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Election results: BJP overpower longstanding Congress

A man wearing a Narendra Modi mask waves a BJP flag at a rally after the election results, Mumbai, 16 May, 2014. BJP and it’s allies have over 300 out of 543 parliamentary seats. Fariha Farooqui/Mumbai Weekly

Early results in India’s general elections on Friday has brought opposition leader Narendra Modi on course for a win with an absolute majority.

Bhartiya Janta Party leader and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s campaign policy to increase growth and development in the country received a

welcome response as his party and it’s allies lead the results in over 300 seats out of the 543 seats being contested. The ruling party In-

dian National Congress was ahead in just 38 seats. Rahul Gandhi, who led the Congress campaign along with his mother Sonia Gandhi, lost

their seat from Amethi – a family stronghold for the party for years. A reform of this scale will bring Narendra Modi, 63 to become the prime minister

Witnesses come forward on hit and run case

of India and form his government by selecting his cabinet of ministers.

and bonds in the past six months putting their bet on BJP’s win.

Foreign investors have reportedly invested $16 billion into Indian stocks

On Friday the markets went off to a rare start as rupee broke below 59 to

the U.S dollar a ten month high. In Maharashtra BJP won 23 seats out of 48 seats and congress won 1 seat andshivsena won in 17 seats.

BSE at record high

A man looks on at the BSE stock exchange, Mumbai, 16 May, 2014. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

Salman Khan leaves the courtroom in a white mercedes ,Mumbai, 6 May, 2014. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

Two witnesses came forward to identify Bollywood actor Salman Khan in the 2002 hit and run case. Muslim Sheikh and Munnu Khan reportedly told the court that it

was infact Salman Khan behind the wheel when the accident happened. Khan, who was allegedly driving a Toyota Land Cruiser ran over a group of people sleeping

on the pavement in suburban Bandra. Out of five people one was Killed and the other four were severely injured. On December 5, 2013 the court had ordered fresh trial af-

ter the charges against the actor were changed to culpable homicide not amounting to murder from the previous lesser charge of death by negligence. If he is convicted the actor

may face a jail term of upto ten years. The case has been going on from court to court but the argument still remains whether he was driving the car that night or not.

With election results drawing to a close and BJP’s win overpowering the Gandhi reign, the 30 -member index of the BSE sensex retreated up to 0.1 percent moments after gaining as much as 6.1 percent to a record high crossing 25,000 points. Shares rallied to a record high as rupee

strengthened to a 11 month peak against the US dollar. According to media reports, domestic shares like Ambuja Cements Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd etc soared as hope for economic growth increases tenfold . Both foreign and lcal investors are looking forward to investing in India as a result of the pro-

industrialisation government. The BSE sensex on Monday reportedly opened up 200 points higher. It had risen to 210 points after Friday’s Lok Sabha Elections . The gainers included the likes of Coal India Ltd , Sesa Sterlite Ltd etc while the IT companies like Infosys Ltd and TCS declined.

2 PEOPLE

MONDAY, 19 MAY, 2014

Laughter is the best medicine

Top right and left : Senior citizens participate in a laughter yoga event as an attempt to get into the Guinness book of world records, Mumbai, 4 May, 2014. Niket Kotecha/Mumbai Weekly

Over one thousand and fifty senior citizen aged sixty to ninety gathered in a park in Borivli for a new world record. The event was organised by Pushpa Maa Foundation on World Laughter Day to create a world record of

‘most number of people participating in laughter yoga’. Laughter yoga is a relatively newer form of yoga which includes selfinduced laughter and relaxation techniques. The one hour long programme consisted

of eighteen different yoga exercises thus setting a world record. Jimmy Dordi, a part of the managing committee of the park said the turnout was unexpected. The seniors from the same park previ-

ously held a record for the maximum number of senior citizens singing the national anthem at one location. The phenomenal response saw senior citizens participating and also having fun with the laughter yoga.

