MUMBAI: For Mumbaikars the yearstarted on a shameful note when shocking pictures of two young women beingmolested by a crowd of rowdy New Year revellers on January 1, were splashedacross newspapers and TV channels. And, it ended with pain with the city bearingthe brunt of multiple terrorist strikes on November 26.
Flashback2008 focuses on news, events and individuals from Maharashtra, specificallyMumbai, that made headlines and left a lasting impression in India and theworld.
On November 26, multiple locations in Mumbaiwere attacked with bombs and gunfire in a coordinated terror attack beginningafter 9 pm (IST), killing 183 people. The attack lasted till November 29 whenthe last of the terrorists was finally killed even as firefighters worked todouse the massive fire raging at the Taj hotel.
Post attacks, therewas an outpouring of emotion by the people on the streets to protest againstterrorism and vent their anger at Indian politicians. Since the location of theattack was the elite district of south Mumbai and the luxury hotels Taj andOberoi-Trident, where the rich and famous were held targeted, the city���selite too joined hands with the man on the streets to protest against thestrikes.
At a solemn gathering in memory of those who died duringthe Mumbai siege a well-heeled lady remarked to the organizers of the publicgathering, ���Please focus on security issues. The rest like betterinfrastructure and other city woes can wait. We want surveillance camera atevery nook and corner of the city.��� This was the mood that defined thesense of the city throughput the days after the attack and still continues evenas people get set to bring in 2009.
Infact the unprecedentedspontaneous gathering of people at the Gateway of India to protest against thepoliticians surprised and shook the country���s political leadership and sawthe resignation of India���s Home Minister Shivraj Patil andMaharashtra���s chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy RR Patil whohad no words to defend their government���s failure in preventing theattacks.
And while life in Mumbai is returning to normal, but thereis an undercurrent of restlessness. Clearly nobody will forget the chaos andmayhem of the Mumbai siege in a hurry.
The Mumbai attack also exposedthe vulnerability of Mumbai sea shore (reportedly, the terrorists used boats ordinghies to enter the city) and lack of preparedness of the police force thatlost nearly 16 of its valuable men putting up a valiant fight against theterrorists.
For the first time, the Mumbai attack brought togetherHindus and Muslims with latter refusing to allow burials of slain terrorists atany of the Muslim graveyards. Muslims celebrated Bakri -Eid on December 9 withno pomp and show and the babri masjid demolition anniversary that falls onDecember 6 was not played up. Reportedly, out of the citizens killed in Mumbai,40 percent were Muslims. If the terrorists had hoped to whip up communaltensions, their plan failed.
Reopening of the devastated hotelsOberoi-Trident and the Taj Tower within three weeks of the terror attacks alsosent out a strong message to the perpetrators of crime that Mumbai was not readyto cower.
The attack also pushed India and Pakistan to the brink ofwar with western nations worried about the fall out of the attack. Nobody wantsthe nuclear armed neighbours to go to war and endanger the peace and security inthe sub continent.
An obscure militant organization said to have support ofPakistan���s ISI and living in India emerged after the Jaipur, Ahmedabad,Bengaluru blasts. One of its emails was traced to the computer of Americanexpatriate Kenneth Haywood living in a posh housing society in NewMumbai.
The masterminds of Ahmedabad blasts sent threatening emailsafter hacking into the wi-fi network of the American. One Mansor Peerbhoy, asoftware engineer working for a multi national company in Pune was arrested onthe suspicion of hacking into Haywood���s computer and sending terroremails. Links of the Ahmedabad blast were also traced to Mumbai when its allegedmastermind was traced to Mumbai. It was discovered that out of the cars used inthe Ahmedabad blast, two were stolen from a residential colony in Mumbai.
Raj Thackeray hogged the limelight for most part of theyear. Founder and president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and nephew ofShiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, he started his political career with Shiv Senaand broke away form his own party two years ago.
This gifted painterand cartoonist tried to sketch his political career on the canvas of the state.He stepped up an aggressive campaign to oust north Indians (mainly from Biharand Uttar Pradesh or UP).
Raj blamed the north Indian immigrants toMumbai for usurping jobs from locals (Marathi Manoos). His verbals attacks onmigrant workers sparked violent protests. However, later it was revealed thatmost state government jobs were held by the locals and not the outsiders. Still,it did not deter MNS that continued with its north Indianbashing.
Amidst instances of violence Raj still found support in somequarters of the city. His intent of bettering the lives of ���MarathiManoos��� was appreciated even by some in the the educated Marathi class whosaid Thackeray���s concerns were right, but he had voiced them wrongly.
