Everyday I walk very close to this fence. It is usually not as naked as it looks in this photograph, which I took on Independence Day.

I was so excited not to see the saliva + paan mix on it that I decided to take a photo.

I was immediately questioned about my intentions by a cop. Told him why. He was very amused.

Too bad the fence of the BMC, the richest civic body in the country, is in such a sorry state.

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Bandra's Indira Nagar slum has been built on a pipeline. Residents of this slum pay monthly rent and have designated watchmen too.

Pets are part of family. An animal activist once told me that while the rich abandon their pets, the poor actually take good care of them

``Aye bakre ki aulaad, yeh public ke liye hain,'' said the shopkeeper. Poor goat just wanted to scratch himself against the Kurkure packets

Kids always want their pictures taken. And they are fascinated with how fast digital cameras produce photographs

The 3-year-old rooster was the original subject of this photograph

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An enterprising 55-year-old bachelor claiming to have almost made it to the portals of the Forbes list of billionaires was reluctantly but firmly refused entry to an exclusive party. So were pushy parents and wannabe in-laws who were eager to gatecrash the meet. The unlikely bouncers were hoary-headed and fragile but iron-willed pillars of the Zoroastrian community who had arranged a get-together aka speed dating only for Zoroastrian eligibles aged 18-40. The soporific Khareghat Colony at Hughes Road was suddenly charged with exuberance when 97 singles descended upon the venue last Saturday.

The meet was organised by the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) who has turned matchmaker in order to facilitate young Zoroastrians to find soulmates and counter the dwindling population of the community. It’s proposed to be a monthly affair, which will culminate in a few happily-married-ever-after stories. (…and ofcourse then there would be three or four or even five…)

The 2001 census reported that the number of Parsis in India were 69600 and a recent research paper by the International Institute for Population Sciences titled `The Demographic Predicament of Parsis in India’ predicts that by 2051, there would be only 34,000 Parsis in India. The marriage bureau has been revived by the BPP in order to make sure single Parsis who otherwise do not get chances to interact with members of their community have a place to meet.

Organiser and BPP trustee Arnavaz Mistry recalls how she would get calls from parents looking to find suitors for their children. “Singles wanted the BPP to organize more community meets. The response to our efforts has been unprecedented. We had 91 singles at the first meet and 96 for the second,’’ she says. 

Each hopeful had to list their name, age, address, qualifications and contact details in a register before entering. Of the 96 participants, 36 were girls and 60 were boys. The organisers observed that while the girls were double graduates, MBAs, LLBs, MBBSs and CAs, the boys scored lower on the educational front, which does not work in their favour.

As the program took off, perennially favourite party games with appropriate innovations helped to break the ice and let the singles mingle. The Queen of Sheeba suddenly showed a bias to demand significantly Zoroastrian items. An Asho Farohar pendant, a kusti (holy thread worn around the waist) and a gent’s sudra (muslin shirt of religious significance) were on her requests list. One team gained extra points when an eager-beaver swiftly partially disrobed and proffered his sadra to the team members to gain winning points. His task was heartily applauded. An on-looker would wonder why others were reluctant to follow in this Salman Khan’s footsteps.

The next ice-breaker almost became an arm-breaker as Musical Arms was played to songs like Rasputin, DISCO, Daddy Cool and Gimme Hope Jo’anna. As group games progressed, the bashful youngsters were seen conversing and getting to know each other. ”If you look closely, you’ll notice that the guys are actually more shy than the girls,” says Zarin Havewala one of the organisers. Host and BPP trustee  Arnavaz Mistry was egging the participants to socialise. ”Our efforts would not be in vain even if they culminate in one or two marriages,” says Desai who had publicised the event through various colony circulars and newspaper ads. The old ways of making matches through word of mouth by the kaajwali bai (matchmaker) are almost redundant. The 21st century Zoroastrians prefer to have a direct dialogue to confirm a plausible alliance.

Yazdi Naval Manek, 38 has been trying to find a suitable match since seven years. “Earlier the BPP would send registered letters with details about prospective brides. But that method was very slow and didn’t really help me find a good match,’’ says the resident of Byculla’s Jer Baug who then tries to make conversation with a group of giggling girls from Godrej Baug. Their dilemma is apparent. “I’m 29, unmarried and Parsi. There are too few boys, too much pressure,’’ lamented a girl.

