Seldom does a day pass without someone or other calling me up in Delhi to praise Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray for not blaming either the Muslims or the outstate migrants for Maharashtra's Coronavirus woes. These were the two groups whom the Sena had viciously targetted to acquire notoriety and power. What explains the change? Uddhav's compulsion as he heads a coalition comprising centrist parties?

Curious, I called several Mumbaikars, including TV personality Aadesh Bandekar, who recalled that when he was appointed the chairman of the Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust in 2017, he went to meet Uddhav. Guess his advice? Uddhav said that just as slippers are taken off before entering a temple, Bandekar should keep aside religion and caste while identifying beneficiaries of the trust's charity. "It is you all who are seeing the same man in a new light," Bandekar said.