The lesson of 26/11 and the promise of change lie forgotten as south Mumbai residents plan to leave city even before voting day
The lesson of 26/11 and the promise of change lie forgotten as south Mumbai residents plan to leave city even before voting day
BOOM isn't a word that applies to the current economy, but it is one that applies to Mumbai's political awareness after 26/11. Post the terror attack, out went subtle philosophies about the state of our country, replaced by shouting off the rooftops about it. We realised that you couldn't point fingers at what we helped create or did not even contribute to. You can't build a bad car with shoddy parts and expect it to work well.
The government stands because you chose to u2014 it finally began to sink into public consciousness. So furious debates on television, celebrities urging you to ink that finger for a better future and young minds creating websites made voting an easier task. Now, we're four days away from one of the most crucial elections in the country. And a chunk of south Mumbai may not even be here on Election Day u2014 which, perversely, falls bang in the middle of a "long weekend."
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"Kissiko vote nahin karna," is what the person who speaks to us from Jai Mata Di, Dadar (also operative in Fort) answers when we ask about the travel agency's bookings for April 29, 29 and 30. We're told people are opting to go Vaishnovdevi and Kashmir.
Other heavy routes by bus are for Hyderabad and Goa, we're informed by Redbus. Hill stations seem to be on the agenda: "We don't have much booking for April 28 and 29 but for April 30, there are quite a lot of bookings of buses and cars to Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar," says a representative from Penguin Holidays, Tardeo.
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Cosmos, Fort says that there is no reduction in bookings for those three days. "We have quite a few for domestic rail travel and for air both, international and domestic. Corporates are opting to go to the Far East."
Kesari Tours & Travels gives us a few numbers: total guests on those three dates are 835 including international and domestic, 402 guests out on April 28, 142 out on April 29 and 291 guests out on April 30.
The bookings are mostly for domestic, with people opting to go to Nainital, Kashmir and Mussoorie because of the long weekend. But then, perhaps, as a sign on hope, there are some that have seen a relaxation for those periods. Orion Holidays, Fort says they don't have a lot of bookings for flights going out of Mumbai, but have businessmen who have gone out of the country returning from their commitments on March 27 and 28. Mahesh Tours & Travels said they usually have bookings at this time of the year but don't right now.
South Mumbai candidates say
One can't force people to vote. My request to them is to be active participants and not passive spectators.
The affluent must prove, statistically, that they are actually interested in voting. They must show that in numbers," says Milind Deora, MP, Mumbai South Constituency. Independent candidate Meera Sanyal of Mumbai South thinks that awareness for voting has increased prominently, especially amongst the youth. "I think this particular generation is politically aware, there is a sense of political responsibility. People in the past have not voted because they did not have credible candidates to vote for, which there are now," she says.
Dr Mona Shah, South Mumbai candidate for the Professional People's Party (PPI) feels India's voting has to be an individual introspection, "What does my country mean to me? It's a question of realisation and patriotism.
You get as you give, we would like to request everyone to stay back and vote. In a democracy, that's the best we can do," she adds.
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