Raj Thackeray was even arrested briefly early this year for incitingviolence against migrant workers and MNS was reprimanded by a city court inAugust for forcing shops to display signs in the local Marathi language.
In October MNS supporters attacked north Indians seeking railwayjobs in the city, prompting calls for Thackeray's arrest and for the party to bebanned.
One of the fallouts of Raj���s rhetoric was a bizarreincident when a Bihari youth named Rahul Raj came to Mumbai in late October,allegedly, to kill Raj Thackeray. Rahul was shot dead by police just two daysbefore the festival of Diwali, after he attacked the conductor of a bus andfired and injured a passenger with a country made revolver.
RahulRaj���s killing on the streets of Mumbai raised a storm. The deadboy���s father demanded an enquiry into his son���s calling it a���fake encounter.��� Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and a Biharileader called Raj Thackeray a ���mental case.��� Nitish Kumar the chiefminister of Bihar demanded a CBI probe while another union minister Ram VilasPaswan questioned the authenticity of the encounter by Mumbai police.
The incident witnessed a rare moment that united warring politicalrivals to forget their differences and unite on one platform to protest MNScadres��� violence and ransacking of the railway examination centre.
In Bihar, angry mob torched railway coaches. The MNS rampage alsohurt the state���s economy when hundreds of workers fled the state andworkshops and factories were shut for days. The small scale industries whereskilled labour from UP and Bihar were employed closed down for days promptingthe owners to approach the state���s chief minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh tointervene and restore normalcy.
Just before Diwali this year inOctober Raj Thackeray was arrested for inciting violence. He spent a night in apolice lock up and was released on bail the next day. Since then he has beenbusy attending to numerous court cases registered against him.
The arrivalin Bollywood of the 40 plus actors with a trend of sporting six to eight packabs was the talk of the town.
Akshay Kumar���s film was the biggest grosseruntil Aamir Khan���s released, which is, reportedly, set to do a business of rupees onehundred crore.
Akshay became the first man to be declared���Sexiest Man Alive��� by People India magazine.
Shah RukhKhan went from being a ���badshah��� to a commoner in his film. Critics havecalled it Shah Rukh���s ode to the common man.
Aamir���sGhajjini look started to be discussed even before its release on the ChristmasDay. Aamir���s eight pack abs and the uniquely cut hair style (being sportedby youths all over the country) was appreciated, widely. Even Ghajjini���sapparel collection went up on sale.
Bollywood actors tried to dosomething out of the box this year- like bidding for the Indian Premier League(IPL) cricket ownership. While Preity Zinta became co-owner of Kings��� XIPunjab Shah Rukh bought tthe team Kolkata Knightriders, and Akshay went on tobecome the brand ambassador for Delhi Daredevils team.
The stars alsojumped on to the blogging bandwagon with gusto. Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan,Bipasha Basu and Shilpa Shetty all discovered the pleasures of blogging on theInternet.
Bolllywood���s Munna Bhai Sanjay Dutt finally wed hissweet heart Maanyata after several hiccups. First because of his court cases inwhich he is out on bail and later due to Maanyata���s former husband���sclaim that she was not legally divorced from him.
The Sharukh-Salmanfracas at a party thrown by Salman also occupied the print pages and TV footage.
There was a Mumbai connection to award winning film AR Rahman wasadjudged the best music director. Also, in the film, actor Anil Kapoor plays agame show host and Mumbai model Freida Pinto has a substantial role. She is oneof the few actresses to start her film career with a Hollywood film; anaccomplishment even Katrina Kaif cannot boast of. The film has been named inTIME magazine���s list of top 10 films of2008.
Finally, the ���Queen of Soaps���Ekta Kapoor had to relinquish her crown after two of her longest running serialscame to an end. After a dream run of eight years the serial and, watched by tensof millions of people in south Asia and around the world came to an end.
This year newer channel launches saw Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi���ssudden death, as it could not stand competition from other serials being shownon the new channels. Hence, the serial���s host channel pulled it offunceremoniously, reportedly, due to the low TRP ratings.
Kahaani GharGhar Ki, however, had more dignified ending with a living-happily-ever-afterkind of feeling.
The television strike that lasted for almost amonth, apart from causing a panic among the channels with the halting of shootsdisappointed the tens of millions of people who habitually stay glued to theirTV sets to watch their favourite soaps. Also, for the first time in five yearsthe over worked small screen icons found themselves without any work.
The year also saw the emergence of new faces of TV stars like the child star of TV serial whose screen name is ���Anandi��� she is the new ���Tulsi��� ofthe TV audiences. The role is played by the 11 year old Mumbai schoolgirl AvikaGor. Similarly, actors Parul Chauhan and Sara Khan of TV serial are the newheartthrobs.
