Vastraharan : A new year tradition of sorts in Mumbai?

Welcome to Mumbai- The financial capital of the land of Saraswati, Seeta, Laxmi, Durga, Kali or a ghetto full of Duryodhans and Dushyasans in its underbelly?

In Mumbai these days “ Vastraharan “ seems to be the way to usher in the new year! Last year on new years eve a girl’s clothes were torn apart at the Gateway of India even as her hapless BF tried bravely to ward off 70/80 drunken hooligans in vain. This time it was outside a posh hotel ( JW Marriot)in Juhu. But mind you today’s (Kalyug's) Dushyasans and Duryodhans however do not/did not meet the fate that they rightly got in Mahabharat. Instead our police condone their behaviour by calling them ‘minor happenings' or 'incidents blown out of proportion by the media'.
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Well…according to me these so-called minor happenings are a scar on the face of every Mumbaikar and every Indian.

Who are these people? Where do they come from? Are they from Mumbai ? And really no matter how much I try not to say the clichéd phrase, I can’t help thinking did none of the 40 spineless bastards have mothers/sisters?

Mumbai has this glamorous reputation of being the land of dreams. That I agree with. But there is a flip side to it. It depends on what dreams one harbours. I am currently living out of Mumbai, I have come across several people who have this larger than life sort of idea of Mumbai where ‘anything’ goes. Sab chalta hai.I have come across ” How many pubs are there? “ “ How many discs?” “And Oh ya Marine drive?(smirk) ”Bandstand?”(wider smirk) ."Arre Mumbai should be out of Maharashtra ya! It does not fit in with the rest of India forget rest of Maharashtra! ….And ohh the babes of Mumbai!.... So what do u do on weekends? …..How many parties per week/month….It just goes on....

For some of these people Mumbai = Page 3. Nothing more and nothing less!

These starry eyed people fail to see the hardwork put by Mumbaikars to achieve the smallest of things in everyday life...like commuting to work...or school/college......like . No basic Infrastructure, no basic facilities, slums, bomb blasts, dirt, traffic jams, trains filled with human (or should I say inhuman!) herds, beggars, potholes, the list can go on and now new battles lay ahead ...... no morals and spine as well!

My heart goes out to the newly married couple from California who unfortunately picked Mumbai to celebrate their new year ( What a shame for Mumbai!). I can’t imagine the husband’s plight when this was happening to his wife in front of him…!

How human is it to tear a girl's clothes? How can all 40 people lose their sense of basic humanity at the same time? What is this mob mentality? If one person does it it is not ok. But if 40 people do it, it suddenly becomes ok?

Another shame: How can the police be so damn cool about a girl’s clothes being ripped off by 40 inebriated hooligans? Would they be equally cool when their own kin went through such experiences? If it had been a politician’s relative say Priyanka Gandhi , would the commissioner have said this was a minor happening? See even you think this is unthinkable and are probably thinking that this is impossible. Why ....isnt she a lady? More importantly weren't the girls at juhu equally entitled to decent behaviour ?

This reminds me of a sentence from George Orwell’s book ‘Animal Farm’:

‘All animals are equal. But some are more equal than others!’

For now I am not proud to say ‘Mi Mumbaikar!’…In fact I am quite ashamed of the incident and how it was handled by the Mumbai police!...

May these hooligans' souls never ever rest in peace!!!