It’s amazing how activity in a major city like Mumbai can be so suddenly disrupted, its people cut off from each other, within a matter of a couple of hours. The streets get flooded. Knee-deep water. The rains coming down so hard that the buildings on the other side of the road get hazy, uncertain shapes. I just can't help but imagine them.
Turn on the TV for news, and you get static. It is a wonder that life isn’t wonderful for long, so the power goes as well. People get stuck in darkness, trapped high-rise apartments, high enough to stop flood-water coming in, low enough to avoid the inevitable leaks from the roof of the building.
Mobile phone batteries run out, and the signals it receive get intermittent. Stuck planes at the airport, waiting to take off as the runway gets more and more flooded. Food packets being air-dropped. Rains lasting for more than 48 hours. Electricity supply gets switched off because of the flooding, and would not resume till the water levels got back to normal.
But still, Mumbaikars never give up. After the rains have stopped young men and children come out to frolic in the water, which was muddy and filthy. Bits of garbage float on it, and a few plastic bags. The air fills with the crying of street dogs,who ran from one corner of the street to another, trying to get to higher ground. The hour in the evening when the rain gets held up fills by the noises of excited children. Some sit on the road divider, dangling bare legs into murky water, still at the age when they enjoy the water and do not think of the dirt and disease it carries. Then the rains came down again.
The night seems unreal because it gets dark outside. Even at night they are used to little bits of light here and there: streetlights in the distance; glimmers from windows of buildings; at least stars. The only light they see, besides the candles inside and the sporadic lightning outside, is from the occasional car gliding through the water, one-third of it submerged, its headlights warning of its arrival in front of windows from a distance. The dark, still water being disturbed by first ripples and then waves of light and dark, and then the car itself, resolving no doubt to never make fun of boats again. Cars breaking down in the middle of the road, and the drivers abandoning it, leaving its indicator lights flickering all night, so people would know it was there.
Every year in Mumbai there are at least one or two days when life comes to a halt and streets are flooded. If you happen to be in office when it happens, you are invariably stuck there overnight. If are unlucky enough to be commuting, you could spend hours in whatever mode of transport you choose, though often walking makes more sense. Walking 30-40 kilometres in knee-deep water isn’t unusual. Sometimes, through chest-deep water.
Many of them slip into a manhole. Wading through thigh-deep water, people suddenly feel no ground beneath their feet, and find themselves slipping. But people behind often help others from falling. That’s one thing about Mumbai: people help each other, because they know that we’re all in it together. You look out for the guys around you, and they look out for you. It’s self-interest.
The rains stop by mid-morning, though the lights often take till evening to come. The streets no longer flooded by noon. Electricity comes back to the city in phases, and that welcome clicky sound, and the whirr of the fan starting up, coming in the evening, after more than 24 hours without power. The pictures get pretty scary: streets like rivers; thousands of cars abandoned in the highway; and everyhere, brown muddy water. The city becomes its drainage system; soon, that would go underground again, and life would be normal.
Until next year.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi...
The skies were literally black and water had seeped in the ground floors of offices all over. Something was horribly wrong. The huge, huge traffic jams, going towards the suburbs and the empty road going the other way beckoned instead.
But I'm sure many many of us have friends and relatives of ours in this beautiful place called Mumbai whom we could have chosen to stay with - had we known the situation was so bad and many more would have stayed put in their offices - again if they had an inkling they would have to spend the night in cars and buses.
But information, which is so very plentiful was just not there, this season...
Whether bureau
I agree that weather forecasting is not an exact science but our met department has such a bad record that had they actually announced "heavy rains expected" no one would even have believed them.
Still, just a simple early warning system that monitors the amount of rainfall by the hour and the flooding situation in about 10 key problem areas could easily be set up. Once the mm of rain and / or water levels rise above a particular danger level the information could be broadcasted over FM, cellular networks and TV.
Now the problem with this is there could be false alarms - logon ko ghar jaane ka bahaana mil gaya, some khadoos bosses might say. But the only other option is jaise chal raha hai - 'bhagwaan bharose' .
Excuses rain down
The most maddening part was Vilasrao Deshmukh (the then CM) coming on TV and laying all the blame on nature. What about the garbage situation? The desilting of drainage pipes - which never takes place?? Not to forget - miserable suburban town planning.
