Mumbai spills over in sorrow
19 Nov 2012 6:42 AM IST
The mortal remains of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, the flagbearer of Marathi pride, were consigned to flames on Sunday evening as lakhs of mourners joined his grieving family to bid him a tearful farewell, with the city observing a virtual shutdown.
In a spontaneous outpouring of grief, a sea of humanity, unprecedented in recent memory, descended on the streets leading from ‘Matoshree’, Thackeray’s Bandra home, to Shivaji Park, to catch the last glimpse of the uncrowned king of Mumbai.
As several times in life, the Thackeray phenomenon was in evidence once again in death as he brought Mumbai to a halt with all marketplace, from the swank malls to roadside tea stalls and ‘paan-beedi’ kiosks, closed and all roads leading to ‘Matoshree’, Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar and Shivaji Park, where his last rites were performed.
Those present included long-time political rival and personal friend Sharad Pawar, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, senior party leader L K Advani, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, opposition leader in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and Union ministers Praful Patel and Rajiv Shukla.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Madhur Bhandarkar and Mahesh Manjarekar, industrialists Anil Ambani, Venugopal Dhoot and Zee’s Subhash Chandra were also present.
In a spontaneous outpouring of grief, a sea of humanity, unprecedented in recent memory, descended on the streets leading from ‘Matoshree’, Thackeray’s Bandra home, to Shivaji Park, to catch the last glimpse of the uncrowned king of Mumbai.
As several times in life, the Thackeray phenomenon was in evidence once again in death as he brought Mumbai to a halt with all marketplace, from the swank malls to roadside tea stalls and ‘paan-beedi’ kiosks, closed and all roads leading to ‘Matoshree’, Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar and Shivaji Park, where his last rites were performed.
Those present included long-time political rival and personal friend Sharad Pawar, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, senior party leader L K Advani, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, opposition leader in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and Union ministers Praful Patel and Rajiv Shukla.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Madhur Bhandarkar and Mahesh Manjarekar, industrialists Anil Ambani, Venugopal Dhoot and Zee’s Subhash Chandra were also present.
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