Bombayman's Diary

Following has been unwritten Standard Responding Procedure(SRP) of certain sections of our society whenever some terrorist attack or bomb blast happens in our country. The same could be (and is) applied on incident of rape. Public: We will light candles & shout slogans. Police: We will catch the culprit as soon as possible. Politician in Power: We will suspend the responsible policemen. We will not allow this to happen again. Politician in Opposition: We demand the immediate dismissal of this government. Press: We will drop all other stories, continuously show the protests & organize debates in studios. Activist: We will file PILs in the courts. After every terrorist attack all the above respond in the same manner. After much uproar everything dies down till next terrorist attack happens. Now the same set of response is seen after the Delhi gangrape case. Hope, that like terrorist attacks, such style of response doesn’t becomes a practice after every cas...

दशहरे का दिन दस दिवसीय रामलीला आयोजन का आखिरी दिन होता है। इस दिन रामलीला शाम 7 या 8 बजे शुरू होने के बजाय 6 या 7 बजे ही शुरू हो जाती है। दर्शकों की सबसे ज्यादा भीड रामलीला मैदान में इसी दिन दिखाई देती है। मैदान के एक किनारे रंगबिरंगा और भीमकाय रावण का पुतला राख में तब्दील होने के लिये तैयार रहता है। आमतौर पर इस दिन हनुमानजी के हाथों अहिरावण वध का प्रसंग दिखालाया जाता है और उसके बाद होता है राम और रावण का महायुद्ध। विभीषण की सलाह पर राम, रावण की तोंद का निशाना लगाते हैं और रावण ढेर हो जाता है। कई रामलीला मंडलियां रावण की मौत से पहले उस प्रसंग को भी दिखातीं है जिसमें राम, लक्ष्मण से कहते हैं कि वो अंतिम सांसे गिन रहे रावण से राजनीति की शिक्षा लेकर आयें। रावण के मरते ही सभी दर्शकों के चेहरे मंच से हटकर मुड जाते हैं रावण के पुतले की तरफ। आसमान में रंग बिरंगी आतिशबाजी शुरू हो जाती है। बम पटाखों की गर्जना असत्य पर सत्य की विजय की सालाना घोषणा करती है। रावण के पुतले में जडे आतिशबाजी के तमाम आईटम सक्रीय हो जाते हैं और कुछ मिनटों में ही बीते दस दिनों की मेहनत से तैयार की गई ये कलाकृति आग ...

Since the time Juhu Police has busted a rave party at Hotel Oakwood certain newspapers especially the English ones have launched a campaign to prove that it was not a rave party at all & police went overboard in the incident. Although, it is the job of free media to question the authority & take everything with a pinch of salt, in the present case, it is not seen that the publications questioning the police action have done thorough homework & considered the larger aspect of the issue. I am not defending the cops here, but to be fair with them, I have certain points to make in response to the criticism published in some newspapers. 1)     It was not a rave party? A newspaper claimed that the party where police intruded was not a rave party at all, but a normal Sunday evening sundown party. To see how this is untrue, look at the invite sent on social networking site Facebook. The language & choice of words clearly indicate that it was a party for drug...

1)       When there is a strong urge to jump a less busy red signal & the traffic cop is not seen, it makes sense to wait for few seconds & observe some other oversmart guy to jump the signal. If he is not caught, then you too move on bindass. 2)       When you ride a motorcycle it’s a thrill to hack your way in a zigzag manner from the traffic of 4 wheelers, but when you drive a car, motorcyclists are the biggest headache. You may have to brake suddenly if some biker comes in front & you may listen a sound coming from the rear of your car. You get down to find out that some other vehicle has kissed your car due to sudden braking. 3)       If caught by a traffic cop it is more likely that you will escape penalty or pay less fine if you politely handover your driving licence to him as soon as he stops you. You may invite more trouble if you hurt his ego by arguing with him or not easily hand...

Address to the Nation.: 5 Observations on why crime has increased in Mumba... : Here are my 5 observations on recent spate of crime in Mumbai. + UNORGANISED CRIME: The decade of 90s was characterised by the organi...

Here are my 5 observations on recent spate of crime in Mumbai. + UNORGANISED CRIME: The decade of 90s was characterised by the organised underworld gangs headed by Dawood Ibrahim, Chota Rajan, Arun Gawli & so on. Shootouts & gangwars were rampant. Most of the targets of gangs were affluent people like builders, jewellers, film personalities etc. Present days are dominated by unorganised criminals who either operate independently or in small groups. They are involved in crimes like chain & bag snatching, house breaking, robbery, theft etc. Their targets are mostly women & senior citizens. + LACK OF DETERRENCE: Criminals aren’t afraid of cops anymore. Stringent measures like “encounters” & application of laws like MCOCA have declined. Most of the officers having reliable networks of informers are jailed, suspended or dismissed from the service on genuine/fake charges of links with the underworld & corruption. Rest dont want to risk their career by going...

हर साल मुंबई की लोकल ट्रेनों में सफर करने वाले 3 हजार मुसाफिर बेमौत मारे जाते हैं।मुंबई में बीते हफ्ते लोकल ट्रेन के मुसाफिरों की सिगनल से टकराने से हुई मौतों ने फिर एक बार सवाल खडा किया है कि लोकल ट्रेन में सफर करना कितना सुरक्षित है। स्टार न्यूज ने अपनी पडताल में पाया कि जिन कारणों से मुंबई में मुसाफिर हादसों का शिकार होते हैं उनमें से एक बडा कारण है कई स्टेशनों पर ट्रेन और प्लैटफॉर्म के बीच खतरनाक गैप। मुंबई में हमने पहचान की है 10 खूनी प्लैटफॉर्म की । ऐसे प्लैटफॉर्म जहां ट्रेनों और प्लेटफॉर्म के बीच है खतरनाक गैप जिनमें लोग अक्सर चढते उतरते गिर पडते हैं। कई घायल होते हैं तो कईयों की जान भी चली जाती है। एक टेप के जरिये हम ने जान ा कि इन प्लैटफॉर्म और ट्रेन के बीच कितना फासला है । आमतौर पर दुनियाभर के तमाम विकसित देश सुरक्षा के लिहाज से ट्रेन और प्लेटफॉर्म के बीच 6 से 8 इंच की दूरी ही रखते हैं। इसके अलावा हर रेल्वे अपने सभी स्टेशनों पर एक जैसी ही दूरी रखता है। हर स्टेशन पर प्लेटफॉर्म और ट्रेन के बीच का गैप अलग अलग नहीं होता, लेकिन एक नजर इस टेबल पर डालिये कि हमने क्य...

Each one of us in our life comes across people, who make an impact on our thoughts & actions. Following are the five persons whom I have observed as the true professionals, workaholics & source of influence & inspirations for the people with whom they have worked & interacted. E. Sreedharan: I came to know about the greatness of this man while working on a documentary based on his life. While as a government servant he created benchmarks in railways & even after the retirement his achievements were marvellous. Whether it was the task of establishing Konkan railway on an arduous hilly terrain or to lay the network of Metro Rail as per deadline in urban jungle of Delhi , Sreedharan made value addition to everything. He was full of optimism & energy & negotiated all the hurdles in his projects with ease. Calling him “Metro Man” just underplays his contribution to India ’s infrastructure. He was a man who displayed genuine enthusiasm for his work & had hig...