26 December,2010 09:57 AM IST | | Sunday MiD DAY Team
2010 was a year of could-have-beens, of triumphs, challenges and depressing failures. But most of all, it was a year of almosts. Sunday Mid Day does a rewind to five accidents, patch-ups, shut downs and victories that happened... well, almost
Bandra almost lost its pubs
Maneula Saldhana, a resident of Bandra, and other members from the local Area Locality Management (ALM) protested the "nuisance" of bars and discotheques in the area. This was followed by Home Minister RR Patil's order to shut down a slew of popular nightclubs like Escobar, Bonobo and Pebble Bay. Things started looking up when Bonobo reopened in August, three months after the shutdown. Escobar reopened recently. Cheers!
Jaya and Rekha almost kissed and made up
June 18 saw Bollywood's Oh My God! moment at the release of ace photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha's Marathi coffee table book, Chehre. Jaya Bachchan was as surprised as the shutterbugs when Rekha walked up to her and gave her a hug, followed by a quick polite exchange. Rumours of Amitabh Bachchan's alleged romance with Rekha made sure the two maintained a distance over the years. What a Silsila, this.
Mumbai Indians almost won IPL 3
All the histrionics of Kieron Pollard and Sachin Tendulkar couldn't save Mumbai Indians from a thriller of a 22-run defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings in the third edition of the Indian Premier League. Ultimately, it was an unbeaten 57 by Suresh Raina that set DY Patil Stadium alight this year. And we didn't even get to talking about Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif yet. Fourth time lucky at IPL 4? We'll see.
We almost jammed the meters
Three ad professionalsu00a0-- Jaidev Rupani, Rachna Brar and Abhilash Krishnanu00a0-- kicked off Meter Jam in Mumbai in August 2010, to teach errant cabbies and rickshawallas a 'lesson'. Sadly, the first Meter Jam was a failure, even though the campaign has over 42,000 "likes" on Facebook. The second time, 200 volunteers took to the roads on October 12, but to no avail. Can't live with them, can't live without them. The meters, we mean.
CWG was almost a disaster
A worker clears debris from the construction site of a swimming pool at the 2010 Commonwealth Games village in New Delhi on August 31, 2010. The Games Village was ready barely days before foreign sportspersons were to arrive, and leaked photographs of the Village revealed filthy apartments, open sewage and dirty toilets.
Reports of corruption, faulty machines, sub standard materials and, of course, missed deadlines continued to dog the Games. But, as it turned it out, we managed to pull off a good show after all. The Great Indian Jugaad has its uses.
