Going to attend a murcha!

Dr. Sudha hooked me up with one of her friends, Nithin, who is active in an organization called LEARN, the Labor Education and Research Network.  He is tryiing to build up an organization of women working in the informal sector, and tomorrow, his group is having a rally (murcha) to demand ration cards for migrants.  I am going to attend it, and meet up with him.  Its in Dharavi, which is famous for being the biggest slum in Asia.

 I'm pretty nervous, and excited too.

Dadi

Dadi seems to be having a great time here.  Yesterday, she was taken for salaam to Sayedna (TUS) at Saifee Mehel (basically  means she payed her respects to him.  Saifee Mehel is the name of his Bombay residence).  She was really excited.  She also went around town a little with Masi Shireen.

But she keeps forgetting to take her medicine!  Both Rashida Aunty and I remind her frequently.  I think the warm weather makes her joints ache less, and she is also quite happy about seeing Mamajee and the rest of her family... so I guess she just forgets that she needs to take pills.  And then, the next day, things hurt.

Hopefully she'll learn a lesson after a couple of iterations of this... 

Here's her with Mamajee Khuzema an Masi Munira:

 

phone worries and productive meetings

A long and somewhat productive day.  I guess I can't really call it productive yet, because what I've gotten today are leads, and now I have to see if they will materialize.

But the foremost thing on my mind at the moment is the possibility that my cell phone service will get cut off tomorrow.  I got the phone on Sunday, I think.  Maimoona's friend, who is a vodafone dealer, told me I needed to submit an application and a copy of my passport soon, but I guess I didn't realize how soon.  Today, I got a message that if I don't submit my identity documents within 24 hours, my service will shut down.  I got the message in the afternoon-- I was busy trying to get to some meetings at the time-- though I did manage to stop and get my passport photocopied.  I think if I had gone the normal route of getting a phone (like going to a store and dealing with strangers instead of doing things through a friend) they would have asked me for my documents on the spot.  Now the friend who sold me the sim card has exams tomorrow and cant help me out.  Maimoona, who is so extremely helpful, has offered to take me to a vodafone store first thing in the morning to prevent the shutdown.   There is a chance that may not work-- because the people in the store may not like my initial acquisition of the phone, which was not by books.  In that case my phone service will get disconnected, and apparently, once that happens, its really difficult to get it back.  Of course it is my own fault about the tardiness with the documentation.  All of this comes at an inopportune time, because I have a couple of things on my schedule tomorrow and a bunch of people to call and coordinate with.

I met with a professor in the civics and politics department of University of Mumbai.  She couldn't have been nicer.  She was super-friendly, had insightful things to say about the topics that I am researching, and gave me tons of contacts to get in touch with for my research.  She called a couple of them herself and set up some meetings for me.  I left her office feeling really relieved and a bit excited... I have enough leads to keep me busy for a few days (provided I still have a phone).  She encouraged me to keep her posted on my progress, and I definitely will.  Its nice to have an academic friend :)

After she and I were done talking, she sent me over to meet Dr. Sneha, a director in the All-India Institute for Local Self-Government, which is a research and training organization that specializes in urban development and administration.  Its government funded, but autonomous.  Although her offices were close to the university, they weren't walking distance, and it was still pretty hard to get there because the rickshaws are all on strike.  (They are protesting an impending law that will require them to have electronic meters).  So that meant that it was also really hard to get a cab.  I ended up walking a lot and was really uncomfortably hot and tired for most of the day... I'm sure I will get used to the heat soon.  When I got there,  Dr. Sneha was quite busy... she listened to my description of my research for about 5 minutes, and then nodded and said, Now I understand what you're doing.  This is not going to be a short meeting.  I'm really busy right now, can you come back tomorrow?  And she proceeded to tell me about the various kinds of data she will pull out for me, and the people she can introduce to me for interviews.  At one point, she offered to call up Raj Thackeray's PA and set up a meeting.  (Raj Thackeray is the leader of a political party that is at the center of anti-migrant politics in Mumbai). I don't really know how that is possible, but it would be totally ridiculous.  Anyhow, she seems really smart and was businesslike and busy, but quite cordial.  I'm looking forward to meeting with her again.

Update on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 10:16AM by Rameez

Was able to submit documents and the phone works just fine!

The level of identity verification and bureacracy surrounding simple things is really extensive.  By law, to get mobile phone service, you have to either submit proof of residency in the city or provide a copy of your passport and visa, local contact information and references, and a wallet sized photograph. 

You also can't get television or internet service unless you show proof of residency.  The people who are setting up my internet access are familiar with Bakir Uncle's family in this building, so they are willing to hook up my service without the necessary documents.

And just this afternoon, I tried to buy a monthly train pass, but was thwarted because I didn't have any pictures of myself.  I guess I better get used to carrying them around.  I got them taken, will receive them tomorrow, and then a train pass will be issued to me.  Will have to go back to VT (stands for Victoria Terminus, but the actual name is Mumbai CST, which stands for Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus).  Its a huge train station.  Chhatrapati Shivaji was a famous Marathi king, from a few centuries ago.  The re-naming campaign happened in the mid-1990s in Bombay (Mumbai), and it is one aspect of the different sub-nationalisms (based on regional languages and cultures) that are a part of the Indian political landscape.

