A Day In Mumbai ...

A remarkable day in Mumbai - one that reminds me why I love political stability. One of the political leaders was arrested on charges of rioting and brought to court in Bandra - the suburb of Mumbai where we live. His followers protested the arrest by doing the only sane thing in their arsenal ... throwing rocks at cars, setting rickshaws on fire, attacking taxis, and causing panic. All day long the rumors escalated until some were told that we'd be spending the night near the office.

I spent a few frantic hours trying to find a ride for my daughter, all the while wondering if she was going to end up spending the night at the school.

So now I am driving home on the very same road that was in such turmoil earlier, but I see no sign of the events. The politician is in court right now so we are trying to get home before the verdict is pronounced, for if the verdict is bad, there will be yet more violence in the streets. I've never seen the streets so empty.

A plume of grey smoke rises over the shanty town - I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the day's activities.

Policemen are concentrated in little pockets - monitoring areas of high friction, I guess.

Home we arrive in record time and throughout we have seen nothing of note other than pleasantly empty streets.

At home people complain about the news - how all 700 channels will report on some event of great importance. They get irritated that they can not watch their favorite show because some reporter is keeping everyone up to date with latest events and providing information on what to be wary of. Having experienced a couple of incidents here and there, I'd much rather hear everything I can and plan rather than base my judgment on Chinese Whispers.