Chiffon and Pearls

Mahrani Indiradevi of Cooch Behar

(1892–1968)

Indiradevi, daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda and mother of Mahrani Gayatridevi of Jaipur, introduced the famous ‘Chiffon Saree and string of pearls’ combo in India. She is seen in the painting above in a Maratha style nine yards Chiffon Saree. Please notice that the styling here is distinctly French… International without forgetting the roots!

Spitting Insult

image courtesy laibhari.com

Global Thinkers and 'Marathi Manoos'

The ‘Foreign Policy’ Magazine has released its list of ‘Top 100 Global Thinkers’ which includes 8 people of Indian origin… and Maharashtra Times is celebrating the fact that a Marathi Manoos – Dr. Atul Gavande (#72) has made it to the list. So 3M took a closer look… and to his surprise there are actually two Marathi Manoos in the list! Fareed Zakaria (#17), editor of Newsweek Magazine, comes from a Konkani Muslim family from Nala Sopara in Thane District of Maharashtra… So does that make him a lesser ‘son of the soil’ as compared to a Marathi Hindu?

3M Trivia: Nandan Nilekani (#43) also comes from a Konkani family from Sirsi.

When Sachin met his oldest fan!

'Chatur Ramalingam' is actually Marathi

'Chatur Ramalingam' of 3 Idiots fame is actaully a 'Marathi Mulga' from California!

Nalini Jaywant is no more...

Nalini Jaywant

(1926-2010)

Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati

The Scion of the Kolhapur Royal Family with his Rolls Royce in front of his Palace!

The Great Sena Yo-Yo

After being the self appointed guardian of Marathi Manoos for decades, Shiv Sena ‘broadened’ its vision to hardcore Hindutva in the mid 1980s… By 2005 they realised that they have to appease the ‘Uttar Bharatiya’ vote bank (how dare you call them ‘bhaiyyas’!) to retain power in the Mumbai Municipality (BMC)… and the ‘Mee Mumbaikar’ campaign was born. Raj Thackeray was quick to understand the pulse of the emerging Marathi voter who was being alienated by the senior Sena. When MNS pushed the ‘Marathi Agenda’ full throttle, Shiv Sena was forced to revert to their ‘original philosophy’. But sadly the ‘Marathi Manoos’ baton seems to be clearly in Raj’s hand.

Now the new banners of Yuva Sena clearly show that the mother Sena wants to again ‘broaden its agenda’… this yo-yoing will certainly hurt them and they will be ‘ghar ka na ghat ka’!

Marathi take-off

After MNS decided to flex its muscle in sky, Hindustan Times editor is upset that a ‘Regional Language’ is thrust on him!

3M would like to ask him a few questions:

• Is he aware that there are more Marathi speaking people in this world than those who speak French or Italian?
• Why does he not get angry when announcements are made in Tamil when he lands in Chennai?
• Why should 3M not sue Jet Airways for not serving Non veg food on flights to Gujarat?
• Has MNS said that ‘only Marathi’ should be used? In that case 3M will join the protest!

Hindustan Times is trying to be a TOI Me-too in Mumbai by imitating later’s Anti Marathi policy… 1 2 3 4 5

The Great Maratha

ससा हो ससा Sasa Ho Sasa

Dhobi Ghat

More than a decade ago, 3M used to travel by local train to his college in Churchgate. What used to amuse him was that come rain or sunshine a battery of Firangi tourists would be perched atop the road bridge @ Mahalaxmi Station... clicking snaps of something to the east of the station with their fancy contraptions. Curiosity got better of 3M one day and he decided to check out the spectacle himself! Much to his surprise the tourist were taking snaps of the Dhobi Ghat… washer men and women washing clothes in rows of manmade water tanks…. And thousands of clothes put out to dry in the warm sun… a sight they can never see in the First World!

Now Kiran Rao brings you the magic of this ‘Public Washing Machine’ in her new movie ‘DHOBI GHAT’!

Gajalee in Singapore

Gajalee, the yummy Malvani eatery from Vile Parle East, has really grown in stature from a humble 'Canara Lunch Home' that 3M used to visit in his childhood. 3M wishes Gajalee all the best as it opens its first overseas branch in Singapore... So can we expect a branch in London and NY soon?