Uniting people in matrimony: A season of mass weddings On Sunday 11, May 2014, fifteen young Christian couples got married in a mass wedding ceremony held in Bandra’s St Stanislaus School. Bishop Agnelo Gracias presided over the ceremony. The school had never hosted such a wedding before and agreed to the public ceremony because of closures during the summer holidays and the fact that the fifteen couples were impoverished migrant people.

A soon to be bride smiles as other brides look on at a mass wedding organized by St. Stanislaus School at a suburban church in Bandra, Mumbai, 11 May, 2014. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

A Muslim bride talks to her family member as she sits in line with thirty five other young bride-to-be’s at a mass wedding, Mumbai, 11 May, 2014. Fariha Farooqui/Mumbai Weekly

Media reports indicate that most of the couples were from

Jharkand, Ranchi and Chattisgarh. The men were mainly engaged in unskilled manual labour while the women worked as domestic help. Working for a living wage in unskilled work most of the youngsters could not afford to get married on their own. So the school took this initiative. In another separate mass wedding ceremony held of Muslim couples, thirty six youngsters took their marriage vows in a ceremony organized by Sarathiya Muslim Ghanchi Jamat also in Bandra.

A bride and groom being blessed with holy water at a mass wedding organized by St. Stanislaus School at a suburban church in Bandra, Mumbai, 11 May, 2014. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

3 METRO MONDAY, 19 MAY, 2014

Shadows of a new state

Policemen march at a Maharashtra Day parade at Shivaji Park, Mumbai, May 2, 2014. Maharashtra day , also known as Maharashtra Diwas in Marathi is celebrated to commemorate the formation of the state of Maharashtra. . It is celebrated every year on 1st of May to celebrate the birth of the state of Bombay in 1960 on the same date. Souradeep Roy/Mumbai Weekly

Fumigation resumes after a long pause: City relieved In the month of April the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had stopped fumigation across the city for a few weeks due to a change in the policy for purchasing diesel which is needed to operate the fogging machines.

A woman looks through the smoke during fumigation process carried out at a suburban locality, Mumbai, 15 May, 2014. With monsoons approaching fumigation, which was put on hold by the BMC due to change in Diesel purchase policy, has been started again. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

Party protests teenager’s death

SFI supporters protest teenager’s death caused by anti inter-caste marriage sentiments, Mumbai, 5 May, 2014. The protest was held to promote and support inter-caste marriage and stop inter-caste violence , which is a growing issue in India. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

A rally was organized by two of the political student wings SFI and DYFI to protest the death of a teenage Dalit boy named Nitin Aage which occurred on April 28. Nitin was reported-

ly found hanging from a tree with bruises on his body in Kharda village in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district. He had a broken spine and burn marks all over his body . He was allegedly killed and later hanged by a

group of men for daring to speak to a girl of the upper caste. The police have arrested 13 people so far . According to a fact finding report the police wanted to record the incident as an accident but

the intervention from a group of dalit activists reportedly helped in lodging the complaint as murder. The rally organized to protest caste violence also addressed issues like intercaste marriages and equality for all.

It was also kept on hold partly because many of the civic authorities were on

election duty which in turn had caused a major staff crunch. Fumigation , a process of filling an area with gaseous pesticides to suffocate and kill all kinds of pests.

With rising cases of Malaria and Dengue every year the civic authority are taking extra measures to ensure the same does not happen this year. BMC has also

asked people to not store stagnant water for longer period of time as it breeds malaria mosquitoes.

The diesel crisis however was then solved as the BMC decided to shift from buying diesel in bulk to purchasing it at a ward level. Fumigation was started back again early May as the monsoons approach.

