He taught me the importance of replying

Back in the day, we wrote letters. In my boarding school in Shimla, we had a designated letter-writing class where we wrote to our parents. 

It was in one such class that I wrote a letter to Khushwant Singh. It was a blue inland letter which we ruled neatly before we scribbled in it with our blotchy ink pens. At that time, I nursed a secret ambition to be a writer and Singh, whose short story (The Mark of Vishnu) was on our syllabus, was the only author I knew. 

After two weeks, I received a sepia coloured postcard with handwriting as if there were ants crawling. After a bit of squinting, I saw Khushwant Singh's signature. 

I had written my letter on a whim and was astonished that a famous writer would have the time to reply to a schoolboy. I wrote some more letters and even sent him some pieces I wrote and every time Singh's sepia postcard would be waiting for me. 

This was baffling. Khushwant Singh was famously particular about his time. His door had this notorious notice for all gatecrashers - 'Please do not ring the bell unless you are expected'. He was a disciplinarian with a fixed schedule, which he never broke. He woke up at 4 am and slept at 9pm. Even if you were an honoured guest in his house, he would excuse himself retire to bed at 9pm. Singh was also a stickler for punctuality. There are stories of how people - some of them VVIP's - were refused entry into his house, when they showed up late. 

Many years later, I went to meet him for an interview and was running late. I knew I would be turned out, but took my chance and rang the bell. His servant opened the door and told me to wait. After a few minutes, Singh came to the door, shook my hand and led me in. I realised he had the servant make me wait so he could personally come and escort me in himself. 

During the interview, I told him he had replied to every letter I had written to him. He said he replied to every letter, including the abusive ones. He showed me these letters with some pride. 

When my interview was done, he turned to me and said, "Now tell me about yourself." I was taken aback. At that time, I was doing a series of interviews with writers and none of them had shown a least bit of interest in me. All artists including writers have very big egos. The egos are fragile and you have to be very careful because you never know when you may touch a raw nerve. I had interviewed dacoits, petty criminals and pimps, but I was never so afraid of interviewing anyone as I was interviewing writers. 

I told him about my ancestral home in Himachal. He said when he was younger he had trekked to my area from Shimla and would ogle at the pretty college girls on his walks to and from his cottage in Mashobra. He quizzed me about my life with genuine interest and finally when it was time to leave escorted me to the door. 

The second time, I met an ailing Singh in 2009. When I called him on the phone he simply said, "I am sorry. I am deaf. Can you please write me a letter?" And as expected, he wrote back. 

The last I wrote to him, Singh replied saying he had had a very bad fall in his bathroom. He said he was in pain and had been advised complete rest. Again I was surprised that considering his condition he had bothered to reply at all. 

Today apart from a barrage of queries from photography enthusiasts, I get a bulk of mail from three types of people. 

1. Those who think I am gay 

2. Those who think I am a pimp 

3. Those who think I am Virat Kohli's bosom buddy. 

I have been photographing the homosexual community in India and many gays trolling the internet for alliances assume I am gay. 

I did a magazine shoot with Virat Kohli and because I have his pictures on my website, girls think I am his best pal. 

I am currently working on a project on ageing sex workers and their photos on my website gets me calls at odds hours of the day from drunk men who say, "I saw your number on the internet. I want a girl." It can get really exasperating to reply to people who mistake you for someone else. But reply I do. 

One cannot write enough about how ill-mannered we Indians are. Not replying back is not only bad manners, but also arrogant. And every crazy email I want to trash, I think of Khushwant Singh sitting on his desk replying to every silly letter he received. 

Sanjay Austa is a Delhi-based photographer

Noted works 

TRAIN TO PAKISTAN (1956): Set in the backdrop of partition, Train to Pakistan is about Juggut Singh, a Sikh gangster, who is in love with a Muslim girl in the village of Mano Majra. 

I SHALL NOT HEAR THE NIGHTINGALE (1959): Another bestseller by Singh, the book is about Buta Singh, an official working with the British, and his son, who is driven to rebellion against the British. 

DELHI: The protagonist in this story, a journalist who has fallen on bad times, narrates the history of Delhi in this fast-paced novel. Starting from the city in its heyday, it ends with the anti-Sikh riots in 1984. 

THE COMPANY OF WOMEN (1999): As the title suggests, the story is set around a man and his inexhaustible appetite for sex. Singh declared, "As a man gets older, his sex instincts travel from his middle to his head." 

TRUTH, LOVE AND A LITTLE MALICE (2002): Singh wrote his autobiography when he was around 88 years old. The magnum opus deals in depth with his relations with political dignitaries.

1 killed, 12 injured after five coaches of Kasara-CST Mumbai local train derail near Titwala station

• Train Derailment Representational Image

One person has died and 12 people have been left injured after a Kasara-CST train (N-18) derailed a couple of minutes after it proceeded from Titwala station on its way to Ambivali. The train had moved out of Titwala station at 2:37pm, as per railway control recorded and the derailment must have happened at around 2:39.

Suburban services are being run between CST-Kalyan stations and Titwala-Kasara stations. 

Bus services have been arranged with the help of State Government to bridge the passengers between Titwala and Kalyan.

Stranded Passengers of 12142 Rajendranagar-LTT Express and 11056 Gorakhpur-LTT Godan Express are being given Light Refreshments by railway authorities. 

Free Communication facility is provided to persons admitted in Hospitals

Trains will be diverted to run via Kalyan-Pune-Daund-Manmad till the restoration of railway line 

 In the suburban train derailment near Titwala, one person died, 5 grievously injured including guard and 4 sustained simple injuries.

Out of total 9 injured, one person who sustained simple injury discharged from Kalyan. 4 injured persons are at Fortis Hospital and 4 persons are at Railway Hospital, Kalyan.

Ex-gratia of Rs.50,000 was announced to the deceased's kin while Rs.15,000 is announced for those who are grievously injured.

Rs.5,000 has been announced to persons who sustained simple injuries.

Name of dead person is Dhawal Mayur Lodha. 

Officials on the site said that five coaches had derailed and people must have received secondary injuries as the train was not very crowded, and people might have hit themselves against the metal parts inside the train due to the sudden jerk arising out of the derailment.

One passenger has been announced dead, while 12 have been reported injured.

Top officials including divisional railway manager Muklesh Nigam left for the site at around 2:50pm.

"I can comment only after I reach the spot," Nigam told DNA.

Below is the list of casualities: 

DEAD:

 Dhawal Mayur Loday (M-20)

GRIEVOUSLY INJURED:

R.N. Dubey, Guard (M-51), Fortis Hospital

Kiran K. Bhoir (M-45), Fortis Hospital

 Pradeep Janade, Fortis Hospital

Ms. Shrutika Dagade (F-20), Fortis Hospital

SIMPLE INJURY:

 Imam Abdul Khan (M-44), Fortis Hospital

Zafar Khan (M-43), Fortis Hospital

Pandurang G Lahane (M-59), Railway Hospital, Kalyan

 Smt. Nisha P. Chavan (F-45), Railway Hospital, Kalyan

Smt. Sindubai J Shinde (F-45) Railway Hospital, Kalyan

Hunt on for shop owner who assaulted 2 employees

The Vakola police are on the hunt for two men, who last week allegedly assaulted and confined two of their employees inside their electronics shop in Hotel Grand Hyatt in Santacruz for refusing to give a statement against a third employee accused of fraud. 

According to the police, the victims, Nitin Joshi and Shekhar Patil, who work at Mihaus Electronics inside the hotel, were on March 6 assaulted by the owner Navin Rao and the store's regional head Charu Makins after they refused to testify against the store manager Manoj Lokhande. According to Rao and Makins, Lokhande had committed fraud. 

Joshi and Patil said that there were issues between Rao and Lokhande. "Rao wanted us to tell the police that Lokhande stole Rs 25 lakh worth electronics. When we refused, they assaulted and confined us in a room without food or water. They released us at night and assured us that they would not harass us again. The next day, they asked us to testify once again and when we refused, we were assaulted and locked up and released at the end of the day. We then approached the Vakola police and filed a complaint," said Joshi, who has worked in the shop for the past four years. 

The Vakola police have registered a case under section 342 (wrongful confinement) and 324 (causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code against Rao and Makins, who are currently absconding.

Hospitality firm director held for Rs. 4.5cr tax default

The director of a hospitality services firm was on Wednesday arrested for non-remittance of collected service tax amounting to Rs 4.5 crore. 

"We have arrested Myron Remedios, Director of Rare Hospitality and Services Limited for default of around Rs 4.5 crore of tax," a source in the Service Tax department said. 

