Society

Yesterday was Janmashtami, a day when residents of Mumbai pour out on the streets to cheer Lord Krishna on his birthday. They dance jubilantly in groups, eat snacks with neighbours and most importantly, compete to break the Dahi Handi. Or the earthen pot filled with curd, young Krishna's favourite. Sadly though, everything mentioned above is impossible to do this year. Crowds are at the top of 'what's prohibited due to COVID-19' list. Let the pandemic not dampen your spirits, we bring you some photos from 2015, which showcase all the fun and joyous celebrations of Dahi Handi. This is what…

உலக வரலாற்றிலேயே கொரோனாவுக்கு முன் (கொ.மு) கொரானாவுக்குப் பின் (கொ.பி) என்று சொல்லக்கூடிய அளவுக்கு நிலைமைகளைப் புரட்டிப் போட்ட இந்த வைரஸ் தாக்கம், சென்னையிலும் இதுவரை  கண்டிராத ஒரு மிகப்பெரிய நிலைமாற்றத்தை உருவாக்கிக் கொண்டிருப்பதன் விளைவாக அதன் அடையாளமான ’வந்தோரை வாழவைக்கும் சென்னை’ என்பதை அது இழந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறதா என்ற ஒரு கேள்வி இன்று நம் முன்னே நிற்கிறது. ’புதிய இயல்பு நிலை’ கொஞ்சம் கொஞ்சமாக உருபெறத் துவங்குகையில் சென்னை இனி முன்பு போல் இருக்கப் போவதில்லை என்ற சமிக்ஞை கிடைக்கிறது. ஆம், அதன் மக்கள் தொகை, பரபரப்பு, ஏதோ ஒன்று செய்து பிழைத்துக் கொள்ளலாம் என்று இங்கு வந்து சேரும் மக்களின் வரத்து என எல்லாமே மாறிவிட்டிருக்கப் போகிறது. சென்னை என்றாலே அனைத்து வித மக்களையும் பாரபட்சமின்றி அரவணைக்கும் அதன் தன்மைக்குப் பெயர் போனது. அதனால் அதன் ஜனத்திரள் தமிழகத்தின் பல மாவட்டங்களிலிருந்தும் பிழைப்புக்காகவும் பல்வேறு துறைகளிலும் ஒரு உச்சத்திற்கு…

The Covid-19 crisis has forced many institutions to up their game and work round the clock. Their resilience and efficiency in crisis management has been thoroughly tested over the past few months. The police is one such institution that has been in the forefront. Pushed as it was, into the frontlines of an unfamiliar task – policing a contagion – the institution received as much flak as praise, in varying degree. Relief volunteers who plunged into food and ration distribution, fund-raising and working with migrant labourers, were possibly at a vantage point to assess the role of the police at the…

Unlike other cities in the country, Mumbai has a complex structure of electricity distribution. To begin with, there are multiple electricity distributors. There is the state owned Bruhanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and a Public Sector Undertaking, Mahavitaran (MSEDCL). The two major private players are Tata Power and Adani Electricity. In the Western suburbs of the city, customers can choose between the private distributors. So if you are living in an apartment complex, it’s quite possible that you and your next door neighbour receive power from different companies. When customers received their bills in June, they were in for…

Commodification of labour largely ignores the social and domestic life of labourers, treating them as mere cogs in the machine. This oft-repeated saying never came across as starkly as during the country-wide lockdown that was imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While economic activity and its prime drivers – workers – are yet to recover from its effects, several States and cities across the nation, owing to the resurgence of the virus, are continuing to reimpose lockdowns for varying periods. Needless to add that for daily wage workers, the nightmare is unending. The lockdown ordeal left Kotresh Hargondnali, a…

It was just like any other routine bike trip for Madhav (name changed) and his father as they started on their cycles that early Saturday morning. Little did they know how adventurous, and even stressful, the day would turn out to be. Madhav is an autistic teen, who enjoys cycling along with his father. This Saturday, driven by his instinct, he somehow rode away from his regular route while on the way back home after cycling for 2 hours. He had not been going for cycling for more than four months due to the COVID-19 lockdown, and that might have…

When the lockdown was initially announced on March 24th, many in the art fraternity failed to grasp its impact. Innovative installation artist Hetal Shukla was in fact still considering his trip to Dubai and scheduling his sponsored exhibition on 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi in Germany. As the lockdown kept on getting extended, the 150 artworks on Gandhi stayed put at Mani Bhavan, air travel got restricted and today he is wondering how he will pay his six-odd staff, who have been with him for over two decades. "I managed to pay their April salaries but slashed it thereafter since I am struggling myself,"…

Rahul K was waiting for a friend to pick him up from home that morning. He was heading for a job interview but did not seem to have the proverbial butterflies in his stomach. “I will attend, for whatever it is worth,” he said. The cynicism in his tone was unmissable….and way too much for a 21-year-old, I thought. Dressing up in formals and attending job interviews had become his daily routine ever since BBMP relaxed the nearly three-month-long lockdown, he said, speaking over a mobile phone that he shares with his mother. He has applied for dozens of jobs…

Some years back, a couple of low intensity bombs ripped through the Tirumani railway station near Chengalpet, causing substantial damage to the station master’s room. The authorities came to know that another one was ticking somewhere in the vicinity and called in the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Bomb Disposal Squad to handle the situation. Within minutes, Brooks, a male Labrador, jumped into action. The station was evacuated. Brooks sniffed around the station frantically before sitting down unexpectedly. It was a hint for his master A R R Ravi, an RPF official. Brooks had located the third bomb and it…

“Ab to dus rupaye wala customer bhi chalega, kam se kam chai aur pav to khane ko milenge is lockdown mein (Now, even a customer who can pay ten rupees will do. It can get me some chai and bread at least during this lockdown),” says Beauty Biswas, a sex worker at Kamathipura, Mumbai’s notorious red light district, located virtually at the centre of the city.  The coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the sustenance of these women in Kamathipura. The area is home to about 4500 -5000 sex workers, who have been rendered jobless and penniless since the lockdown was clamped.…