'I was not doing it for any reward, I couldnt stop myself from saving her!'

Mumbai:- Gunaji Patil (51), head constable of Worli police station who heroically saved life of Jalpa Pujari on Saturday have learnt swimming without any coaching.
Patil who was born and brought up in Nagothane village, Raigad dist, have learnt swimming at the age of 8. Being a child of a farmer Patil was passionate about swimming.
" I learnt swimming from my friends and neighbours from my village, though we were not a professional swimmer but during our learning process we have faced high tides and low tides which made me confident enough to swim in a situation like this" said Patil. " Everyday I use to swim at least a mile during my childhood, which gave me the stamina and also became the reason of my selection in Mumbai police in 1982," said Patil.
Knowing about his problem of high blood pressure Patil proactively choosed to jump from 20 feet in almost 50 feet deep water of Worli sea to save a life of Pujari who was committing suicide. Patils family, especially his wife Lalita was shocked and started crying when they were informed about Patils injury minor injury on his leg. " I was relieved when I saw my father lying on a chair of Worli police station," said Rakesh Gunaji Patil who is a swimming coach of Worli Police Swimming Pool and a constable of LA- 3 department.
Further Rakesh added that " my father is not a regular swimmer like me, but still he was able to resist the flow of high tide during 12: 30 pm makes me feel that he is a better swimmer than me". " I have never faced such high tide in my life while swimming, but I couldn't stop myself when I saw that women splashing around in the water and trying to stay afloat, soon after which I removed my uniform and jumped in the sea" said Patil. Nadeem Hussain a regular swimmer of YMCA said " there is difference of learning swimming in a pool and a river, those who have learnt swimming in river are not that disciplined swimmer but they know many tricks to rescue others in a high or a low tide.
By appreciating the effort of Patil, Additional Commissioner of Police Vineet Aggarwal said " Patil is a confident swimmer and a humble person who risked his life for a lady who has committed suicide". Jalpa Pujari a female who attempted suicide from worli sea link this Saturday due to on going problems between her husband and for the custody of child was saved by Gunaji Patil when worli police received a message via control room. Arup Patnaik Mumbai police Commissioner by stating it an outstanding job assured an award of Rs 30,000.
Patil was taken to the near by hospital after facing minor injuries " family of Jalpa Pujari too came to meet me in the hospital, but they didn't thanked me. I have no regrets for it as I was not doing it for any reward or thanks, at that point of time I couldn't stop myself to save her".

Listening To Arundhati Roy

Afternoon Voice

Some year’s back I remember reading a book named "God of Small Things" written by a Delhi based architect turned writer Arundhati Roy. Perhaps the title and the cover page were so attractive that no one can ignore it, also the story and its character were loved and appreciated by its readers. Later I discovered Arundhati Roy has been awarded with Booker Prize, and India started loving her only writer who gave us this title for the first time. But after the 1998 Pokhran nuclear test when Arundhati Roy’s article “End of Imagination” appeared in newspapers, media and non-fiction writers never knew a great critic is born in within India.

Her journey from Fiction to Non-Fiction which was very quick, in spite her admirer was astonished by her article which made them realize whether they should be celebrate about their countries and its neighbors capability of killing million’s, by testing weapon of mass destruction. But today media and hardliner’s have turned against the great writer, whose words and knowledge seems to be accurate in sense of history. Also her knowledge in terms of foreign relations is not taking us towards wrong fundamentals. Her poetic style of writing and in that poetic sense criticizing Big Banks, World Trade Organizations and Monetary Policy really needs accuracy and sense to speak up from a public platform against the most powerful institution's in this world.

Her criticism against Big Dams, Corporate Globalization, Free Market Economy, Nationalism, and Military Industrial Complex puts her readers into deep dark questions. Do we need to think and rethink again and again what we have learned since our birth? Were our thoughts and our freedom was wrong up till now?  Her blind support to Maoist and defining them as "Gandhian’s with the Guns". Or her articles which support’s Afzal Guru’s innocence and challenges Supreme Court Judgment including interlinking of rivers in India, which is a brain teasing work by Miss Roy and is leading her readers to turn towards independent thinkers like her.