3Mpedia: "Gajalee" means gossip in Malvani!

Marathi lad shines in Asiad

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19 year old Kolhapur lad, Virdhawal Khade breaks a 24 year old medal drought in swimming by winning a bronze medal in the 50 m butterfly event at the Guangzhou Asiad.

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मला लागली कुणाची उचकी Mala Lagali Kunachi Uchaki

अशोक वनात!

अशोक वनात!

Obamas dancing to the Koli tunes!

Almost as a tribute to the original residents of the 7 islands of Mumbai, Michelle and Barack Obama dance to the song 'Mee hai Koli'!

KDMC Results

If you look at the actual votes polled in the KDMC elections you can clearly see the direction in which the wind is blowing!

Pendurkar to head Kellogg India

After a successful career in Unilever, HSBC & Coke, Sangeeta Pendurkar will now head Kellogg India... So can we expect Kellogg's Kande Pohe in the market next year?

गणपती बाप्पा मोरया!

वक्रतुंड महाकाय सूर्यकोटि समप्रभ

निर्विघ्नं कुरू में देव सर्व कार्येषु सर्वदा

Salaam Captainsaheb!

Aapla Sachin Tendulkar is now Group Captain of the Indian Air Force...

...and wishes to fly the Sukhoi!

Rajnikanth sticks to Marathi Pheta

Tamil Superstar Rajnikanth (Originally Shivajirao Gaikwad) is a perfect example of a migrant who has assimilated with the culture of the land he has settled in… without forgetting his roots! Though his daughter’s wedding with a Tamil Brahmin had all the trapping of a traditional Tamil wedding, the ‘Father of the Bride’ and the male members of his family sported orange Marathi Phetas (Turbans)... May his tribes increase!

"Marathi Airways" by Johnny Lever

A 'Suit'able Boy

Badly edited image on photoshop to give Raj a 'modern look'!

26 Jan = 15 Aug

emailed by Mr. Nikhil Pimputkar (A follower of this blog) to me...

Image courtesy Maharashtra Times

Saffron Tunes

Radio One’s Janvalkar… Radio Mirchi’s Vaingankar… Big FM’s Gupte

Marathi Manoos at the helm of affairs in all the top Radio Stations in Mumbai… But only a T-KICK ensures that they sing to Marathi Tunes… 3M fails to understand as to why Shiv Sena took more than a decade to realise that these private FM stations are not playing Marathi Songs?

आता मटामटा...

As pointed out by a reader, Maharashtra Times also carried the Belgaum Dispute Map in yesterday's edition without acknowledgement...

Marathi Zoozoos... or is it jhoo jhoo?

Hilarious... but check out the 'minglish' punchline at the end!

... and DNA today!!!

... Sakaal and Prahaar are copycats too!

Samana uses my map without premission

As Centre rebukes Maharashtra's claim over Belgaum and other Marathi speaking in Karnataka, Shiv Sena decides to vent its ire through its mouthpiece - Samana.

Surprisingly they use the map from an earlier post on this blog (“Belgaum Border Dispute” – A Bleeding Wound) to show the disputed area... without acknowledging the source!

Bal Shivba

COMING SOON AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU!

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Bollywood's new found love for Marathi

"Not so Golden" Jubilee

In the past this blog has highlighted that Times of India tends to give a cold shoulder to “Marathi News”. As expected these guys whitewashed the Maharashtra Golden Jubilee celebrations from the first page. Not only in Mumbai Edition but also in Pune and Nagpur.

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3M would like to believe that these guys do not promote “Regionalism”… but to his surprise, the Ahmedabad Edition of TOI had “Vibrant Gujarat Golden Jubilee” on the cover page… and the headline is "At 50, ready to rival Mumbai"... Hmmm!

