Mumbai Diary page: Sunday shorts

Monsoon mirthMonsoon leads to much amusement At least we think so given the nightmarish time Mumbaikars have reaching home or motorists have negotiating roads with craters So to look on the brighter side of things we bring out a favourite monsoon pothole cartoon The va va voom lady or page 3 lady call her what you will is enjoying a dip in a Mumbai pothole favourite cocktail in handHmmm like they say Commuters on our roads are sure to find Potholes of the deepest kind The grouches may rave lsquonrsquo rant The wise enjoy it cocktail in handThe best way to deal with potholes is with humour and some mirth Football fever goes bigWe are like that only When it comes to football 80 per cent Indian football fans cry when Brazil loses The other 20 forsake food if Argentina have a poor game It was no surprise then to come across a 30 feet statue of Brazilian superstar Neymar in a city mall the other day It was the weekend yet hundreds of shoppers ignored the large lsquoSalersquo signs to pose next to the static figure instead But even as the arguments raged came the shocking news that Neymar had been ruled out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a leg injury There was a hushed silence Then a voice cried out ldquoMaybe they should replace this one with Lionel Messi nowrdquo No the Brazil fans werenrsquot amusedIndians everywhereWherever you travel in the world you will find Indians Especially in Switzerland While walking along Lake Zurich or taking the cable car to Mt Pilatus all you hear are a variety of Indian languages and accents And this is reflected in the signages too At Mt Pilatus therersquos a big welcome sign in Hindi saying lsquoSwagatumrsquo see pic At Mt Titlis therersquos a lifesize cutout of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol with DDLJ emblazoned on it in the middle of the terrace at the top Perhaps the most significant are the signs in Zurich Zoo There is a Gir Lions section with prominently displayed signs in Gujarati and Hindi lsquoSinh neacutee Raksha Karorsquo This is the same zoo that recreated the tropical forest of Madagascar and the newlyopened Elephant Park of ThailandPS The Gujarati signs have been there for some years now well before Mr Modi became the Prime Minister And at the foot of Mt Titlis next to the car park at Engelberg there is a food wagon called GourmIndia It sells Masala Chai Vada Pav and Samosas and is run by an enterprising Parsi ladyTaxi talesTaxi drivers often make profound statements unwittingly While some of them have no qualms diverging personal details at the drop of a hat others end up vocalising their observations about mankind Lately yours truly encountered both these kinds Recently a cabbie after chastising this diarist for talking to him in Hindi our national language rather than Marathi our regional language boasted proudly about his daughter who is now studying MBBS can speak fluent English While one nodded onersquos head in appreciation what came next left us dumbfounded ldquoMeri beti dikhne mein ek dum item hairdquo he said Herersquos one proud father it seemed The next day this diarist met an old gentleman who has been driving a taxi since the last 35 years When asked how did he managed to maintain his sanity maneuvering his vehicle in traffic jams and on potholeridden roads he sighed and said ldquoBeta yeh sab toh insaan phir bhi jhel sakta hain Par ab toh aadmi hi aadmi ka dushman ho gaya hai Duniya mein humdardi aur insaniyat raha hi nahinrdquo Well said