Mumbai Underground: What in a Spelling?

Picture Perfect
Certain officers of the Mumbai Police are known to be very accommodating for the news media, readily catering to their every demand. But some of their antics can surprise even journalists. One such officer, after giving a sound byte to a television channel, was chatting with the reporter while the cameraperson took stock footage of the officer from various angles. As soon as the cameraperson moved behind the officer, the police official suddenly stopped him. Picking up the remote, he then switched the television, which was directly in the camera’s line of sight, to the channel that the reporter and cameraperson belonged to, and even offered an explanation as to how it would look strange if a rival channel were playing during the visuals. The cameraperson could only stare for a long moment before continuing to shoot visuals.

First Hand
A recent judgment passed by Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court goes to show the nuanced description of a city-based restaurant, perhaps hinting that he personally visited the place. In a tussle for the title of one of Mumbai’s iconic eateries, Cafe Madras, the judge wrote, “In a narrow lane, one of three that branches off to the east from the roundabout at Maheshwari Udyan in Mumbai’s central area of Matunga, there stands an unassuming eatery. A few steps lead into it. The space is not large: a few tables at the entry level with the proprietor at a high seat at the counter to the right of the entrance.” He held that the other two restaurants, which copied the name, were liable for infringement and false representation.

Look-Alikes
A man who was arrested by the suburban police for alleged rape and abetment to suicide of a 25-year-old domestic help told the investigating officer (IO) that he is not scared of any officer other than him. When asked why was he only scared of the IO, the accused replied that every time he saw the officer, he thought he was looking at ‘Yamraj’ (God of death) to him.

Desparate Measures
With the race for admission to elite schools heating up and the competition for limited seats fiercer than ever before, parents have been forced to resort to desperate measures. The owner of a popular chain of restaurants recently visited a top Mumbai Police officer, requesting his assistance in securing admission for his daughter in a top South Mumbai school. Even as the officer tried to explain that he had already sent a recommendation to the same school for another individual, the businessman kept saying he had no choice because his wife had her heart set on enrolling their daughter in the school and did not intend applying anywhere else. “You have to have bail me out!” he kept pleading to the cop. After an hour-long meeting, during which both men wondered how best to tackle the school’s principal, the officer asked the businessman to draft a letter explaining his desperate situation and promised to have one of his men deliver it to the school the very next day.