Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Prateek Sadhu and Garima Arora

For one night only
For several years now, Mumbai-born Garima Arora has been whipping up a culinary storm in the kitchens of the world's topmost restaurants - first as chef de partie at Rene Redzepi's celebrated Noma in Denmark, and then at Gaggan Anand's eponymous space in Bangkok. Armed with these experiences, early this year, she launched her own culinary marvel, Gaa in the Thailand capital, where she applies global techniques to local produce.

Prateek Sadhu and Garima Arora

Next month, she comes down to collaborate with the like-minded chef Prateek Sadhu of Masque for a one-night-only showcase. Together, they will craft a tasting menu drawing inspiration from Indian produce. "It'll be a truly ingredient-based meal - Masque is going to Ladakh to forage for the next few days and we'll decide the menu, depending on the produce we get there and from the Himalayan range," says Sadhu.

The travelling cook
Travelling Trunk is a new documentary from fashion label Nicobar's stable. The first part features Mumbai chef Kelvin Cheung, who opens the trailer for the film with the words, "Get lost." "How rude!" is how a viewer might respond to that, but Cheung is only extolling the virtues of breaking away from familiar territory to explore the world.

Mumbai chef Kelvin Cheung

He goes on to list out his favourite material objects - his trusty chef's knives, colourful sneakers and 'ugly' shirts - before explaining how he loathes the word 'chef', preferring to call himself a 'cook', leaving us with something to chew over.

Shekhar sings for woman power
Musician Shekhar Ravjiani is ready with an independent single - Devi. Unlike his usual peppy Bollywood numbers, this song is an Indian devotional prayer about the power of a woman.

Shekhar Ravjiani

The song touches upon the oft-discussed topic where India worships women in the form of Goddesses but the same respect and love goes amiss for the common woman. The video releases this Monday.

Eco-friendly Ganeshotsav 2.0
While awareness about clay Ganesha idols has risen over the years, the noise levels associated with Ganeshotsav often don't feature in conversations on eco-friendly festivities. Students of management at Mithibai College decided to expand the scope of green initiatives in the city through their annual college festival.

They carried out flash mobs across popular malls in Andheri and Malad recently, with the message of no speakers, no loud music and no pollution this Ganeshotsav. To ensure that the flash mobs were in sync with their message, they danced to the beats of live music played by a local dhol-tasha troupe. More power to the cause.

Looking back
Going by recent announcements on rights acquisitions by publishing houses and book launches, it's safe to say that eminent economists of the country have taken it upon themselves to chronicle their rich experiences of shaping and salvaging India's economy through the years.

Bimal Jalan. Pic/AFP

Joining former RBI governors YVâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Reddy, who released his book last month on how India managed to stay afloat during the 2008 recession, and Raghuram Rajan, whose soon-to-launch book is about his recent tenure, is Bimal Jalan. The former apex bank chief recently released India: Priorities for the Future, where he looks back on four decades of India's economic journey. We will keep our eyes peeled for who joins this list next.