Congress party office remains empty throughout the day

An empty Congress office on the day of the election results, Mumbai, 16 May, 2014. BJP under the helm of Narendra Modi ended Congress’ longstanding reign under the Sonia Gandhi– Rahul Gandhi rule. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

After the worst loss by Congress Party and National Congress Party Alliance, the whole Congress Party was empty with not one person there on the day of the election results day. At the beginning of

the election campaign it became evident that in Mumbai North, Sanjay Nirupam would find it near impossible to regain this seat. A strong Gujarati pocket, the impact of the Modi wave was evident from

the beginning. It is no surprise that Gopal Shetty won. Another expected candidate to lose the election was Priya Dutt. A high-profile MP, whose father was a stalwart Congress leader, she had been winning

on his goodwill. She lost it all due to indifference and disconnect with the voters.

In Thane too, voters rejected Sanjeev Naik, a sitting MP and state minister Ganesh Naik's son.

4 EDITORIAL FRIDAY, 4 APRIL, 2014

MONDAY, 19 MAY, 2014

OPINION: Art imitates life.

Shweta Agrawal If that is true, then I’m seriously concerned about life today. If Bollywood’s representation of life is to be trusted, then it’s all about trashy item numbers, corrupt, Robin Hood style cops and Love prevailing over all odds. It is exactly these simplistic and over-the top plots that have led many youngsters to believe that a happy ending is a flight to Bombay away. The result-thousands head towards Bombay with dreams of stardom that eventually die a disillusioned end. One of India’s major “industries”, Bollywood is credited with having put Indian culture on the global map. My question, again- do these movies really show India as it is? Most of them don’t. We Indians are really not all about

glitzy costumes, dramatic dialogues and a song and dance every five minutes. However, that is exactly the impression created by most mainstream Bollywood movies. And what is it about Bollywood’s obsession with Hollywood? The quickest path to a blockbuster movie seems to be to shamelessly copy it from a Hollywood hit, “butchering the original story by shamelessly “Indianising” it. The way “Players” copied “Italian Job” and the sensitive “Stepmom” was massacred by “We are Family”. And now the latest trend of remaking old Bollywood classicsanother moronic trend in which movie-makers, in their desperation to make money, try to capitalize on past successes, resulting in hilariously pathetic products. The less said about the new “Chashmebaddoor”, the better. These blind attempts to entertain at the cost of decency and moral responsibility only result in a very

A man walks past Bollywood posters on a DVD stall, Mumbai, 16 May, 2014. Bollywood is one of the largest centres of film production in the world. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

short life span for new movies that promote a new star every week, only to push him or her into oblivion as another brand-new arrival enters the arena. How many of you remember these briefly sparking stars like Sneha Ullal and Jiah Khan? Both one-hit wonders. Bolllywood does indeed have a short memory, and no dearth of wasted talent and murdered

dreams. The only element that lifts Bollywood out of this stinking pit of hedonism is the few principled, dedicated and inspired moviemakers who are actually interested in creating meaning on the silver screen. Those movie makers whose sincere attempts at making creative cinema are passed over in favor of more big-budget productions when the time comes for

Oscar nominations. Those moviemakers who are not driven only by raking in the profits, but by portraying life as it is. Such people, when they get to work, produce brilliant, glittering gems of brilliance as “Stanley ka Dabba, Madras Café, Peepli Live, and even rip-roaring comedies like Vicky Donor and Khosla ka Ghosla. Such movies portray the world

around us in all its colors. They show blatant brutality, not for stylized effect, but because such things exist. They show the funny, tender, poignant aspects of the smallest, most mundane of things. It is such movies that make me believe in art, in movies and in life. Such movies make us not jaded or hard, but sensitive to the nuances of this world. They show people as they are,

not as the misguided directors think that the audience likes to see. In fact, such real cinema credits the audience with having intelligence, conscience and sensitive individuals, and does not dismiss the movie-watchers as brainless morons who only want blind entertainment. As far as I’m concerned, the choice between the latest superstar driven hit or a small-budget,

non-marketed movie that might turn out to be a treasure, is no choice at all. If enough movie enthusiasts encourage such quality, the entire industry will have to undergo a complete transformation.

Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent Mumbai Weekly

POINT OF VIEW: Let’s take a ‘selfie’.

Fariha Farooqui In today's world no social gathering is complete without a selfie,well what is a selfie? Wikipedia d escribes selfie as, "a self portrait typically taken with a handheld digital camera or a mobile phone" , another definition according to oxford dictionaries of the word Selfie is "A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a Smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website" With the easy availability of smart phones and even digital camera everyone seems to be taking their

own photographs and posting it on the famous social networking sites, like Facebook, instagram, snapchat and tumblr. More and More people are using the word selfie these days, even oxford dictionaries announced on November 18 that selfie is their word the year for 2013 ,according to reports, the earliest confirmed recorded use of selfie is from 2002, in a 20something's photo and report of a drunken party, posted to an ABC Online forum: "Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps .And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie."In the beginning selfie was popular among

st the younger generation but over time it has gained wider popularity ,by the end of the year 2012 time magazine considered selfie as one of the top "buzzword" for that year. During the Sochi winter Olympics, a meme of selfie Olympics became very popular on twitter ,where users took their selfies in unusual situation s, A selfie taken by Ellen Degeneres while she was hosting the 86th academy awards is the most retweeted image ever. Even president Barack Obama made headlines for his selfie , even Indian celebrities such as Ranbir kapoor, Aamir khan joined the selfie list. The young generation is taking the word selfie to seriously, in April 2014 a man diagnosed

A girl takes a ‘selfie’ with her mobile camera, Mumbai, 7 May, 2014.With easy access to mobile phones with inbuilt cameras self portraits like this have become very popular , not just in the western countries but also in India. Souradeep Roy/Mumbai Weekly

with Body dysmorphic disorder spent 10 hours to take the "Right" selfie, attempting su icide after failing to produce what he thought would be a "perfect" selfie. Selfies are turning out to be an obsession amongst today's young boys

and girls where they end up taking such extreme steps, whatever likes, dislikes they get for their selfies they take them to seriously which affects there physical and mental well being, this selfie obsession should be under control. A lot of

people are worried with the selfie trend, it has been confirmed by The American Psychiatric association (APA) that taking ‘selfies’ is a mental disorder, it has been classified as a Mental Disorder by APA during its annual board of direc-

tors meetings in Chicago. They called the Disorder “Selfitis” defined as the obsessive compulsive desire to take photos of one’s self and post them as a way to make up for the lack of selfesteem and to fill a gap in intimacy.” Selfits has no

cure currently, but there are temporary treatment available through cognitive behavioral therapy, so if you are addicted to selfie you might be suffering from selfits. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent Mumbai Weekly

5 FEATURE MONDAY, 19 MAY, 2014

Salt and Sweat

Salt

Pans are stretched in acres of land which are situated in the suburb parts of Mumbai. Workers who work here are basically migrants from Gujarat, Bihar and remote villages of Maharashtra. They live life in temporary dwellings, which are mainly made of bamboo and hay, and work here for eight months and they

return to their homeland in rainy season. The nature of job make them work from early morning. The workers work for at least 8 hrs a day and they are paid Rs 125 a day and often they go unpaid for a week also. There is a lack of basic amenities like drinking water, shelter, power supply and facilities like gumboots, sunglasses, and no pro-

vision of first aid. During high summer, in intense sun, lot of workers suffer from eyesight problems as no provision is given to them. They also get various skin diseases, as they work barefoot and nothing is provided for that. Exposed parts of their body get covered in an abrasive coating of salt, drastically reducing their life expectancy. They can't af-

ford to buy gumboots or even glasses due to lack of money as they are usually under paid . Despite of these problems the salt pans are their only means of livelihood, and they keep working on them. Mumbai Weekly photographer Shweta Agrawal visited once such salt pan to highlight their daily life.

