A lot is being said about cafe leopold lately, due to its involvement as a victim in the 26th nov 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai. The attack had killed 10 people including two staff of the cafe. But keeping up with the spirit of Mumbai, it reopened for business very soon, preserving the telltale signs of tragedy that was 26th Nov. Its a very good example of the phoenix rising out of ashes.
But now for the darker side. Does the cafe belong to Indians. It has been frequented by foreigners since its establishment, the most noted of all being the criminal turned writer, Gregory David Roberts, a.k.a. Shantaram. Its is visited my many a celebraties from India and abroad along with shantaram himself.
But you try to visit it. If you are not know to someone of "someone", you are sure to wait out for a long time. An incident with a friend of mine. He along with his mates had gone to this cafe for the first time. There were many a tables empty which could be seen from door, but they were kept waiting out side. On being confronted with a question about this, the staff informed that those tables were for foreigners and if they didn't have enough patience to wait, they might as well leave.
This incident can be compares to Mahatma Gandhi being pushed from the train, of Cassius Clay not allowed entry in an all white cafe. I do not have any word for this act, other than racism.
My friends didn't have large followers to take a march against this, nor did he win any gold medal to throw in the sea as a protest.
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Hmmm , but maybe if your friend was a little more patient ,, and had the time he cud hav collected a few like minded people and staged a protest ( silent protest ) with a few placards in front of the Cafe .
ReplyDeletethat i think was the manner in which gandhi started his satyagraha movement : satya -- truth ,,, agraha -- desire ( so desire ---- for truth, justice, or righteousness )
The days of successful silent protest are long gone. Now a days you have to inform police before staging any silent, non voilent protest. A bandobast is arranged on the day of protest. And if you forget to inform the police, you might land in jail with a broken from lathi charge. An for what cause? Just so that the media gets another subject, which they wont hold up, but just increase their TRP.
ReplyDelete@ Nilesh :
ReplyDeletesad , that you have an attitude like this ... The media's job is to highlight issues ... i dont deny that the media indulges in sensationalism and it is partly to blame ... But if we are the ones whho have an ostrich like attitude and want to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that all is well ,, then the problem is with US ( sorry that looked like the U.S. --- i meant "us" ) the problm is not of the media ..
This is like shooting the 'Messenger' for his 'Message '
I rest my case .. waiting for Nilesh's rejoinder
I didn't mean an ostrich like attitude would solve any of the problems. I found one medium to highlight the case. Personally I do not have any scores against cafe leopold or their owners. But practically speaking, how is this staged satyagraha going to help, I really can't figure out. As far as I know, the last successful protests were taken to task by Gandhi himself. After that I am unable to recollect any kind of public protest being successful. Except for the violent ones, which I do not think, is the right way. It's only mass media who can enlighten the difference betweeen right and wrong, but they choose to blur the edge seperating these two, as it is to their advantage.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, media gets enough to write about the racism against Indians in other countries. But in their own back yard, its a case of a blind eye!!