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The ninth Mumbai International Literary Festival presented me with a rewarding time where I got to meet some inspiring minds and catch up with some old friends.
But what turned out to be more engaging was the two-hour drive from Cuffe Parade to Juhu through an otherwise excruciating traffic. The journey began with Suresh, the 65-year-old cabbie, cursing the cops for cordoning off one of the four lanes of Marine Drive for some politicians and industrialists who were in town to attend a high-profile wedding.
"This," Suresh hissed, "is going to be this government’s undoing." And he launched a scathing attack on Devendra Fadnavis and Narendra Modi. Demonetisation and petrol price topped his hate list and he spoke of successive governments with disdain for being pro-rich. But he made an exception. "Nehru was like Premier Padmini - good performance, low maintenance. Today’s vehicles are more showoff, high maintenance." I asked him if he was a Congress supporter. "Kya savaal hai, saab?" he snapped.