Latest news with #SpiritofMumbai
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Billionaire's post on 'spirit of Mumbai' after heavy rain batters city, damages roads and disrupts local trains
As heavy rains inundated Mumbai and brought train services to a standstill on Monday, Indian billionaire with a net worth of $4 billion, Harsh Goenka took to the social media platform X to share a video, sarcastically captioning it 'spirit of Mumbai.' Also read: Kemps Corner road disintegrates after heavy rainfall in Mumbai, traffic disrupted The clip showed a blue off-road vehicle battling its way through a deeply rutted and muddy dirt road, seemingly overwhelmed by the harsh terrain. As the Chairman of RPG Enterprises, the parent company of tyre manufacturer CEAT, Goenka shared the video with a tongue-in-cheek caption: 'I hope you have the perfect tyres to go to work to uphold the 'spirit of Mumbai' #MumbaiRains.' However, the video isn't recent. It had originally been posted in 2024 by Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, who had reshared the clip from video creator Josh Koelbel. The footage features a modified Mahindra Jeep being skilfully driven across a challenging off-road trail. Mahindra's caption had read: 'You'll get to your destination… No matter how tough the road…' The phrase 'spirit of Mumbai' in the RPG Group chairman's recent caption echoes an earlier post that sparked backlash. In that widely circulated video, he had shared footage of women hurriedly scrambling to board an overcrowded Mumbai local train. Also read: Businessman worth $4 billion trolled for Mumbai local video. His cryptic clarification 'Daily life in Mumbai… what we call the 'spirit of Mumbai'!' he had captioned that post. Though many in Mumbai refer to their collective resilience as the 'spirit of Mumbai,' Goenka's romantic take, especially coming from a billionaire, did not sit well with many. 'It's survival... not spirit. Expecting even basic dignity in public transport is a struggle in this country,' one user had written. Another asked: 'Are you mocking them? Why don't you travel just a week like them! People like you who have means to make some meaningful change, yet indulge in 'poverty porn', are the real parasites of this society.' Goenka responded with a cryptic clarification to one critical comment of an X user named Samir Shah. 'No, Mr. Harsh. This is not Spirit of Mumbai, this is Majboori of Mumbaikar,' wrote Shah. Goenka replied, hinting that his post was meant to be sarcastic: 'Understand sarcasm,' he wrote.
Hindustan Times
06-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Businessman worth $4 billion trolled for Mumbai local video. His cryptic clarification
When an Indian businessman with a net worth of nearly $4 billion uploaded a video on the 'spirit of Mumbai', viewers did not take it kindly. What followed was a wave of backlash against the billionaire and a cryptic clarification that did little to stem the tide of criticism. We are referring, of course, to a recent post from RPG Group chairman Harsh Goenka. Goenka, a fifth generation businessman and an active social media user, took to X to share a video that shows people rushing to catch a Mumbai local train. 'Daily life in Mumbai…..what we call the 'spirit of Mumbai'!' he captioned the video, which shows dozens of women running inside the local even before it came to a halt at the platform. They were trying to get a seat in the train - no mean task by any measure. The Mumbai local is often called the lifeline of Mumbai, ferrying millions across the city every day. Most trains run packed, and platforms often witness huge crowds of commuters rushing to catch their train. Although essential to daily life, the Mumbai local train network has come under criticism repeatedly for being overcrowded, uncomfortable and downright dangerous in some cases. In fact, last year, the Bombay High Court even rapped the Railways for the terrible conditions in which passengers travel on local trains in Mumbai. Given this context, many people took issue with what they saw as Goenka romanticizing the Mumbai local and the 'spirit of Mumbai'. 'It's survival... not spirit. Expecting even basic dignity in public transport is a struggle in this country,' wrote one X user. 'Are you mocking them?' another asked. 'Why don't you travel just a week like them! People like you who have means to make some meaningful change, yet indulge in 'poverty porn', are the real parasites of this society.' The reactions were overwhelmingly negative. 'Romanticizing the misery of the ordinary Mumbaikers. This is nothing but poverty porn,' a person opined. 'I wish all the rich cronies, politicians, celebrities all feel the same and travel in the train in Mumbai once a month to uphold the spirit of Mumbai,' another said. Goenka offered a cryptic clarification in response to one such critical post. 'No, Mr. Harsh. This is not Spirit of Mumbai, this is Majboori of Mumbaikar,' an X user named Samir Shah told him. The billionaire entrepreneur replied to him indicating that his post was supposed to be sarcastic. 'Understand sarcasm,' wrote Goenka.