It takes less than half an hour of medium rainfall to turn the road outside Andheri station into a river of mock amazonian proportion...
Travelling to and fro - even on 'normal' days - is often a nightmare. It really doesn't take much for the whole system to collapse!
The Eternal divide
Restaurants were packed but otherwise things were normal in south Bombay. How, and why? Midday asked the question on many people's minds: Why did city float while suburbs sank?
The rains erased all class and economic differences. But the difference between south Mumbai and the suburbs remained stark.
While people from the suburbs were stranded or had to walk for hours to get home, for the lucky south Mumbai lot, home was only a short cab ride away. Why?
Of the many explanations given, the one which was most disturbing but at least partially true: The real reason is that the BMC and other agencies cannot afford to have the ministers and high-profile people living in south Mumbai inconvenienced.
Update, Jul 29, 2005: South Bombay received only 73.4 mm of rain so maybe all this analysis is crap - townies were simply lucky!
As reports poured in...
Star News had the most dedicated coverage, I thought, while NDTV scored a coup by pressing Gautam Singhania's helicopter into service to give aerial shots of affected areas.
Makes you wonder, given the competition between news channels, will a fleet of helicopters become as integral to Indian TV stations as OB vans are currently? That is, after all, the American way...
But getting back to the coverage, more than TV, the FM stations provided vital information and connections between people trying to reach each other. Because they had more 'micro' and more frequently updated information about the situation in specific areas - not just the broad picture. As a local medium rightly should.
FM also ruled because there was no electricity in large parts of the city. And with the mobile networks down, about the only useful thing one could do with the handset was tune into the radio!
Wonder though how many cells suffered 'death' by drowning... Despite 'waterproof' covers : )
No doubt, there should be early warning systems and there should be better forecasts. But cribbing about it is the easier way out, isn't it? Like most mumbaikars, waded thru the rainwater. Vileparle to Bandra and then Dadar west to Five gardens, to be exact. But what touched me was the impromptu help groups that were formed, out to help others.
Yes, our Government is extremely reactive and it needs to change, but why harp on the obvious? My point: we need to highlight the great work done by the ordinary people. They are the ones who make Mumbai what it is. Most mainstream media overlook the good news and highlight the bad, doing nothing to improve the situation. If there has to be bias (and I guess one can't remove it) I'd rather that it's on a positive side.
As for the systems, railways were up quickly, electricity was cut down to prevent electrocutions, FM was doing a wonderful job. So, there was method in the madness.
Also, statements like "it does't take much for the systems to collapse" are not really true. If you want to see a systems collapse, please make your way to Bangalore. But then, expectation is like amoeba growing exponentially with time, and wait increases expectations.
The biggest point of disagreement that I'd have is thing about the lack of a crisis situation in South Mumbai. But c'mon is it really the well maintained drainage system? Narayan's Rane's photographs that had recently moved from Sena posters to Congress', Cuff Parade suede buildings or their sueder inhabitants, that it did not flood in South Bombay because I do believe that more rain means more damage/chaos/helplessness versus less rains, all things remaining the same. It rained only 73mm in South Bombay, and 994mm in the suburbs. That's like 13 TIMES less. Who would you blame, the BMC worker fed on South Bombay money?
On an unrelated note, my deepest respect goes to people who helped others in the time of distress. And to those who survived to tell the tale:
The Day After
Yes, Mumbaikars were 'bouncing back' - but what choice is there? Mass emigration to Canada??
The newspapers are full of the Mumbaikar's 'never say die' spirit but as Amitabhji once said in that famous song from Mr Natwarlal : "Yeh jeena bhi koi jeena hai, lallu?"
There just may be some hope with younger politicians like Milind Deora at least having the guts to admit - on national television - that something is wrong.
But he is merely a Member of Parliament. Not a BMC worker...
Kuch ghaas nahin
As a compulsive tryer-of-new-things, I could not resist. So I forked out 25 bucks for the 'super juice that is a concentration of essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and cholorophyll'.
Well, it's 'fresh' - that's for sure. They uproot the grass growing in a box right in front of you. Then they wash it and plonk it into a mixer. Voila - wheatgrass juice ready for consumption.