In a recent controversy where Arundhati Roy was cornered by corporate media after quoting “Kashmir wasn't an Integral Part of India” in a speech, she was brave enough to face the questions across the nation. Her critique were too pessimist about her words, one of whom I remember Shashi Tharoor's tweets that “Booker prize winner-activist has gone too far to the left and unfortunately chooses to write about those who carry guns". (On her article Gandhian’s with the Guns).

This gives us chance to answer in Miss Roy’s style i.e.  “When the maddened king stamps his foot, slaves tremble in their quarters”, it’s very hard for me to say that our leaders and politicians who believe they are towards the right where we couldn't understand what right they have done up till now. Also when they judge writers, critics, and Independent thinker’s before listening them than its time for all of us to sit back and worry about the future of this great nation.

It is freedom of choice whether one should stay on right or left or too much towards the left or right. But Mr Tharoor has to be reminded once again that we as an Indian have something called free press, by which we can show our dissent in a peaceful manner, which is our constitutional right. Because the words of the finest criticque are not leading us towards violence it is just a peaceful way of showing dissent.

Dream for a Few Good Movies

Afternoon Voice

A few days back I remember watching a movie Inception which showcased a concept and was able to convince its viewers that one can certainly enter some ones dream. And then a dream within a dream within a dream of 3 levels which gripped viewer's attention. Perhaps it was the best work of Christopher Nolan since his carrier including Memento and Dark Night. Whenever we as an Indian watch those kind of a movie, think whether our Bollywood industry can make or write such an extraordinary stories of robbery, theft, burglary and implementation of ideas in a dream. The most accurate answer on imagination was given by Aamir Khan when he saw the movie and was asked whether we will be able to achieve astonishing concepts like Inception he said “first we have to free our mind to think something like that, then only we will be able to achieve such stories”. Yes I agree Hollywood movie’s is beyond our imagination and expectation with always a climax which has shocked its audiences, and felt to think and rethink of the plot. Story telling in Hollywood is far beyond our imagination which we Indian always lacked comparing from 70’s mafia and underworld portrayal of Godfather or special effects of Avatar. Though there are certain areas where certain dialogue's has to be taken into consideration, that why Indian film industry couldn’t achieve what others can. Hollywood being a broader market can always spend more money on its project as returns can be expected from around the globe, which is not possible in case of Bollywood movies who have a target audience certainly only Hindi speaking individuals.  Small budget definitely leads to weak special effect’s which fails to sooth its audiences also stories are not of mass appeal. In order to compete in a global market and recognition of Oscar we as an Indian have to recognize smart work of upcoming directors. Though we all know the genre of Salim-Javed or Mehboob kind of writing is lost somewhere in the busy life Mumbai. But still appreciation of experimental cinema will lead us one day our way to Oscars, for which we have to dream for a few good stories.

Retailers vs. service providers in DoT war

Afternoon Voice

Following the recent arrests of SIM card dealers, who have been booked for fraud, forgery and improper verification of data among others, the mobile dealers have formed a union named Mobile Dealers Welfare Association of Mumbai (MDWAM). The union has been started with the purpose of challenging the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the 12telecom service providers in the city. 

“We always verify the documents, only then provide SIM cards. If the documents are forged, it is the responsibility of theservice provider to recheck the documents from their side and cancel the services based on false data,” claimed Shafqat Usman, President, MDWAM.

He added, “There is always a physical verification conducted by the service provider in case of a postpaid service. However, in prepaid services, not a single verification call is made by the same service provider.”

Moreover, Amjad Khan, a dealer in Byculla questioned, “Police is only arresting the dealers. Why no arrests take place in any of these corporate offices, who do not follow the DoT norms?”

Physical verification of prepaid SIM cards buyers is not done by retailers as they get only a small amount of commissionon selling these cards. So, the better option they had was to stop selling cards, which has been done by this union, in which the number of retailers joining is increasing.

But, the problem that arises is that the security of the nation is being put at risk. Nowadays, any anti-social element can easily purchase a SIM card by forging documents as the retailers as well as service providers are not ready for physical verification.

