Mumbai Weekly

Run by the students of Udaan

MumbaiWeekly Volume 01 Issue 05

metro

FRIDAY, 20 JANUARY 2012

feature

economy

sports

Above : A woman and her dog cover themselves from the cold in Mumbai. The city experienced the coldest winter in forty years according to the Meteorological department Left: A man smokes on a cold day in Mumbai. Shankar Narayan / Mumbai Weekly

Mumbai gets the shivers Mumbaikars had the experience of a pleasant winter this season when the lowest temperature recorded was 8.5 degree Celsius, the lowest in 20 years.

According to the Meteorological Department, cold waves are being brought down to the city from Jammu and Kashmir. As explained

Lion cubs born in city after twenty years Next month, those going for the lion safari at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) at Borivli will be able to see Little Shobha, Jespha and Gopa playing alongside their mother, Shobha. On 22nd September, the three cubs two males and a female, became the first set of lion cubs to be born in the park in the last 20 years. Now three months old, they weigh

between 10 and 12 kg each, and will soon be old enough to be part of the safari. Between them, they polish off 14 kg of beef and seven kilograms of chicken daily, in addition to being fed by their mother. Park officials announced this news last week, only after the cubs were healthy and old enough.

Contd on page 2

Left: Three lion cubs sit in an enclosure at Sanjay Gandhi National Park Mumbai on 12 January 2012.

These cubs were born in the city after a gap of twenty years, according to park officials. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly Right: Lioness Shoba plays with of her three cubs on 12 January 2012 in Mumbai.

Abhinav Reddy / Mumbai Weekly

by the officer-on-duty at the regional meteorological centre in Colaba, there is a disturbance near Jammu and Kashmir and this has lowered temperatures there.

It is said, the temperature may drop even further and break the record of 7.4 degree

celcius that was recorded in 1962.

The cityscape is not the same as the last few years. The nights are chilly, people are wrapped in warm clothing, street animals are not to be seen. Mornings are foggy even at 8 AM, school children waiting at bus stops make bonfires to stay

warm. From 9 PM to 9 AM, it is not difficult to find people huddling around a fire.

In contrast to the winters of the northern and eastern states, Mumbaikars are not very familiar with this kind of cold weather.

Cont’d on page2

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METRO

FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012

Mumbai Weekly

People warm themselves in front of a bonfire in the suburbs of Mumbai on 12 January 2012. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

Mumbai gets the shivers Contd from page1 A city where around 70 percent of the population resides in the slums and the streets, this cold wave can be considered to be more of a curse. Lighting a bonfire is not enough to substitute the lack of proper warm clothes. The cold weather we are experiencing here, may be the fall-out of a problem else-where. A very grave problem that is not being dealt with cautiously is of global warming. As

the polar ice caps melt, it could turn our nice cold mornings today, into unbearable days in few years.

While immediate action is needed to provide supplies to the residents of the city who are less fortunate - like warm clothing and tents to the people on streets – a more concrete plan is needed to preparefor severe weather in future.

A couple of boys sit next to a bonfire at a street in suburban Mumbai on 12 January 2012. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

School children stand around a bonfire to warm themselves in Mumbai on 12 January 2012. Chirag Sutar / Mumbai Weekly

Lion cubs born in the city Contd from page1 After two decades, the addition of three cubs

located within city limits. At present, the sa-

tendant each to take the visitors on the safari.

to the lion clan will boost eco-tourism in the park; raising the lion count to six at SGNP.

fari witnesses between 100 and 125 visitors everyday between 9am and 5.30pm with the

Wildlife experts said while facilities for the lion and tiger safari are good, the entry of

Spread across 104 sqkm, SGNP is among the count going up to 350 over the weekends. few national parks across the world to be Two buses covered with mesh have one at-

cubs will be an added attraction.

Above: Lioness Shoba engages her cub into a playful fight in an enclosure at Sanjay Gandhi National Park Mumbai on 12 January 2012.. Abhinav Reddy / Mumbai Weekly. Top Right: A protective lioness stands alongside her cubs. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly Right Centre: Jeespa, Gompa and Little Shoba, the three cubs sit in the winter sun. Abhinav Reddy / Mumbai Weekly. Lower Right: A lion cub playfully gnaws into a tree. Abhinav Reddy / Mumbai Weekly

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metro

FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012

Mumbai Weekly

Women prepare „pongal‟, a south Indian preparation consisting of rice, to celebrate the harvest festival of Pongal in Mumbai on 14 January 2012.