With so many TV serials featuring child actors the focusalso shifted to their working hours and a move was made to push for regulationfor kids working in TV.
In the month of May a ghastly crime gripped the imagination ofthe country when a struggling starlet Maria Susairaj and her fianc�� EmileJerome Mathew were accused of the murder of media executive Neeraj Grover.
Maria, allegedly, spent the night with Neeraj. Next morning when herboyfriend Jerome, a naval officer stationed in Kochi (South India) showed up ather doorstep, Neeraj was sleeping in Maria���s bedroom. This enraged Jeromewho stabbed Neeraj six to seven times, killing him on the spot. Reportedly,Maria helped Jerome cut up Neeraj���s body into several pieces and the duothen drove outside the limits of the city and set fire to the corpse. Thegruesome murder committed by two people with no previous criminal recordshorrified the nation. The case is sub judiced and both the accused are injudicial custody.
In July-August a case that garneredattention was that of 31 year old Thane housewife Nikita Mehta who had decidedto appeal to the Bombay High Court for termination of her pregnancy on the basisthat her unborn child was suffering from a congenital heart block that wouldrequire a permanent pace maker. Hence the child would have to live as a disablethrough out his life. And it would also heart the middle class couple financialas the treatment of such a child would be far too expensive.
TheCourt rejected her plea for abortion ruling that it was upto Parliament tochange the provisions of Indian law, which specifically states a pregnancycannot be terminated after 20 weeks. At the time Nikita was nearly 24 weekspregnant and later suffered a miscarriage. Her case was hotly debated and evenreached Parliament.
Social workers Prakash Amte and his wife Mandakini were awardedthe prestigious Ramon Magsasay award for ���Community Leadership��� in2008. The honour was in recognition of their philanthropic work with Madia Gonds(tribals) in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. In 1985, PrakashAmte���s father and renowned social activist, Baba Amte had received thesame award for his work.
Padma Bhushan recipient and one of India���s mostfamous, influential dramatist and playwright from Maharashtra Vijay Tendulkarwho after the 2002 Gujarat riots had stated he would have shot its chiefminister Narendra Modi if he had a gun, breathed his last at the age of 80 onMay 19 in Pune. With him an era came to an end and his passing was mournedworld wide by the literary world.
In November, India���s renownedvocalist of Hindustani Music Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (86), who lives in Pune, wasawarded the country���s highest civilian honour the BharatRatna.
In devotional music, he is most well known for his KannadaBhajans, especially the album Dasavani, and Marathi. He is also universallyrecognized in India for opening the famous music video onnational integration.
Pandit Joshi conducts an annual classicalmusical festival called the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival in the memory of hisguru. This festival is held in Pune every December. This year, however, thelegendary singer (possibly due to frail health) did not perform at the festivalbut made it a point to attend it.
In October, India born thirty-fouryears old Aravinda Adiga who now lives in Mumbai won ��50,000 Man BookerPrize for Fiction 2008 for his debut novel published by Atlantic. He became thefourth debut novelist to win the coveted award in the forty year history of theprize. After Indian authors VS Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and KiranDesai he became the fifth writer of Indian origin to win the prize. The WhiteTiger is the ninth winning novel to take its inspiration from India or Indiancharacter.
It was news that gladdened the hearts of the art world. InMay this year the Delhi High Court dismissed criminal proceedings against theman whom a well know magazine called ���The Picasso of India. The courtoverruled the charges of obscenity against the paintings of eminent painter, 93year old M F Husain. Husain has been living in self-imposed exile in London andDubai for the last two years told a news agency recently that he was planning toreturn to India after completing a new series of paintings on Indiancivilization.
The celebrated real estate market of Mumbai went southwardsafter experiencing a dream run for the last three years. Maharashtra has settrends in the development of real estate in the country.
Maharashtrais home to the most expensive residential and commercial properties in thecountry, concentrated in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune. All three cities have amature property market, with high end residential apartments, commercialprojects, luxury hotels and malls.
The Mumbai attacks tipped realestate prices down by another 5-10% plunging the real estate prices in Mumbai toaround 25 percent from peak levels. Market watchers say real estate prices inMumbai could fall more over the next few months. The only silver lining was thereduction in rates on home loans. But with consumers expecting real estateprices to fall much further, it is doubtful if too many people will queue up forsuch loans right away.
As the year draws to an end with just one dayleft before the dawn of 2009, people of Maharashtra (and Mumbai in particular)pray for peace and wait for the chance to utter at the strike of clock on 31stmidnight: All���s well that ends well!