 

bohras and politics

Rashida Aunty talked a bit more about bohras and political involvement.  She said Bohras vote for Congress because the BJP (which they pronounce as Bhaajap in Gujarati) wants India to be only a Hindu country, just as Pakistan is a Muslim one.  Congress, on the other hand, advocates equally for all religions.  She said that while Shiv Sena (a Hindu nationalist party in the state of Maharashtra; wants to keep outsiders ouf of the state) is ostensibly a different party than the BJP, everyone knows it is closely allied with them, and recognizes that the only reason BJP leaders don't outwardly support the Sena is that it would be bad for their public image.  She was explaining all this to me, and its all stuff I have read and know about, but it was good to hear the same kinds of views from a regular person, and not just an editorial page or academic article.  She also talked at length about the Sena's Marathi only campaign... now, the younger children all learn Marathi in school because its compulsory and government applications and documents are only written in Marathi and English, despite the vast presence of Hindi and even Gujarati in Bombay.  Interestingly, while she vehemently disagrees with the Sena's Marathi-only push, she sympathizes with their stance against migrants because the city is so overcrowded.

As far as Bohras go, she said Sayedna (TUS) goes out of his way to keep neutral in politics and to have good relations with all political leaders, regardless of party.  Once, during a broadcast of a vaaz (sermon) out of Ahmadabad, after it was over but the camera was still recording, the audience heard Sayedna ask someone close to him if a car had arrived.  It turned out to be Gujarat Chief Minister Modi's car, and she explained that while neither Sayedna nor Modi were visible to them, they all heard a very cordial and respectful exchange between them.  She said Modi was extremely reverent.  (Modi is a BJP leader, very Hindu nationalist).

Bohras, she said, don't get involved in Hindu- Muslim politics, and as a result, no one really bothers them when religious tensions materialize.  I asked how they can remain uninvolved, considering they're Muslim, and she replied that the Muslim masses (her term, not mine) in Bombay are very politicized, and in her opinion, do things to provoke conflict.  For example, young men tear down Shiv Sena posters that have Bal Thackeray's face on them.  So when they take such actions, she said, of course they provoke the Sena further.  (On the other hand though, the Shiv Sena message is so chauvinistic, that maybe you can't really blame those men for tearing down posters).  

Then she told me about the time of the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Aydodhya (1992- 1993)... there was violence all over India, including Bombay.  She said that they didn't leave the house at all because there was so much rioting on the streets.  At that time, she and her family lived in a heavily Shiv Sena dominated area, and they all temporarily left to go stay with a relative in a part of the city that was safer for them.  But her father was the head of a mosque in that area and he refused to leave his responsibility.  He didn't want to leave an empty mosque at the hands of people who would destroy it.   He was basically the only Muslim there.  She said, however, that the bohras had enough of a reputation for being unpoliticized that the Sena didn't disturb him or the mosque at all.  They dealt with each respectfully, and even cooperated on a couple of things, like water access from a particular hose inside the mosque.  Her point was that bohras stay out of politics, and don't face the same anti-Muslim backlash as a result.  When I asked about voting, she said that everyone definitely votes, and they vote for Congress.  But when there's a contentious election on the horizon in Bombay, Sayedna (TUS) tends to leave town to stay totally out of the fray.

conversation with cab driver

I had a talk with my cab driver on the ride back to Mazgaon from Colaba.  (I was returning from meeting Azeem and some of his friends at Woodside Grille in Colaba-- more on that later).  The driver was young (about 20), Muslim, and had come to Bombay from a village in UP about a year and a half ago.  He hasn't been back since, although his whole family is there.  Asked why not, he said the travel just wastes time and money.  His dad has been ill for 16 years-- he has no memory of having had a healthy father who could earn a living.  His brother had moved to Bombay earlier, and he followed him out here to make some money.  He starts driving his cab around 5 or 6 in the evening, and continues until about 1 am or so.   And then in the morning, he's able to pick up a lot of fares to the airport from the Cuff Parade area.  He misses his family a lot, although he's made a good enough group of friends here in Bombay.  They are others from UP, many of them also cab drivers.

He doesn't like Bombay at all.  Its crowded, and he prefers greenery.  He is able to make a lot of money-- he earns about 400-500 rupees every day-- but much of it goes toward his living expenses or gets sent back home to his parents.  He's not sure its worth it, in the end, to work in a place where the cost of living his so high.  He is aware of the anti-migrant politics in Bombay, but says they don't affect him.  He said politics has its place, and I have mine.  I'm just here to make a living.  If there are any services that the BMC provides for migrants, he's not aware of them.

He doesn't vote in Bombay because he's not registered here, meaning he doesn't have a ration card.  A ration card is like a proof of residency and an ID card, administered by state governmetns.  It entitles the bearer to certain goods at subsidized rates, including kerosene, sugar, rice, wheat, cooking oil.  If you live in a slum, its also your guarantee that if your home gets razed for new development, you have some recourse and the government will provide you some kind of different housing.  In theory (and by the letter of the law), anyone who moves from one province to another should be able to submit their old one and get a new one issued to them.  But in Bombay, at least, the administration is quite unwilling to issue ration cards to migrants since there's a strong movement to stem the flow of incoming workers.  The cab driver said he is trying to amass 4000 INR to get one-- this is probably the bribe he has to pay, or else the fee for a forgery, because the card itself is free.  I didn't ask more details.

For now, he doesn't know when he will get himself one.  He didn't seem too worried about it... he intends to spend a couple of more years in Bombay making as much money as possible and then head back home, or somewhere else.  There may not be as much money to make elsewhere, but the cost of living isn't anywhere near as high either.

His friends are all like him.  Here to earn a living and not politically inclined.  By this point in the conversation, we arrived home and I didn't want to hold him, although he would have kept talking willingly.  I would have asked about his extent of political participation and voting back home in UP.  Also whether he sees a connection between Mumbai city politics and his ability to get a ration card.