Corruption in police recruitment...

A police recruiting fraud has been exposed in Kolkata. This means that something similar is happening in police forces all across the country. Mumbai is one place where this may be happening. The going rates for getting into the police force are pretty high in Mumbai and future cops may be opting for dummies to ensure clearing the examination. The scope of under the table earnings are huge in big cities. Visit these cops' relatives houses in their native places and examine their spouse's assets to find the scope of the problem. Sources of income are typically brothels, gambling dens, illicit liquor and dance bars. Another huge source of income is allowing people to "go back home" or "stay home" after a complaint has been received by the police.

Bye Bye Harbhajan...

Here is an article by a Malayalee author as to why Sreesanth is not the most popular Keralite. The article also mentions previous interactions between Harbhajan and Sreesanth.

The article's premise is now justified.Sreesanth just does not know when to stop assing around. He has got some enormous loose screws in his head and his actions have caused an end to Harbhajan's international cricket career. Harbhajan is a loose screw himself, but like any hotheaded Punjabi, he goes mad when he is right, unlike Sreesanth, who goes nuts whenever he thinks he has an advantage, which is pretty much all the time.

Sreesanth got the eight wicket in the 20-20 match against Mumbai, walked over to the other side of the crease and gave the close walk/talk to the player that got out. He did that a couple of times to Robin Uthappa too before that. After the end of the game, Harbhajan slapped him in the field. Even though it is Harbhajan whose career will be over now, it is Sreesanth who has had the last laugh(or cry) by making sure that everybody knew what Harbhajan did. His revenge against Harbhajan is now complete.By crying and not retaliating, Sreesanth has preserved his own career for now.

I am sure Sreesanth was scared and emotionally hurt and it was not an act. Whatever it was, Harbhajan's career is done, given what happened in Australia. So we have a case of 20-20 causing damage to the Indian team. There is no better off spinner around in India at this point in time.

I also think that the owners will stop showing up to support their team with the same fervour going forward. Anybody who has supported galli cricket and other local forms of cricket knows that supporting your team at close quarters is not a fun experience when you get the see the ugly and unsportsman conduct that usually happens.

Mumbai cheerleaders in pants now...

The morality brigade did get their wishes. The Mumbai cheer leaders are wearing pants now for their match against Punjab in Punjab . But the morality police did miss the point though. It is not the attire that offends them, though they do not realize it. It is their athleticism, energy and vigor that scares them.

I don't think Vijay Mallya or Shah Rukh Khan will roll over though. So the cheerleader attire issue will float around.

Cheerleader morality...

Mumbai's morality police has had success with bar dancers before. Now they are training their eyes on the Cheerleaders in the IPL league. Yes, Cheerleading is an envelope pushing activity in India. Some of the cameramen even went one step further and got into camera angles unseen in the US, mostly because the cheerleader platforms are raised above the ground. Looks like nobody noticed this with the ICL league. Even more funny is the fact that film star politicians are raising the issue.

Looks like you can do these kind of things only in a film and not anything "live". If males can do bodybuilding, then surely females can do cheerleading, the ultimate female body and attitude showoff activity.

Only Chennai has an all Indian cheerleading team and they were absolutely miserable. One of the females considered just her presence to be good enough and would not even join in the dance routines!

Hopefully other parties will pick this up in other states and make sure that our "In-den-ness" is preserved.

Milk adulteration law announced....

Milk adulteration is a non bailable offence now. This is good new for Mumbaikars who trust their milk carrier to deliver the milk to them honestly. Both the bag and the bottle can be contaminated by injecting out milk and injecting in water. It goes on in a pretty massive scale all over Mumbai. While this law is probably geared towards the "straight from the cow" private vendors, milk carriers from Aarey to you home do an equal amount of fraud.

If you are having your milk delivered, make sure that you buy from someone who carries that milk straight from the depot to your home. If there is a stop at the milk carriers place for "temporary refrigeration", you can be sure that there is some water going in. If you currently have a milk vendor that takes the milk home, change your vendor. The vendor may also be doing an "exchange" before the milk reaches you, to avoid going home, so you have to watch out for that too. Very difficult to monitor the stuff for the morning delivery though. Watch for word of mouth reviews. It is best to use "non-professional" milk carriers. So your morning servant/part time servant would be a good candidate if they are willing to do it.

Welcome to Amul - The Taste of India

The link provided below should give you the latest hoarding at all times, plus it has links to the older hoardings. If you are a fan on these boards, you can catch up.

Welcome to Amul - The Taste of India

Fantastic cricket celebrations...

The whole of India celebrated the 20-20 win, but the celebrations were absolutely fantastic in Mumbai thanks to the players landing there and making their way to Wankhede Stadium. The smile says it all.

