Call 1090 for help....a boon for senior citizens...

Telephone number 1090 is the important number for senior citizens of Mumbai. It is the number which senior citizens can use for asking for anything and everything under the sky.

It can be used by those callers who are longing to have a chat when they feel lonely or neglected at home. It can be used for calling with requests to buy them medicines, to help them cross roads and railway bridges and complaints of physical and mental abuse by family members.

There is a caring cop on the other end of the line who listens and counsels them on their problem and can even coax their children to mend their ways and take care of their parents. There are six constables on that line who are trained in soft skills and inter-personal communication to deal with calls from senior citizens.

This service is a boon for senior citizens who are living alone in Mumbai city and who have nobody of their own to care for them.

Cricket Camp from April 11-15 at MIG Cricket Club at Bandra

The MIG Cricket Club ground is used by nearly all of Mumbai's cricketers who live in the suburbs of the city.

Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar plays practice games at the ground and it is kept open to public like any other ground, but with some restrictions.

The Mumbai Indians, the local city team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be having their practice camp starting on April 11 at the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground.

The camp will go on till April 18, the day IPL begins. This is good news for local cricket buffs as very few will be travelling to the DY Patil stadium, Nerul to watch the IPL matches.

Rohan Shedge, an under-19 Mumbai player who resides at Bandra said, “I’m not sure whether I will go for the evening matches to Nerul. But I will definitely go and meet my heroes at the training camp.”

Added Aditya Khanvilkar, a Kanga League player, “We will never get this opportunity to see Jaysuriya and Tendulkar together in the nets, hence I will going to the BKC ground everyday.”

Lalchand Rajput, coach of the Mumbai Indians informed, “The basic idea behind the camp is to help Indian and foreign players gel with each other.”

Cricketing greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Robin Uthappa, will be seen at the BKC ground.

The coach also seems certain that Sachin Tendulkar who is nursing a groin injury, will be spending time at the camp. “Sachin cannot remain without cricket for long. Since this camp is in Bandra he will definitely come to the nets and spend time with our team,” added Rajput.

Mumbai Indians boast of three quality openers in Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jaysuriya and Robin Uthappa, besides Harbhajan Singh in the bowling department.

source: http://www.mumbaipluses.com/

Days are numbered at Crawford market....if we allow it....

Crawford Market is more than just an old bazaar. There is so much life in the architecture. The V-shaped building features a central hall, roomy gateways, a soaring clock tower, a weathervane and two fountains. Kurla stone holds up arches made with stone from Porbunder and Bassein while a network of iron frames and columns supports the 50-ft-high roof, illuminating the enclosed market with natural light.

Now, as it faces the destruction of the building we notice at the entrance, a stone water fountain, now defunct and painted over in garish colours. Another repainted stone fountain, in the outdoor courtyard depicts Indian river goddesses and creatures as diverse as a camel, sea-horse, crocodile and ram. Sculpted by John Lockwood Kipling, Rudyard Kipling’s father and sculpture professor at the nearby JJ School of Art, the fountain is aesthetically and culturally significant enough to warrant a separate entry in Mumbai’s list of heritage sites. Lockwood Kipling’s other contribution to the market are the bas relief sculptures depicting Indian peasants, which adorn the arches at the entrance.

We know that Crawford Market is filthy, it’s disorganised, it’s in danger of falling to pieces and it needs to be saved. But more than rats, old age or general chaos, what it needs to be saved from is greed. Over 22,000 sq mts of public land will be transferred lock, livestock and basil to a construction firm that will build three malls that will tower over the old market building. The so-called redevelopment plan will destroy the architectural integrity of our most significant heritage precincts and, citizens’ groups allege, earn the construction firm a massive profit that should rightfully accrue to the city.

Here’s what happens now: the proposal must be passed by the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee before it gets to the municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak. But even if the committee does not approve of the proposal, Phatak could pass it, so long as he states valid reasons. The proposal also has to be cleared by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and by the Traffic Police. Once these permissions come in, Maharashtra’s Urban Development Department could still stay it or even reject it, if it is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so. If everybody passes it, a public interest litigation can then be filed as a last recourse.

Meanwhile, a corporator can ask – again – for the proposal to be reopened three months from March 10, when it was last brought up in the house. You can call your corporator and harangue him to explain why he supported this proposal, or convince him to reconsider it. You can also call the leaders of political parties in the BMC and demand answers for why they are insisting on going ahead with the project. You can inform the municipal commissioner of your views. You can also call or write to the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who heads the Urban Development Department.

Source:http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/

Do you like Salsa?

Watch out for the 4th salsa festival at Joss, Kala Ghoda, Rampart Row, Mumbai 400 001


Over the course of three days and four nights of challenging workshops, scintillating performances and parties that will fulfill your constant itch to dance, you can gel back your hair, put on your dancing shoes, start tapping your feet and join in making the 4th Salsa India Festival 2008 bigger, better and more breathtaking than ever!

Salsa India Productions was established by ‘Salsa guru’ Kaytee Namgyal and is today the biggest Salsa school in India, with several studios currently running in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata. Kaytee’s missionary zeal to convert everyone to ‘salseros’ and to spread Salsa across India, has had amazing results, having seen more than 5000 enthusiastic students meet, greet and fall in love with Salsa.