How does it taste? Slightly sweeter than you'd expect but vile nevertheless. Luckily, you only get a small 'shot' of it in a cup which looks like it's stolen from a kiddie kitchen set.
Curious to know more about the 'health benefits', I did a net search. There are many who swear by its efficacy but some have expressed doubts - and I lean towards that school of thought.
Unfortunately there’s little scientific evidence that juiced wheatgrass provides these benefits. And while it may be a good way of getting a limited amount of a whole range of nutrients, it’s certainly not a direct substitute for a kilo of veggies. Plus, if it’s extracted juice, there’s no fibre in it.
On the other hand it’s probably harmless, and makes an interesting alternative to a coffee or Coke — as long as you can bear the taste!
Here's an even more bizarre piece of information. The idea that wheatgrass can benefit serious disease sufferers was conceived by one Ann Wigmore.
Claims are that the juice "cleanses" the body, neutralizes toxins, slows the aging process, and prevents cancer.
Wigmore's theory on the healing power of grasses was predicated upon the Biblical story of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar who spent seven years, insane, living like a wild animal eating the grass of the fields. Because he recovered, Wigmore theorized that the grasses had cured his insanity. The common observation that dogs and cats nibble on grass, presumably when they feel ill, also strengthened Wigmore's belief in the healing power of grasses.
The fact that grass-eating animals are not spared from cancer, despite their large intake of fresh chlorophyll, seems to have been lost on Wigmore. In fact, chlorophyll cannot "detoxify the body" since it is not absorbed.
In 1988, the Massachusetts Attorney General sued Wigmore for claiming that her "energy enzyme soup" could cure AIDS. In fact, when challenged legally, Wigmore backed away from healing claims stating that she merely had an "educational program" to teach people how to "cleanse" their bodies and make vegetable juices.
Moral of the story: You won't get a high of any sort on this grass! Just eat your green leafy veggies at home and dig into the junk food at the mall once in a while and you'll be OK.
After all human beings weren't designed to eat chaara. With the exception of the honourable Laloo Prasad Yadav...
Monday, October 11, 2010
Stomach this
Yes, even as Macs, Dominos and Subways sprout up everywhere, the Kailash Parbats and Brijwasis expand their reach and completely new outlets like 'Wraps n Rolls' enter our food courts, street food continues to flourish.
If anything, there's more of it now than there used to be and it's also cooler to eat off the streets than to be a sissy and say, "Sorry I don't have that stuff".
I still am that kind of person - it was the way we were brought up. Carry tiffin with you, eat at a place with a table, if you really must.
Even on the annual trips and outings, when hicktown cousins came a-visiting, we'd drag along a picnic basket full of aloo-puri. The max you were allowed to buy was a bhutta.
Though I am now 'a bit converted', the fear still lingers... However I see no such inhibitions with the majority of the college junta of today!
Khaate raho
Why is street food so popular? Well I guess because of two factors:
a) It's cheap and it's everywhere: If you can whip up a decent bhelpuri, rest assured you will make a living in any city. Even after paying off the Corporation tax and cops for standing under a tree somewhere.
And you can sell your bhel for 7 bucks vs the 15 rupees it will cost in an Udipi, or 20 bucks in a mall.
Besides, the 'wallahs' are at every street corner and outside every college. Just seeing the little crowd of people standing there waiting for their food fix makes you hungry!
b) It's unique: Unlike the mass produced mastication material churned out by chains and even Udipi restaurants, street food vendors often have the X factor.
And those that do become 'famous' for particular concoctions. Like the dosawallahs, the sandwichwallahs and so on and so forth.
The famous guys actually command pretty good prices. I'd like to visit their homes and check out what cars they drive!
Dirty secrets
Coming back to the adventure bit. Well, 99% of this street food is made and served in the most unhygienic and filthy conditions. Guess it gets that raw and edgy 'flavour' partly from the kholis and jhuggis.
The trick to eating street food is to never stare too closely at the vendor's grimy nails or the water in which the plates are washed.
One news daily once did a story on the 'dirtiest secrets' in street food and guess what. There are some big time bhelwallahs who mash potatos with their knees...
And yet, people who eat this food are not dropping like flies. Of course, at any given time there are hepatitis and amoebiosis cases going around but on the whole, the regulars seem to have developed an acceptable level of immunity.