Mumbai celebrates harvest festival Pongal is the harvest

and raisins. The moment

festival in India. Pongal is traditionally

the milk boils over and bubbles out of the vessel,

dedicated to the Sun the tradition is to shout God It is the first day of of "Pongal o Pongal!" the Tamil year. The festival starts at sun-

Mumbai Weekly Photographer Pratham Gok-

rise. The festival Thai

hale captured the festival Pongal coincides with in Dharavi, Mumbai. the festival Makar Sank- Dharavi is the only place ranti celebrated through- in Mumbai where large out India as the winter number of Tamil people harvest and is usually held from January 13–

gather and celebrate this festival by preparing

15 . It is celebrated by

Pongal on streets. About

boiling rice with fresh milk and jaggery in new

1,850 Tamil families gathered and celebrated

pots. The rice isl ater topped with brown

Pongal on streets of Dharavi on 15 Jan 2012.

sugar, ghee, cashew nuts

Women devotees stand in a queue outside a temple in Mumbai during the Indian festival of Pongal on 15 January 2012

Devotees prepare Pongal in Mumbai on 15 January 2012

A man walks on the railway track towards the station in Mumbai 12th January 2012. An ambitious city railway project to take the suburban local trains to the next level has formally begun with the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), the city‟s railway think-tank, drawing up detailed guidelines for the two new proposed corridors Virar-Panvel and CSTPanvel fast line. Air-conditioned (AC) locals, branded trains, a separate fare structure with stand-alone operations will soon be a reality in the city. Saarthak Aurora / Mumbai Weekly

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FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012

EDITORIAL

Mumbai Weekly

OPINION Malnutrition: A National Shame

A mother bathes her son with waste water in Mumbai. Shankar Narayan / Mumbai Weekly

A boy looks at food displayed at a roadside stall in Mumbai. Saarthak Aurora / Mumbai Weekly

POINT OF VIEW

Poverty gap widens Despite economic growth, the poverty gap has widened in India, and according to latest figures, nearly half its population subsists on less than Rupees 200 ( about US$4) a day and is living in extreme poverty.

India's economy grew by more than eight per cent last year, and is expected to grow another seven per cent this year.

While this has brought smiles on the faces of the rich and powerful, the poor seem to have been forgotten.

Uneven wealth distribution in the country has increased the gap between the rich and poor.

Economic inequality is giving rise to social and political unrest in the country. Equal income

distribution is essential for India to achieve its economic potential. Education and training people to keep up with the modern time is essential especially in the agricultural sector. Currently, agriculture contributes 15 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP), but accounts for half the country's working population.

A big challenge remains training people who leave the farming sector.

As they lack skills, millions of Indians who enter the workforce every year find employment in the unregulated informal sector with low pay and poor working conditions - again getting trapped in the cycle of poverty.

Right: People stand next to each other in a crowded local train in Mumbai. Girtartha Goswami / Mumbai Weekly

On my way to work everyday I see children begging on the streets of the city under flyovers and signal junctions. Barely dressed these children walk from car to car hoping for some charity to buy maybe a single meal for a day.

What is a government doing so wrong that puts these innocents on the street to beg for food which is rightfully theirs?

Releasing a report on Hunger and Malnutrition (HUNGaMA) in New Delhi recently, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said: "the problem of malnutrition is a matter of national shame. Despite impressive growth in our GDP, the level of under-

nutrition in the country is unacceptably high." Yes I totally agree! This is a National Shame but who is responsible? Is it the government? Is it the people like you and me who live here? What can be done to solve the „national shameâ€&#x;?

In my opinion it is important to first understand the crucial link between growing hunger and malnutrition and the economic policies being perpetuated.

Hunger is the result of faulty economic policies which widens the gulf between the haves and have-nots; is the outcome of policies that take away community control over natural resources like wa-

ter, forests and farmlands; and is also the fallout of neoliberal policies that removes social security nets and allows corporate takeover of agriculture.

The more the government destroys the very foundations of agriculture forcing farmers to abandon farming and migrate into the urban cities in search of menial jobs, the more is likely to the growth in hunger and malnutrition.

