Mumbai Diary: Monday musings

Ouch, that hurts
Our colleague was in a taxi yesterday, when the driver failed to notice a sharp stone sticking out of the road and went over it with an almighty bump. The impact knocked off one of the cab's hubcaps and our colleague was thrown against the overhead handle in the cab, hitting his head on it.

The driver stopped to see what the damage was, and two motorcycle policemen turned up to find out whether he was inebriated (and if not, why he had failed to see the obstacle). They questioned the driver, but completely ignored the passenger (our colleague) though he was holding his head and was obviously feeling pain. Surely the cops should have at least asked whether the passenger had been injured?

Kharghar golfers in a hole
Putters in and around Navi Mumbai will have to wait some more for membership at the golf course in Kharghar, even two years after it was thrown open by CIDCO. The town-planning agency has not yet completed the construction of the clubhouse, thus delaying the membership procedure.

The golf course could see more participation when membership is thrown open

The procedure was supposed to have been started by early 2015, but nothing has been finalised yet. Staff at the golf course said that the procedure would take time and there has been no notification from the CIDCO regarding it. Currently, golfers pay by round. Each round lasts for two hours, in which participants get nine holes each for putting.

CIDCO's executive engineer at Kharghar, V T Ravi, told us, "The membership procedure is still under the board's approval. It is a steady process and it will take time to decide on the charges of the membership."
Well, we know golf is a notoriously slow game, but maybe CIDCO is taking that too literally?

Putting passion into fashion
In the world of fashion, High Street is practically a label by itself. And so is the case with our very own Fashion Street, too. The iconic street in South Mumbai however wore a deserted look from June 12 to 16, as the shopkeepers had downed shutters in protest against the municipality.

Fashion Street wore a deserted look during the strike. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Surendra Singh, president of the Fashion Market Licence Welfare Association, told us that the BMC had cancelled the licence of 10 people because the owners were not present on the premises when the BMC visited. "Some had gone for a tea break, some had gone to the toilet. They were all there."

With the monsoon hotting up, or rather pouring down, the garment retailers need extra waterproof coverage, which the municipality is refusing to allow. "We need 1 metre of plastic and that too only for the duration of the monsoon," says Singh. The retailers have met the municipal commissioner, but there has been no response.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner BG Pawar told us that the retailers are supposed to operate in the space that is allotted to them, and nothing more. Well, the agitation has been called off but it may resume if the BMC does not relent. Who knows, maybe Fashion Street too may have to go online, which seems to be all the rage.

Cop this!
When law-keepers turn law-breakers, it's quite a helpless situation for the aam aadmi as experienced by this diarist on Saturday afternoon. This police car was parked on the wrong side of the road at the Pratiksha Nagar signal in Sion (E) which is an extremely busy four-road junction.

The car was parked right outside the police chowky with no one in it. The policemen were inside the adjoining chowky, obviously caring a damn for the inconvenience their car was causing to vehicular traffic. Meanwhile, the aam janata could do little but cop(e) with the inconvenience!