From time to time - like during the jaundice epidemic some years back - the Corporations came out with 'rules'. For example, all vendors were asked to wear plastic gloves. And no cooking per se was to be allowed - only assembly of food such as sandwiches, bhel etc.
But neither rule is being followed. Chinese carts are still around. And the gloves were quickly discarded because
a) No one came to fine those who didn't wear 'em
b) Customers didn't seem to care either!
It's the second bit that's actually more disconcerting...
The future of street food
I think street food is definitely something which is desirable. All of south east Asia and even a country as advanced as Japan is fond of its street food.
The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) is working with local governments to upgrade street food standards. Visit Bangkok - a country not all that ahead of India - and the hygiene levels are amazing. Didn't just happen by magic though - it took effort . The problems were very similar, but they've been successfully tackled.
But it seems to me that changing attitudes will be difficult as long as the majority of vendors live in pretty miserable housing and sanitation conditions. When hygiene isn't a part of their lives anyways - how can it be reflected in their food?
And so, the adventure continues...
Sabse tez ya sabse dumb?
Forget the debate about what constitutes news... I couldn't even figure out what new look. It just seemed like a stylist had ruffled her fingers through his hair.
And yet, 3 whole minutes - or maybe more - was spent discussing it. And what Yuvraj likes to wear. And which cricketers he thinks dress well. And so on and so forth.
It's great that our news channels have moved beyond covering politicians. So every time Mayawati sneezes she does not make headlines. But the channels have not figured out what to air as a replacement, and this problem is especially acute with the 'mass' or Hindi news networks.
This is actually phase 3 in the television news shift.
In the DD era, news used to be autocratic. Salma Sultan, with a red rose in her hair, read out details of the PM's daily schedule - cutting ribbons, launching books, being received at the airport.
In the Aaj Tak era, the coverage became more democratic - politicians of every hue got their mugs on air.
In the Too-Many-Channels-To-Count era - dumbocracy rules. Channel heads realised no one really cares about netalog's antics. So given that there is no earthquake, plane crash or terrorist bombing, you gotta load up on 'human interest' stories.
Now what constitutes interest, and to which humans is the question. For example, a couple of years ago, Zee News ran a detailed segment on how the planetary alignment of Rahu, Ketu and Shani is expected to impact inflation (I am not kidding!).
This was followed by a segment on how petrol pumps in Delhi are giving out saplings to car owners in Delhi in a bid to encourage planting of trees. One sapling for every litre of petrol filled. A noble but ludicrous scheme - but one which got covered as 'news'.
And there lies the crux of the matter. These are really what newspapers publish under 'features' - except there is no such classification in broadcast. So everything - from the earth-shattering to the inane is lumped into one big basket.
Why am I watching these channels, anyways, you might ask? Well, I'm not. But given that surfing constitutes 90% of TV viewing for many of us, you absorb bits of their coverage by default. The answer is to flick the button and move on...
So, dumb down all you will, for all I care. But please, Yuvraj, the next time you want a 'new look' get a real hairstylist. Borrow Aamir Khan's.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Print
Now surely at 300 bucks (less than half the price at bookstores - even after 'discount') there must be enough takers. Only, they're quietly reading the cheapie copies at home, while those with the original hardbound version are busy flaunting it.
Yes, despite the fact that the 600 + page book is hardly 'portable' I've seen folks hanging onto it in the bus. A fan in my office lugs it to and fro everyday. And last night at the local book stall I spotted one with the salesgirl manning the juice counter... Jai Harry Potter!
Potty thoughts
As for me, well, I did devour it but sorry to say, not the original one!! But I didn't feel like writing about it. I mean, whether it's a 'good' book or not is really a technical point. If you've read the first five books you ARE going to read the sixth one - no matter what.
In a nutshell, book no 6 is much more interesting than no 5 - which was way too long, dark and in parts dull.
Plot-shot chhodo, what I have always liked about Harry Potter are the small touches - the names of the potions and spells, the creatures and teachers. And all the parallels between the magical world and the real one.
In book no 6, for example, I thought the "Apparition" test was cool. A neat spin on the driving test we muggles take as we 'come of age'.
