Mumbai........as it was

I always used to wonder about some of the names given to Mumbai Locations until i decided to find the truth behind them, and look what i discovered.....

To begin with, the name "Mumbai" is derived from Mumba or Maha-Amba – the name of the goddess Mumbadevi. The city was formerly called Bombay and got its name from its portugese roots. who used to call it Bombaim meaning "good bay"., still common in current Portugese use. The Britishers gained possession in the 17th century, and the name was changed to Bombay. Various names with which portugese used to call it, initially are Benamajambu, Tena-Maiambu, Mombayn and Mombaim and find reference in Portugese literature as well.

The second name I was always inquisitve about was Churchgate. Churchgate is an area in South Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The station gets its name from Church Gate street (now Veer Nariman Road) which lines on the immediate south of the station. During the eighteenth and up to the mid 19th century, Bombay was a walled city. The city walls had three gates, and Church Gate, named after St. Thomas Cathedral, was one of the gates. The gate was once situated near the present day location of Flora Fountain. In the mid nineteenth century, the city walls were torn down to aid in the expansion program.

Kurla is another place, whose name i was intrigued because of the way its initials are maintianed in railways. The name of Kurla has originated from a name of a small fish "Kurli". This suburb is built on a seawater where earlier these small fishes were found. In actual terms, suburb Kurla is called to be as Coorla and that's why still if you board a local train from CST on the central line, the train to Kurla is represented by C and not K.

The term Santa Cruz comes from Portugese words meaning Holy Cross. The name given to a church that existed on a site on the western side of the railway station, at the site presently occupied by the Sacred Heart Boys School/Sacred Heart Church and which had been devastated by the Marathas during their conquest of the region from Portugal. This former parish church gave its name to the locality.

I have been living in this area for some time now and have always been trying to find that invisible thing called FORT. The British began construction of the fort soon after taking over the seven islands of Bombay in 1668. and the work on the fort continued until 1716. The fort had three gates, called the Apollo Gate, Church Gate and Bazaar Gate. The castle was surrounded by residences, shops and places of worship. A moat was also built in 1743. An esplanade, level open space along the western fringe of the fort, was maintained for defensive reasons, to provide a clear line of fire. The fort itself was demolished by Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay in the 1860s, as serving no purpose. The ramparts were removed, the moat filled in, and the area was significantly re-structured.

I never saw any black horse running around the Kala Ghoda area and always wondered whether the place got its name because of the painting of black horse done on a restaurent's wall in the Kala Ghoda Art district. Actually, the name means Black Horse, as a reference to a black stone statue of King Edward VII (as the then Prince of Wales) mounted on a horse. The statue was removed in 1965 to storehouses of a museseum in Byculla, but the name persisted. The statue is now in the Jijamata Udyan in Byculla.

And this is the best picture of all..........showing the seven islands of Mumbai, before they were reclaimed to give us this beautiful city.

The three mistakes .... Book Review

This article got published on Tata World Book Review Section in August 2008. Chetan Bhagat is one author, who I love for his writings which has made book reading popular among masses.

