Mumbai Masala: A Cuppa Of Araku Coffee

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ is not only a massive effort to communicate with the masses, but also a shrewd attempt to promote local products. For example, in the last episode he mentioned Araku coffee produced in Andhra Pradesh. It’s a ‘hatke’ coffee. I believe after Modi spoke about it, its sales have shot up. It’s available, like most things these days, online. Talking of coffee, I wonder if Starbucks has made much progress after its foray into the Indian market. I remember the long queues when the first outlet opened at Horniman Circle. People waited patiently for hours to have their first sip of its latte, cappuccino, etc. But Mumbai still prefers its filter coffee at places like Ramashray, where the prices are not frightful, or they buy the powder from Philips outlets or Mysore Concerns and brew at home.

City streets held at ransom

The affable Municipal Commissioner, Bhushan Gagrani, was so upset with repeated complaints about the hawker menace at Dadar that he chose to pay a surprise visit to get a first-hand idea of the issue. The problem is not confined to Dadar, but spread across the metropolis. The hawkers are so bold that they block access to Borivali police station, where the deputy commissioner’s office is located. The problem cannot be solved unless the hawker mafias are put behind bars. Each of these syndicates have at least a thousand hawkers under them and they send regular haftas to the civic staff and the police. While a shopkeeper has to buy or rent space at exorbitant rates, the syndicates make use of prime space on roads and footpaths to do business through proxies. Their daily turnover is in crores of rupees. Some of them live in plush apartments and flaunt an enviable lifestyle.

Cops on the front foot

Mumbai Police certainly deserve more than a pat on their back for ably handling the crowds that poured into Marine Drive to greet the T20 heroes last week. There was high anxiety since the event was taking place against the background of the stampede at Hathras, in which as many as 122 people were crushed to death. The city police was in strength in both uniform and mufti throughout the entire route of the celebrity procession, from NCPA to Wankhede Stadium. One wrong move could have resulted in a stampede of unprecedented proportions. The cops mingled with the crowd and ensured that the mega event passed off without any mishap. Salute to our cops and to Mumbaikars who created history by the Arabian Sea that day.

Tailpiece

A patient went back to his doctor and complained that the medicine prescribed by him was not available at any chemist. The doc told him nonchalantly that he had only scribbled on his pad to check if his ball pen was working!

(Compiled by S Balakrishnan)