A young man came forward to speak up before the crowd, ”I’m looking for a girl with both sense and sensibility. The bank balance doesn’t matter and since I’m going go top of the hill soon, I think it’s time to get a life partner. Let’s appreciate efforts of the BPP by making efforts ourselves”. Colaba residents and friends Vaspan Chichgar and Khushroo Tata wanted to connect positively with the girls and then hopefully a friendship would blossom into marriage. ”It’s better to be friends, get to know the person before jumping into marriage,” says Chichgar who points out that the community suffers a high divorce rate which needs to be controlled. ”I want to increase the Parsi progeny and give back to the community,” he says. Tata who doesn’t live in a colony says that events like these help isolated Parsis who live in cosmopolitan societies to nurture alliances within the community.

Arnavaz Mistry would do well to involve medical intervention within the matchmaking program. This would enlighten the new-generation that hereditary illnesses that seem to proliferate among the Zoroastrian community can and should be wisely and intelligently avoided say experts. Charles Darwin in his theory of evolution proved that the survival of the fittest is nature’s law and this must be kept in mind by the Zoroastrians. Not only quantity but quality of life is significant when endangered species have to be preserved. If the medical aspect is overlooked then the Parsis would do well to develop their own clones as shown in the Hollywood film The Island.

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There’s something awesome about a good stretch.

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Classes for the only finishing school that aims at making flab and wrinkles attractive and lucrative begin in the first week of December. Admission criteria are physical attributes like high cheekbones, broad shoulders and a twinkle in the eye.

A member of the Clowns of India International (COAI) and International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) D’Souza hires “fresh graduates or undergraduates’’ for his event management company Mad Hatters Entertainment. They are taught the nuances of clowning like juggling, magic, mime, stilt walking and comedy but only a select few get to play Santa. Both men and women can enroll.

Earlier, students were trained to be Mr Claus, Mrs Claus and the young and pretty Santarinas. But Mrs Claus had no takers. “Party goers prefer Santarinas with their halter-necks and short skirts’’, says D’Souza who has imported Claus costumes from America and Singapore for the 60 Santa-strong troupe.

Past experience has made the school shy away from Delhi parties because “hunt and hit Santa is a sport’’ for the saucy crowd there.

Cyril D'Souza with his grand daughter and neighbour on his Byculla home terrace

But 72-year-old Byculla-resident Cyril D’Souza who has been playing the role since 1983 says the crowd can be as raucous in Mumbai too. “I don’t mind the rough handling. Regular yoga helps me stay flexible,’’ he says.

He recalls the time when he was lifted by a crane to perform at the Chembur Gymkhana do which made him feel like a superhero performing a stunt. At a party at Mahalakshmi racecourse he had to arrive as Santa on horseback which proved quite cumbersome with the Santa costume.

This professional Santa vouches that he would make a good candidate for the Limca Book of Records since he shakes hands with over 2,000 guests for every party he visits.

Bandra Santa Darryl Loyola at Hill Road's St Peter's Church

A Santa from Bandra, Darryl Loyola informs that shaking hands and crowd management is a scientific operation. Disciplinary tactics have to be in place without being to obvious as a large crowd could cause a stampede and chaos. He has acquired an on-the-job expertise and can cope with rowdy crowds, hankering street kids and filmstar crazy fans as he often pairs up with celebrities.

Last week, he shared the stage with Salman Khan at Wellington Club where a Christmas party for orphans had been organised. A dance teacher at St Stanislaus School and makeup artist by profession, Loyola uses his professional skills to role-play Santa. He choreographs his own Santa stints and does his own old-man makeup.

A regular at Hill Road’s St Peter’s Church, this year, his bag of goodies not only contains sweets for children but medicine boxes for the needy sick who come for Christmas mass at the church.

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Participants were encouraged to use the #sapling tag on networking sites like Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, del.icio.us and Technorati. An award awaits the participant whose sapling grows the tallest at the fastest rate. The group plans to plant 10,000 saplings to the city by 2010.

The citizens’ initiative has been called The Sapling Project (www.thesaplingproject.com) and was started because the organizers felt that most tree plantation drives were carried out at the National Park or Aarey Milk colony, while colonies and buildings that actually need more trees were being ignored. ”Living is a different thing, we’re just about managing to stay alive,’’ says Vijaykumar, a Borivali-resident, avid tweeter and blogger at bombaylives.com.