And J K R has got the whole teenager-in-love bit just right. Ron and Lavender's mouth-to-mouth marathons are unlikely to be seen in India. But we've all known our share of 'chipko' andolan couples :)
The thing I really admire is that Rowling does not talk down to her audience. Using terms like 'Pensieve' for example - you might think it will go over the aam young readers head. But what it does is build a multi-layered experience.
Maybe the readers aged 9 and 10 don't 'get it' but that doesn't stop them from enjoying the story. Whereas for the older kids and adults it raises the level far beyond a 'children's book'.
It's a strategy which Walt Disney uses in its animation films. The genie in Aladdin is a perfect example. His wisecracks were for the parents, antics for the kids.
May magic continue to enter our lives - in the form of books - long after Harry Potter.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
The Universe needs 'Business Process Re-engineering'
Evolution, they say, takes millions of years. We didn't get transformed from apes to homo sapiens in a couple of hundred.
But look what we homo sapiens have done in just that timespan. Changed our lifestyle so completely that the evolutionary mechanism has been left far, far behind.
Take the human reproductive system. It was designed for a species which lived a maximum of 30-40 years. Hence we were made biologically capable of reproducing around the age of 14 - giving enough time for the offspring to grow into an adult while the parent was still alive but in the last 50 years, the human lifespan has increased by leaps and bounds. The average Japanese can expect to live to be 85. The average Indian, about 61 years.
Since you and me belong to a class of Indians with better access to healthcare, sanitation and nutrition that would definitely be much higher. Closer to about 75, I should think.
And yet, our bodies are functioning according to the old requirements. Girls will start 'maturing' around the age of 11 (even earlier than previous generations - thanks to better diet and other environmental factors). And so will boys.
At an age where we are expected to bury our noses in books, hormones start raging in our systems and instead, we start mooning over each other. "Yeh padhne-likhne ki umar hai," say parents and frown upon any 'distractions' from studies. It's like - the tap has been turned on - but there is no outlet.
My point is, in the '15-17 years of study' format of life, reaching sexual maturity at age 12 makes no sense - from an evolutionary standpoint. The idea was to enable propogation of the human race, right? In the modern context it works in quite the opposite manner. Especially for women.
The human female is born with a limited no. of eggs and the quality of these eggs declines with age. Hence doctors advise, women should consider having a baby by the time she is 30 and definitely not wait beyond 35.
This, effectively gives a woman just 5-8 years to establish herself in a career. Given that you complete an MBA or similar post graduate degree by 23-24, you now have to swiftly get ahead in your job and find a mate and have a baby in the next decade.
If you challenge nature and postpone having a baby, you may find it difficult or impossible to do so. There are modern fertility and reproductive techniques - but they cost a good deal and offer no guarantees.
Meanwhile, men can become fathers at 40 or even 50 or even 60!
So, if evolution was an efficient mechanism, women should actually become fertile closer to 18 - and stay so till their early 40s. That would still give the child born a very good chance of growing into an adult under the care of living parents and give women a better shot a 'equality' in high pressure careers and modern life in general.
I mean, under-age marriages still occur because dakhiyanoosi thinking parents would rather have a girl who's crossed puberty safely chained to a husband. Instead of risking she completes her education and be exposed to temptations of the flesh outside. Crude but that's how a lot of people still think!
Whats the use of being a mom at 40 and having an average life expectancy of 61 and the best part u cant even live to see ur grand children or being partly or fully orphaned in a short span of time .I think it surely doesnt make sense.
God is perfect in His works. Infact in the older times people did comand a lifespan of 100-150. If one analyzes from the beginning, the capacity of the first man and women to reproduce and further create a generation of descendants who were on their way further to produce further descendants as a cycle .One could expect a women producing children between 14-60. The Bible(Genesis 17:17) says Abraham's wife Sarah went on to produce a baby at 90 and live for another 100 years. Its fine if God blesses u enought a live long age to look after your children and see your grandchildren. Probably at that time men would continue producing children till their wives maximum fertility span. Not to forget the ancient indians were good at it and the Arabs still continue the tradition hoping the govt will look after their children and their education.
Once life is too precious to miss the joys that God has in store for them. Biology doesn't seem to have evolved, and Men don't seem to have evolved either! So you have men who are otherwise career horses who insist that women be happy with another package, all the time claiming to be feminists themselves, because... well, they give equal value to men's work and women's work. (This possibly is a digression.. but oh well!)
