Thursday, January 27, 2011

Floating in the air

What are the hilarious and touching incidents you came across as a reporter, asked my colleague.
Hilarious? Hmm. I already mentioned this. I remember how I was going to the canteen in my Mumbai newspaper office and a lawyer friend Gopal Punjabi rang up to say abruptly, “I am on the 2nd floor of a building at Girgaum. I cannot get down from 2nd floor.”
“What do you mean. Any fire?” I asked.
“No. There’s no staircase.”
What?
It was then I learnt that the landlord had a dispute with tenants and had hired workers to cart away the wooden staircase to harass them. The tenants were literally left hanging in the air.  
Touching incident? Don’t ask me plz. I was travelling from Belapur to Vashi after interviewing a civic official. I entered a State Transport bus which is usually dirty. I managed to enter the bus despite the crowd and was followed by a little boy, who was in rags. He had no shirt and carried a soiled bag. As he stood on the first step, the conductor looked at the boy and said “heyy.” The boy got scared and jumped from the bus which had picked up speed.
The image still floats in my eye of the way he went rolling behind. I shut my eyes and did not know what to do.
They refused to stop the bus despite my screaming. That’s Mumbai.
Is he alive? I dunno.
Whatever, my prayers are ever for you, dear felo.

29 comments:

  1. Oh my god..the second incident is scary. hope he is alive

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh yes, remember the old blgs in V.T/fort area...was forever scared that my leg would get caught in 1 of those rotting boards...Indians/bombayites can be heartless...and poor kids face the brunt of nasty looks/comments....

    ReplyDelete
  3. hmm....I hope the best for the child....

    Good Article.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The first incident is really funny...imagine no staircase to go down...LOLZ!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very sad about the boy, One has respect in the society only if he has money . Poor boy. I feel bad about that incident.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh God! And, there are so many people falling off overcrowded buses and trains.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ramesh, don't know what to say about that boy and the moving bus. It is so sad.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How insensitivethat conductor is. I hope the little boy is alive.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The 2nd incident was so so disturbing, I just can't shake it out of my head. Uffffffffffffffff

    ReplyDelete
  10. The first one - hillarious :D
    the secomd one- OMG!!!! its horrible

    ReplyDelete
  11. The first incident is so uncommon. The second is not so uncommon.

    ReplyDelete
  12. :( I watched 'No One Killed Jessica' in which they kept on saying 'Ye delhi hai bhai' and when I saw u also saying 'Thats mumbai', I was like its everywhere. And I feel really bad that we have become so callous abt anything happening around us till it doesnt hit us :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. The second incident is disturbing and the first one is really hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
  14. the one was was way too funny! the second one as you put it, is how really the things are! scary indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very serious issues, In today's world human beings are becoming less sympathetic towards their fellow beings..

    ReplyDelete
  16. A funny incident followed by a serious one.

    ReplyDelete
  17. No one has time for the poor and the needy. What sort of culture/future are leaving behind for the under prevailaged?

    ReplyDelete
  18. In Mumbai, tenants are difficult to handle than the land lords. They simply refuse to vacate. There are several instances where the land lords would remove the front door or window to force the tenants to vacate! Stair case is perhaps the best bet..for keeping the tenants inside!

    ReplyDelete
  19. First incident is plain stupidity and second one is MURDER. Sorry for using strong words.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Touching! I closed my eyes too after reading this piece...

    How have you been friend?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Mumbai can be heartless!!!

    So how are you? U posted on 27th and disappeared? All OK?

    ReplyDelete
  22. the first episode - :-)
    the second? not the mumbai i know! never came across that side of the city.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The kind of problems tenants have to face, we can write books about it, thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete