Mumbai Mania

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Is Slumdog Millionaire Overrated?

Slumdog Millionaire, the movie that won several Oscar awards, has not gone too well among certain audiences. Well, most of my friends thought that the movie has been overrated and over-hyped, there is nothing extraordinary about it.

Recently, Amitabh Bachchan criticised the 'portrayal of India' in the movie, he said, "If SM projects India as a third-world, dirty, underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations."

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Impactful Ads on Mumbai Terror Attacks

The dark memories of 26/11 attacks will remain for a while, as the people of Mumbai gather piece by piece and begin to lead a normal life. The advertising world expressed their anger and angst against the terror strike through a series of hard-hitting ads.

The messages are pretty clear, that Mumbai needs to strike back. These ads were made at the request of a daily newspaper. Have a look at the ads, everyone one of us can relate to the feelings expressed in them.

Read more on Impactful Ads on Mumbai Terror Attacks


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After Effects of Mumbai Terror Attacks

The city was subdued for a long time after the Mumbai attacks. There was an uneasy feel in the air, post the terror strikes on 26/11. I walked along Colaba Causeway in the evening, and was surprised to see the shopping hub usually bustling with tourists and bargain hunters, less crowded.

I could walk adjacent to my friend on the pavement without having to nudge anyone, if you are a regular there, you would know exactly what I mean. There were just handful of foreign tourists around, the brave ones who choose to stay back. The roads get empty early than usual. There has been a major drop in the number of tourists visiting Mumbai, hotels are running empty, some operate with only four guests.

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Anti Political Activism by Mumbai Citizens

There has been a splurge of chain mails doing the rounds after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

We decided to merge and put a couple of them up to give you a clear picture of what is actually happening to and by the people of Mumbai who are fed up of being take for a ride by the politicians. The pictures are from the Mumbai protest rally, the first email is an open letter to the Prime Minister of India.

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Politicians and Pakistan Slammed at Protest Rally

We are still recovering from last week's terrorist attacks, and the angst, frustration and anger that was building up inside had to be let out. Living in Mumbai is no more safe, and we had to take things in our own hands.

All the roads led to Gateway of India today, against the backdrop of the destroyed Hotel Taj Mahal, as thousands of Mumbai residents gathered to send a strong message to politicians and the neighbouring country, Pakistan, and mourn the deaths of innocent people.

Read more on Mumbai Protest Rally

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Let Religion Not Divide India in the Fight Against Terror

With bomb blasts, terrorist attacks becoming frequent, people are beginning to realise that the politicians and terrorists are playing a game of divide and rule. More often than not, the blame is put on Islamic militants or jihadi groups, igniting a feeling of animosity against the whole community.

In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, a dear friend of ours Mohammad Sabir, working with one of the financial dailies, sent us his views on terrorism having no religion, and how being an Indian is more important than being a Muslim.

Read more Religion dividing India in the Fight against Terror

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Terror that Struck Chabad House

Very little was known about the Jewish center called Nariman House, also called Chabad House, located in the narrow lanes of Colaba. In fact I didn't know something like this existed, in spite of living in South Mumbai for 26 years, until the recent massacre.

The reason I am telling you this is to give you an idea of how low profile the place has been and how well-researched the terrorists were. Chabad House is a centre to serve the Jewish community, conduct religious classes, etc.

Read more Chabad House Tragedy

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Anarchy in Mumbai

Mumbai was the chosen destination for the next round of major terrorist attacks targeting citizens from all around the world. With over hundreds of people dead, the Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Pati states, "Small incidents like these happens in big cities." These are the kind of people who are ruling us.

What kind of politicians do we have who talk about how the people unite in times of tragedy and our resilience while they sit on their backsides and have done nothing since the last three attacks on our beloved Bombay?

Read more on Anarchy in Mumbai

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Mumbai in the Midst of Turmoil

Mumbai is in the midst of chaos. Sadly the city who was known to be resilience where during the some of the toughest times like the bomb blasts or the floods came together as one, where caste, creed and division took a backseat, has now been shattered.

The fabric of the city was slowly torn, but in recent times it has been much worse. It started off in February this year when Raj Thackeray, the right wing leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) enticed his followers to beat up North Indians.

Read more on Turmoil in Mumbai

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Mumbai Smokes as India Goes Clean

How strange is it, I allow a corporation to sell you something that kills you because I make a lot of money on the taxes on the product. I also tax you when you buy the very same product. Basically when one cigarette is sold the Government makes a sum that is more than half the cost of the cigarette.

But from October 2nd, 2008 onwards not only will you be taxed but you will also be fined if you are smoking in a public place. Its not that I oppose this call for baning cigarette smoke, I think its wonderful but the irony of the situation makes me want to laugh.

Read more on Smoking Ban in Mumbai

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New Routes to Ease Traffic in South Mumbai

Mumbai's traffic woes are well known, with the situation reaching alarming levels. The scenario might change soon with BMC's plan to redesign the routes and reduce the number of traffic signals, but only in South Mumbai.

Probably because South Mumbai is considered to be the business hub, and by making these changes will reduce the time people spend waiting at signals. This is definitely good news for people who travel to town for work. The plan is to convert the heavy traffic roads into one way and divert additional traffic to two-way roads.

Read more on the New Routes to Open in Mumbai

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BMC Blows Smoking Ban in the Air

With the health ministry having announced the ban on smoking at work and public places including restaurants, cafes, pubs and discotheques, it will be interesting to see how many actually abide by the rule.

With Mumbai's population increasing fairly rapidly and governing body of Mumbai, the law will be tough to implement. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has already expressed difficulty of making the city smoke free.

Read more on BMC Struggles to Enforce Smoking Ban

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Mumbai Crime Rate Drops by 40%?

Everyday newspapers are filled with stories on robbery, rape, extortion, murder, and the list is endless. When Mumbai police said that, in a city with population of 19 million, crime rate has fallen by 40%, we all know that it can't be true.

In fact its a matter of concern because it raises questions of effective policing in the city. Figures show that the number of criminal complaints filed over the last two decades at various police stations in the city have actually dropped?

Read more on The Drop in Crime Rate in Mumbai?

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Mumbai Gay Parade for Freedom

It is a freedom struggle of a different kind. A day after the country celebrated its 61st Independence Day, the gay community held a parade in Mumbai to demand their rights and change in Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which states that homosexuality is illegal.

The Mumbai parade was held on August 16th to show their struggle to get freedom in a society that has been indifferent towards the gay community, and not having the freedom to live with dignity.

Read more on Mumbai's First Gay Parade

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Mumbai to Learn to Communicate in Marathi?

The city is cosmopolitan in many ways, and is tagged as the financial capital of the country, where language has never been a barrier. People either communicate in Hindi, English, Marathi or a combination of Hindi and English - Hinglish (very popular in Mumbai).

That is set to change, as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC), the local civic body, has made Marathi the official language for all future documentation of companies.

Read more on Mumbai's New Language of Communication

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Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Crash in Bombay

Its a common sight to see a BMW or a Mercedes in Bombay, although its not so common to see a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. But we know for sure that people have purchased cars that cost more than a crore without taxes.

But can Mumbai roads that are laden with potholes and are with speed breakers that sets your vehicle airborne handle super cars. Well the owner of this Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 found out the hard way.

Read more on The Lamborghini Crash

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