Author: The Metrognome

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Guest writer

The autowallah knows my caste!

An autowallah selects those he deals with, passengers included, based on their ‘upper’ caste – even his wife’s a Brahmin.
by Nidhi Qazi

After taking a look at the long queue of passengers waiting for an autorickshaw outside Ghatkopar station, I set out to find my own autowallah. After a few misses, I finally come across a smiling bespectacled man – an autorickshaw driver. Seeing him ignore a few other passengers relieves the hurried soul in me, because I have to rush to college ASAP. I dash into his vehicle and thank him for waiting for me. Here begins a 20-minute long conversation till I reach the destination.

Me: Thank you, bhaiyya.

He: Thank you for what, madam? I had to wait for you. You see I couldn’t just let any lower caste people enter my rickshaw.

Me: But how do you know they were lower caste?

He (chuckles): What are you saying, madam? I am in this auto business for quite some time now, I am wise enough to know who is who.

Me: So according to you, which caste do you think I am from?

He: You could be a Gujarati Brahmin.

Me: No, wrong. I am not a Gujarati Brahmin.

He: Whatever you may be, you surely are not a lower caste person.

Me: Which caste do you belong to?

He: I am a Roman Catholic married to a Maharashtrian Brahmin.

Me: Why this aversion towards the ‘lower’ castes?

He (laughs): What madam, what a silly question to ask! Don’t you know how dirty these people are? They eat all sorts of meat, don’t take bath properly. How can I let them enter my autorickshaw? Moreover, they are nothing but a panauti (inauspicious). I don’t let them on board or else my entire day goes bad.

Me: Who told you these things?

He: Even though I am a 60-year old father of a girl, I have been listening to what my parents have to say. They have seen life, met people. It is their education and values that I abide by. What in life can one achieve if he doesn’t pay heed to their parents’ given ideals and principles?

Me: Yes right, bhaiyya. But here when we are talking about human beings, aren’t all of us the same?

He: Madam, let me ask you something. Are you working or studying?

Me: I have done my graduation and am studying further.

He: Okay, so tell me what’s a pig’s purpose of existence?

Me: I don’t know.

He: Your education is a waste if you don’t know the answer to this. A pig is born to clean the shit of this world. Similarly, everyone including humans have a certain purpose of their existence.

Me: That doesn’t really answer my question, does it?

He: Leave it, madam. You are immature to understand all of this.

Me: How come you got married to a non-Catholic?

He: She’s a Brahmin and that suits me well as we were also Hindu Brahmins before conversion .

Me: You are a convert? But why?

He: That again is what my parents had in store for us. Don’t really know why we converted but it is good.

Me: What is good?

He: That we are Catholics. You see, madam, we are one of the best religions. I don’t really like the other religions. They have so many negatives. Leave it, let’s not get started now.

Finally, the journey comes to an end and so does the lecture on caste and religion.

Nidhi Qazi is a student at Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She writes because it gives vent to her ideas and helps her explore and experience people.

(Picture courtesy thecityfix.com. Picture used for representational purpose only)

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Big story

Bal Thackeray makeshift memorial still stands

Shiv Sena warns against State and BMC decision to remove the memorial from Shivaji Park; several Sainiks ‘guarding’ the site.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It seems that the time for the removal of the makeshift Bal Thackeray memorial at Shivaji Park is drawing close. The Park is witnessing heavy police presence, and the numbers of Shiv Sainiks pouring in to ‘guard’ the memorial from demolition are also on the rise. Reports say that a few BMC vehicles used in razing structures were damaged at the BMC’s Worli garage, after a rumour spread that a demolition squad was arriving at Shivaji Park soon.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray passed away last month. After his demise, a tussle between the Shiv Sena and the State, followed by the Shiv Sena and other parties, including the MNS, started over, of all things, a memorial to the late leader.

A makeshift memorial was erected at Shivaji Park for Thackeray’s followers to pay respects to him before he was cremated at the Park itself. The State had given permission for the memorial on the understanding that the Shiv Sena would have it removed just days after it had served its purpose.

However, the days passed by and the Sena made no move to remove the memorial. Senior Sena leaders such as party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut expressed the opinion that the memorial be allowed to stay, in fact, a permanent memorial to Thackeray be built at the spotThe State then gave Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Sitaram Kunte orders to have the memorial removed. That only riled the Sena more – the party threatened that if the memorial was touched, there would be a law and order problem in the city.

The Sena-led BMC has also decided to pass a resolution to rename Shivaji Park as ‘Shivtirth’ in memory of Thackeray. However, the State will have the final say in this matter. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is not amused by the Sena’s antics, and has declared that “nobody can take the law in their hands” in the matter.

(Picture courtesy ibnlive.com)

 

Categories
Trends

Dadar’s Kohinoor Square is India’s tallest building

Report certifies the under-construction building as tallest commercial structure at 203 metres; 12 other Mumbai buildings figure on the list.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The under-construction Kohinoor Square located at Dadar, has just got a good distinction – it was recently listed as the country’s tallest commercial building by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats (CTBUH). Standing at 203 metres, the building is a 52-storey diamond shaped tower that is currently in the last stages of construction.

The CTBUH report was released in October 2012, and lists, apart from Kohinoor Square, such buildings as Sunshine Tower, Marathon Futurex, Parinee I, MVRDC, Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, IDBI Towers, Express Towers, Air India Building, CG House, Haj House, 247Park and Century Mills Tower as the city’s tallest skyscrapers. Of the 22 buildings listed by CTBUH, 13 are from Mumbai, while three each are from Bangalore and Gurgaon, two are from Noida and one is from Kolkata.