AHMEDABAD EDITION

MUMBAI EDITION

बहु असोत सुंदर

बहु असोत सुंदर संपन्न की महा ।
प्रिय अमुचा एक महाराष्ट्र देश हा ॥ धृ ॥

गगनभेदी गिरिविण अणू न च जिथे उणे
आकांक्षापुढती जिथे गगन ठेंगणे
अटकेवर जेथील तुरंगी जल पिणे
तेथ अडे काय जलाशया ना दावीणे
पौरुष्यासी अटक गमे जेथ दुःसहा ॥ १ ॥

विलम वैराग्य एक जागी नारती ??
जरी पटका भगवा झेंडाही डोलती
धर्म राजकारण एक समवेत चालती
शक्ति युक्ति एकवटुनी कार्य साधती
पसरे या कीर्ति अशी विस्मया वहा ॥ २ ॥

गीत मराठ्यांचे श्रवणी , मुखी असो
स्फूर्ति रिती धृति ही देत अंतरी ठसो
वचनी लेखनी ही मराठी गिरा दिसो
सतत महाराष्ट्र धर्म मर्म मनी वसो
देह पडॊ सकारणी ही असे स्पृहा ॥ ३ ॥

कवि - श्रीपाद कृष्ण कोल्हटकर
संगीत - शंकरराव व्यास

Mumbai Konachi?

Puneri IPL

पुणे आयपीएल संघासाठी नियम

खेळाडुंसाठी
1. “फलंदाजा कडून धावा निघत नसतील तर मैदानावर उगीच टवाळक्या करत बसू नये"
2. "गोलंदाजांनी चेंडू जपून वापरावा अन्यथा प्रत्येक नविन चेंडूचे ३ रुपये आकारण्यात येतील"
3. "क्षेत्रारक्षकांनी दुपारी १ ते ४ या वेळेत उगीचच Howzzat म्हणून गोंधळ करू नये, लोक इकडे झोपलेली असतात"

प्रेक्षकांसाठी
1. सामन्याची वेळ तुमच्या तिकिटावर छापलेली आहे, उगाच कधीही येऊन गर्दी करु नये
2. सामन्याच्या वेळेच्या आधी ३० मिनिटे मैदानात प्रवेश दिला जाईल, तुम्ही गडबड केल्याने सामना लवकर सुरु होणार नाही
3. खुर्चीचा वापर फक्त बसण्यासाठीच करावा ... एका खुर्चीवर एकच
4. मैदानात पिण्यासाठी (साध्या) पाण्याची व्यवस्था केली आहे. घरुन बाटल्या आणुन कचरा करु नये.
5. मैदानावरचे कॅमेरे हे सामन्याच्या हालचाली टिपण्यासाठी आहेत, उगाच हिडीस चाळे करुन त्यांचे लक्ष वेधण्याचा प्रयत्न करु नये
6. आपण पुण्यासारख्या एका सुसंस्कृत शहरात एका सार्वजनिक ठिकाणी सामना पहात आहोत ह्याचे भान ठेऊन चियरलिडर्सना खाणाखुणा करु नये किंवा त्यांच्याकडे डोळे फाडुन बघुन लाज आणु नये. अश्लील चाळे कराल तर नुसतीच पोलीस कारवाई नाही तर धिंड काढण्यात येईल
7. फुंके ( सिगारेट, बिड्या, चिलीम ), थुंके ( तंबाखु, गुटका, मावा, पान ) आणि शिंके ( तपकीर आणि स्वाईन फ्ल्युग्रस्त ) ह्यांना मैदानात मज्जाव
8. मैदानात दारु विक्री केली जात नाही, मैदानात दारु पिऊ दिली जात नाही, मैदानात बाहेरुन दारु पिऊन आल्यास प्रवेश मिळणार नाही.

सगळ्यात महत्वाचे.

समोर नाचत असलेल्या चिअर लिडर्स जरी मस्तानी असल्या तरी आपण बाजीराव नाही. म्हणुन क्रुपया सामना खाली बसुन बघावा.

मराठी माणसाला काय येत?

मराठी माणसाला काय येत?
मराठी माणसाला काय येत?

