THE OUT REACH TEAM

THE OUT REACH TEAM

As we proceed from the Mafatlal Swimming Bath towards Marine Drive we hear faint sounds of music. As we approach the Princess Street Bridge it comes louder and louder to you. As we go past 'दुजोदवाला मातोश्री प्याऊ' we come across a group of some teenagers sitting in front of the  water fountain right below the Princess Street bridge. facing the the parapet. Every Saturday and Sunday mornings you find them. Nixon, Joyson, Evans, Doreti and Peter [names changed] are the regular ones. Others (six or seven more) come on some occasions. They melodiously sing in the praise of GOD. They are lyricists of their songs and hymns and compose their own music. Morning joggers and walkers pause to listen to their songs and melodious notes from their guitars and bongos. They call themselves 'THE OUT REACH TEAM'.

Peter initiates a song, to be soon joined in by Doreti and then the accompaniment of guitars from Nixon, Joyson and Evans asserts itself as equal partner to the singers. Then it’s Nixon’s turn to start a song, followed by the others in turn.

The orchestral crescendo of each song lasts for five minutes or so. If you listen to it closely, you will notice that it is nothing more than ten to fifteen repetitions of the same notes  moving with increased volume and slightly increased tempo. Yet each song is rhythmic, melodious and harmonious. Even if you are not good critic of music (just the way I am not) all of it will certainly be pleasant to your ears.

They interrupt suddenly in the middle of one their songs and one of them poses this question to a passerby, “What is Life? You are BORN, you LIVE and then you DIE. Is this what you call LIFE? BORN, LIVE, DIE – PHIR KYA? फिर क्या? हाँ, फिर क्या?” Then all of them call out in unison, “PHIR YE! फिर ये! अगर आप चाहते हो तोही! ETERNAL LIFE! जी हाँ, एक अनन्त जीवन! Do you want ETERNAL LIFE?”  If you show some interest they give you a pamphlet or two and then they are back on their songs and musical instruments. 

In one such leaflet it is written thus:

DO YOU WANT ETERNAL LIFE? If your answer is and you understand and believe that you are a sinner and in need of salvation, then say this simple prayer meaningfully, from the bosom of your heart, to God, ‘O God, I’m a sinner and I know it. I ask for YOUR forgiveness, YOU are my Savior.’

There are some quotes from the Gospel, like:

‘For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have Eternal Life.’

And

‘For by grace you have been saved through Faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,’

How could all this be ‘causing trouble’ or ‘disturbing the peace’ or ‘causing traffic jam’ (from the photograph is quite evident that they can never ever cause any hindrance, can they?)?  Silly, stupid or funny, you may think. But that’s exactly what they were told by a motor bike riding cop, who wanted to drive them off their base.  They all were stunned and initially thought the constable was joking. Then they realized that he was quite serious. When they reasoned with him, he argued that people stop their vehicles to have a look listen to them them, causing traffic jams. When they defended saying police should take action against offending motorists the cop had another reason to evict them telling them the  told them that leaflets they distributed, were often thrown on the footpath, thus littering the area. (Does this come under his jurisdiction or BMC?) Then came his final ‘ बहस ‘ or argument: “आप जो लिफाफे बाटते हो ना उससे कानून और सुव्यवस्था  बिगड़ सकती है. आप यहाँसे निकल पडो. सबको अंदर करूँगा।” It was only after all the joggers who had gathered there vehemently argued with him (some even threatened to call police control room) that he rode off. 


It reminds me of this guy. Everyone would see him  practising his SLACKLINING stunts opposite Garware Chowk at Marine Drive between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.  Perhaps, if you a morning walker or jogger you too must have seen this guy.

He would routinely practise on the slackline tied between two anchor points which were trunks of two trees on the Marine Drive promenade. People, including BMC and Police personnel, would often ask him what he was up to and even encouraged him he told them he was a professional slackliner.  It seems he used to practise in the evening hours too.  All was going well for him. Then one Sunday evening, while he was practicing, he saw two bikers collide. He rushed to help them. The bikers had not suffered any injuries and rode away within minutes. But a cop approached him, told him that his ‘stunt’ had distracted the bikers, resulting in the accident, the cop then summoned a police van and had him bundled off to the Marine Drive Police Station, where was slapped with charges of ‘ obstructing pedestrian movement’ and  ‘ damaging the trees’ and fined Rs. 1200.  He never practiced in the middle of the footpath, that every walker will vouch for. I still wonder his act was causing ‘crowding on the footpath’ or how he was responsible for that accident.

Our walks are often punctuated by these bicycle riders. Yet no action is being taken on those who ride bicycles on the promenade, making it quite dangerous for the senior citizens who come for their daily walks:

And then despite this BMC Notice hung on the tree:

When the message is loud and clear and yet we find this (violation right below BMC nose) :

But this man was punished and do you know who this man was? Here is his photograph while he was once performing his 'stunts' at Marine Drive:

He is Samar Farooqui, who holds a degree in adventure tourism from the University of Queenstown, New Zealand, and conducts slacklining events to promote the sport. He aims to emerge as pioneer of professional in this sport in our country. We do not know if has got the mandatory permissions from the Police and BMC or for that matter whether he has sought such permissions. But one thing we are certain of and that is he is no longer to be seen just like the Out Reach Team. The last four or five Saturdays the group is not to be seen or heard performing.

                                                                             Vinay Trilokekar