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Deal with it

Animals rescued from captivity

The Thane SPCA rescued several animals kept captive by a family in Bhayander. Mongoose, turtles and black kites were rescued.
by The Thane SPCA

The Thane SPCA (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) receives tip offs about animal cruelties and illegal keeping of wildlife many times a week. Last week quite a few people from Bhayander reported a family keeping several mongoose, turtles and black kites inside their garden and home. All these animals are classifieds as wildlife and no citizen is allowed to be in possession of such animals in our country.The neighbours were scouting for an organisation to complain to since many months, as they were fed up of seeing the animals in captivity.

The action had to be well-planned. First, we had to confirm that the complaint was true. To do this, our support staff  pretended to catch an injured dog in the area and went up and down the bungalow a few times. The mongoose could clearly be seen. A couple of black kites also could be seen inside the room. The turtles, however, were out of sight.

Since the Forest Department would not be available till after Christmas, we decided to tell them after December 25 to ensure that the news did not leak out. To ensure that they accompany us, we offered our ambulance to carry the animals back.

It was a risky raid, even with the Forest Officers present, because this is an extremely closed community on the outskirts where every family gets solid backup from the rest of the community. So we planned to do this between 12 and 2 pm when most people would be away at work. Luckily, we were able to sweep up the animals and leave just when crowds had started gathering. The mongoose were in the worst condition, in a dilapidated rusted cage where they were provided with iron pipe pieces to nest in and hide. The turtles were all in individual buckets with squalid water. Obviously, with no space to move around. All animals were handed over to the Forest Department.

Thane SPCA regularly provides the Thane Forest department with personnel and vehicle backup. This time, we will appeal to the Forest Department to provide their Officers with a backup team in case of emergencies, and definitely with some basic arms like batons for self defense. Till then, Thane SPCA has offered the Mumbai Forest Office the services of our staff and ambulance, albeit with a few days prior notice to schedule their daily rescue work.


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Deal with it

Where in the world is JB Talleu?

This Frenchman came to Mumbai in 2007 and vanished without a trace. His family and friends still look for him.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

It is a story that continues to baffle me, five years after it happened. I used to be a correspondent with a Pune-based paper in 2007, when the news of French national Jean Baptiste (JB) Talleu’s disappearance first broke out. Apparently, the 27-year-old was to embark on a bicycle tour of India, starting from Pondicherry, and he arrived at Mumbai on December 7 that year. The only evidence of him being in Mumbai at all was that he withdrew money from an ATM near Film City, Goregaon.

Nobody’s seen or heard of him since.

Somehow, I still write about JB every year.

The Talleus, especially his mother Marie-Claire, continue to fly to India and follow up every possible lead, of which there have been many. The Talleus and their friends here have made trips to several places in the South and North of India, while always passing through Mumbai to appeal to the authorities to help find their son. And yet, his mother, despite not knowing the fate that met her son five years ago in Mumbai, feels better the moment she gets here, because “this is where he was.”

I met a friend of the family, Dominique Hoeltgen last week in Mumbai. Dominique is a journalist who has lived in Mumbai before relocating to France two years ago; she met JB’s mother when the story first broke out, and quickly became friends with her. She has even helped in the search for the missing cyclist. “People have been writing to Marie-Claire on her email, telling her that they have seen a man who looks like JB. Whenever possible, I’ve followed up those leads myself, but all of them were dead ends.”

I ask her what she thinks happened when JB arrived at Mumbai. “I’ve thought about it and thought about it, and I think he was harmed by somebody here, may be for money. I find it strange that there is no trace even of his bicycle, so maybe he was mugged and his money and belongings were stolen. But I keep thinking that he is alive, he is just lost somewhere and that we have to find him.”

But why would JB, normally in the habit of contacting his mother whenever out on one of his trips, not contact her in five years? “I think he must have lost his mind,” Dominique suggests. “The people who have told us that they saw him, all of them insisted that the man they saw didn’t have any belongings. One person in Gujarat, a doctor, said that he spoke to the man who he thought was JB, and that the man told him that his belongings were all taken away from him when he came to India. The man had been sitting alone near a temple, and had a French accent,” she explains. Nothing came of that lead, either.