मराठी माणसाला स्वराज्य उभं करता येतं…
मराठी माणसाला स्वातंत्र्यासाठी भर समुद्रात झोकून देता येतं…
मराठी माणसाला भारतीय चित्रपटसृष्टीची मुहूर्तमेढ रोवता येते…
मराठी माणसाला भारतीय राज्य घटना लिहिता येते…
मराठी माणसाला क्रिकेटचा शहेनशहा होता येतं…
मराठी माणसाला महासंगणक बनविता येतो…
मराठी माणसाला पार्श्वगायनात सम्राज्ञी बनता येतं…
मराठी माणसाला संपूर्ण भारतात पहिली मुलींची शाळा काढता येते…
मराठी माणसाला पहिली महिला शिक्षिका बनता येतं…
मराठी माणसाला पहिली महिला डॉक्टर बनता येतं…
मराठी माणसाला पहिली महिला राष्ट्रपती बनता येतं…

लाभले अम्हांस भाग्य बोलतो मराठी.....जाहलो खरेच धन्य ऐकतो मराठी.... .....!!!!!!

मराठी अभिमान गीत Marathi Abhiman Geet

Kaushal Inamdar's song that has created a world record!

"Aman ki Asha"

Asha Bhonsale asserts 'Mumbai for all" as Raj Thackeray applauds...

...Unlike his uncle he is wise not to take on 'Deities of Marathi Manoos'

Mr. Shiv Sainik Vs. 'Stupid Common Man'

I got this email below from a colleague…

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Dear Mr Shiv Sainik,

I trust you have read Rajdeep Sardesai’s open letter to Mr Uddhav Thakeray doing the rounds on the internet. Frankly, for two reasons I won’t be surprised if you haven’t. One, it is in English. And two, it is extremely well-written and very thought–provoking. If you haven’t read it I suggest you ask your children to translate it for you. Like the offspring of most Shiv Sainiks I presume yours too are studying in the most elitist of convent schools.

But first, let me introduce myself.

I am just a Stupid Common Man. Have you seen the film ‘A Wednesday’? You must, even though it is in Hindi. Nasiruddin Shah’s soliloquy at the end of the film where he spits out his pent-up anger against the system and all politicians will make your hair stand on end. He calls himself just a Stupid Common Man. That’s what I am too, as are the faceless thousands and thousands of us in this city. And like the Stupid Common Man, we are a very angry lot today; angry at your silly and immature antics, and angry at the city being held to ransom by your aging leader and his coterie of Yes Men.

I have tried to understand what your core values are, but I am stumped!

Let me spell out why.

Your agitation against Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul Gandhi, Mukesh Ambani and Sachin Tendulkar turned out to be as riveting as a deflating balloon. Nobody paid heed to your leader’s call, least of all we Bombay /Manoos /who you have turned into a kind of experimental guinea pigs in the political laboratory. What kind of wishy-washy, spineless, sloppy fellows are you! Sorry, Mr Shiv Sainik, the nation did not want an apology from SRK – far from it. They just want good, edge-of-the-seat cricket. And the nation showed what they think of your fading leader by making SRK’s film the biggest grosser in Bollywood. What Rahul G gave you gentlemen was a resounding slap-in-the-face by doing what your leader has never done – Rahul mingled freely with the ordinary /manoos/ in Bombay. Sachin endeared himself to the whole country by proclaiming that he was an Indian first. As for Mukesh Ambani, please await the next chapter.

Now let me tell you why we are an angry lot. Your creaky gramophone record about Marathi pride being hurt has ceased to convince us any more. During your current tenure at the BMC, 35 Marathi municipal schools were shut down. Is this your idea of pride? Rahul Bose (I don’t think you gentlemen have even heard of him) in a recent TV interview gave statistics to show that Bombay has already lost out to Delhi in virtually every department of administration. Forget Delhi, it is losing out to Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Is this your idea of pride?

And your flip-flop about allowing the Australians to play in Bombay has many of us in splits. If you are against immigrants, surely you should be supporting racism in Australia! And if you are protesting racism in Oz, does it mean that you have had a change of heart about the North Indians? Is this pride, or total Alzeimeric confusion? Yes, we are angry at your threats to paralyse Bombay at the drop of a sparrow’s droppings. And, more important, we are angry at your wanton destruction of public property. Your loss at successive elections is enough proof of the adage “You can fool some of the people all the time, or all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.”

