1. Commercial spirit is alive and well. The newspapers and tabloids will come tomorrow. Thus, it’s time to rant about TV. Close ups of the dead bodies, which should be captured and pasted all over Rajdeep Sardesai’s house were not the only distasteful sight on TV. Advertisements for houses (Flats at Bhiwadi, Lucknow etc. from Mtech developers, thank you, on IndiaTV), underwear (Dollarclub Innerwear on Aajtak) and education institutes (Coaching classes on Zee News) proved that whatever happens in this world, the commercial spirit will not flag.

2. Where there’s a WiLL (wireless in local loop), there’s no way you will get through. Reliance network proved impossible to penetrate. While Hutch and Airtel gave adequate challenges in getting through to people, difficult to get into but always possible in the end, it seemed like a couple of bomb blasts happened in the heart of the Reliance CDMA network. Wonder what Sehwag ki Maa would have said about this?
3. It is okay to talk in a movie hall in certain circumstances. People can crane their necks and perk up their ears for breaking news, forgetting the action on screen. If the movie is ordinary*, this becomes even easier. However, next time, some of you should think twice before asking for the score. That word is not on. No, not even on Reliance CDMA.
4. People will search for angles on days of disaster. Suddenly, my sitemeter shot up because people were searching for “Bombay vs Delhi”. I still don’t know why.

* People did not think twice about walking out of Superman ten minutes into the movie. Yes, I know that Superman is not particularly captivating. However, don’t think the first ten minutes are that big a letdown. Why? I stayed on till the interval. Incidentally, Superman is a boring movie, but Brandon Routh did exactly as I expected. He smiles like Superman. Hell, he even smiles like Clark Kent.

Crossposted on 22nd floor.

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As Rashmi Bansal says, “The truth can be found, if you look hard enough. The question is, can we hold up to the mirror to ourselves and acknowledge the ugly side of human nature?”

While it’s quite probable that NSUI involvement is political, and it’s possible (maybe not probable) that the allegations are false and have been made to malign the college and the professor, what has been particularly shocking is the insensitivity of the college authorities towards the complainant.

Wilson College’s been in news due to sexual harrasment earlier too. That incident led to suicide. One would have expected the college authorities to react with sensitivity to the latest complaint. However, the college authorities have neither learnt a lesson, nor do they have the basic sensitivity to extend some support to the complainant.

“The students involved are not even from our college. They are fabricating stories about a man who has worked here for 27 years. Every lady professor here can vouch for his integrity” said the Vice-Principal P Parkar. Without letting us know whether he has even looked into the matter (whether a fair trial has been held), the Vice Principal has said, “The administration stands firmly by Athawle and the allegations are totally false”

It’s good that the college is standing by Athawle in his hour of public humiliation. They should condemn the vigilantes who blackened his face. They should also state that the allegations haven’t been proven and that the man deserves a fair trial.

However, making a statement that the allegation is false is sticking your neck out while ridiculing the woman in her hour of need. This is while the Police Commissioner himself has said that there is some prima facie evidence against the professor. When will the coilege learn?

Not many European countries would be able to carry this off, due to high labour costs. However, what they do better than us is using every ounce of public space. This need not, by the way, come at the cost of beauty. For instance, in my trips around Venice, I saw a couple of buildings which were being renovated, which would have been eyesores, if not for the billboards covering them.

Now, the same is being done in Bombay as well. Considering the number of buildings being renovated all the time, it’s high time.
Pic from The Invizible Man

I can understand that economics will push more cinemas down the multiplex route. However, the fact that governments are incentivising multiplexes is incredible. On one hand, the government actually forces multiplexes to hike ticket rates so that the one-screen movie halls could attract viewers. On the other hand, they subsidise ‘capital-intensive projects’ like multiplexes, for attracting investments! For more on what the government does, go here.

“For all existing and upcoming multiplexes there will be total exemption from entertainment tax for the first three years. For the next two years, a 25-per-cent exemption will be available. All other taxes, such as property tax, water tax will stay. The multiplexes will have to fulfil certain conditions before they become eligible for the concessions…Each multiplex should have a video parlour for the children, an art gallery, an exhibition centre, a cyber cafe besides an adequate number of refreshment stalls and restaurants. One of the theatres in the complex should be utilised for staging Marathi plays for a certain number of days. Of course, there should be adequate space for car parking.”

Talk about meddling in things where the markets can play a role. A puny little space with three paintings becomes the art gallery and exhibition centre, some Marathi movies are shown at strange times in one of the halls. Plus, somewhere at the back, the place will have a computer called the cyber cafe. All this to enjoy fiscal benefits. What does this result in?

My favourite cinema hall being shut down for a while.

The first encounter about which I have written about here was with a young manager and two security guards. The second was with another young manager who came to ask after our well-being just before we broke for lunch – “Aren’t you guys going to eat anything?”. The third was with this safari-suited security head who actually thought that he could force us out of the Mall. This after we had spent at least 5000 rupees on food and drinks.

Why is it difficult to find a place in Mumbai where we can sit and quiz?

We had asked some colleges, but didn’t have enough time to go through the bureaucracy properly. We had enquired after people’s houses, but found the quarters too cramped (these weren’t any multiple-bedroom and hall bungalows of Delhi in the first place) and thought a public place will be appropriate. We had also thought of doing it in a lawn somewhere, but the heat and humidity doesn’t allow for a long session outside.

The BQC has demonstrated that we can get a good number of people from various parts of the city, as long as good quizzing is guaranteed. Now, it’s time to find a place(s) for it in Mumbai’s life.