Weeks before the drive, online invitations to visit Shivaji Park and adopt a sapling were sent out using Twitter, Facebook and blogs. His friend Walunj wants to tie up with the BMC. “A lot of places in the city can be designated sapling zones where trees are needed. So people who do not find place can come here and plant them’’.

Online networking with tweeters in Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi has enthused locals to carry out similar plantation drives as part of the project. The next drive in Mumbai will take place in January and the organizers will visit areas like Dadar, Bandra, Andheri and Borivali with saplings in a van for distribution.

In the past, several sapling-planting initiatives have been launched in the city. In a move to restore the degraded periphery areas of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, GAIA Conservation Foundation is working with the Bombay Natural History Society to get citizens to plant saplings.

Over 10,000 saplings of indigenous trees like Red Silk Cotton, teak, Shivaji’s Sword, Khair, Shivan, Ziziphus and Flame of Forest have been planted by hundreds of people at the Goregaon site. NGO I Love Mumbai has been carrying out planting distribution drives in the city too.

But environmentalist Rishi Aggarwal says drives like these need support from experts who understand the ecology of each tree. ”You can’t plant a tree that will grow to have a 30-foot canopy on a narrow road. Plantation has to be an informed exercise,’’ says Aggarwal who wants the tree authority to have a separate website giving details of where saplings can be planted in the city using GPS coordinate. ”Location is the key criteria and the BMC seems to have failed in facilitating the good intentions of citizens in this area’’.

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For 22-year-old Divyesh Trivedi the captain prefix before his name is only of ornamental value. Today, after completing 200 hours of flying, the Dadar-resident works with a BPO. “How else do I pay an EMI of Rs 45,000?’’ he asks. Trivedi says it was the air traffic boom, three years ago that attracted a large number of young students to the sector. But that gap was filled by over 900 expat pilots and those who had retired after the government increased the flying age from 60 to 65. “It hurts when airlines continue to employ foreigners when there are so many qualified Indians waiting for a job,’’ he says.

Recruited on a contractual basis, expat pilots are paid 30-70 % more than their Indian counterparts with a bonus of free accommodation. “Their contracts are being renewed and other expats are still being hired. Why the unfair treatment?’’ he asks. “We want a rollback in the retirement age back to 60,’’ say pilots like Trivedi who have come together and formed the Unemployed Pilots Welfare Association of India this year. “For all government jobs the retirement age is 60, then why is it still 65 for pilots? Isn’t it a security risk since the rarefied atmosphere, fatigue and jetlag can make it tougher for retired pilots to fly?’’ they ask emphasizing the need for all pilots to have quick reflexes. Members network using the Internet and hold meetings like the one at Kalina to make sure they make the right noises, at the right decibels. But when they warn out-of-school freshers against attractive aviation school adverts, they are snapped at with, “You are pulling us down,’’ in return.

So severe is the job drought that even small time airlines are taking advantage of the large number of unemployed who are eager to fly. When Air India advertised for 30 trainee pilot posts, it received more than 1,350 responses and no one was selected because of reported irregularities. Spirit Air in Ranchi, a private air-taxi provider invited applications but charged a fee of Rs 6,000 from every applicant. Other private operators charge heavy deposits for every application, making huge profits in the process and do not even tell the applicant the results. “Recruiters are taking advantage of the jobless and milking us as much as they can,’’ says Dhruv Sen who was asked to show 3,000 hours of flying experience by one recruiter. “It takes almost a year to finish 1000 hours, with each hour costing Rs 7000. It is next to impossible for a newbie who generally completes 200-280 flying hours to have that kind of experience.’’

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Cheap publicity: Less than 24 hours after this wall outside Phoenix Mills in Lower Parel was painted by citizens, film posters were ruthlessly slapped on it. The wall painting event took place on Sunday and was initiated and organised by the BMC and The Wall Project, a group of Mumbai graffiti artists. On Twitter, Aladin’s lead actor Riteish Deshmukh and director Sujoy Ghosh apologized for the film poster’s placing after members of the microblogging site started a protest campaign. Deshmukh tweeted, “Sincere apologies for the Aladin poster that been put on the wall. Insensitive n incorrect. Will look into it asap. Sorry guys.’’ Ghosh wrote, “Wall posters should be banned or only in authorized spots. Never again a wall poster. Promise.’’ Protestors plan to tear the posters of films like London Dreams, Canvas, Gair and Aladin on Saturday.