Now let me tell you why some countries are great and the others are not. This will perhaps appeal to you, if you have progressed beyond high school. You have probably heard of a country called USA – it is the most powerful nation in the world today. It is so because of the way it allows the human potential to flower and flourish. Leaders – in politics and in business - in the US come from all parts of the world. If you ever were an avid newspaper reader (real newspapers, not the Saamna variety) you will recall that there was a man called Henry Kissinger. He was a German refugee from the Holocaust, and he became Secretary of State. That Mrs Indira Gandhi gave him a bloody nose during the ’71 war is another story. But let me give you an example that you would probably relate to better. You surely have seen Arnold Schwarzenegger’s films. He flexes his biceps and can put Salman K to shame – iconic and breath-taking stuff for your stone-throwing, public property-destroying foot-soldiers. He migrated from Austria about 40 years ago determined to make it big in the US. Arnold is presently Governor of California. And there are several Indians in Obama’s (he happens to be the President of the US) administration, including a few Marathi Manoos (No, Please, Al Gore is NOT a Marathi Manoos). And their contribution to American society and economy is just enormous.

The point I am making is simply this: you can throw out the ‘outsiders’ only at your economic peril. All along you have been talking only about job reservations. Have you ever given a thought to job creation? Have you ever wondered why very, very few Marathi Manoos make it to the IFS, IAS, IRS and the higher echelons of the armed forces? It’s now high time you gave a thought to that, AND DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!

Now try to picture this. Bombay accounts for about 35% of the income tax collections of the country. This you probably know. What you probably do not know is that companies pay income tax in the city where their registered offices are situated. Now just imagine - and please try to do so seriously because we are not talking /kaanda bhajiya/ but real big mega stuff – what would happen if the big 3 suddenly decided to shift their registered offices to Baroda, or Bangalore, or Delhi? Do you recall the downfall of Calcutta when Charu Mazumdar and his naxalite thugs ran amok there? And the ruins of Uganda when Big Boy Idi Amin threw out the Indians? In economic terms it’s called flight of capital. The Tatas called Mamta didi’s bluff and shifted the Nano project lock, stock and barrel to Gujarat. That left Bengal gasping for breath. Mukesh Ambani is already talking of shifting his registered office to Jamnagar . . I leave the rest to your imagination.

And have you ever thought what would happen to Bombay if the film industry, what Bombay is really synonymous with, decided to move to Noida?

Sorry for being harsh on you, dear Mr SS, but I am just a Stupid Common Man letting off steam against your apathy, utter lack of vision and foresight, and utter lack of concern for us.

Now let’s see what you gentlemen CAN do. You are controlling the BMC for the moment. And I say for the moment because I see the Rahul G tsunami in the distant horizon fast approaching Matoshree. SO IT’S TIME YOU DID SOMETHING FOR BOMBAY! You have until 2012. Merely changing names of cities and roads and monuments, and creating an identity crisis for everybody, will not help. I’ve never heard you gentlemen talk of

·Urban planning

·eliminating corruption, especially in the BMC that you presently control,

·giving us good roads and footpaths,

·parks and gardens,

·upgraded municipal hospitals and schools,

·uninterrupted water and electricity

All that I’ve heard is the tinkling of shattered glass panes of the IBN
Lokmat office, cinema theatres and of bhaiyya-owned taxis.

And you gentlemen have woken up to the existence of Vidarbha only when they started demanding a separate state. It just boils down to plain neglect; so much for your oft-touted Marathi pride. This polemics has ensured your survival, but it has not taken you very far. You are fast approaching a dead-end. In fact, when the obituary of the Shiv Sena is written what will be remembered will not be the flyovers you built, but:

·Bashing up south Indians
·Bashing up north Indians
·Digging up cricket pitches
·Damaging the only world cup trophy brought in by Kapil’s Devils
·Enron-Dabhol scandal
·Michael Jackson fund-raiser and the funds that disappeared
·Miandad-Supremo camaraderie
·Flight of capital and business (Hope you read ET. There must be a Marathi version)

But there is hope for you yet. *Start talking economics* and you may just survive the Rahul Gandhi tsunami. But above all, please read Rajdeep’s mail. If you survive you will have Rajdeep Sardesai to thank.