Interesting events during the four-nights festival are:

3rd April Welcome party, Introduction of Instructors
Dress Code: None.

4th April Workshop, Performances,
Party Dress Code: Monochrome - Black &/or White.

5th April Workshop, Performances,
Party Dress Code: Salsa T-shirt

6th April Workshop, Farewell
Party Dress Code: Retro

Source: http://www.salsaindiafestival.com/

Women in Mumbai will now be blessed with safe journey home in the middle of the night.

It is a sleek, silver and white, taxi. It sports a blue and pink logo bearing the name ‘Forsche’- a play on the name of the luxury German carmaker Porsche and the words “For She”. There is a woman driver at the wheels. If you are a man, forget it—This is Mumbai’s newest taxi service and it is for women only.

This is no gimmick; it addresses real concerns of female commuters. Nowadays, women have late night hours at work places and many of them are breaking the traditional roles and going out late evenings. Some of them are subjected to sexual harassment. Visiting tourists too, often complain about being leered at by male cab drivers. It is very disgusting when a taxi driver checks women out in the rear-view mirror

The new taxi company’s founder, Revathi Roy says: “With our service, women would never have to tolerate that. They would feel safe. They have been driving their husbands and children around and now they are thrilled they will be paid to drive.”

As for the cliché about women drivers, she adds, “It’s mainly men who are involved in road arguments and accidents. Women are safe drivers and my women will rock.”

Taxi image: http://images.google.co.in/

My City - Clean Mumbai…..

Whenever I have visitors, I feel very happy. I take them out for shopping and to the places of interest, for Bollywood films, for drives around the city, pointing to the houses of Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ambhitab Bachan and many other stars, I also take them to eating places for Pani Puri, Batatawadas, bhel puri.

We laugh and enjoy all day, going to different suburbs of Mumbai. It is a real fun and it lasts as long as they don’t comment on three P’s of Mumbai – Poverty, Pollution and Population. The minute they start complaining about three P’s my mood is off. Then I don’t wish to entertain them any more.

Is it my fault if Mumbai is dirty? Why do they have to complain it to me? I don’t eat paan, neither do I smoke. I bring all used, wet bhel puri wrappers back home because I cannot find dust bins on the streets. I have stopped eating chewing gums too. I am a role model of a responsible citizen, why can’t people learn from me? I have tried asking taxi driver not to spit on the streets and he has asked to vacate his vehicle. What do I do? The recent report by Forbes magazine which ranked Mumbai city as the seventh dirtiest city in the word makes me angrier. Grrhh!

But today, I am happy. My friend telephones and tells me that I shall be proud of Mumbai. That Mumbai will no longer be a dirty place to live in. It is unbelievable, I know, but not impossible.
She sends me a note informing me about the new culture that has started in Mumbai and that everybody in Mumbai is as distressed as I am of the filthy conditions of Mumbai.

According to the new rule, students and volunteers will blow the whistle if citizens are found littering or causing nuisance in public places.

Joining hands with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Clean-Up Mumbai, Woman Sheriff of Mumbai, Indu Sahani on Thursday, (13th march) inaugurated the ‘blow the Sheriff’s whistle campaign’. Sheriff distributed whistles to around 150 volunteers in addition to ID cards which are ‘permitted to warn and not to fine.’

Sheriff Dr Indu Shahani feels BMC cannot cope with 13 million people and citizens must work in partnership with the civic body. People who throw garbage should be blamed and should be given lessons in civic sense,” she said.

Additional Municipal Commissioner RA Rajiv who initiated the Clean-Up project was also present during the occasion. “It is great that city’s youth will be involved in making the city clean. The enthusiasm and vigor of youngsters will definitely help in the drive,” he said.

The drive has started and we see the volunteers whistling away at every defaulter. One volunteer was heard whistling several times at the same person claiming that he had seen the person litter again and again.

One tapori yelled back at him…..”Zyada seetie bajaya na, to tere kaan ke niche bajaoonga. Samaje kya”

Smile..say "Cheese"!

If you love photography and are interested in the latest equipment to capture the world, photo fair is the place to be.



To be held at NSE Ground, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregoan, from 13th March till 15th march, Photo Fair 2008 can keep you occupied while you explore the various photography equipments and accessories and attend the workshops and Fashion shows. There are workshops on various subjects such as fashion, travel and food photography.

Details of the workshops and fashion shows can be found here at HERE

Photofair an AIPTIA ( All India Photographic Trade & Industry Association ) event, was started in the year 2000 with an objective to spot a place for the meet between The Digital Imaging world and the Industry people to add flavor and grow the Photographic Technology with ones Imagination.

As a great boon to the Photography Industry this is the 12th successful year of Photo fair. Until now all the small & big time photographers & Learners along with thousands of industry people have procured countless advantages in upgrading their imaginations. With the timeless growth in now a days imaging world Photo fair is one such need to flourish the necessity of the industry to grow business wise, mutually in Global aspects.

Source: http://photofair.aiptia.org/