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The lower and lower-middle-rung policemen were the ones who bore the brunt of the wait. A group of three constables and their sub-inspector, who were manning one of the entry points to the lane, readily opened up.
"We are from a nearby police station. We were here from 9 am on Tuesday till 11:30 pm. We had to come back at 9 am again," the sub-inspector said.
Though they had a lot to crib about their plight, they saved the barbs on the media for last. "They click pictures of us sitting and publish it saying, policemen are whiling away their time on duty. Then our superior officers call us and shout at us. That they keep traveling in AC cars and do not know anything about how it is to stand in the road, manning a specific point for 14-16 hours. These two days, those who run this petrol pump did not even allow us to use their toilets," he said, pointing towards the petrol pump opposite Shivaji Park.
His anger only rising, he said, "Now, we don't even have to talk about the people living in these houses. They won't even care for their neighbours. What do you think they will do for us despite the fact that we would be the first people who they would blame if something happens and even a window pane is broken?"
A constable chipped in: "Forget us. See what these media people are doing. They say 'live' keep showing the same pictures again and again and again. If I had seen it on the first day, I would be able to identify that it is a repeated thing. What about a guy who sees it on the third day and thinks violence has started again. Imagine how much trouble it causes to people. This is also how rumours begin doing the rounds? there is violence here, there is violence there and things like that. These are the people who have blown things out of proportions."
For 15-year-old Ram (the small guy in the extreme right) and 18-year-old Madurai Pandy, the two-day drama was a good reason to not have to do their 'regular line', which is the stretch from Koliwada to Worli, lugging a huge vessel of idlis and vadas.
The two boys, who came from the southern Tamil district of Madurai to make a living, had set shop at Shivaji Park though the business was not very brisk. "But it is good in terms of what we get without having to cover the entire line," the younger, but more articulate Ram said.
The two migrants were very apprehensive about what will happen when Raj Thackeray is arrested. "Will there be riots? Will we be able to reach Dharavi safely?" Ram asked.
But the elder Pandy had just two thoughts. "How will I finish the whole dabba soon? These journalists do not eat at all!"
Picture Shantakumaran Sreesanth pumping his hands, shaking his head and talking to himself as he walks back to the top of his run-up. Now, replace him with the image of a television anchor of your choice and replace the cherry with a mike.
"Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Shirish Shinde just spoke to us and said the police have not intimated party leader Raj Thackeray about his arrest. He was particularly sent outside [Raj's home in Shivaji Park in Mumbai] the house to inform us about the developments. He [Shinde] also denied police officers came to Raj's home to question him," the reporter spoke breathlessly. If you found nothing wrong in it, you hadn't seen any news channel from Wednesday morning.
Yes, Raj was indeed arrested at 4.25pm on Wednesday evening. But not before the television channels went about 'breaking the news' of his 'imminent arrest' for over 36 hours.
Here are a few glimpses and voices of people who actually spent most of those hours outside Raj's home.

Picture Shantakumaran Sreesanth pumping his hands, shaking his head and talking to himself as he walks back to the top of his run-up. Now, replace him with the image of a television anchor of your choice and replace the cherry with a mike.
"Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Shirish Shinde just spoke to us and said the police have not intimated party leader Raj Thackeray about his arrest. He was particularly sent outside [Raj's home in Shivaji Park in Mumbai] the house to inform us about the developments. He [Shinde] also denied police officers came to Raj's home to question him," the reporter spoke breathlessly. If you found nothing wrong in it, you hadn't seen any news channel from Wednesday morning.
Yes, Raj was indeed arrested at 4.25pm on Wednesday evening. But not before the television channels went about 'breaking the news' of his 'imminent arrest' for over 36 hours.
Here are a few glimpses and voices of people who actually spent most of those hours outside Raj's home.
The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida February 7, 2008. Atlantis carries a crew of seven astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station.
Xinhua photographer wins prize at World Press Photo Contest
BRUSSELS, Feb. 8 Photographer Fei Maohua of the Xinhua News Agency won the second prize in Sports Action Stories at the prestigious World Press Photo Contest, the Amsterdam-based contest organizer announced Friday.
Fei's award-winning pictures, 12 in total, show some of the most intense, emotional and beautiful moments at various sports venues, from desolate desert to snow-covered mountains.
Two other Chinese journalists were also awarded prizes. Fang Qianhua, from Nangfang Dushi Daily, took the first prize in Nature Singles, and Qi Xiaolong from Tianjin Daily pocketed the third prize in Arts and Entertainment Singles.
The contest, which started from 1955, was traditionally dominated by Western photographers. In recent years participants from developing countries have been on the rise. Chinese photographers have won a number of prizes in the past several years.
This year saw some 400 Chinese participants in the contest, second only to the United States with 748 participants.
A color picture by British photographer Tim Hetherington showing a U.S. soldier resting at a bunker in Afghanistan won the top prize at the contest, according to a press release at the contest's official website.
The image was chosen by the 14-member jury as the World Press Photo of the Year 2007 because it "shows the exhaustion of a man and the exhaustion of a nation," jury chairman Gary Knight said in a press release by the contest organizer.
"We're all connected to this. It's a picture of a man at the end of a line," said Knight, photographer and chairman of VII Photo Agency.
The photograph is part of a picture story that was also awarded the second prize in General News Stories at the contest.
This year, a record number of photographers from 125 countries and regions took part in the competition, one of the most prestigious annual international competitions in press photography.
A total of 5,019 photographers submitted 80,536 images to the contest organizer. Almost 20 percent of the participants in this year's contest are from Asia.
The jury gave prizes in 10 theme categories to 59 photographers of 23 nationalities.