Twenty- five Seven

Taken for a ride

October 16, 2026

Like many of my generation, a 60+ senior citizen living in Mumbai, I am quite unfamiliar with Ubers. I do have the App on my phone and I do use it once in a while but while my children happily call for an Uber at the drop of a hat, I still prefer flagging down a black and yellow Mumbai taxi known as the ‘Kaali-Peeli’ as a default option for travelling in the city. And I think many of my generation automatically call a dial-a-cab service whatever it may be called by the generic term ‘kaali-peeli’ even if they don’t sit in one.

So one afternoon when I had to go to Crawford Market ( oops, Mahatma Phule Market), I stepped out of the Club and asked the watchman to call for a taxi. Within minutes a rickety kaali-peeli pulled up. It was driven by a white-bearded Sardarji who was busy stroking his beard . Before I got in I asked if he had a QR code because even though my operating system hasn’t revved up to the Uber, I have happily adopted digital payment and very rarely step out with real money. And to my chagrin, not many taxi drivers like online payments.

The old man muttered something which I couldn’t understand because it was a strange Hindi jumbled up with Punjabi. What I understood was that he asked me to get in and he would take mewherever I wanted for free.

All at once, I was alarmed even though it was 3 in the afternoon and there was no where he could ‘abduct’ me. I definitely didn’t want to be beholden to a stranger. But then, I comforted myself that the taxi driver was probably going towards the market anyways and would have preferred a fare rather than going empty.

While we made our way to the market, I kept telling him to share his mobile number so that I could pay him the fare. Once again he refused and complained that the world would go to hell if online payment wasn’t stopped. Cash was king he assured me and even if I didn’t pay him, Guru Nanak would pay him.

I was beginning to wonder if he was a bit crazed because he kept stroking his beard and telling me that his children wouldn’t let him use mobile banking ( not his words of course) and that he only became a citizen of this country six years’ ago. By this time I was convinced that he had completely lost it when he suddenly stopped by a crowded bus stop and asked a person who was obviously waiting for a bus/taxi whether he wanted a ride.

Coincidentally, that person also wanted to go to Crawford Market ( yes, another person who called it by that name even though he seemed twenty years younger than me). The taxi driver asked the new passenger to sit in front and asked if he had cash. Then he told me to pay the passenger up front by UPI and asked the passenger to give him cash.

I was stunned by the ingenuity of the taxi driver. He got my full fare while the new passenger got the free ride!

Ciao
Another Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration

October 8, 2026

Ganpati had come and gone. And Navratri is almost on us .

But so much water has flown that I didn’t have time to finish this post that I had began almost a month ago.

Our Ganpati celebration

As is our family tradition, Anna Shetty brought her family over for the puja followed by breakfast.

As always, the highlight were the steamed ‘modaks’, a delicious sweet coconut stuffed pastry that is Lord Ganesh’s favourite. Needless to say, it is also a favourite of Wow Dinga who can demolish at least four at a time. Because he relishes them so, I always make it a point to make them even though it can be quite a fiddle to get it just right.

My pretty modaks all in a row

This time round, I thought I had it all pat since I had laid the table the night before going to sleep. I’d also made the ‘modaks’ both regular and sugar free this time, to avoid the last minute scramble. I had also requested Prima Donna to lead the prayers and had enlisted Ms. Papaya’s help in the decorations.

A non-traditional Ganesh

Unlike most families that have a Ganesh coming home for generations, our Ganesh is actually just a few decades old, probably only 40 years old. My Mother-in-law never had one at home because her mother-in-law never had one. And in any case, if there was a traditional family Ganesh, it would have been carried forward by the eldest son. Initially, I was was a bit disappointed that we didn’t have it seemed that we were destined to have one. Because, coincidentally, someone gifted us a tiny Ganesh idol.

So while the girls were little, we brought out the little Ganesh, did our puja and ate our modaks before we immersing him in our little bucket and keeping him away till the following year.

This was our little tradition, one that I try to keep going despite the children getting bigger and people finding it more and more difficult to keep time for daily prayers.

When Ganesh comes home, one is supposed to keep him company, but every year, this festival which is supposed to be a quiet, private family celebration has become more and more elaborate with elaborate decorations, food and invitations! So naturally, everyone goes Ganesh Puja hopping and our little idol waits forlornly for the rest of the house to gather for the evening puja.

The early bird did not catch the worm

Unfortunately, all my smartness came to nought.

Because I had made the modaks the night before and refrigerated them , the rice flour pastry turned hard and chewy! Worse still my menu of thalipeeth and Indori Pohe were not appreciated. What a pity.

But I learnt one lesson: never try to beat the system. You will always lose.

The Community Ganesh Celebration

So how did a family celebration become the one big song and dance it has become today ?

Well, you can blame it on the British !

During colonial rule, the British had outlawed large gatherings except for religious purposes. Taking advantage of this, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a wily lawyer and revolutionary, decided to have a community Ganesh so that the entire neighbourhood could gather for prayer. Apart from the prayers, there were cultural activities too with people putting up skits, organising singing competitions and even inviting spiritual leaders to give a talk.

Revolutionaries hangout

Bhausaheb Laxman Jawale

It was Bhausaheb Laxman Jawale ( alias Bhausaheb Rangari) who along with his friend Balasaheb Natu decided to hold a community Ganpati at Jawale’s house which served as the safe house for all the revolutionaries to meet.

Unlike other Ganesh’s, this idol had a fierce expression while he pinned down a demon with his trunk and one hand, ready to kill him with a trident held aloft in the other. It was no secret that the monster represented the British Empire.

The Ganesh and the Monster

Taking inspiration from this celebration, Tilak brought this tradition to Bombay and from the small tenements of Girgaon, it slowly spread to every neighbourhood.

Larger than life

Today the Ganesh idols are huge. Corporates and politicians vie with one another to sponsor neighbourhood Ganpati celebrations. The idols are getting larger and the processions noisier and more rowdy.

Finally, this year a handful of women in my neighbourhood were successful in asking a prominent family from spilling out on the roads leading to their house .

Well, with Ganpati over I hope Dussehra and Diwali are calmer .

Ciao
Going to the dogs

September 10, 2026

Last week at the Club, I overheard two members talking. They had both returned from their holidays and were catching up with news .

After gossiping about their friends, sharing scandals, talking about their children, discussing the latest serials, movies and books they began cribbing about how everything was going downhill.

Starting with the leaks in exam papers to the potholes, Mr Mundhe’s enforcement of food safety norms and endemic scams, (which was nothing new) they finally came to the conclusion that the country was going to the dogs.

I couldn’t agree more. Especially since the younger generation is either not getting married or not having babies.

What can you expect when they become fur parents? With the proliferation of pet parlours, pet caterers, pet spas, pet fashions and even pet therapists, it’s probably better to lead a dog’s life.

No wonder the country is going to the dogs.

Ciao