26 June,2014 06:58 AM IST | | MiD DAY Correspondent
The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Little one, great spirit
Three-year-old Samruddhi Nakti, who became the face of the Diva train derailment that claimed several lives and injured over 100 last month, is still undergoing treatment in Sion hospital.
The child was earlier in a lot of pain but now has begun asking questions about her lack of mobility. Her relatives say she has now started asking when she will be able to walk and run like the other young patients.
But for Samruddhi, who lost her mother in the accident, walking is still a far-off achievement. She has undergone amputation of her right leg, and is set for further surgery on that leg.
She puts on a brave face even as she wonders about the nature and extent of her injuries. Her relatives tell her that with time and patience, she will be able to walk. At just the age of three, with her cheerful demeanour, Samruddhi is a role model for many of us who are much older.
History gets a filmi makeover
We hear that Hindmata Cinema at Dadar, which shut down back in 1984, is being re-launched as Gold Digital Cinema. Hindmata Cinema has history woven into its tapestry.
It was part of India's Quit India movement, and is part of the trio, along with Jaihind and Bharatmata cinemas in the Dadar/Parel area, which were all named after Mother India.
Hindmata in its new avatar will be formally launched on June 27 by Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray. While the launch may be good news for residents in the vicinity, the history of the cinema house is certainly interesting.
One hopes that Hindmata puts up a few pictures and nuggets of history inside its re-made interiors, so that the younger generation gets a glimpse of the role it played in the Quit India movement. Let a makeover not mean wiping off history altogether.
Spit and polish on the roads
Since Mumbai is such a commuting-centric city, it is little wonder that some of our memorable moments and life's lessons are learnt on the road.
A colleague who took a cab from Dadar (E) to reach the office in Parel witnessed this rather interesting incident. Her cab driver suddenly spat out of the window and accidentally on to a bike rider who was adjacent. The cabbie apologised to the rider but the biker was understandably furious.
He complained to the traffic police, after which a lady cop admonished the driver and asked him to produce his licence. She also reminded him of the BMC rules about spitting in public and the fine he would have to pay for the same.
Meanwhile, the cop helped our colleague get another cab and the bike rider too apologised to her. On the one hand thoughtless spitting and on the other, considerate commuters. It takes all sorts to make a world, especially on the Mumbai roads.
ATM Exchange
Security guards are often asked to fulfil requests that exceed their duty. We recently overheard a woman customer asking a guard at an ATM to accept a cheque from her and make the machine give out the required cash. Because the bank branch had closed!
Standing to meet
For journalists covering the civic beat, it was a real "standing committee" meeting yesterday. For two and a half hours, the scribes at the meeting had to stand while the officials deliberated.
This was because the meetings are being held in another hall while the original premises gets renovated. The new hall has a capacity to seat about 50, and everyone else (including some officials) had to stand.
