Two Deaths about Mumbai

The Bombay High Court

After staying in Maharashtra for some time, I can’t help but feel compelled to write something on two major events that happened this month regarding Mumbai.

The more prominent event would be the passing away of a controversial political leader of Maharashtra, and mainly Mumbai for the last 40 odd years, named Bal Thackeray, aged 86, on 17th November 2012. Bal Thackeray, the chief of the Shiv Sena party, is a larger than life character, interesting in the way that he was, at one time, the de facto ‘ruler’ of Mumbai, who can with one command, bring the largest city in India to a complete halt.

This is no easy feat. Just imagine, Mumbai, a city of over 20 million people, and the financial capital of India, closed! No taxis, no auto-rickshaws on the roads, no shops, malls or restaurants! And what’s more amazing is that he holds no official position in the government, never has, and has never been an elected member of parliament or the state assembly (according to the newspaper article I read). He is only a newspaper editor and political cartoonist, who founded his own local language newspaper and his own political party. Plus, he has a penchant for making controversial and derogatory remarks against all and sundry, mainly against the Muslims, and South Indians, and North Indians, and revellers of Valentine’s Day, and girls with a liberal (i.e. Western) outlook, against anyone who dares speak against him or his ideas!

Anyway, he was given a state funeral, with gun salutes and a public cremation in a Mumbai park, which was televised life on TV. Two million people attended the cremation, including the rich and famous of India like superstar Amitabh Bachchan and superrich Anil Ambani. Thanks to him, the entire state of Maharashtra, ground to a halt on 18th November, including our dear ol’ Project despite our client having scheduled an important handover inspection on the following day. Where else in this modern world, could this happen, but India??!

The second event, was the hanging of one Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani by nationality and the sole surviving Islamist militant of the 2008 Terrorist Strike of Mumbai where 164 people were killed in a 3-day bombing and shooting spree. He was hanged early morning on the 21st of November 2012, in a hushed up execution in a Pune Jail, 5 days before the 4th anniversary of the attacks.

I will say that this marks the close of two important chapters in the recent history of Mumbai. Anyway, here’re some photos of Mumbai taken last year. Do check back with our past photos of Mumbai taken when we were staying there in 2007.


The Victoria Terminus aka Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, where Kasab and an accomplice killed at least 58 people when they opened fire indiscriminately in the passenger hall in the 2008 Terrorist Attack of Mumbai


Antilia, the CD rack shaped home of the richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani. My then employer, Leighton was building it when we left Mumbai in 2007


The Bandra-Worli Sealink now opened; it was under construction when we were there in 2007