MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray's Tuesday speech at Azad Maidan has sparked off a sharp response across the city's political spectrum. Republican Party of India (RPI) activists on Wednesday condemned Thackeray for his criticism of party chief Ramdas Athavle on the Indu mill land issue. The RPI demanded stern action against Thackeray under the draconian Anti-Atrocities Act for insulting Dr Ambedkar. Thackeray's effigy was burned by RPI workers at Parel and Kherwadi.
The RPI has for nearly a year been spearheading a stir for the land in Dadar to construct a memorial in honour of Dr Ambedkar. The state government has taken up the matter with the Centre as the land belongs to the Union ministry for textiles. Thackeray had slammed Athavle on Tuesday for keeping silent when miscreants desecrated Lord Buddha's statue in Buddha Park, Lucknow, recently. "Athavle is only interested in the Indu mill land,'' he said.
Athavle replied, "Thackeray has every right to air his views. However, he should have exercised restraint before speaking on the Dr Ambedkar issue. I and my party strongly condemn his statement.''
RPI activists on Wednesday held demonstrations near the Bandra office of the collector, suburban Mumbai, demanding action against Thackeray.
Bharatiya Republican Party leader Prakash Ambedkar said Raj was playing "pedestrian politics''. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre accused him of creating 'unrest' in the state with irresponsible utterances.
The Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Wednesday carried a page 1 report on Raj's rally, yet another indication that Matoshree is keen on cosying up to Raj
in 2004, the Sri Lankan pop sensations from the
1960s, The Jet Liners, held a reunion concert in Colombo. As a finale,
they performed this song: Bombay Meri Hai – a tune that has
been a Bombay party standard since was released four decades ago. The
first time I realised that the tune was hugely popular south of the Palk
Straits was in 2000, while eating a meal in a Sri Lankan restaurant in
the New York borough of Staten Island. As I tucked into my hoppers and
curry, a Sinhalese version of Bombay Meri Hai called Ran Ran Ran
blasted out of the speakers. I marvelled at how a song composed by a
guy who lived around the corner from me in Bombay had spread around the
globe like this. Bombay Meri Hai is among my earliest musical memories. When I
was a child, the song was always being played on Saturday Date, the pop
music request show on All India Radio. But mostly, I heard the tune
being performed week after week by wedding bands at the Bandra Gymkhana,
opposite my grandparents’ home. Bombay Meri Hai is among the
songs in the “masala” section of Catholic wedding parties – the
fast-paced crescendo during which revellers wave white handkerchiefs
above their heads to conjure up a long-forgotten aboriginal past as they
dance to Marathi and Konkani folk tunes.
Bombay meri hai by naresh fernandes
Perhaps because it’s invariably performed alongside tunes like Galyan Sakli Sonyachi and Sonyachi Kavla, I’d always thought of Bombay Meri Hai as a traditional Bombay Catholic tune. So I was more than a little intrigued when, deep into the graveyard shift at The Times of India in
1991, my Parsi colleague Roxanne Kavarana told me that not only did she
know the man who had composed the tune, she was actually related to
him. Over the next few years, I’d come to learn a little more about how
Mina Kava came to compose the first-ever Indo-pop hit.
This photo was taken in 1958, when Mina Kava – peering out from behind
the drums – was still a few years away from his burst of success (or at
least success as defined by the standards of the tiny world of Indian
dance music). It was shot at the Bandra Gymkhana when his band, the
Music Makers, was staffed with best-known performers of the Bombay jazz
world: pianist Toni Pinto, trumpet player Chic Chocolate and saxophonist
Norman Mobsby. If you look closely, you’ll see that the photo was
signed at the bottom by two visiting American musicians: Dave Brubeck
and Joe Morello. (Not pictured here are six men who were vital to the
smooth functioning of the Music Makers and indeed, most Bombay dance
bands of the time – well-muscled coolies. “Sure, we had to transport the
piano from venue to venue,” Kava explained.)
Kava gave his first performance playing the harmonica on AIR’s
Children’s Hour. After a stint as the leader of Phiroze Damri’s Hohner
Harmonica Band, he began to take piano lessons so that he could start
working on his own compositions. He rounded out his musical education
with drumming lessons from Karl Lord, who lived around the corner from
him, near Almeida Park in Bandra, and Hindustani vocal training with
Pandit P Madhukar. After doing two bachelor’s degrees (he got a BA from
St Xavier’s College and a BCom from Sydenham), Kava started playing
percussion instruments for Hindi film soundtracks. But he gave up when
he decided that the film industry was “run by cliques”.