According to the department, the company provides housekeeping services to major hospitals, hotels and corporate clients here. 

"They have collected Service Tax from the service recipients from April 2010 onwards, but have not paid it to the department," said the source. 

Remedios was involved in the dayto-day operations of the company and was fully aware of the service tax liability of the company, said a department sleuth. 

He was remanded in judicial custody till March 24 .

Cop’s son made cheat sheets on FIR forms, changed version thrice

The 16-year-old was caught cheating at the exam centre at Y B Chavan School (left) on Tuesday. He had written the solutions on the blank sides of FIR complaint sheets (right)

The SSC student who wrote solutions to leaked 'C' batch Algebra paper on blank side of police complaint form and was caught cheating had failed Class IX twice.

The 16-year-old SSC student who was booked for carrying a leaked copy of the Algebra question paper, has changed his statement thrice since he was caught cheating at the exam centre at Y B Chavan School on Tuesday. What is even more shocking is that the student, son of a police constable with Borivali police station, had written the solutions on the blank sides of FIR complaint sheets - available at police stations -- which he carried to the exam centre. 

After being caught in the act, he told examination supervisor Sunanda Kumbhar that his father had obtained the leaked question paper for him. A couple of hours later, he told the police that he had bought the question paper for Rs 500 from a person near Borivali railway station. 

According to Kandivali police, by Tuesday night, the boy had changed his statement yet again, telling the police that two of his classmates at Mahesh Tutorials had given him the question paper. Though Bharti Sharma, centre head at the Kandivali branch of Mahesh Tutorials, denied that he was a student, he said that he would have to check with other centres. 

Of the four sets of question papers (A, B, C, D), the accused was allotted bunch 'D'. However, the leaked question paper he had in his possession belonged to bunch 'C'. "The supervisor, Kumbhar, has given the boy's first statement in writing to us, which is different from the version he told police around 3 pm," said Laxmikant Pande, chairman, Mumbai division of the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Examination (MSBSHSE). 

The board also found it fishy that the boy changed his statement after the police came into the scene. Pande said the school had not informed the police, yet the cops landed up on their own. The board also confirmed that the 68 centres where question papers are stored are under police guard. 

"He told the police that he had bought the question paper near Borivali railway station around 10:50 am, went home and wrote the solutions before leaving for the exam centre. He reached half an hour late to the exam centre," said Pande. 

Kandivali police filed the FIR at 1:30 am on Wednesday and booked him under the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board and other Specified Examination Act. The accused was produced at the Juvenile Justice Board on Wednesday and has been kept at an observation home until further notice. 

"We had questioned the father on Tuesday night, but he denied any knowledge of the leaked paper's source. Our investigation is still on, and he is also under the scanner since the student was found with FIR form sheets," said Hareshwar Pimple, senior PI, Kandivali police station. 

The police also said the accused, formerly a student of Saint Dynamic School, had failed twice in Class IX. Curiously enough, he had filled up Form 17 and submitted his application for the SSC exams as a private candidate. 

The board has submitted a report of Tuesday's episode to board chairman, G K Mamane, stating that a re-examination is not needed. "As per the statements of the police and the supervisor, we feel that the paper leak hasn't gone beyond the accused student, so a re-examination is not necessary. We have asked the police for a report on the source and the extent of the leak," said Pande. 

In addition to the police's ongoing inquiry, the Mumbai divisional board office has appointed a four-member committee chaired by divisional board secretary P R Pawar and including the south zone education inspector, north zone deputy education inspector and senior superintendent of the board office. The committee has three specific focus areas to probe into -- the source, the extent of the paper leak, and recommendations to prevent it from happening again.

HC turns Mirror reports into PIL, slams state, BMC

The Mirror reports of March 11 and 12, which prompted the High Court action. The baby is being treated at Parel’s Wadia Hospital.

Shocking that the poor cannot avail of medical aid without media's help, says High Court.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday turned the Mumbai Mirror reports on the five-month-old Nalla Sopara baby, who'd been surviving in a thermocol icebox since October after being turned away by KEM and Nair hospitals, into a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL). 

Referring to Mumbai Mirror's March 11 front page report, 'In need of incubator, this 5-month-old is surviving in icebox', a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Manoj Sanklecha said the incident was "shocking" and noted that it was a private hospital that came forward to help the family. 

"It is unfortunate that people who cannot afford private hospitals don't get treatment at public hospitals without intervention of the media," the bench said, while seeking a reply from the authorities by March 27. 

