The St Michael Church in Mahim is a famous landmark, its Novena on Wednesday attracting a large number of devotees, many of them non-Christians -- Hindus to be specific, who have prayed at the church for nine consecutive Wednesdays as part of their
mannat.
So it seemed unusual that outside such a non-sectarian place of worship favoured by all, overnight had
sprung up a huge banner, blocking out the small crucifix behind it.
That cross has an interesting history, too.
In the early 1990s, when Mumbai's deputy municipal commissioner G R Khairnar was going around the city demolishing any and all illegal structures on pavements, ostensibly to create space for pedestrians -- a task that earned him the sobriquet of 'demolition man' -- he and his crew overnight removed the cross deeming it to be illegal.
Ensued a court battle, at the end of which his action was deemed illegal and the cross was ordered to be reinstated.
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