From Bombay to Mumbai, the city that broke bad

I was born eighty-five years ago in Bombay. At the age of fifteen, I was marched off along with a dozen other boys to Byculla police station. Our cricket ball had smashed the window pane of a neighbour. In the compound, a constable made us fall in line. The flat owner went inside and emerged with the inspector who was a white man. 

“Who is the captain?” the inspector asked. 
Nobody claimed that honour, but someone mentioned my name and I was told to step forward. I trembled, but was soon put at ease when the inspector suggested I teach my team to strike the ball along the ground and not over neighbouring walls. With that sound piece of cricketing advice, he dismissed us, leaving the flat owner disappointed.

I dread to think what would have happened if it was seventy years later! A slap or two would have been the least of my worries. In the early eighties, my nephew was actually locked up for a night along with his friends for a similar transgression with a football. And Mumbai was still Bombay then!

In the Bombay of my childhood, policemen were feared by criminals and respected by the law abiding. This is not true of Mumbai today. Gang lords and their henchmen are reported to get preference over the law abiding at police stations. A widespread impression to that effect prevails.

How did this happen? In the transition from Bombay to Mumbai, the politicians who used to keep officials in check while guarding the interests of the public have been replaced by politicians who look after their own interests and join hands with venal officials to heap injustices on unfortunate citizens. 

Becoming rich without much effort is the reigning mantra. It's the cause of all troubles and has led to the negation of the rule of law. When two MLAs pulled up by a sub-inspector for a traffic violation abused the officer and later had him summoned to the Vidhan Sabha to be set upon by a group of legislators in true filmy style, one understands what the transition from Bombay to Mumbai has all been about.

Senior officers have been deprived the authority to discipline and transfer their juniors. This authority has been usurped by politicians, who now decide the course of the law according to their own interests. In this atmosphere, Mumbai is a much more dangerous city to live in than Bombay ever was!

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