Deep Impressions

        Economic Power v/s Political power is a challenging task faced by these institutions and in addition they have to balance a third critical factor.   --------   --------     --------   --------    --------   --------           US is the most diverse nation in the world, and Mumbai - the most diverse city in India. This diversity has led to a strange conundrum that is common to both.   During the last 50 years, large cities in India have seen large migration as well as rapid changes in consumer aspirations. Resultantly, we had two faces of these cities - the old establishment or the core city ; and the new zones (Island city vs Suburban Mumbai, Delhi vs Gurgaon/Noida, Bengaluru city vs Whitefields/Devanahalli etc. ).   Historically, the core city would house the powers centres - govt offices, key markets, centres Arts & Entertainment etc. makin...

    ( Hindi Day Special)     1930s :  Govt’s incorporates a law for compulsory teaching of Hindi language in schools in Madras Presidency. A major public uproar in Madras (Chennai).   1960s :  Discussions begin in Delhi on making Hindi as the only official language. Anti-Hindi protests across South.   Most of the readers would not have witnessed the above.   However, a few would have witnessed the ban on Hindi films and the defacing of Devnagari banners and hoardings across Tamilnadu (TN) during 1980s. During the same time, one of my  friends from south was so passionate about cricket that he could not afford to miss a single minute of update. However, on radio, Hindi commentary every 15 minute became an impediment. He found a solution He learnt only the Hindi numbers (1 to 500) but avoided learning the language. This way he could get a continuous update on cricket score but by not learning Hindi he also was able to  showcase his an...

  ( हिन्दी- दिवस विशेष)     193 7  : मद्रास प्रेसीडेंसी के स्कूलों में हिंदी भाषा अनिवार्य  …..  सरकार के इस फ़ैसले से काफ़ी सुगबुगाहट।   1963 : दिल्ली में हिन्दी को एकमात्र राज भाषा बनाने पर चर्चा  ….. दक्षिण भारत  में   हिन्दी विरोधी हिंसा एवं धरना।     आज के कई युवा इन घटनाओं से शायद ही अवगत होंगे। कुछ वाक़िफ़ भी होंगे तो शायद  1980 के दशक में तमिलनाडु में हिन्दी फ़िल्मों पर प्रतिबंध और हिंदी होर्डिंग और बैनर पर  लगी  कालिख से।   पर सभी पाठकों को  मेरे  क्रिकेट -प्रेमी मित्र का क़िस्सा उस समय के हालात से रू-ब-रू  करवाएगा । 1980 के दशक में क्रिकेट की कमेंटरी सुनना, क्रिकेट प्रेमियों की दीवानगी या शग़ल था। रेडियो पर कमेंटरी का आधा हिस्सा  हिन्दी में प्रसारित किया जाता था। और यह दक्षिण के मेरे इस मित्र के क्रिकेट-प्रेम के आड़े आता था। उस समस्या को दूर करने के लिए मेरे मित्र ने  सिर्फ़ 1 से 500 तक हिन्दी के अंकों को जान लिया ताकि उसे स्कोर की जानकारी तो मिलते रहे पर हिन्दी ना सीख कर उ...

  2023 : A path breaking year for Redevelopment  Since its inception in the late 90s,  it has  been the incentives to Developers that drove the redevelopment story. Incentives have now reached their natural limit. Where does it go next in Mumbai? And will the redevelopment story move to other cities in India ?        -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------    -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  ------- In most industries, a year becomes path-breaking due to the activities that begin in that particular year. Real Estate is an industry with a lag and therefore a year would be path-breaking due to the activities that happened in the previous one or two years. Now, before you think that this blog on redevelopment is only about Mumbai, hold on.    2021 & 2022 saw big fillip being given to redevelopment in Mumbai thr...

   Co-op Housing Society….A game changing act  Also published in Times Realty Besides creation of housing for middle class, cooperative housing societies  have had a much bigger achievement. They have ensured a resilient and sustainable democratic framework for the nation.                                                     *           *           *          *           * It is AGM times for many Co-op Housing societies. The functioning of cooperative housing societies more often than not gets attention due to the disputes among the members. However, amidst this cacophony what gets lost is the big impact that the various Cooperative Housing Societies Acts (CHSA) and other regulations like the Apartment...