3 min readMumbaiOct 11, 2014 01:12 AM IST
First published on: Oct 11, 2014 at 01:11 AM IST
As people in Dhobi Ghat went about business as usual, billboards announcing the arrival of Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan later on Thursday evening created a buzz in the area. Home to a large number of people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the sitting NCP MLA from the area, Sachin Ahir, popularly known as Bhau, was to stage a rally with Ravi Kishan to cash in on the popularity of the star with the crowds.
Guards waited outside Ahir’s brother Sunil’s office to provide protection to the star once he arrived. NCP workers were being handed over merchandise while some other members already on stage delivered speeches, claiming NCP was the only party that had made an effort to visit Dhobi Ghat. The area was being cleaned-up for the event, said Om Prakash, who hailed from UP and had been living in Mumbai for eight years but still could not vote here.
“I will only vote for Bhau because he does what he says,’’ said Daata Shanker Yadav, a resident of Sai Baba Nagar.
An hour late, Sachin Ahir and Ravi Kishan arrived to the beats of dhols. As they walked to the first house, a Gujarati family greeting them had no idea who Kishan was. “Pata nahi kaun hain. Kisi ne bola star hain. Hum toh Sachin Ahir ko jante hain (We don’t know who he is. Someone said he is a star. We only know Sachin Ahir),’’ said Sushila Karat outside Laxmi Pooja Apartments on Arthur Jail Road.
Making their way to the stage on an open vehicle, which was stopped repeatedly by large crowds, they arrived to Bhojpuri songs being played in the background. Once on stage, Ahir delivered his speech in Hindi. “Other people didn’t even come here. They don’t understand your problems. In these fifteen years, we have tried to improve infrastructure in the area and to unite people of all religions. All kinds of people live in Mumbai and we celebrate all festivals here in Dhobi Ghat. Fifteen years ago, people didn’t want to enter this area even if you paid them, we have changed this.’’
Dhobi Ghat at Mahalakshmi, known as the world’s largest open-air laundry, is a major tourist attraction in the city. Around 10,000 washermen wash lakhs of clothes here every day. Each of them has a washing stone.
Talking about the 900 flats which had been handed under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme in the area, Ahir said that another 2,200 flats would be handed over in the next four months.
ruhi.bhasin@expressindia.com
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