Even more puzzling is the police and French Embassy’s inaction in cracking the murder. “We made several trips to the cops, we pleaded with them to follow up the lead in Gujarat, but they didn’t do anything,” Dominique alleges. “We were even more surprised that the French Embassy did nothing, continues to do nothing, to trace its own national.”

Christmas approaches, and JB, a deeply spiritual person who is very close to his family, is still out there somewhere, lost. It’s another Christmas for the Talleus with no answers. Let’s hope they hear something before the next festive season.

If you have any information on the disappearance of Jean Baptiste Talleu, write to mctalleu@gmail.com. 

(Picture courtesy indiamike.com)

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Guest writer

Sex and the city

Shifa Maitra recounts a recent late night ordeal in Mumbai, and says that Mumbai is only slightly safer than Delhi.

So Delhi is an awful place and women shouldn’t even visit. Well, Mumbai is just a tad better. Having lived in both cities and having returned here after a five-year stint in Delhi, I can tell you that living on your own as a single woman here isn’t as great
as it used to be. I am not comparing it to Delhi, but let’s put it this way, women can’t be as bindass as they used to be here. With women being molested outside a five star hotel on New Year’s eve, to a security guard sexually assaulting and killing a bright young lawyer, to acid attacks, stones being pelted at the ladies compartments in trains…all of it is a nightmare.

I recently had a shocker of an experience when I was returning home from a late night shoot. Thank God my driver was driving. It was around 3 am and at the Juhu beach turning, an SUV came very close to my car, with some guys inside it waving and screaming. My first reaction was to see if it was someone I knew, but my driver sensed trouble and stepped on the accelerator. I could see them screaming and making lewd gestures. I panicked and my driver warned me that he would be speeding – this car tried to block our way and stop in front of us. The entire ordeal lasted a few minutes but it was nightmarish. When I looked up, my driver had taken another route till we lost them.

I was telling a friend the next day about this incident, and she said that something similar had happened to her and a friend when they left from Wtf in Versova and were going home. We don’t have a Chief Minister, yet, who tells us that women should stay at home to avoid such incidents, but we are getting there.

Pepper sprays and learning taekwando are all very well. Drunk driving is something the city has been able to get under control, but all the same, driving alone past midnight is best avoided. A friend had a flat tyre late at night at the Garage Road in Santacruz, and she was pretty shaken up by the time she got home.

Another thing to avoid is going for a walk or a run at night. From Versova’s back road to the Carter Road promenade, women have had to deal with unwelcome attention for no fault of theirs.

Allowing electricians, plumbers and watchmen inside your home when you are alone is again a no-no. However inconvenient, call a friend or neighbour to hang around till the work is being done. Someone I know runs an agency for guards, and he was candid about the fact that background checks on those employed are not always done.

Taking an autorickshaw at night is asking for trouble. God help you if you light up a cigarette, you really may not get home. People who seem perfectly ‘normal’ when alone, when in a group become a mob that can’t be trusted. Colaba Causeway, Gateway of India, Linking Road and Juhu are areas that are hellholes, given that streetwalkers operate there and any woman out at night alone is instantly branded as one.

Crowded places are again a bane, whether it is Ganpati visarjan or Holi. New Year’s eve or the Bandra Fair, the minute a woman is in the crowd, it is assumed that the woman will ‘enjoy’ being groped and molested. Sad but true, that women are better off staying off the roads when these hooligans reign.

Well, the silver lining is that if a woman asks for help in a public place in Mumbai, people will step forward and help her. Walking into a cop station is also not as daunting as it would be in Delhi.

Keeping your mobile phone charged at all times helps, and calling up a friend when there is a hint of trouble makes sense. A friend who lived alone had a drunk neighbor banging on her door at one in the morning. Thankfully, she called us instantly and had only frayed nerves to deal with.

So, trust in God but lock your car, as the Dalai Lama said. Of course Mumbai is a rocking, fun city, but don’t push your luck.

Shifa Maitra is a media professional based in Mumbai.

(Picture courtesy Joshi Daniel)

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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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Guest writer

We really love big fat weddings

In a grim economy and with inflation hitting the roof, one would think Indians were planning austere weddings. Think again.
by Khalid Isar

With the on-going wedding season in India, Indians the world over are spending more abundantly on celebrations this year.  Site analytics on Alibaba.com, an e-commerce platform for small businesses, seem to suggest that ‘extravagant is the theme that will lead this year’s wedding celebrations.