In 1969, the recording company HMV asked Kava and the Music Makers to
write a song about the city in which he lived. Kava had already made a
few records for the company by then (and had changed his name at the
insistence of HMV’s publicists), but his tunes hadn’t quite captured the
imagination of the public. Like all the songs he made in English, the
lyrics had been written by his formidable wife Naju and carried a whiff
of Edwardian innocence about them. In 1966, they’d made their debut with
an ode to their home state, which had been born only six years earlier.
It was called Evening in Gay Maharashtra. (I have since given a
copy to my friend, the queer activist Vikram Doctor, and he says that a
remixed version of the tune is played occasionally at parties thrown by
his Gay Bombay group.) They followed up with Viva La India. Kava even recorded a couple of bhajans, with vocals by the playback singer Krishna Kalle.
Evening in gay maharashtra by naresh fernandes
But Bombay Meri Hai broke the mould and established the
template for the Indo-pop boom that would emerge in the mid-1990s. It
had bilingual lyrics, ranged Indian instruments alongside Western ones
and had an insanely addictive melody. It accomplished something else
none of Kava’s previous recordings had managed: “It made money,” said
Maurice Concessio, the long-time bandleader who earned his share of the
loot because the B side of the record featured Ritabelle, a
tune he’d written about Raj Kapoor’s daughter. The record brought him
“lots of royalty cheques”, Concessio told me with evident glee.
The voice that invited listeners to sample Bombay’s delights –
idli-dosa, hot samosa, among them – belonged to Uma Pocha. Her younger
sister Usha Uthup was already finding her way through India’s pop music
world (she won a Padma Shri earlier this year). But for Uma Pocha, music
was just a hobby. She would soon earn her medical degree and spend the
next few decades working in municipal hospitals. Before she disappeared
into the hospital wards, though, she was invited to perform at a concert
for the Save the Country Fund in Colombo in 1970.
Ceylon, as the country was then called, was very familiar with latest
Hindi film hits. The Indian government had banished film music from All
India Radio only a few years after Independence, so Radio Ceylon, left
with several powerful transmitters set up by the British for wartime
broadcasts during WW II, saw an opportunity to draw in advertising
revenue. In 1952, for instance, it started the Binaca Geetmala countdown
of Hindi film hits, a show that it continued to broadcast until 1994. Bombay Meri Hai,
which was broadcast frequently on Radio Ceylon’s pop programmes, had a
great advantage. The dholak-propelled rhythm is remarkably similar to
the beat that enlivens the baila songs that Sri Lankans love, so it
wasn’t surprising that they adopted Bombay Meri Hai with such a passion. I haven’t had the chance to ask The Jetliners how they discovered Bombay Meri Hai. It’s
entirely likely that they heard it in Bombay, the year it was released.
After all, in 1969, the Sri Lankan group were the house band at Blow
Up, the discotheque of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay and they recorded
two albums when they were in the city: TheJetliners Go Go at Blow Up and The Jetliners at the Taj Mahal Bombay.
However, back at Almedia Park in Bandra, the passage of time would
not be kind to Mina Kava, the man who created the first-ever Indo-pop
hit. In conversations with him over the years, I would learn about feuds
with his record company about royalty payments, quarrels about property
and other baroque disappointments too complicated for me to understand.
In 1975, he wrote another Bombay song, this time about the bumala, as
Parsis know that famous fish, the Bombay duck. But it didn’t become
anywhere near as popular at Bombay Meri Hai.
Bombay duck by naresh fernandes
By the time he passed away in 2002, Kava seemed to have lost much of the joy evident in Bombay Meri Hai.
But the delight that his tune still brings is proof of how, once it is
released into the world, music acquires a life of its own, independent
of its creators. That’s clear from this Sinhalese version of Bombay Meri
Hai, sung by Milton Silva.
Ran ran ran by naresh fernandes
I found out that no one had submitted this awesome song which is
usually played in weddings, it known as "Bombay Meri Hai", so I m
posting the TABS for it.. hope you enjoy it
The strumming pattern is,
DUDU pause DUDU and so on..