The three mistakes of my life
August 04, 2008
Aditya Singh of Tata Power admires Chetan Bhagat’s unique style of storytelling, showcasing the everyday life in India and says that his new book makes for an excellent read
Chetan Bhagat has once again come out with a not-put-downable-before finishing book – third in his series and as before he has picked up a topic, which itself sets path for success of the book and makes him India’s most read English language author. Over the three books, he has written, he is slowly expanding his target audience as well. While the first book, “Five Point Someone” talked about IITs and their world, the second book expanded (and moved down the societal pyramid) to a call centre executive’s life in “One Night at the Call Centre”. In his present offering, “The three mistakes of my life”, he goes one step further down the pyramid, to the XII pass, lower middle class category, and in the process combines the three biggest passion of India – politics, religion and cricket, intricately woven in a story, wherein real life incidents like the Gujarat earthquake, the Godhra incident etc, are mentioned and thereby help the readers connect with the book. The hardliners would always keep saying that his writings are not literature. Agreed, his is not a classic English writing, yet he knows how to connect with his readers.
The book begins as a flashback story of a man on hospital bed after trying to commit suicide, from the time that this man and his two friends passed out from XII and tried to explore their career and life path, amongst the myriad lanes and maidans of Old Ahmedabad. The book nicely captures the entrepreneurial spirit of the Gujarati community, reflected through the struggle of the trio in setting up a business of their own, while not missing out on their passion that unites them – cricket. The book also brings forth other interesting aspects of Indian middle class – maths tuitions, love angles, bickerings between father and son related to career, etc. The book also gives a detailed account of the famous India Australia test match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, and refresh the memories of all cricket loving readers. The patriotism factor has also been added very subtly, through a young character in the story, called Ali. His refusal of a better lifestyle in favour of “being Indian” always brings the factor out.
The book captures the mentality and reasoning of rioting mobs, in Post-Godhra scenario in Gujarat. However, rather than focusing more on exploring this option, the author suddenly turns to and spends more pages writing about kiddish ways of our three heroes fighting an angry mob of 40 people, to protect a small boy of a different faith, believing that the kid is a national treasure. The contradictions of right wing politics and secularism is just touched upon and left. It could have been brought out in slightly more detail. Another low point of the book is that although in last one-two pages, the author has tried to convert it into a happy ending, still the sad feeling, that the readers gather from the last quarter of the book, does not waver off and the reader ends the book with a heavy heart.
About the author, Shashi Tharoor has correctly observed, “his observer’s eyes keenly focus on nuances”. It is this ability of the author, that has ensured success of his earlier novels and I believe this book will also see similar, if not better success.
Title: The Three Mistakes of my lifeAuthor: Chetan BhagatPublisher: Rupa & Co.Pages: 257Price: Rs95

Action, Boldness and Communication.....ABC for the new India

The following article got printed in MINT newspaper, Dec 01, 2008 edition......

In the aftermath of recent terror strikes in Mumbai, following would be my 10 point Agenda of Action as PM

COMMUNICATION: PRESENT STRONG POLITICAL WILL
Action 1: Convene an all party meet (involving national parties) and include security experts / advisors as part of the meet.

Action 2: Address the nation with a charging up speech - Sympathising with common man, Empathising with those who have lost family members and promising the nation concerete steps within stipulated timeframe

ACTION: STRENGTHEN / STREAMLINE INTERNAL SECURITY
Action 3: Set up a National Internal Security Board, comprising heads of IB, RAW, CBI, NSG, ATS, Army, Navy and Air Force and headed by Home Minister. This shall be the body which will take decisions, in case of any terrorist attack / naxalite war / insurgency

Action 4: Ask all armed forces'(Police / ATS / NSG) chiefs to send in their arms / ammunition / protective gear inventory status (to ensure sufficiency and efficiency of facilities at disposal) and order fresh, latest weaponry as asked for by the three chiefs.

Action 5: Introduce advanced training programs for Police forces. Special focus to be given at fitness levels.

COMMUNICATION : INDIA BRAND IMAGE
Action 6 :Call up a meeting of ambassadors of various countries to brief them about various measures being taken for Internal security (and assuring them complete safety of their nationals )

Action 7 :Call up a world media press conference at Delhi / Mumbai, to alley the psychosis of fear-struck people across the world. Present India as a strong nation. Include ambassadors of G-5 in the conference.

BOLDNESS : TAKE CONCRETE INTELLIGENCE BASED ACTIONS
Action 8 : Set up timelines for Intelligence agencies to solve the details of the terror strike. Provide direct access to PM for the head of the team handling the investigations and provide them full cooperation in terms of questioning anybody (irrespective of political backgrounds)

Action 9 : Discuss with Pak President (if the link is established) various links and ask him to deport the suspects for interrogation. Keeping interpol in loop

Action 10 :Take necessary actions against those found guilty of negligence/inaction over intelligence information.