Instead of extending what is visibly a mere lipsympathy to the poor and malnourished, we need to recast our economic policies making it pro-people and pro-environment.

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FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012

STREET SCHOOL Mumbaiâ€&#x;s hard education system sometimes demands students attend private tuitions.

Members belonging to the unprivileged strata of society cannot afford these tuitions causing the students to fail or worse drop put of school. Helping these less fortunate students are a group of people who convert the cityâ€&#x;s footpath into a make shift coaching class. The teachers are voluntary members of society who sacrifice their time to help there children. Classes are held twice a day and it is for students studying in the first to eighth standards.

Mumbai Weekly photographer Pratham Gokhale spent a day in one such coaching class.

Photo essay

Mumbai Weekly

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FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012

economy

Mumbai Weekly

Food inflation turns negative Food inflation remained in negative zone for the third successive week on account of a sharp fall in prices of vegetables, including onions and potatoes, which had seen a surge in prices last winter and had upset household dietary habits.

(11.5%) and eggs and meat (around 20%). In case of pulses too, inflation was estimated at over 14% during the week-ended January 7.

But worries of an economic slowdown have been increasing, which may lead the Reserve Bank Of India to evaluate With more than abundant supply, a reversal in its tight policy it's a different story this year with stance to support the economy. food inflation estimated at 0.42% during the week-ended January According to media reports the 7, compared to over 16% a year Reserve Bank Of India will ago. As a group, vegetables were meet next week to review 45.81% cheaper during the week. monetary policy and is widely There is, however, little respite expected to keep its key lending when it comes to protein-rich rate steady as headline inflation items with double-digit inflation remains high. seen in case of fruits (10%), milk

A man collects onions fallen on the floor from a torn sack at Vashi APMC market in Mumbai 16 January 2011. Gitartha Goswami/Mumbai Weekly

Economists say it may lower the rate around March by when headline inflation is expected to ease to more comfortable levels.

"Data on Monday showed headline inflation eased to 7.47% from a year earlier in December--the lowest in two years--from 9.11% in November. But prices of manufactured products--a key gauge of core inflationary pressures-remained elevated, suggesting a cut in interest rates at this time may be premature.

A shopkeeper fills a measure of grain in Mumbai on 17 January 2012. Food prices decreased this week as food inflation turned negative. Twisha Deb / Mumbai Weekly

INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT BOUNCES BACK India‟a industrial production rebounded from the worst month since March 2009, a sign consumer demand is withstanding record interest-rate increases.

Output (INPIINDY) at factories, utilities and mines increased 5.9 percent in November from a year earlier after a revised 4.7 percent decline in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office said in a statement in New Delhi today.

The median of 27 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 2.1 percent gain.

Manufacturing in India and China improved in December, according to the Purchasing Managers‟ Index, showing the world‟s fastest-growing major economies have so far been resilient to Europe‟s debt crisis.

Today‟s data gives scope for the Reserve Bank of India to keep

borrowing costs unchanged on Jan. 24 for a second straight month to help fight inflation.

“There has been an upturn in consumer spending,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Mumbai-based ratings company Credit Analysis & Research Ltd. “The RBI will keep rates on hold until inflation is firmly down.”

Above: A man works in a ship breaking yard in Mumbai on 17 January 2012. Krishanu Nagar / Mumbai Weekly Top Left: A man works on the Metro Rail Project in one of the suburbs in Mumbai. Abhinav reddy / Mumbai Weekly. Top Right: A worker ties a load with oil covered hands. Krishanu Nagar / Mumbai Weekly. Lower Right: Two men secure a load of pipes ready for dispatch. Krishanu Nagar / Mumbai Weekly

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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012

Mumbai Weekly

Moods of the Maestro

A montage of the many face expressions of table maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, at a performance in Mumbai 10th January 2012. Legendary Maestros of Santoor and Tabla, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Zakir Hussain performed live in concert in a musical homage to Shree Anandmayee Ma. Saarthak Aurora / Mumbai Weekly

KERALA DRUMMERS MESMERISE MUMBAI

A group of drummers perform at an amphitheatre in Mumbai on 12th January 2012. Thayambaka drumming is a rhythmic percussionist style performed in the south Indian state of Kerala. Abhinav Reddy / Mumbai Weekly

The Horniman Circle gardens hosted „Keli Music Festival‟ based on the drumming and percussion traditions of Kerala, from 12th-14th January.