6 ECONOMY

MONDAY, 19 MAY, 2014

Mumbai real estate market corrected by 30 per cent

A Mumbai skyline on the backdrop as cars ply seen during dawn, Mumbai, 13 May, 2014. According to media reports the real estate market in Mumbai has corrected by 30 % in turn increasing real estate prices in some areas of the city by 33 per cent or 10 per cent annually for the last three years. Souradeep Roy/Mumbai Weekly

Smartphone market competition increases with Sony’s Z2 Tech giant Sony Mobile Communications AB aims to double it’s mobile handset sales from 2 million to 4 million this fiscal year in India. The Japanese company, which has it’s research and development facilities in Tokya, Japan, Chennai, Beijing etc, is aiming to reach a turnover of Rs. 5500 crore by expanding it’s distribution network

and providing better features in it’s handsets. It has already launched the ‘Xperia Z2’ priced at almost fifty thousand rupees in an attempt to capture iphone’s market in the premium segment. Sony has also promised to come out with thirty new cellphone models this year. Sony has enjoyed a 10 percent in terms of value in the last fiscal year.

In other news Samsung mobile struggles to keep a steady profit with the highly competitive smartphone market . Samsung electronics is trying to soften the blow by reducing prices of it’s high end smartphones and planning to sell more number of TV sets before the upcoming Brazil World Cup which starts from June, 12, 2014.

People talk on the phone as they wait for the train at a suburban station, Mumbai, 19 May, 2014. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

State sets up task force to deal with woes of street children

Honda aims higher sales

Two street children sleep at a local flower market as people pass by , Mumbai, 7 May, 2014. The State has set up a special task force to address the issues and problems faced by the street children in Mumbai after an eye opening survey by Tata Institute of Social Sciences and ActionAid revealing that 50.8 percent children end up in the streets due to lack of opportunities. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

A man drives a motor cycle. Mumbai, 13 May, 2014. Honda Motor Co targets 21 percent rise in two wheeler sales in India in fiscal year 2015. Shweta Agrawal/ Mumbai Weekly

7 CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

MONDAY, 19 MAY, 2014

Aishwarya Rai Bacchan : Remembering Sathya Sai The Sathya Sai Organization founded by Sathya Sai Baba had organized an event to commemorate the third anniversary of his Mahasamadhi. Sathya Sai Baba was an Indian spiritual guru who claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi. Bollywood actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bacchan was invited as the guest of honor along with Padma vibhushan Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, to pay homage to Sathya Sai Baba on the third anniversary of his Mahasamadhi last week. Many es-

teemed guests were invited to the event titled “The Legend of Pure Love”, held at the NSCI stadium, Worli. wellregarded artists like Pankaj Udhas, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Subramaniam, Richa Sharma, Padmaja Phenany Jogelkar, Sumeet Tappoo, Gaurav Chopra and Keshav Prasad performed classical and devotional renditions . Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, an ex student of Sathya Sai Bal Vikas programme also felicitated A few students of the same, who sang tuneful bhajans at the event. Eminent bollywood actress and model Aishwarya Rai Bacchan,an ex student of Satya Sai Bal Vikas programme talks on the microphone at an event to commemorate the third anniversary of Satya Sai Baba’s Mahasamadhi, Mumbai , 27 April, 2014. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

Yummy-mummy

Juhi on the sets of Captain Tiao

and gave birth to their first child in 2012 attended the event organized by a bio oil company. Yummy mummy Shilpa Shetty Kundra reportedly had lost almost 18 kilos of baby fat to look gorgeous again after having her firsy baby. Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra smiles for the camera at a city event, Mumbai, 8 May, 2014. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

Famous bollywood actress, IPL team owner and model Shilpa Shetty Kundra attended a city

event celebrating mother’s day. Shilpa Shetty who married entrepreneur Raj Kundra in 2009

The stunning actress was awarded the “Yummy Mummy” award and she also unveiled a ‘Yummy Mummy” calendar which has photographs of to-be or young mothers.

