Raju Korti
Even as a professional singer, Abhijit cannot be credited with finding the right notes all through his scrappy career. So I guess he must be wondering what the hullabaloo is all about after making that profound statement "Kutta road pe soyega to kutte ki maut marega, road garib ke baap ki nahi hai."
Having met the man a a couple of times, I can tell you he wears everything on his sleeve except the craft that he so ardently professes to practice.Abhijit belongs to the fraternity of people who believe they can do nothing wrong even it means gun running or dispatching a few people to their heavenly abode (whatever that means) much before they meet their expiry date. So when actor Salman Khan, the noblest epitome of human existence, ran over some people sleeping on the street under his SUV and subsequently sentenced to a jail term, the film industry predictably spun into a tizzy. Every other sympathizer had stories to tell about his charm, munificence and what have you. The riot of colors was complete with a juvenile electronic media displaying ample proof of its total Bollywoodization. The specious justification for the reckless act was justified on the grounds of a lax justice system, bigger people getting away with bigger crimes and how someone deserved to be condoned when otherwise he had shown a great penchant for helping out people in distress.
Having roamed the streets of Mumbai for years, condemned to perform night shifts as a professional journalist, I can vouch that those who sleep on the pavements/roads sleep far more blissfully than the rich and affluent in the cozy confines of their AC bedrooms. Not a rocket science when you know that most slog like donkeys the whole day.
Abhijit has spoken part truth. If you sleep on the street, you always run the risk of being run over by some spoilt rich brat down with a few pegs. An SUV in the hands of a drunken driver can be as damaging as a terrorist armed with an AK 47. Salman is not the first nor will be the last to be involved in drunken driving cases that call for a culpable homicide charge. But he will always be privileged to have the backing of a brotherhood where money calls all the shots.That's where the case hogs more publicity.
Abhijit may have been insensitive the way he made that brash statement about roads not belonging to the poor but it does ring true. The staggering gap between rich and the poor can manifest in the worst possible ways. Remember Raj Kapoor's 1957 blockbuster Shree 420 where a large group of pavement dwellers make daily nuisance in the night singing and dancing while people living in the vicinity squirm in their beds.
In a city with a population threatening to cross the dubious 1.5 crore mark, more than 5 lakh people sleep on pavements unmindful of the risk of being killed or maimed by cars whizzing past at dangerous speeds. If not anything, it is a crying shame for our urban planners who can never get out of their reverie of seeing Slumbai turned into a Shanghai.Add to that a poorly administered justice system and a diametrically opposite ways of looking at an issue that also has social implications to it.
I suggest the country's planning commission must take a cue from Abhijit's deeply influential statement and set a separate benchmark for cities like Mumbai. Instead of using BPL (Below Poverty Line), they must have People Sleeping on Pavements (PSP) as the guiding yardstick.
That way, at least the poor canines will be spared of being slighted in the films. I feel strongly for the lovable four-legged creatures who inspire more loyalty than their two-legged counterparts.
But you know who is the underdog here.
Even as a professional singer, Abhijit cannot be credited with finding the right notes all through his scrappy career. So I guess he must be wondering what the hullabaloo is all about after making that profound statement "Kutta road pe soyega to kutte ki maut marega, road garib ke baap ki nahi hai."
Having met the man a a couple of times, I can tell you he wears everything on his sleeve except the craft that he so ardently professes to practice.Abhijit belongs to the fraternity of people who believe they can do nothing wrong even it means gun running or dispatching a few people to their heavenly abode (whatever that means) much before they meet their expiry date. So when actor Salman Khan, the noblest epitome of human existence, ran over some people sleeping on the street under his SUV and subsequently sentenced to a jail term, the film industry predictably spun into a tizzy. Every other sympathizer had stories to tell about his charm, munificence and what have you. The riot of colors was complete with a juvenile electronic media displaying ample proof of its total Bollywoodization. The specious justification for the reckless act was justified on the grounds of a lax justice system, bigger people getting away with bigger crimes and how someone deserved to be condoned when otherwise he had shown a great penchant for helping out people in distress.
Having roamed the streets of Mumbai for years, condemned to perform night shifts as a professional journalist, I can vouch that those who sleep on the pavements/roads sleep far more blissfully than the rich and affluent in the cozy confines of their AC bedrooms. Not a rocket science when you know that most slog like donkeys the whole day.
Abhijit has spoken part truth. If you sleep on the street, you always run the risk of being run over by some spoilt rich brat down with a few pegs. An SUV in the hands of a drunken driver can be as damaging as a terrorist armed with an AK 47. Salman is not the first nor will be the last to be involved in drunken driving cases that call for a culpable homicide charge. But he will always be privileged to have the backing of a brotherhood where money calls all the shots.That's where the case hogs more publicity.
Abhijit may have been insensitive the way he made that brash statement about roads not belonging to the poor but it does ring true. The staggering gap between rich and the poor can manifest in the worst possible ways. Remember Raj Kapoor's 1957 blockbuster Shree 420 where a large group of pavement dwellers make daily nuisance in the night singing and dancing while people living in the vicinity squirm in their beds.
In a city with a population threatening to cross the dubious 1.5 crore mark, more than 5 lakh people sleep on pavements unmindful of the risk of being killed or maimed by cars whizzing past at dangerous speeds. If not anything, it is a crying shame for our urban planners who can never get out of their reverie of seeing Slumbai turned into a Shanghai.Add to that a poorly administered justice system and a diametrically opposite ways of looking at an issue that also has social implications to it.
I suggest the country's planning commission must take a cue from Abhijit's deeply influential statement and set a separate benchmark for cities like Mumbai. Instead of using BPL (Below Poverty Line), they must have People Sleeping on Pavements (PSP) as the guiding yardstick.
That way, at least the poor canines will be spared of being slighted in the films. I feel strongly for the lovable four-legged creatures who inspire more loyalty than their two-legged counterparts.
But you know who is the underdog here.
