Mumbai Underground: WhatsApp Mumbai?

The students of the Pune institute have been trying to create a common platform where those studying in other colleges and universities can voice their concerns.

CM Devendra Fadnavis was special guest at the inauguration of Pro Kabaddi League. (Source: Express photo by Kevin D’Souza)

At the Pro Kabaddi League’s inauguration at the Worli stadium, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had the crowd floored with his exceptionally short but effective address. When the organisers asked him to address the “Amchi Mumbai” crowd in just two words, the special guest spontaneously obliged: “WhatsApp Mumbai?” The stadium was packed with a young and enthusiastic crowd singing and shouting, and the CM’s words evoked a resounding applause from the tech-savvy Generation Next. The gathering had senior and junior Bachchans, besides many other celebrities in attendance. To another question on who would he support when Mumbai and Pune teams are pitted against each other, he replied: “It is like asking whether you like your right eye or left eye.” The anchor did not throw any more question at the CM, who incidentally said he had played kabaddi in school.

FTII: Change of scene

To take forward their protest against the alleged lack of transparency in appointing members of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) society, students will hold a meeting with the students of IIT-Bombay next week. The students of the Pune institute have been trying to create a common platform where those studying in other colleges and universities can voice their concerns about the lack of autonomy in educational institutes across the country. Certain faculty members, along with IIT students, are scheduled to speak on a common forum.

FTII students had held a similar meet at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, on July 12. They plan to hold similar meets with other institutes such as Indian Institute of Management, National Institute of Design, MICA, JJ School of Art and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Entertainment, on the House

The first week of the legislative session saw the Opposition boycott official proceedings on most issues. But while there was not much action inside the House, the scene outside was action-packed, with the Opposition more than making up for their absence inside the Vidhan Sabha by pulling off different stunts. The place was witness to modified and remixed versions of popular nursery rhymes, kirtans and bhajans, as the Opposition tried to come out with innovative ways to make itself heard against the government. A mock assembly was held and it had its lighter moments too. The Opposition’s resolve to remain in the news also saw them relocate their protest, where the leaders jived to the tunes of nursery rhymes, bhajans and kirtans, to the site where the media crew was stationed, after the Speaker’s office issued a gag order disallowing shooting of scenes on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan (videography is already prohibited inside the premises).

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