Mumbai on my mind

It was the one day I did not want to be late for the match. Gaddafi Stadium is a 15-minute drive from hotel and so I got into auto-rickshaw....

It was the one day I did not want to be late for the match. Gaddafi Stadium is a 15-minute drive from hotel and so I got into auto-rickshaw. The driver, Abdul, has relatives in Mumbai and strikes up a conversation with me — happier in the knowledge that I, too, am from Mumbai. During one of the three stops at the signals, Abdul says his mother is from Mumbai but moved during Partition. ‘‘My Mamu still stays in Bhendi Bazar, but all of us — my six brothers and sisters — were born in Karachi and Lahore,’’ he says.

Then start the questions, inevitably leading up to comparisons between Lahore and Mumbai. ‘‘Is Mumbai more busy than this’’, he asked at one traffic jam. As the Stadium draws closer, he wants to know if Bhendi Bazar was a good area. Satisfied that his uncle lives in a decent area, Abdul takes me to the main gate of the Gaddafi Stadium. As I get out of the auto I realise I may fall short and ask him accordingly. ‘‘Koi nahin ji, aap meri ammi ke shahar se ho, aap se zyaada nahin loonga.’’ We part ways promising each other that we will meet each other soon. ‘‘Inshallah, zaroor mulakat hogi,’’ he says and leaves with a smile.

THE ‘FIRST’ FAMILY

Which still leaves me with the problem of actually entering the stadium. There are Elite Commandos moving all over the place, ‘No Fear’ written on the back of their T-shirts. The whole area is cordoned off because President Pervez Musharraf has decided to drop by. Musharraf brought his team some bad luck in Rawalpindi, but here he did not have much of a role. He spent about an hour meeting Jinnah’s daughter and grandson. Nusli Wadia will now fly to Karachi and see the tomb of his late grandfather while wife Maureen and their children will fly to Mumbai from Karachi on March 26. Other high-profile Indian guests present were Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, actress Anju Mahendroo and ministers Vikram Verma, Vijay Goel and Shatrughan Sinha.

NO STARS IN THE STANDS

The happiest lot of the day were the paying spectators who had flown in from all over India and as also the Lahorites. All of them were far more more lucky than those who came in on Sunday. This time around there were two queues instead of one. And even the securitymen appeared far more relaxed. Unfortunately for the crowd there were no filmstars to cheer for, as only Daler Mehndi made his way to the Javed Miandad Enclosure. He entertained them for some time, just as he did the select crowd at Imran Khan’s Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital. Imran seemed very excited about Daler’s performance and when asked about the show, said ‘‘great concert’’.

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On Govt table: How to help exporters not lose market share due to 50% US tariff

Business49 min ago

The Indian government is implementing strategies to protect its market share from the impact of high US tariffs. This includes providing support to exporters through subsidies, loans, and credit guarantees, as well as helping them access domestic buyers. However, India's export growth to US is lower compared to its competitors, and the situation may worsen with additional tariffs on Russian oil.

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