The news that NGOs are fielding candidates in the forthcoming BMC elections has left many people in the city dismayed and depressed. The other day, I met with a friend of mine in Santacruz. In this article we will call him Sampat Bapat. He is clerk at the Mantralaya.
“The NGOs are just too much! Do you realize the consequence of this?” Bapat was angry. “Tomorrow, somebody would say that the Army is messing things up on the boarders and he buys a rifle from Chor Bazar and marches to Siachen.”
“See, you are stretching things too far. No body is going to the boarders.” I tried to reason with him.
“You don’t really understand the seriousness of this trend. Tomorrow your son might say that he wants to study mechanical engineering to work at a call center! What would you do?” He was furious.
Then Bapat revealed the reason for his ire. “This morning, I went with some clothes to my Dhoban who runs an ironing shop in the neighbourhood. She said, ‘Give me your vote, not your clothes!”
“Did she say that? She is some woman! Never mind, the good news is now crumpled clothes are back in fashion. So don’t worry.” I said.
“My problem will start if she wins the election or the fashion changes.” Bapat became pensive. “The NGOs should have thought of the repercussions before jumping into the fray.”
“I didn’t realize that things would go out of hand so early.” I said in sympathy.
“You have no idea how far it can go. The West Indies are already here, suppose during a match some nut from the stands runs into the grounds and snatches the ball from Harbhajan Singh and bawls an over or two to show that he is a better bowler. And God forbid, if he takes a wicket… ”
“That would seriously undermine Chappell’s position as a coach of the team.” I said.
“Now, you got the point! See, we need to leave jobs to the people who have experienced in messing them up. It would give a clear idea to people whose effigy they should burn…only politicians should fight elections; only professors should teach; only Kishan Mulchandani should party… If these candidates win the BMC elections and Mithi River is not completely cleaned up then who do we blame? The out of job politicians would laugh at us.” Bapat made his point.
“So what are you going to do about it?” I asked.
“If you can’t fight them, join them.” Bapat looked determined.
“What do you mean? Don’t tell me you are joining the Shiv Sena?”
“No, I am not joining any political parties. I am not a politician. I would take things in my own hands.” He gave me a crooked smile.
“Bapat, don’t do anything stupid. You have a family.” I pleaded.
“I am tired of traveling by the slow Boriveli bound trains. Tomorrow, I would get into the motorman’s cabin on a Virar fast and drive the train to get off at Santacruz.”
“And who would drive the train after you get off?”
“My friend Chandrakant. He lives in Jogeshwari.”
Vijay Kumar
