hello saurabh
i don’t have an issue with the seniment expressed by the locals.they have every right to express and see their expression in print.
my issue was as far as the tone of the reportage. and as sriram points out i doubt if either the writer even realises that there is bias.

About the article the bias is very obvious but i doubt the writer even realizes it. The diff between this event and diwali, ganpati is that here everyone felt like, damn 20 lac people are gonna come here and create a ruckus, while during ganpati we are creating our own ruckus (not considering the the insiders who don’t like the ruckus and abusing them for being a spoil sport). so i think it is obvious that the feeling around this event was that we werent welcoming them 20 lac dalits. with the police commissioner saying, “don’t leave ur home” and the riots of last week, it really was “Hide! The dalits are coming”. no doubt in my mind.

hi sriram
my parents try to move out of mumbai during diwali – coz my dad can’t breathe here during that time. air pollution. how is this any different?

if it becomes a stinky dump – then the solution is to provide more ammenities, which i gather are provided every year.

My mom said that she heard that some people in Shivaji Park go off to Lonavla around dec 6 cos it just becomes one big stinky dump during and after the day.