Verse
(D)Come from England, come from Scotland, come from Ireland(A7)
Come from Holland, come from Poland, come from any land,(D)
If you're looking out for a (G)pleasant holiday,
(A7)Come to Bombay, come to Bombay, Bombay meri hai.(D)
Chorus
(D)Bom bom bom bom
Bombay meri hai(A7)
(A7)Born bom bom bom
Bombay meri hai(D)
(D)Our ladies are nice, they are so full of spice(A7)
Come to Bombay, come to Bombay Bombay meri hai.(D)
(D)Wear a dhoti, put a topi and a small coatie(A7)
Mini or bikini is so good for you honey(D)
If you ain't so gay then you can live the (G)sadhu way
(A7)Come to Bombay, come to Bombay Bombay meri hai.(D)
Verse
(D)Puri bhaji, bhelpuri you can try and tell(A7)
Idli dosa, hot samosa you will like it well(D)
Once you come to stay then you won't like to (G)go away
(A7)Come to Bombay, come to Bombay Bombay meri hai.(D)
n exhibition at Central Hall of Bombay High Court takes us through over 300 years of the citys judicial past
Sunil.Baghel @timesgroup.com
As a court reporter sitting through case after case,making sure that every technicality is covered and that no detail is missed or misunderstood,it is easy to forget what the corridors of the Bombay High Court have stood for decades.An exhibition at the Central Hall of the High Court's second floor is showcasing a fascinating compilation of the most significant documents in the city's over 300-year-old judicial history.
From King George II's 1753 charter creating Mayor's court,Royal charters for the creation of the Supreme Court and High Courts to India's most famous lawyer M K Gandhi's application and eventual debarment from the advocate's roll,the exhibition is a unique collage of Indian judiciary under and after the British Raj.
As the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Mohit Shah notes in the visitor's book: "This exhibition is simply wonderful.It takes back to those days when the judges,barristers and advocates as well as the prothonotary's office were literally laying the foundation of our judicial system,dating back to more than 300 years."
The month-long exhibition was thrown open to the public on Thursday.Here are a few of the most important documents being showcased at the HC's Central Hall.
VENUE:
Central Hall,Second Floor,Bombay High Court,Fort
ENTRY:
Free
TIMINGS:
10 am to 6 pm
(From right) On display at the Central Hall are an attorneys roll between 1824 and 1976,one of the first typewriters in the Bombay HCs history dating back to 1905 (the earliest known typewriter is said to have come to HC in 1900),the gown of a prothonotary and a judges wig.The Central Hall on the second floor of the Bombay High Court where the month-long exhibition started on Thursday.It is the same Central Hall where three sedition trials against Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak were conducted between 1897 and 1916. Also on display were applications by the likes of Lokmanya Tilak,Mohammed Ali Jinnah seeking admission as advocates.On display were Gandhis June 1891 certificate,his November 1891 application to be enrolled as an advocate,and his eventual debarment in January 1923 Queen Victorias 1862 charter by which four High Courts were established in India --Bombay,Delhi,Madras and Calcutta.Though names of three of these cities may have changed,their High Courts are still known by the original names. King George IVs 1823 charter to establish the Indian Supreme Court --called as Letters Patent.The exhibition also displayed a 1753 charter of establishment of the Mayors court. Justice M C Chagla -- the first Chief Justice of Independent Indias Bombay High Court.Also on display are the certificate issued to him by the Inner Temple dated June 28,1922,and the application written by Justice Chagla requesting to be enrolled as an advocate at the Bombay High Court on September 14,1922. The Chief Justices mace,which is placed on front of the dais in whichever court he presides on.The Indian Emblem replaced the British Emblem after the country gained Independence,but rest of the body remains the same as it was during the British Raj. Pictures of Bombay between 1900 and 1914 at the Central Hall.The pictures are a part of personal collection of Solicitor Rajan Jayakar. A visitor looks at Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkars certificate for Utter Barrister,issued by the Society of Grays Inn dated June 28,1922. Mahatma Gandhis application seeking admission as an advocate to the Bombay High Court dated November 16,1891. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels certificate issued by the Middle Temple in January 1913,and his application seeking enrollment Lower denomination stamp papers of King Edward VII -- 2 annas,3 annas and 5 annas -- and high denomination stamp paper of Rs 25,000 by King George VI
Visitors to the painstakingly restored Bhau Daji Lad Museum on Independence Day,were curious about a certain statuesque gentleman who was there with his family.Kabir Bedi with his companion Parveen,and grandchildren Alia,13 and Omar,12 was taken on a grand guided tour of the museum by Honorary Director Tasneem Mehta.The Bedis spent over two hours exploring the museums treasures and the section which will soon be open to the public with restored storage cottages and workshops spaces.We hear there are plans to make the museum more attractive by introducing a caf,a space for special art projects and public sculpture,as well as an audio visual centre.We cant wait.