Here, the MDWAM and its members allege that the private telecom industry is busy in expanding their business by compromising on national security. These members want proper implementation of the DoT norms i.e. the physical verification to be done by the service providers themselves. 

Other expert views

Dilip Davda, investment analyst and advisor, commented, “By providing SIM cards at very low prices and attracting customers there are chances that stock prices may rise in the bull race,” whereas Mubin Solkar, Advocate, High Court, stated, “It is not the fault of retailers alone. If the verification norms are not followed by the service providers, they must be held accountable for it.”

Moreover, Advocate Parag Pradhan added, “It’s a blatant violation of law, where the corporate giants are using small retailers as the bait. The onus and responsibility as well as the compliance of legality rely completely and only with the service providers.”

When contacted, DCP Rajkumar Vatkar, added, “We have communicated with the DoT authority in this case and are waiting for the legal requirements to be fulfilled soon.”

In the last month alone, 50 retailers have been arrested across the city and have been booked under Sections 419, 420, 466 and 468 of IPC. No action, however, has been taken against the service providers yet. Recently, the Delhi Government has slapped a telecom service provider with a fine of Rs.700 crore for non-compliance of rules. 

Towing Van Big Business For Private Contractors

Afternoon Voice

In last few years it is been noticed that Mumbai has become a city with a very huge traffic, where not only car but bike parking space’s across Mumbai is limited. Every car owner or a bike owner have paid fine for at least once in their lifetime for their towed vehicles. And every individual who has gone through this thinks that  the amount payed by them to the traffic department later goes to the government reserve. But very few know that more than 50% of their paid fine goes in the pocket of private contractors who are very limited in numbers.

According to the recent RTI given to Afternoon Voice (AV) by Chetan Pednekar which shows the difference in the amount earned by the private contractors (owner of towing vans) and the whole traffic department varies by 2/3rd of the total amount. In last five years the amount collected by the private contractors is Rs 23 Crore 94 lakhs whereas traffic department has received Rs 16 Crore only. “Why there is a such a huge amount of disparity in traffic department even after providing premises and many traffic officers are allotted behind towing works, why there is such a huge difference in amount?” asks Chetan. Moreover DCP Nand Kumar Chogley of traffic department said to AV that “the reason there is a difference i the amount is because whenever a car is towed the traffic department gets Rs 100 and Contractors are paid Rs 200, whereas in the case of two wheelers both of the department receives same amount which is Rs 100”.

All over Mumbai there are 59 towing vans according to the RTI and every day several vehicles are been towed by these towing vans. “Even if an influential person is paying Rs 100 this amount which is collected by the department is given to the private contractors, and many times when someone bribes the traffic constable by paying Rs 150 then also the contractors are never in loss, it is only traffic department which is in loss” says Chetan. “Moreover traffic department has to agree that this minimum amount of corruption of leaving vehicles of influential persons by just fining them the towing charges, or bribe of Rs 50 has made a difference of almost 8 crores between the private contractors and the traffic revenue in last 5 years” says Salim Shaikh an activist.

Accusing traffic department of Mumbai Chetan said “towing vans which are been owned by these private contractors are either relatives of police officers in traffic department or are family friends that is why they are been flourishing day by day and their contract is been renewed every year”. When AV spoke to Alqama Qureshi town planner and architect he said “it’s just a matter of 59 towing vans if government can plan to buy these vans which will cost sum of Rs 5 Crore after which the generated revenue will go to the government, and will further strengthen our traffic department economically as well”. DCP Nandkumar Chogley said “we have planned such issues and also we have sent request to our superiors also to come up with a proper plan which is good for public as well as the traffic department.”     

Roofless Police

Afternoon Voice

Constables and Policeman of LA-2 department are facing nowadays tremendous problems with the recent change in their location from Worli BDD Chawl to Tardeo. After a decision taken by the authority implemented on 14^th February this year, the tents located near Tardeo police station is the office for the reserve police force kept for emergency purposes. After which 2300 policemen out of which 250 are women’s suddenly have no proper premises for officers in such a large numbers. Why these steps have been taken by the officials the LA-2 constables do not have any answers. On the condition of anonymity (as they are not supposed to speak to the press) some constables and police inspector’s approached AV to raise their issue.

