artificially increased prices as the extorted money is always passed over to the customers.

Suddenly the Government of Assam cracked down on the illegal Syndicates and arrested one criminal who progressed from a poor vendor to a millionaire in quick time running his Syndicate on vegetables. The crackdown continued, but the people were not happy even as prices of many items actually fell particularly in a time of the Spring Festival or Rongali Bihu. They saw through the government action. There was a crisis of dissidence in the government with negotiations not leading to a solution. So then, all the Syndicates that were affected by the government action allegedly benefited the dissident politicians ranging from Ministers to Members of the Assembly.

Kaziranga National Parkin Assam has the largest share of the great one-horned rhinoceroses of the world and Assam is proud to have the rhino as the state symbol. Therefore, it is only natural that politicians there develop rhino skin and become oblivious of all problems related to the common human beings.

In a way, Indian politicians do differ in terms of party ideologies or manifestos, but they always pursue their objectives unitedly. That is to say, in the largest democracy.