Kohinoor Square is said to be the only mixed-used development project in Mumbai, offering 40 floors of commercial space, 50,000 square feet of retail space and about 64 residential apartment spaces. There will also be a luxury hotel on top of the commercial tower.

“It enjoys a strategic location, with proximity to Dadar railway station and it is close to western and eastern expressways.  So, apart from being accessible to people travelling by train, it is also close to the Bandra-Worli sea link and both the expressways,” said Nathan Andrews, Chief Marketing Officer, Kohinoor Square.

Other plans for the building include 48 high-speed elevators along with 12 escalators, a car parking for 2,000 vehicles and an intelligent traffic management system, double height landscaped sky gardens and double height terraces with floor-to-ceiling glazing on every alternate floor.

“In order to have a green building and reduce our energy consumption by over 25 per cent, we have used double glazed reflective glass facades, which restrict the energy from coming in, but let in natural light, thereby reducing consumption of electricity,” said Nathan.

Measuring tallness

The CTBUH does not measure ‘tallness’ based on a building’s height alone – such parameters as height relative to the building’s context, proportion and technologies used for tall buildings (such as vertical transport and structural wind bracing) come into play when determining whether a building is tall or not.

(Pictures courtesy kohinoorsquare.in)

Categories
Event

Rally around for human rights

NGO to hold rallies, informal meetings and lectures to spread awareness of human rights violations. Human Rights Day was yesterday.

The Students’ Islamic Organisation (SIO) of India’s Mumbai chapter yesterday held a meeting to brief the press and the public about its programme to spread awareness of human rights violations, both in India and abroad. A major talking point for the meeting was the ongoing crisis at Gaza, and the numerous reported human rights violations happening there.

As per a member of the SIO, Mumbai, “On the occasion of World Human Rights Day, we decided to hold a meeting to discuss the ongoing human rights violations in Gaza, as well as the State-sponsored imprisonment of several Muslim youth in jails on the wrongful accusation of them being terrorists. Besides this, we are also addressing such issues that affect the society in terms of education and employment, as also the effect of extremist speeches and writings on people and the loss of personal liberty.”

The SIO plans to implement its programme through a series of events, such as public lectures, essay writing competitions, lectures in colleges, youth meets, ‘corner meetings’, discussions and analysis of the Human Rights Charter, displaying human rights posters, and human chains at various points in the city.

Categories
Eat

Food for 2012’s last month

Ziya at the Oberoi Hotel starts a six-day ‘Z’ menu from today; all dishes served will incorporate the letter ‘Z’.
by The Diarist | thediarist@themetrognome.in

It’s the last month of 2012, and for most of us, 2013 can’t get here soon enough. So while we’re waiting for the year to end, why not dig into a specially-designed menu with a twist?

Twice-Michelin starred chef Vineet Bhatia has created a fun new menu – the Z menu – for patrons of Ziya, The Oberoi, Mumbai. Inspired by the last letter of the alphabet, it is being served from today to December 16, with each dish incorporating the alphabet Z.

As per a release from Ziya, “Guests will begin their dining experience with Zafran, saffron shorba, Charmagaz marbles and naan malai bruschetta, followed by a choice of either Zucchini Bekti with Bengal gram masala and zucchini korma or Zucchini‐chilli paneer, with Bengal gram masala and zucchini korma.” The next course will offer Zattar chicken tikka with Punjabi paratha and papaya chutney or Zattar saag corn seekh with Punjabi paratha and papaya chutney, followed by Zeera, Cumin lamb pasanda, rice gattas, cumin potatoes, and lamb jus or Zeera, Cumin aubergine gujiya, rice gattas, cumin potatoes, and panch‐phoran tomato sauce.

The restaurant will let you end your meal “with a dose of death by chocolate, by trying Zeher, which is mocha coffee‐chilli choco cheesecake with Cookie kulfi, and sesame butter truffle.” Other vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare will also be available during this time.

(Picture courtesy pioneerwoman.com. Picture used for representational purpose only)

 

 

Categories
Big story

1,374 Bangladeshis caught in Mumbai this year

They crossed over into the country and later, Mumbai, without valid papers. 250 Bangladeshis were deported in 2012 by cops.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The numbers of illegal migrants to India show no sign of dwindling. Bangladesh, especially, is guilty of sending the most numbers of migrants to India every year, as police records show, and many of these make their way to Mumbai. This year alone, the Mumbai police have apprehended 1,374 Bangladeshis, of which 250 have been deported.

Last month, too, the I Unit of the Special Branch of the Mumbai Police had rounded up close to 250 Bangladeshi workers employed on major infrastructure project sites in the city. The workers were caught after a series of surprise raids were conducted on these sites, one of which was an MMRDA project, and none of those caught had valid work permits in their possession.

What’s more, illegal Bangladeshi migrants have been found to reside in across the length and breadth of the city. Last week, in a series of raids conducted by the I Unit in such locations as Mankhurd, Ashok Nagar (Borivli east), Thane rural, Navi Mumbai (Kharghar, Kamothe village and Ghansoli), Vasai, Turbhe (Indira Nagar slums), Mira Road, Naigaon, Bhayander and Nalasopara, among others, 328 migrants were apprehended for staying in the city. These comprise over 70 children as well. The raids were conducted by special teams on December 6 and 8, 2012.

Mumbai alone accounts for 1,374 arrests of Bangladeshi migrants this year. We wonder what the numbers add up to in the rest of the State and the country.

(Picture courtesy flapsblog.com. Picture used for representational purpose only)

 

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