These are styles of, a rhythmic musical style performed by sole percussionists in Kerala.

The festival featured three rare forms of Thayambaka treasured by music connoisseurs for their structure and aesthetics.

The festival featured the „Chempada Kooru‟, an eight-beat Thayambaka style that developed in Madayikkavu village in North Kerala.The form has its origins in the oracle (Velichapad) dance performed at festivals in the Bhagavati temples of the area.

Artists who took part in the festival are Panamanna Sasi, described as a rising star of Thayambaka and a disciple of stalwartslike his father, Panamanna Appu Poduval, Pookkattari Rama Poduval, Kalamandalam Chandra Mannadiar, Kottakkal Kuttan Marar and Kottakkal Krishnan Kutti Asan; and Sukapuram Dileep, a student of distinguished Thayambaka exponent, the late Pookkattiri Divakara Poduval

NOSTALGIA: FOR THE RECORD Walking down the road outside Mumbai‟s Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus can be a walk down memory lane.

Tucked among the swank modern stores selling high end digital products and sleek music accessories, are street side vendors selling the long forgotten vinyl records, better known as LPs. Nostalgia prevails as one looks through the faded record covers adorning the pavement and adjoining walls. The collection on dis-

play is extensive and a delight for music lovers. Records of Elvis, The Carpenters, Jim Reeves and a host of similar legends share space with Indian counterpart from Bollywood such as Qurbani, Kaalia, Awara and other classical hits from yesteryears. Images of the stars of the past make you travel back into time and relive your past. One is transported back to the melodious evenings spent in front of the record player or gramophones

with their trademark and nostalgic scratch of vinyl complementing a legends voice.

However, for an entire generation who missed the landing on the moon, think of Abhishek when they hear the word Bacchan and live on a staple diet of Google, Facebook and Café Mocha these LPs would seem as strange as a typewriter or poloroid camera. According to Mr. Abdul Razzak, a LP vendor, his collection of over 2000 records is

a result of extensive search and buy operations from record collectors of various places of the country. The LPs range from a price of Rupees150 (around 3 USD) to Rupees 650 (around 12 USD) depending on the size of the record. And on ones ability to bargain for a better price.

These record shops connects us to our past. However, it‟s a matter of time before they entirely fade away and music will go off the record.

A man walks past old records displayed at a street side music stall in Mumbai. Gitartha Goswami / Mumbai Weekly

A shopkeeper arranges music records in a street side stall in Mumbai on 18 January 2012. Gitartha Goswami / Mumbai Weekly

Music records are displayed at a street side stall in Mumbai. Gitartha Goswami / Mumbai Weekly

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FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012

SPORTS

Mumbai Weekly

A camera crew films the elite group of runners participating in the Mumbai Marathon on 15 January 2012. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

A physically challenged person participates in the Mumbai Marathon on 15 January 2012. Saarthak Aurora / Mumbai Weekly

MARATHON MEN

Kenyaâ€&#x;s Laban Moiben celebrates after winning the Mumbai Marathon on 15th January 2012.

Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

A participant dressed in a superman costume races to the end point of the Marathon. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

On Sunday 15th January 2012 Mumbai awoke to participate in the ninth Standard Chartered Marathon. A number of international athletes ran along side local athletes, celebrities and people participating in support of various causes. A record 38,700 people participated in the annual Mumbai Marathon on Sunday and as always the Kenyans and Ethiopians ran away with the medals. Laban Moiben of Kenya won the men's title while Netsa-net Abeyo of Ethiopia won in the women's categoray. India's Ram Singh Yadav's performance has helped him qualify for the London Olympics.

Apart from the runners the marathon had corporates and other organizations raising funds by running for charity. People came dressed in unique and innovative costumes adding a carnival atmosphere to the event.

An athlete with a prosthetic limb runs in the Mumbai Marathon on 15 January 2012. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

Athletes run in the Mumbai Marathon. Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

Kenyaâ€&#x;s Laban Moiben, the winner in the mens catogery, sprints to the finish of the Mumbai Marathon.

Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly

Published by: Udaan School of Photography. Editor: Shailesh Andrade Photo editor: Saarthak Aurora Chief Photographer: Shankar Narayan Email: editor.mumbaiweekly@gmail.com