MUMBAI: The challenge to beautify the precincts of Mumbai's forts arises from the fact that multiple agencies own the land on which the monuments stand. Bandra's residents, who refurbished Land's End garden on the precincts of the Portuguese fort, were able to bring these different arms of the government to common ground, which was the secret of their success.
The project was completed in 2001 at a cost of nearly Rs 1 crore. Arup Sarbadhikary , of the Bandra Bandstand Residents' Association , takes a deep breath as he recalls the struggle put up before the dream was realized. "The main garden, where the amphitheatre stands, belongs to the BMC, while the lawns that stretch to the shore come under the collector. The broken wall with the gate is owned by the state department of archaeology and museums. We collaborated with all three guardians and, with MP funds from Shabana Azmi, Dilip Kumar and Priya Dutt, created this verdant haven," he says. "We continue to pay staff salaries for the upkeep and water the garden as well."
The road was littered with legal battles against land sharks who were hoping to appropriate the prime proper ty. However, the Land's End garden was finally beautified in keeping with heritage norms. Old stones from the fort's ruins and Behramjee Jeejeebhoy's mansion were used. Hundreds of trees were planted as well. Architect P K Das, who undertook the project, says, "In Mumbai, a fort may come under the Archaeological Survey of India or state department of archaeology , while the land may variously belong to the BMC, state government, collector or Mumbai Port Trust. That is the tragedy of Mumbai's development, several agencies often work at cross purposes . Citizens, who remain the neutral factor, can bring these conflicting interests to common ground. We at Open Mumbai have demanded that each fort and its precinct be considered an area that needs to be conserved so that a comprehensive plan is implemented ."
The Land's End experiment has served as an inspiration to residents of Carter Road and Juhu, with residents investing serious sums to develop parks.
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The precincts of Mumbai's six forts have been neglected, abused and encroached. The organizers of Open Mumbai, an exhibition currently on at Nehru Centre, have proposed that spaces for public leisure be created in their precincts. In fact, the state department of archaeology as well as central Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had earlier announced similar plans to develop gardens, promenades and cafes in the precincts of the Sewri, Worli and Bandra forts. A similar plan was also in place for Vasai Fort in Thane district. But so severe was the damage to the monuments during restoration work that the larger plan to create public spaces in the precincts was truncated. The only site where the dream took shape was in the precincts of Bandra Fort, where residents along with architect P K Das managed to create public and cultural spaces, though here too the state department of archaeology's restoration of the fort itself was a tragedy.
The six forts are at Sewri, Bandra, Worli, Mahim and Sion (two forts). Of these, Sion Fort is the largest, covering 53,810 sq m, and Kala Killa, also at Sion, is the smallest at 1,293 sq m.
Architect Vikas Dilawari agrees that the precincts surrounding forts should be turned into public spaces and tourist destinations. Indeed, all planners seem to be on common ground on certain issues, including demarcating these natural assets in the city's Development Plan (DP). It is another matter that these structures are anyway supposed to be 'protected' due to their historic status.
Dilawari suggests, "The revised DP, being prepared right now, should acknowledge these forts as our rich cultural assets, something missing in the earlier DPs. Once this is done, the restoration interventions proposed should encourage local, regional and national tourism . The easiest way to protect the historical structure is to have a recreational zone that serves the area, as in the case of Bandra Fort."
He adds that the precinct around the fort should be regulated but residents should be allowed to perform necessary repairs. "However, there should be no highrises , which engulf the very presence and setting of the monument," Dilawari says. The ASI monuments now have a new central law to protect them, which needs to be integrated with the revised DP, he adds.
Architect Chetan Raikar says the government neither has the resources nor the willingness to conserve forts, and hence "adaptive reuse" is the only viable option to maintain them. "This is possible if these places are converted into open spaces to attract tourists and locals. Mumbai is devoid of such open spaces and the public would be more than willing to even pay if these forts are developed as parks while maintaining the identity of the ruins. This does require willingness from the government, though," he says.
Dilawari says the government should also encourage small history museums as part of the adaptive reuse. The museums could have information about the forts as well as the locality. Subtle illumination could also draw attention to the structures. For instance, commuters who use the Bandra-Worli sea link pass the Worli Fort, but hardly know of its presence.
The organizers of the Open Mumbai exhibit say that by connecting the fort precincts to neighbourhoods, their isolation and abuse would be halted.
