Mumbai Diary page: Saturday Scene

Selfie fumblersOnce a celebrity is spotted at a public place for example at a mall or an airport fans run right up to the star seeking a selfie with their smartphones in hand One such girl spotted actor Arjun Kapoor at the airport and requested a selfie The star obliged and stood beside her striking a pose for the young girlHowever so excited and nervous was the girl that she could not press the click button on her phone and kept fumbling much to the annoyance of the other girls waiting in line for a chance to click their own respective selfies The girl in question got her 15 seconds of fame so to speak but no picture to back her claim of a side hug with the star Excitement can get the better of us sometimes but leaves us with such stories to narrateMachine thatrsquos going to potThe cityrsquos potholefilling machines have a chequered history Well therersquos not so much history as mystery considering that the Rs68crore behemoths have not actually been used since they were brought from New ZealandOne of the potholefilling machines which are underused to say the leastNow the everoptimistic Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has again proposed that the Standing Committee pass Rs 3 crore for the machines to be used by the same contractor who had failed to use them in the pastThe machines were bought in 2008 and though they were never used for their intended purpose of filling potholes the BMC has nevertheless shown in the proposal that the machines were used on 17548 sq m of road in the last two yearsCorporators have long been crying foul about this obfuscation by the civic administration as they never saw the machines being used on the roads With potholes becoming a lifethreatening issue perhaps it is time the corporation stopped splashing around on the matterFoolhardy freedomOn August 15 everyone feels a sense of freedom True essential services and your worthy journos have to keep working but almost everyone else has a holiday Those who have not gone out of town for the long weekend have been spending their time off in the city sampling its many delights The public holiday also means that trains are not crowded in fact at times there is enough room to do a dance in the compartmentWhich is what a group of three young boys were doing among other things on a local train trip yesterday Their antics were getting rowdier as the journey progressed and though they did not bother any of the passengers their hijinks which included hanging out of the doorway were causing some concernOne passenger eventually spoke up and told the boys to be careful as they could get hurt One of the youngsters cheekily said It is Independence Day we are free do to what we wantrdquo The man persisted and reminded them of what could happen if the boys were carelessldquoLook at that girl who lost her handsrdquo he said recalling the case of Monica More The youngsters had a ready answer ldquoArre she has become famous now with artificial hands If something happens to us we will also become famousrdquoChange of baizeOn A day when the tricolour flew high and proud across the city there was only one colour on these menrsquos minds The green baize of cue sports billiards and snookerThe baize on the table being changed PicEmmanual KarbhariThe cloth was being changed at the Matunga Gymkhana in readiness for the Billiards Premier League modelled on cricketrsquos Indian Premier League but on a much more modest scale of course beginning today at different venues in MumbaiThe baize is changed usually every six to eight months depending on the wear and tear Yesterday the two tables at the Matunga Gymkhana were free of the old and on with the new even as IDay celebrations rang out in the club belowAs for green the baize is brighter on the Indian side There was a real sense of cheer in the cue room as news had just trickled in about India winning the gold India B team and silver India A team in the inaugural World Billiards Team Championship in Glasgow Scotland The billiards tradition of bringing glory to India continues What an IDay gift to the nation