Pulling up the state government and BMC for lack of incubators at public hospitals, the bench said, "In view of the above facts reported in the Mumbai Mirror reports, it is obvious that the public hospitals in the city are awfully short of neonatal ICU beds. The inaction on the part of the authorities requires to be seriously noted and the authorities need to be activated to take immediate steps for getting adequate number of neonatal ICU beds." 

The court further observed that necessary institutional arrangements were required to be made by BMC as well as the state "to see that people get necessary medical treatment at public hospitals in their own right." 

Those made respondents in the PIL are secretary of the Public Health & Welfare Department, BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte, and the deans of KEM Hospital, Nair Hospital and Sion Hospital. 

The court, in fact, expanded the scope of the PIL to the entire state, and directed the Public Health & Welfare Department secretary to file an affidavit indicating whether adequate number of neonatal ICU beds were available in public hospitals in other parts of the state. 

Quoting from Mirror reports, the order observes that KEM Hospital has a waiting list of 750 applicants, while the corresponding number for Nair Hospital is 274. The court also took note of the fact that Mumbai's three major civic hospitals --KEM, Sion and Nair hospitals -- have a total of merely 100 neonatal ICU beds. 

The health/civic authorities in Mumbai have now been asked to show cause as to why appropriate directions should not be issued to them in light of the facts highlighted in Mumbai Mirror reports about non--availability of adequate number of neonatal ICU beds in public hospitals. The case will now be heard on March 27. 

Help keeps pouring in 

Meanwhile, the Wadia Hospital CEO, Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, said that an anonymous donor sent in a cheque of Rs 15,000 towards the baby's treatment, while another person approached the hospital saying he wanted to deposit Rs 2,000 in cash. The hospital has already announced it will not charge the baby's parents any money. 

"The baby is recovering well. His potassium levels have been restored and we are conducting a detailed sonography, besides hearing tests and ENT tests to determine his condition," Bodhanwala said, adding that the hospital has also been getting calls from outside the city. "One of the callers was from Delhi, promising to help the baby in any way possible," Bodhanwala said.

Lucky escape for 180 after Karachi ATC misleads city-bound Air India flight

In what could spark off yet another India-Pakistan row, the air traffic control (ATC) officials at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport set a Mumbai-bound Air India Dreamliner plane from London on a wrong frequency, nearly causing a mid-air collision. 

Shockingly, the Karachi ATC was responding to an SoS from its Mumbai counterparts as well as the Air India flight commander after the aircraft lost contact with the Mumbai ATC. 

The 15-minute chaos, during which the plane came in the direct path of a Cebu Airline flight that took off from Dubai, ended only after the Air India pilot managed to contact the Ahmedabad ATC, which guided it to safety. 

Top Air India sources, who have been debriefed about the incident, said that the Mumbai ATC officials called up the Karachi airport officials around 1.30 am Tuesday and provided details of the Air India flight AI 130, which had around 180 passengers on board with a crew of 11. 

"The flight had taken off from London's Heathrow Airport and its final destination was Ahmedabad. It was already in the Mumbai airspace when we lost contact. As Karachi is a nearby location, we sent an SoS to the Jinnah Airport ATC saying a few basic requirements needed to be conveyed to the pilots urgently," a Mumbai ATC official said. 

In the meantime, the flight commander, who was unable to contact the Mumbai ATC even after trying various frequencies, also contacted the Karachi ATC, which put the flight on a different frequency. 

"The Karachi ATC did not convey our message to the pilots. It directed the plane to a wrong frequency and gave us incorrect information that the commander will contact Mumbai soon," an aviation source said, adding that the pilot realised something was seriously wrong when he noticed heavy air traffic. 

The aviation sources said that while the Mumbai ATC officials were briefing their Pakistani counterparts regarding the problem, they could hear laughter in the background. "This is a very serious incident and the Mumbai ATC has taken up the matter with Karachi officially," the Airports Authority of India chairman, Alok Sinha, said. 

The Indian pilots who have had to deal with the Pakistan airport ATCs were not surprised. One of them said that the Karachi airport officials not cooperating with the Indian pilots was "nothing new", even as aviation expert Vipul Saxena said such "irresponsible behaviour was unheard of". He said, "This mischief could have led to one of the biggest disasters of our times. I hope the government will take up this issue with Islamabad."