The Supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is the most wanted man in the world at present. Israel has openly wowed to eliminate him while US President Donald Trump has also threatened him without mincing words. He is believed to be hiding in a bunker. I had the occasion to interact with the Ayatollah several years ago when he came to Mumbai. It was well before anyone knew that he was going to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini as Iran's top leader. Khamenei was very soft-spoken and mild-mannered. The meeting was at the residence of the Iranian consul-general in SoBo.
Over endless cups of tea poured out of an expensive ceramic kettle, he replied to my questions in a matter-of-fact manner, while munching dry fruits in between. He didn't reveal much, but his hatred for the Shah of Iran was obvious. At the end of the interaction, I got up from the plush sofa and bid him goodbye even as he waved at me with a gentle smile on his bearded face. I cannot believe he is the same person who is heading a violent regime that suppresses freedom as a matter of policy and brutally oppresses women. Incidentally, Ayatollah Khomeini had a strong Indian connection. His grandfather was a Shia scholar from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh.
City’s Scarce Open Space To Shrink Further
Last week, the Bombay High Court upheld a policy of the state government, which effectively seeks to rehabilitate slum dwellers occupying a whopping 65% of the area reserved for parks and playgrounds. As it is Mumbai has no worthwhile open space. The reservation policy held out some hope that the plots reserved for gardens and playgrounds would be freed of encroachments and they would be available for children to play. Now, that hope has been dashed to smithereens. I hope that the HC order is challenged and the Supreme court would set it aside. All of this would not have happened if the state government had not decided to tamper with its own reservation policy.
Learning Civic Sense From Sri Lanka
On a recent tour of Sri Lanka what impressed me the most was the utter cleanliness even in the interior areas, the totally pothole-free national highways and the traffic discipline. When will India come anywhere near this small island nation in these matters? Why do we completely lack a sense of ownership of our cities and villages? Have we reconciled ourselves to piles of garbage, urination in public and gross violation of traffic rules? Wish could learn a lesson from our southern neighbour!
Tailpiece
A wag asked if an Uber driver got Ola in the rains? For the uninitiated, Ola in Marathi means wet.
(Compiled by S Balakrishnan)