It is good to celebrate once in a while. Relaxes the body and soul and keeps you refreshed for the life ahead. Great to see India get an opportunity to do that. Mumbai really needed this.

Mumbai interactive map added

It has always been frustating getting to Mumbai on Google maps as it typically defaults to the country level! Here is a link to an interactive map of Mumbai so you have it at your fingertips at all times! Bookmark the page to get the interactive Mumbai map.

Divorce as a separation of equals...

Saw the movie "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna". It was almost a manual for ending a relationship and moving on. Still too radical for setting the movie in India. So it is set in the US and thus the joint family issues are avoided. Indian city divorces are on the rise when both husband and wife have the ability to be financially independent. Why be unhappy when there is the possibility of hope and happiness without a partner or with another partner?

My guess is that there will be a similar movie after another 5-10 years with the setting being Mumbai the next time around.

Ofcourse, the movie is similar to "Closer" without the "bad" character. Ofcourse if exceeded Closer in that there is sex with another while being within a marriage. And somewhat scary if you are a city male; the woman character was almost frigid, but she was OK with extramarital sex with a grumpy, disgruntled male.

I lived in a pretty congested neighborhood in Mumbai and witnessed atleast two extra marital affairs in Mumbai within the colony. Pretty tough to carry on these affairs; just about the everyone knows. The "walk" from one building to the other was a spectacle in itself! This was in the 80s. So I am sure things are more brazen now.

AIDS epidemic

The AIDS epidemic is India is probably reaching unmanageable proportions and the big cities are at the epicenter of the epidemic. Both the educated and uneducated migrant population need to play it safe. Easier said than done.

ModiBombay1.avi

Speech of Modi in Mumbai after Train Blast.

Flash mobs in Mumbai

Here is a group of people that joined in to have some fun and confuse onlookers. Good for a rush of fun, but not recommended. You really do not want to confuse a mob the wrong way. It can easily turn into a good way to get a public beating.

No more children servings teas in tapri...

Here's a troubling development. Children are now legally banned as domestic help. Thousands of kids run from their homes all over India and end up in Mumbai. Many eventually make it to something decent. Or they learn their lessons and go back home or move to a less hectic place. This kids usually have even worser condition at home and usually are not inclined to go back home.

With the new rule, these kids are not going to stop coming here. But they might not find things to do anymore. Tea stalls, handyman jobs in garages and stalls were always their best option. Let us hope that the rule does not get enforced too heavily. If it does, there will just be more beggars on the street.

25 lakhs prize

There is a prize of 25 lakhs for information leading to the terrorists. With three individuals already sought for questioning, it is only a matter of time.

Mumbai's resilience was amazing as always. Yes, human life does not have much of a value in India. But with that argument, there should have been counter riots similar to those seen in Iraq or Pakistan. Since that does not happen anymore, life is indeed valued. The terrorists actually want a repeat of Gujarat. But as long as presence of global elements are confirmed, Indians typically do not go after fellow Indians. Which is always a good thing. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Mumbai in trouble...

Looks like there is a queue of people waiting to exploit Mumbai. First it was the local Shiv Sainiks with their defamation bandh, then the global terrorists with their coordinated explosion. Wonder who's next. Probably back to Shiv Sena/BJP for the obligatory bandh.

Ofcourse Mumbai can withstand this. Like it has withstood everything else. Mumbai police is pretty good at finding out what happened.

It is easy to destroy things, any kid will tell you that. Terrorists destroy multiple things at the same time to increase the degree of difficulty and somehow rationalize that as a manly act.

Global terrorists have been able to get some pretty impressive recruits locally. Ofcourse, the power comes from oil money and hateful cultures in the mideast. I remember a Saudi guy in an elevator telling me that their country has "too many" Indians. Such language comes naturally when you are given a steady diet of religious and cultural superiority. The superiority turns into utter humiliation when you see the outside world that is both tolerant and better. These acts are pretty much a way a spoilt child acts.

A separate blog for Mumbai

The cities of Maharashtra typically have a different beat compared to the states. So I have created a separate blog for each of the cities now.

We have heavy rains in Mumbai now, but no water logging. Hopefully that becomes the norm. The first rain is a catastrophe though. Plastic and paper clog all drains and the road and tracks become wading pools. Cities like Mumbai need to figure out a way for cleanliness better than ragpickers/kachrawallas. And yes, garbage cans do not work as it becomes easy money for someone that wants to make a quick buck.

Here's a 4D theatre in Mumbai. Well, something different. Mumbai has always been about entertaining and eating if you have deep pockets.