Yours angrily,

Stupid Common Man

Sachin '2-Ton'dulkar

'Prince Charming'

After making some immature comments (or probably carefully planned ones) in Bihar, the congress Yuvaraj takes a local train ride in Mumbai… a great PR stunt! This has certainly taken the winds out of Sena's sail...

Hope Rahul makes the right noises in Maharashtra or else he will push the Marathi Manoos further in the Sena Camp.

ह्याला ठोकरे... त्याला ठोकरे...

Mumbai Monorail

Mr. Raj Thackeray… what is this? The Mumbai Monorail Dabba has “Mumbai Monorail” written in English! Considering Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra it should be in Marathi… मुंबई मोनोरेल! Correct or not?

No… Baba… No… You cannot just write it in Devnagari Script… it has to be translated in Marathi… So what do you call 'Monorail' in Marathi? Hmmmm… एकेरी लोहमार्ग?

Now can MMRDA design a logo for मुंबई एकेरीलोहमार्ग?

The Ghaatis strike back!

When 3M was a child, the troika of theatres in Fort (Regal, Sterling & Eros) was the last bastion of English films in the City. Then sometime in the mid 90s with the advent of Amir Khan’s Rangeela, Eros opened its door to Indian Films (Read Hindi). Now after 73 years of its existence, they have finally opened their doors to Marathi Films… with Natrang!

3M can see the guardians of SoBo culture squirming in their seats!

MAHAPOL POWERLIST Jan 10 Edition

click on the image to see larger version

The complete list of 25 most powerful politicians is as follows -
1. Sharad Pawar (68) NCP 0
2. Raj Thackeray (41) MNS 0
3. Balasaheb Thackeray (82) SS 0
4. Ashok Chavan (50) INC 0
5. Ajitdada Pawar (49) NCP 0
6. Gopinath Munde (59) BJP 0
7. Nitin Gadkari (60) BJP 0
8. Vilasrao Deshmukh (63) INC 0
9. Chhagan Bhujbal (60) NCP 0
10. Uddhav Thackeray (48) SS 0
11. Narayan Rane (56) INC +1
12. R R Patil (52) NCP -1
13. Murli Deora (71) INC 0
14. Gurudas Kamat (51) INC 0
15. Prakash Ambedkar (51) RPI 0
16. Sushilkumar Shinde (66) INC 0
17. Praful Patel (53) NCP 0
18. Ramdas Athavale (55) RPI 0
19. Vinay Kore (37) JSP 0
20. Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil (76) INC 0
21. Vinod Tawde (45) BJP 0
22. Manohar Joshi (71) SS 0
23. Vijaysingh Mohite Patil (64) NCP 0
24. Supriya Sule (39) NCP 0
25. Vilas Muttemwar (68) Cong New

Party Code

BJP – Bharatiya Janata Party

INC – Indian National Congress
IND – Independent
JSS – Jana Surajya Shakti

MNS – Maharashtra Navanirman Sena

NCP – Nationalist Congress Party

PWP – Peasants & Workers Party (Shetkari Kamgar Paksha)

RPI – Republican Party of India (any faction)

SS – Shiv Sena

Movement on the MahaPol ladder –
0 : Zero indicates that there has been no change in the ranking over the previous month.
+X : Plus indicates improvement in ranking over last month and ‘x’ indicates how many ranks he/ she has moved upwards.
-X : Minus indicates degradation in ranking over last month and ‘x’ indicates how many ranks he/ she has moved downwards.

To understand the methodology used for the ranking click here.

The figure in bracket indicates the age of the politician.

Analysis

• Pradhan committee’s report has affected RR’s political stature. Also the unutilized Police Welfare fund of Rs. 100 Crs is proving to be a millstone around his neck!
• Devisinh Sekhawat was unable to maintain his new found status as he lost the Rs.300 Crs Orange processing plant to Nanded instead of Amravati.
• But another Vidharbhaite has replaced Shekhawat by emerging as the champion for a separate Vidarbha State… and he is Vilas Muttemwar, the MP from Nagpur.

MahaPol can be directly contacted on mahapol25@gmail.com