The LA-2 Unit which was located in BDD Chawl was an old British construction and did had each and every facility required for a proper unit. But the main reason which is annoying the police is that they do not have any premises, proper toilets, changing room facility as everything has to be done under the tent. “We don’t know why such move has been taken by the authorities, from a proper location of about 60 years old we have been shifted to tents” said a constable. Moreover there are no wash basins; no drinking water facilities provided to us in our new location informed a constable.

The policeman of LA-1, 2, 3, 4 are responsible for taking criminals to the courts, while they also support local police during the time of riots and regular protests which are held in different part of cities. Around 2,050 policeman and women are been arranged for their regular work while 125 are kept on stand by for emergency cases with vehicles to take actions if needed. While these 125 out of 25 are women’s wait in their tent for their 12 hour duty with no basic needs fulfilled. Some female constables who are coming from Virar and Bhayander said “we use toilet facility near Tardeo bus station or many times we have to use public toilets” also she added that “we have to sit near tree or near the staircases when we are tired and we have to bare the 36 degree Celsius temperature under the tent”. According to the sources such decision has been taken by the authorities is due to the location of Tardeo which is close to the station and police have their own parking facility at Tardeo.

While on the other side the officers allege that such a move has been taken by the police as the DCP’s office is located in Tardeo. When AV visited the tents in Tardeo the reserve police male as well as female said “we will soon go to the highest authority and if needed, we will also approach Mr Arup Patnaik Commissioner of Mumbai”. When AV tried to contact Additional CP (A.P), he was unavailable to comment on this issue.       

Sana All Set For Discharge

Afternoon Voice

Mumbai:- Sana Shakeel Ahmed an 18 year old girl who was admitted to JJ hospital since a year back is all set to discharge. Sana Ansari a girl who became a victim of alleged fights and favoritism amongst her teachers and was forced to drink acid allegedly by her teacher of Madrassa Qulyatul Tahirat located in Malegaon. When Sana was brought to JJ hospital in July 2010 was in a worst condition where she was not able to swallow her own saliva as her esophagus, throat, toungue as well as stomach was completely burned. But after several major surgeries conducted by Shivaji Mane an Honorouray Paedriatic Surgeon of JJ, she is all set to leave the hospital within 10 days.

Saira Bano a widow of Shakeel Ahmed Ansari and Sana's mother couldn’t imagine such thing would have happened to her daughter soon after the death of her husband. As Saira Bano said “we were informed about Sana’s condition by her fellow classmates from her hostel, but everyone in our community has stopped to take action against her teachers” also she said that “their school teachers spread the rumor that Sana has consumed Acid because of her father’s death”.

For staying since last 9 months in JJ hospital, when Sana was brought to the hospital her esophagus was completely burnt and was kept on liquid diet for 6 months due to which she also lost her weight to 20 kg informed Dr Adarsh Hegde a pediatric surgeon. Moreover the muscular movement, immunity level, proteins level all was low in the first five months of pre-operative procedure. Due to which the Dr’s of JJ hospital were worried to perform the surgery. Whether Sana was able to resist more pain or not was a big question raised in front of the pediatric team of the hospital. “The biggest challenge was to remove the stomach and esophagus and reconstruct esophagus with large intestine” said Dr Nitin Bhende also he added that “cases such as these are not read in any books we have to operate and we learnt while operating that her esophagus was completely burnt and her stomach too”. After which the team of Dr’s remove the esophagus and stomach and joined her neck with a part of large intestine to the abdomen after which the food can easily pass through her throat.

Sana’s mother Saira Bano is unknown to Mumbai and there is no one in her family who can earn them a living. She is working as a mate in 3 houses at Nagpada after which she can take care of her family. Saira Bano said to AV that “Mumbaikars have helped us a lot by providing me work and charity for my daughter health” also she said “the main culprit Rashida Abdur Rehman (her teacher) in this case have received Anticipatory Bail by High Court but we still believe in our Judiciary system we will be given justice in this world or hereafter”