Watch out for the Parsi bikers as they criss-cross through the city on January 6 for peace. Organised by the Parsi Resource Group, the rally will begin from the Dadar Parsi Gymkhana. The registration fee is Rs 200 and includes lunch, T-shirt and cap.

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This makes my blood boil. Bombay has for ever been one of the safest cities in the world, especially for women. But two occurances like this last year and again this year, is just not acceptable.

A mob of 70-80 men groped and molested two young women for some 15 minutes on a busy main street in Mumbai’s glamour district Juhu early on New Year’s Day.

An identical incident had shamed India’s safest city exactly a year ago — a girl was molested by New Year’s eve revellers at the Gateway of India. That incident was captured on film by a popular Mumbai tabloid; Tuesday morning’s horror was shot by two Hindustan Times lensmen who happened to be on the spot.

The women — one in a black dress, the other in a jeans and top — emerged from the JW Marriott with two male friends around 1.45 am, and began walking towards Juhu beach close by.

A mob of about 40 got after them and began teasing the women. One of the women swore loudly at the hooligans.

But the mob, now 70-80 strong, wouldn’t let go. They trapped the women near a vehicle and a tree, and pounced on them. A man in a white shirt tore off the black dress. Another, in a blue shirt, led the assault. As the women fell on the ground, dozens of men jumped on them. [link]

The newspaper article goes on to say that the inspector rushed at the mob weilding his cane. For once I wish he had removed his gun and fired a few rounds.

No seriously, you may say….arZan…that’s barbaric. And I reply that yes what the mob did was barbaric, and for once should be dealt with in equal measure.

Here are a few vintage photographs I came across of Mumbai city. In a way not much has changed in the past 100 odd years, at the same time a lot of has changed. The monumental stuctures of the city are there without much modifications but the chaos and crowd has increased.
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Let me clear in advance that I am not a critic or an expert to talk about the technicalities of movie making. Hence this is not a review but just my views about the movie.
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The surprising aspect of Riyas Komu’s upcoming cross-country series of art installations perhaps is not that football serves as the subject. The unconventional element is that Komu views the project as a responsibility toward Indian footballers, with whom he empathizes in the “struggle with their lives.”

Komu works in multiple media, including photography, sculpture and film. He seeks subjects among the urban poor, which, in India, sometimes includes the footballer: “Most of these footballers don’t even get a good room to sleep,” says Komu.

Three multimedia installations will be staged in the nation’s most prominent cities, beginning Dec 23 at the Guild Art Gallery in Mumbai, to which Komu, a Kerala native, came a decade ago and revived a lifelong football interest.

Football in India is the focus. Komu views Indian football as a political issue because, he tells the Times of India, “they are not treated well despite being national players”

The Mumbai exhibition, titled “Mark Him,” begins the series that continues in Kolkata (Calcutta) with “Urban Folk,” which also features video of players’ personal lives. In New Delhi, the title is “Extra Time,” followed by a planned fourth stage, “Shootout,” in Dubai.

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