The burden of responsibility, mostly due to social-engineering in terms of caregiving is still seen as women's prerogative. It's not a complex .. it's a lament! :) Then there would be issues of individuality, again a myth people have. Even grains of sand would have individuality if given names.
Bottomline: Like any other System, the one God created up there to manage the business of planet Earth and earthlings, just may need some re engineering...
But look what we homo sapiens have done in just that timespan. Changed our lifestyle so completely that the evolutionary mechanism has been left far, far behind.
Take the human reproductive system. It was designed for a species which lived a maximum of 30-40 years. Hence we were made biologically capable of reproducing around the age of 14 - giving enough time for the offspring to grow into an adult while the parent was still alive but in the last 50 years, the human lifespan has increased by leaps and bounds. The average Japanese can expect to live to be 85. The average Indian, about 61 years.
Since you and me belong to a class of Indians with better access to healthcare, sanitation and nutrition that would definitely be much higher. Closer to about 75, I should think.
And yet, our bodies are functioning according to the old requirements. Girls will start 'maturing' around the age of 11 (even earlier than previous generations - thanks to better diet and other environmental factors). And so will boys.
At an age where we are expected to bury our noses in books, hormones start raging in our systems and instead, we start mooning over each other. "Yeh padhne-likhne ki umar hai," say parents and frown upon any 'distractions' from studies. It's like - the tap has been turned on - but there is no outlet.
My point is, in the '15-17 years of study' format of life, reaching sexual maturity at age 12 makes no sense - from an evolutionary standpoint. The idea was to enable propogation of the human race, right? In the modern context it works in quite the opposite manner. Especially for women.
The human female is born with a limited no. of eggs and the quality of these eggs declines with age. Hence doctors advise, women should consider having a baby by the time she is 30 and definitely not wait beyond 35.
This, effectively gives a woman just 5-8 years to establish herself in a career. Given that you complete an MBA or similar post graduate degree by 23-24, you now have to swiftly get ahead in your job and find a mate and have a baby in the next decade.
If you challenge nature and postpone having a baby, you may find it difficult or impossible to do so. There are modern fertility and reproductive techniques - but they cost a good deal and offer no guarantees.
Meanwhile, men can become fathers at 40 or even 50 or even 60!
So, if evolution was an efficient mechanism, women should actually become fertile closer to 18 - and stay so till their early 40s. That would still give the child born a very good chance of growing into an adult under the care of living parents and give women a better shot a 'equality' in high pressure careers and modern life in general.
I mean, under-age marriages still occur because dakhiyanoosi thinking parents would rather have a girl who's crossed puberty safely chained to a husband. Instead of risking she completes her education and be exposed to temptations of the flesh outside. Crude but that's how a lot of people still think!
Whats the use of being a mom at 40 and having an average life expectancy of 61 and the best part u cant even live to see ur grand children or being partly or fully orphaned in a short span of time .I think it surely doesnt make sense.
God is perfect in His works. Infact in the older times people did comand a lifespan of 100-150. If one analyzes from the beginning, the capacity of the first man and women to reproduce and further create a generation of descendants who were on their way further to produce further descendants as a cycle .One could expect a women producing children between 14-60. The Bible(Genesis 17:17) says Abraham's wife Sarah went on to produce a baby at 90 and live for another 100 years. Its fine if God blesses u enought a live long age to look after your children and see your grandchildren. Probably at that time men would continue producing children till their wives maximum fertility span. Not to forget the ancient indians were good at it and the Arabs still continue the tradition hoping the govt will look after their children and their education.
Once life is too precious to miss the joys that God has in store for them. Biology doesn't seem to have evolved, and Men don't seem to have evolved either! So you have men who are otherwise career horses who insist that women be happy with another package, all the time claiming to be feminists themselves, because... well, they give equal value to men's work and women's work. (This possibly is a digression.. but oh well!)
The burden of responsibility, mostly due to social-engineering in terms of caregiving is still seen as women's prerogative. It's not a complex .. it's a lament! :) Then there would be issues of individuality, again a myth people have. Even grains of sand would have individuality if given names.
Bottomline: Like any other System, the one God created up there to manage the business of planet Earth and earthlings, just may need some re engineering...
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