Photos: Mumbai stands up for Bal Thackeray, literally

Savera R Someshwar captures the mood in Mumbai as lakhs and lakhs of supporters of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray poured on to the streets to bid adieu to their leader.

The Bandra skywalk - which connects Bandra station to Kalanagar Junction and is painted a bright yellow - was packed to the rafters waiting for Bal Thackeray's funeral procession.

The slogans resounded:

Parath ya, parath ya... Balasaheb parath ya...

Evadi takath konachi? Balasahebanchi!

Maharashtrachya ekach wagh, Balasaheb, Balasaheb!

Jai Bhawani Jai Shivaji

Desh ka neta kaisa so, Balasaheb jaisa ho...

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People used every available space to catch a final glimpse of their beloved 'Saheb.' They scrambled on hoardings, scampered onto embankments, clambered onto trees. Every vantage point that you could see was occupied by mourning Sainiks.

In this picture too, you can see the man in the yellow shirts climbing the hoarding support structure for a better view.

The man leading on the Bal Thackeray poster caused a mini-fracas; some Sainiks thought he was being disrespectful.

Shiv Sainik Suchita Gunja, who is following Bal Thackeray's cortege, recalls his last Dusshera speech. "Remember," she tells the women accompanying her, "Balasaheb said my heart is within you, for you."

The 42-year-old took the bus from the western Mumbai suburb of Andheri to reach Matoshree at 6.30 am.

But she had yet to have a 'darshan' of her 'bhagwan' up close.

Others, too, were to not too hopeful. One Sainik was worried that only the senior leaders would be allowed a final 'darshan'; some women Sainiks were overheard saying, "We will only feel a sense of relief if we can fall at Balasaheb's feet."

The crowd on the road leading to Matoshree, the Thackeray residence in Bandra east. 

Two Sainiks stood for more than an hour, displaying this poster which expressed their sorrow - Saheb has left us orphaned.

The kolis lined up at Mahim Causeway.

Many of them were teary-eyed, some of the women broke down, sobbing, as the funeral procession slowly passed by.

Others, who had brought their little toddlers along, hoisted them on their shoulders or perched them at vantage points to give them a glimpse of the man who was known as the 'tiger' of Maharashtra.

Many of the women had bought out pots of cooling water, and offered it those waiting for hours.

Travellers, like these in the picture, who returned to Mumbai on Sunday found themselves having to walk home with their luggage.

Taxis and autos were not playing though public transport services like trains and BEST buses were. Certain roads in Mumbai, though, have been blocked for traffic.

Policemen, who have been working round the clock, to maintain peace in the city since Wednesday night, when the first reports of Thackeray's ill-health trickled in, take a break for a quick glance at the day's newspapers or a bite to eat.

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