07 April,2015 08:01 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar, Waleed Hussain, Shrikant Khuperkar, Vidya Heble
The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Fare and so unfair?
The new fear, or the new stress in these tech-talk times is leaving behind one's mobile phone in a rickshaw or cab. So, it happened recently. A lady took a cab from Grant Road station towards Peddar Road. She was suddenly alerted to something blinking on the seat next to her.
It was a pricey phone, put on silent but it was flashing as it was ringing. On picking it up, a desperate, high-pitched young girl's voice stated, "That's my phone, I left it in the cab. Please, please, please, may I meet you somewhere, I live close by, I will come and take it."
Fortunately, the cab had not gone too far so it stopped a little ahead. In five minutes, a young girl came running around the corner and the lady passenger gave her the phone. "Bless you, bless you" is all she could say. The cabbie though, told the passenger, "You people leave your phones behind in cabs, you all are not careful.
Then, who is to blame? The driver, always the driver, as people think we have filched it. We get a bad name, because of the passengers' tendency to forget phones in cabs." Ah, must say cabbie has a point.
No dustbin? Got car!
The great Indian jugaad trick is one method of either solving problems or finding a way around them. The people of Dombivili took that route recently, when they were deprived of dustbins by the area's corporator, no less.
What use is a burnt-out car, after all? Makes a fine dustbin, since there isn't any other. Pics/Shrikant Khuperkar
The corporator put up a notice saying that dustbins from a certain place in the Tilak Road area would be cleared, as a bus stop was to be constructed for school buses.
The notice announcing that the dustbins will be replaced with a bus stop
Well, garbage is not going to stop for school buses or anything else, and people need a place to put their rubbish. So the local residents have decided to use the wrecked shell of a burnt-out car nearby, to dump rubbish into. Unsightly? Of course it is. Well, you know whom to ask....
Long and winding road
This road, winding through a green rustic area, looks inviting (notwithstanding the steps one has to climb) but it isn't a route to a picnic spot. It's just the path that people take to reach the civil registrar's office in Karjat.
The destination is mundane though. Pic/Shrikant Khuperkar
Going by road it takes about 20 to 25 minutes, and the autorickshaw fare amounts to Rs 20. So many people take this shortcut looks like it could do with some improvement!
Put the heart in art
Looking to collect some art with a difference? You can do that, and make a difference as well. The Gateway School, which helps students with learning disabilities, has collaborated with the Somaiya Centre for Lifelong Learning and the India Fine Art Gallery, to present its annual exhibition of art created by its students, titled Mumbai - Our City, Our People. The exhibition is on April 9 (preview) from 5 pm to 8 pm and on April 10 from 10 am to 5 pm, at the Somaiya Centre, above Kitabkhana, Fort.
What's in a plate?
Plenty, when it comes to food safety. On the occasion of World Health Day today, April 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a slightly different approach to educating people especially the younger lot about food safety.
The term itself sounds a bit fuddy-duddy, so why not use social media combined with the trend of food photography to make it catchy? That seems to be the thinking, as the WHO has asked youngsters to photograph their food and post it online with the tag #safefood to explain how and why their food is safe.
With this year's theme on World Health Day being food safety, this campaign has taken off across the globe, and India has joined in too, with Facebook sporting plates of dosa with chutney, chhole bhature and so on. The five key points to remember when handling food safely are keep hands and food preparation surfaces clean, separate raw and cooked food, cook thoroughly, keep food stored at correct temperature, and use safe water and raw materials.
Unsafe food and water is linked to the deaths of more than two million people worldwide every year, and some 200 known diseases are transmitted through food, says the WHO. So don't take a chance with your health follow these tips. And if you photograph your food, share the picture too. Don't forget the hashtag, #safefood.
