A lot is being said about cafe leopold lately, due to its involvement as a victim in the 26th nov 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai. The attack had killed 10 people including two staff of the cafe. But keeping up with the spirit of Mumbai, it reopened for business very soon, preserving the telltale signs of tragedy that was 26th Nov. Its a very good example of the phoenix rising out of ashes.
But now for the darker side. Does the cafe belong to Indians. It has been frequented by foreigners since its establishment, the most noted of all being the criminal turned writer, Gregory David Roberts, a.k.a. Shantaram. Its is visited my many a celebraties from India and abroad along with shantaram himself.
But you try to visit it. If you are not know to someone of “someone”, you are sure to wait out for a long time. An incident with a friend of mine. He along with his mates had gone to this cafe for the first time. There were many a tables empty which could be seen from door, but they were kept waiting out side. On being confronted with a question about this, the staff informed that those tables were for foreigners and if they didn’t have enough patience to wait, they might as well leave.
This incident can be compares to Mahatma Gandhi being pushed from the train, of Cassius Clay not allowed entry in an all white cafe. I do not have any word for this act, other than racism.
My friends didn’t have large followers to take a march against this, nor did he win any gold medal to throw in the sea as a protest.
Hmmm , but maybe if your friend was a little more patient ,, and had the time he cud hav collected a few like minded people and staged a protest ( silent protest ) with a few placards in front of the Cafe .
that i think was the manner in which gandhi started his satyagraha movement : satya — truth ,,, agraha — desire ( so desire —- for truth, justice, or righteousness )
The days of successful silent protest are long gone. Now a days you have to inform police before staging any silent, non voilent protest. A bandobast is arranged on the day of protest. And if you forget to inform the police, you might land in jail with a broken from lathi charge. An for what cause? Just so that the media gets another subject, which they wont hold up, but just increase their TRP.
@ Nilesh :
sad , that you have an attitude like this … The media’s job is to highlight issues … i dont deny that the media indulges in sensationalism and it is partly to blame … But if we are the ones whho have an ostrich like attitude and want to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that all is well ,, then the problem is with US ( sorry that looked like the U.S. — i meant “us” ) the problm is not of the media ..
This is like shooting the ‘Messenger’ for his ‘Message ‘
I rest my case .. waiting for Nilesh’s rejoinder
@ Nilesh : ur argument is a little flawed according to me for the following reasons
first of all my point is not about whether the public protests were successful or not !!! Even if it was not successful I WOULD BELIEVE that it is IMPORTANT to carry out protests in the RIGHT MANNER viz : peaceful demonstrations , placards , candle light vigils and the like
Unlike the actions of ” some political parties ” here : goondaism ,, enforced bandhs ,,beating up people , hammering railway commuters ,, smashing up glass facades ,, damaging and destroying lives and property !!!! AND TO THINK that there are COMMON people with common sense WHO ACTUALLY support and give encouragemnt to SUCH PARTIES !!! (i guess common sense is not so common anymore ! )
Secondly there were many public protests and issues ( non violent struggles) not only in INDIA , but worldwide .. whether they were a success or not is besides the point ,,, and many were in fact
successful …
think Mrinal Gore ( paniwali bai ) ,think Bahuguna’s chipko movement ,, think Vinobha Bhave , think Medha Patkar ( NBA — not basketball — mind u ) , think Arundhati Roy , Aamir Khan ,think Nivvara Hakk Samiti ( Shabana )
think Rosa Parks , think Martin Luther KIng , think Nelson Mandela ( and he achieved equality for the blacks in S.A.)
And mind u I am NOT supporting all of the above mentioned issues ,,, just highlighting the way to protest
hope this throws some light on the public protests since Gandhi’s time and some of these have been successful ….
Over to you ..
@Surwil
Get real man!
you really think the Gandhian approach works?
Speaking about “silent protests”, where were these “silent Protest” when hundreds lost their lives in the train blasts?
Y dint the protesters take their rally to the CST were innocent people were killed(not that people killed at Taj were not innocent)..point is these “silent Protests” were held only where the rich and the wealthy died..these protests were held only WHEN the “Cream” of the Society fell prey to the heinous act!
Pity that people like you still think non violence is THE approach in this jungle raj..no wonder we are still lead by the Weak and the Useless..and then we wonder..”why is my country not the super power that it should have been?”
BTW just coming back on track…even i was subjected to such treatment in the Cafe two years back…where you wouldn’t mind waiting hours..and later gathering people to stage a protest(“silent Protest”) holding placards et al…
I never visited that Cafe again..and informed my friends about the incidence who followed suit..
The Dais is all yours..
**agar aap kisi cheez ko dil se chaho to poori kayanat usse aapko haasil karane mein jut jaati hai
This one’s copied from “The Alchemist”..quoted as “When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”
My argument was…you were deviating from the original topic..which actually lost the point which Nilesh has put forth..and that was NO MATTER WHAT WE SAY..RACISM STILL EXISTS IN OUR SOCIETY..AND MOST OF US HAVENT LOST THE HABIT OF “SERVING” THE FAIR SKINNED WITH UTMOST RESPECT.