Given the wedding season, Alibaba.com has seen that ethnic clothing (21 per cent), suits and tuxedos (11 per cent) and dresses (19 per cent) all showed an overall year-on-year increase in searches from October 2011 v/s October 2012. Indian buyers are also increasingly searching for garment accessories and various gift items during the wedding season.

The preparations for the wedding season started a few months ago. The ethnic clothing category search, which saw an overall increase of 21 per cent (year-on-year), began seeing an increase in January 2012, in preparation for the wedding season. April 2012 saw the biggest monthly spike at 19 per cent, followed by a 17 per cent search increase in January 2012. Three months prior to the wedding season in India, Alibaba.com data saw another drastic increase in month-on-month search results at 14 per cent (July 2012).

In addition to clothing this year, event and party supplies witnessed a sharp year-on-year  increase in searches at 24 per cent, suggesting lavish celebrations this wedding season. When looking at the gift and craft category searches, there was also an increase in searches for items such as incense (5 per cent), frames (2 per cent) and gift sets (2 per cent).

Weddings are planned well in advance of wedding season. As such, small merchants and businesses are looking to source their related apparel and gifts far in advance of the retail season. For suppliers listed with us, not only can they can take advantage of India’s huge homegrown demand, but also supply to wedding-related merchants throughout the year, around the world.

During this season, India has emerged as the fifth largest buyer market while traditional buyer markets such as the US and the UK led the overall demand for various products. The US is the top buyer market for Indian suppliers, constituting 23 per cent of inquiries. Indian manufacturers also supply locally with the country being the second biggest buyer market with 17 per cent, followed by the UK at 8 per cent of inquiries.

Indian suppliers have also been receiving inquiries from other buyer markets, including Australia, Canada and France.

Khalid Isar is the Country Manager for Alibaba.com.

(Featured image courtesy daveandcharlotte.com)

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Guest writer

How I got over my travel block

Priyanka Dalal got over her ‘travel block’ by not leaving enough time to talk herself out of a recent trip.

I have heard of ‘writer’s block’, but I have never really faced a serious one. For the last few months, however, since my Coimbatore-Mysore-Bangalore trip in February, I was not able to go on a trip despite planning five different trips! The reasons for not going were varied – viral fever, passport issues or just simply cancelling at the last minute. Even though on the face of it, it seemed that these were all genuine reasons for not going, I knew in my heart that there was something wrong. I have gone on a number of solo trips, and I had never cancelled a single one!

I recalled people mentioning writer’s block… and never having really experienced one, I figured this was some sort of ‘traveller’s block’, if something like that exists. I have never really heard of one, but I think other serious travellers may have experienced something like this, too!

I had to get over this, because travelling is really important to me. Not because of money or anything material. It is just important. As most things in life, I sat down and thought more deeply about this – what made me cancel my trips?

I realised that every time I planned a trip, it would be at least a month in advance. I would get excited for a few days, but then I would end up getting anxious…this anxiety would build up slowly until the week just before the travel date, and then I would cancel because it would get too much! How to plan, pack so anxiously for an activity that is my passion?

I realised that an impromptu trip might actually cure me of this anxiety loop-a-loop! So I just decided a day before, did some minimal packing and left for Pune. Pune being only four hours from Mumbai, I hardly needed to do any prior planning!

I had a good four days of relaxation, and being on my own in Pune at a favorite budget hotel. I know the city quite well, so I didn’t really travel much anywhere. I was considering going to some nearby places like Urli Kaanchan or Kaas Plateau, but got called back for some family reasons to Mumbai. Overall, it was a nice, relaxed trip, and most importantly, I feel that I am at least partially over my block!

What really helped me get over the block and go back on the road was,
1. Impromptu – just didn’t have much time to get anxious.
2. Proximity – Pune is near by, and yet far enough to classify as ‘travel’.
3. Closeness – I lived in Pune for many years, so I am close to the place.

I find that this block, and consequently working to get over it, has been a very interesting experience in my travel adventures! Have you experienced or heard of such a traveller’s block?

Priyanka Dalal has founded a social media marketing company, www.digiwhirl.com. Apart from this, she is a volunteer, traveller and an avid reader. She blogs at travel.priyankawriting.com.

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