Eminent bollywood actress and former Miss India Juhi Chawla smiles on the sets of Captain Tiao , a show aired on Disney channel, at the Famous Studios, Mumbai, 30 April, 2014. Fariha Farooqui/Mumbai Weekly

City celebrates International dance day

A dancer uses her veil as a prop during her dance performance for the occation of International Dance day, Mumbai, 29 April, 2014. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

Famous Kathakali dancer Prabal Gupta gets ready before his performance in World dance day , Mumbai, 29 April, 2014. International dance day was introduced by the International Dance Council to celebrate dance as an art form to increase recognition and popularise dance in the society . Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

Mumbai celebrated the International dance day with many dance clubs and colleges hosting their individual events . Sathaye College celebrated the day by organizing dance performances from re-

nowned dancers.Famous dancer Prabal Gupta gave his stunning performance in ‘Kathakali’ . Other noteworthy performances include Kathak performance by Tina Tambe and her

disciples, Tejali Kunte and Ashwini Kusurkar. Nilesh Singha and Mubina Bandukwala performed a beautiful Bharatnatyam duet to celebrate the International dance day.

8 SPORTS

MW Air India draws hockey match against Army XI

MONDAY, 19 MAY, 2014

In Group-A roundrobin league match of the 10th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament, at the MHAL stadium, defending champions Air India survived a scare from Army XI I a GroupA contest which finished in an exciting 3-3 draw between the two teams. After Shivendra Singh opened the scoring for Air India in the 11th minute the forceful Army side hit back 16 minutes later through Binoy Bhengra to draw level. However, three minutes later the disciplined Army side took the

Defending champion Air India players try to block a dribble against Army I in the Group-A round robin league match of the 10th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament, Mumbai, 13 May, 2014. Akshay Vaidya/Mumbai Weekly

lead through Muthana’s field effort but AI restored parity when Joga

Singh capitalized on a half chance to score with two minutes remaining

for the half time whistle. Army XI once again snatched the lead

when Siraju A.P. converted a penalty corner in the 43rd minute and once

Summer brings in carrom tournament

again Air India managed to draw level through Gaganpreet’s penalty

corner conversion in the 51st minute. In another match, Indian Oil had to

fight hard for their 5 -3 victory against South Central Railway team.

Indian navy win

RCF player , jersey number 18 fights for possession of the ball against Indian navy player , (Jersey number 17) during the MDFA Elite division league, Mumbai, 12 May, 2014. Indian Navy won the match with a 5-2 goal difference. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

Players participate in the Mumbai Open Carrom Tournament as a child looks on, Mumbai, 5 May, 2014. Carrom is a “Strike and pocket” table game of eastern origin. Usually a family game, it is similar to billiards but played by hitting disks into pockets with the help of fingers. Niket Kotecha/Mumbai Weekly

Indian Navy cruised to a comfortable 5-2 win against Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF) in an Elite Division ‘Super Six’ play-off match, of the MDFA (Mumbai

District Football Association) League, played at the Cooperage ground. After Sunil Kumar had converted a penalty in the eight minute to give Navy

an early lead, Pawan Kumar and Riyad K added to the score sheet, both netting two goals each. For RCF their dead-ball specialist Kuldip Masih struck two brilliant goals .

Run Carl run: City runs with Olympic champ Carl Lewis Budding athletes got a ‘golden’ chance to run alongside Olympic gold medalist Cark Lewis on Monday. Carl is an American former track and field athlete who has won medals in long jump, sprint, 100 m and 200m.

Budding athletes running with Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, Mumbai, 19 May, 2014. Shweta Agrawal/Mumbai Weekly

He has won a gold medal in the Olympics a total of nine times and has won silver medal once. He has won the gold medal eight times in the prestig-

ious World Championship , twice in Pan American Games and three times in the Goodwill games. He is also the world record holder for indoor long jump since the year 1984.

The event was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the legend Olympian and a chance to run alongside him for the young Mumbaikars who look up to him as an inspiration .