Mumbai Underground: Suited sarkaar

At the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Nariman Point this week, as a prominent Maharashtra minister took a break from his weekly one-on-one meeting with scores of party workers and residents, he received an unexpected visitor, cabinet colleague and senior BJP leader Girish Bapat.

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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s wife Amruta and daughter Divija enjoy the Mumbai monsoon walking along the Marine Drive. (Source: Express Photo)

Suited Sarkaar
At the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Nariman Point this week, as a prominent Maharashtra minister took a break from his weekly one-on-one meeting with scores of party workers and residents, he received an unexpected visitor, cabinet colleague and senior BJP leader Girish Bapat. More unexpected than Bapat’s visit was his appearance — the politician who is usually seen in starched kurta-pyjamas and a waistcoat cut a dapper figure in a sharp, dark-coloured suit. Responding to collective oohs and aahs, Bapat, the food and civil supplies minister in the Maharashtra government, explained that he had a meeting with one of Mumbai’s biggest corporate houses. But another round of admiration followed when the 63-year-old leader from Pune added candidly that the last time he wore a suit was at his wedding reception, nearly 40 years back.

Leading by the letter
When Shiv Sena’s Ramdas Kadam recently ordered all environment committee meetings to be suspended, stalling over 1,600 projects, it was not the first time he had picked up a fight with his department. Nicknamed ‘Bindaast Ramdas’ in political circles, the minister has often tried to ascertain his dominance over the department. In February, an irate Kadam had even shot off a letter to the chief minister when a directive by him to shut down a polluting factory was not implemented. “It’s a big question whether the ministers or officials are running the government,” he had written. Perhaps coincidentally, the department has had three secretaries since January.

LOL, Bollywood
They shot to fame with their hilarious take on movie reviewing, of cheesy Bollywood films of yore, no less. Bangalore boys Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyanath, the brains behind popular YouTube channel Pretentious Movie Reviews, will be in the city Thursday, June 18, with their signature wisecracks as they perform a live stand-up comedy act as part of Canvas Laugh Club’s fifth anniversary celebrations. The duo will be joined by Sundeep Rao, another Bangalorean and a regular on the Indian comedy circuit. Expect gags on the absurdities of Bollywood cinema of the 90s and given their background, a ton of IT jokes.

By the bed
When Hunger Pangs Ltd opened Burma Burma restaurant last year in Kala Ghoda, it had little expectation that people would warm up to the all-vegetarian Burmese cuisine. The restaurant is so popular now that it runs only on reservations. Encouraged, 27-year-old owner Ankit Gupta has picked up space in Fort to open an international-style hostel for backpackers, at affordable rates. The facility will be done up in a quirky fashion and equipped with amenities such as a common room, juke box, Wi-Fi, among other basics. Work has begun, says Gupta, who hopes to launch it by November.

Expensive swachhata
Crores of rupees were spent on the Rail Passenger Amenities Fortnight recently, including on getting officials to Mumbai to ‘head’ cleanliness programmes. The railway ministry deputed the Railway Board to personally head zonal activities across cities. So Manu Goel, Executive Director (Heritage) of the Railway Board, reached Mumbai on June 3, headed the cleanliness drive at Dadar station and returned the same day. The sanitation fever is now over, but the bills will continue to tell their tales.

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