Photo credit: Raju Shukla

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Animal behaviourist or not, anyone can tell Don’s had a traumatic past. At the Welfare of Stray Dog’s campus, he refused to eat for days and sat quietly only “to look quickly at you and look away again,’’ says CEO Abodh Aras. Dragging his hind legs behind, Don hasn’t barked ever since he was rescued, unlike his canine companion Spots who jogs around, even with front paws, maggot-eaten. “He doesn’t know how to behave now. You can see how uncomfortable he is around humans.’’

Caretaker Aras, who once rescued an aristocratic Newfoundland sniffing its way around in a Dindoshi garbage dump says abandoning pets is rampant because “people think pets are toys.’’ Reasons for separation include skin infections, birth defects, the flaky, “I never knew he would grow this big’’ and “we’re shifting base’’.

Dog dumping is on the rise in metros like Delhi and Mumbai, say activists who network using SMS and online social media to find new homes for the `abandoned breed’. Topping the list of most abandoned breed is the Indian Spitz or Pomenarian followed by breeds like Labradors, German Shepherds, Daschunds and Pugs. There are two types of abandonment. “They either leave them on the road or look for new owners. Both ways, it’s the dog that suffers,’ says Aras.

SOS adverts like, “Hi, I am a little white dog, but I have no name, because no one seems to know it. My owners left me on the street, though I loved them with all my heart,’’ and the more interactive, “Are you lonely? Do you need an escort for 24 hours? Unconditional love with only requirement of 10 % reciprocation and a few caresses,’ flood online pet-lover communities. On Facebook, a 128-member strong community called `Pets for Adoption in Mumbai’ says on its about section: `Wanna put a pet up for adoption? Dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles… even snakes? Just upload their pictures and add a brief profile in the wall.’

Veterinarian Dr Deepa Katiyal, an active member of Petnopolis a networking site for pet lovers doesn’t know what to do when she finds random pets tied up outside her Goregaon clinic with some money and little notes. “They either come with skin rashes or hip dysplasia,’’ she says. According to her, recent illegal indiscriminate inbreeding has produced an entire generation of dogs with “faults in line.’’ So when someone buys a puppy, “they have no idea it will grow up to become handicapped.’’ And then, medicines for curing skin diseases like scabies and making sure the dog is clean often costs more than the cost of certain breeds themselves, reason enough to abandon the dog.

And although The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act states that an owner who `without reasonable cause, abandons any animal in circumstances which render it likely that it will suffer pain by reason of starvation or thirst’ shall be fined or imprisoned, enforcing it becomes difficult. In several countries like Japan and New Zealand inserting a microchip below the skin at the back or left side of the neck of the dog is compulsory, making it easier to track the dog owner of lost and abandoned pets. But the system hasn’t been introduced in India yet, causing grief to crèche owners like Sairaj Iyer. “There have been times when people have left that their pets with me saying that they would return and then shifted homes,’’ he says. Iyer narrates stories of he managed to find new homes for an abandoned Great Dane Mastiff, paraplegic German Shepherd and a Neapolitan Mastiff. “More male dogs are bred than female, skewing the ratios’’ leaving a large number of male dogs without mates. “If a dog is not allowed to mate at two, it’s going to become aggressive. The easiest and most common practice then is to dump the dog.’’

But that’s just an excuse, like are all reasons for abandoning a pet thinks Aras. “There are behaviorists for aggressive pets, boarders to relocate pets, vets to help deal with diseases and a gamut of other pet professionals waiting to help out.’’

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6:34 PM Oct 7th from mobile web

u know what really rocks… SUVs stuck in traffic n me tweet-walking ahead

6:23 PM Oct 7th from mobile web

neighbourhood loafers singing, ‘chooha nahin kisine, aisi hain jawani’. not at me ofcourse

6:20 PM Oct 7th from mobile web

kids posed for a pic with neighbourhood goat

6:09 PM Oct 7th from mobile web

think i’ll walk to work, will try to build contacts on the way

6:05 PM Oct 7th from mobile web

the best part about my job? boss gets angry if i’m in office

6:03 PM Oct 7th from mobile web

met some cool indian dogs. now chilling at saat raasta

6:02 PM Oct 7th from mobile web

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