Scanned and delivered

Take a look at the map in this ad from the Hindustan Times (June 21). The ad is a joint effort of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG), announcing the "Launch of Mumbai Metro Rail Project" at, of all places, an auditorium.

When I saw the map, something about it looked familiar, and then I knew. Just five days ago, I had been peering at it myself, because I was strolling around precisely that part of Bombay of an evening.

Of course, I wasn't peering at this ad that evening, but at the original map. That original is spread across pages 33 and 34 of Eicher's splendid Mumbai City Map (pick one up -- if you live here, it's the best Rs 250 you'll spend for a long time).

Indeed. Someone at the ad agency took that map, opened it to these pages and spread them flat on a scanner. See the odd "SN Colle" towards the bottom? That's "SNDT College", smooshed up against the page divider. In fact, you can see that page divider, a faint vertical trace just to the right of "SN Colle", going up to the top of the map. (You can see it clearly just above "Gandhi Market").

Oh I'm sure Eicher agreed to let its map be scanned and used like this. After all, the book has these lines on page 7:

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner.

So I'm positive MMRDA, or RADAG, or their ad agency, or all three, read those lines and took that prior permission. Aren't you as positive?

Still, what would it have taken to put some fine print on the edge of the ad? Something like "This image courtesy Eicher Mumbai City Map."

Too difficult?