Mumbai Diary: Friday frolics

Suket's got designs
Designer Suket Dhir (third from left) of India was announced as the regional (India, Pakistan and the Middle East) winner of the prestigious International Woolmark Prize for the year 2015/16 in the menswear category.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for Dhir to win the final round.

Harry Potter is back!
Harry Potter fans couldn't have had it better. Come October 6, and Bloomsbury will roll out the first fully illustrated version of JK Rowling's original Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The cover of the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The hardback edition, we are told, will include a ribbon marker, head and tail bands, illustrated endpapers and colour artwork on every spread. It will be published in over 21 languages globally. Anurima Roy, Senior Manager Marketing & Publicity, relates, "We are absolutely thrilled to publish this stunning new illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

With Greenaway Medal winner Jim Kay's gorgeous illustrations and a brand new layout, this book (the first of the Illustrated Edition series) promises to be a phenomenon worldwide. It is one book that everyone deserves to have!" We think so too.

Classic act
Gana Saraswati Kishori Amonkar (r) and santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma in Mumbai on Wednesday. The duo was present at the Shagirdh concert at Shivaji Mandir in Dadar (W).

Pic/PTI

During this occasion, Tejashree Amonkar granddaughter and disciple of Kishori Amonkar and Taka Hiro, a Japanese santoor player and senior disciple of Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma performed in front of their gurus. Pic/PTI

Navratilova will wait for the change
Apurva Asrani, who works as an Editor in the Hindi film industry was in for a pleasant surprise thanks to twitter. Asrani jokingly tweeted, ‘Getting repeated missed calls from the Czech Republic.

Tennis icon Martina Navratilova. Pic/Getty Images

Is that you @martina Navratilova?' Interestingly, the tennis legend replied to him with a cheeky ‘could be', and a smile. Asrani grabbed the opportunity to congratulate her on her wedding and added, ‘Do you know it's a criminal offence to be gay in India? Navratilova replied with an optimistic, ‘Yes I do. This will change.'

The gates slam open
The Pune horse racing season 2015 started off yesterday, with thunderous hooves on that very green land. Mumbai's racing aficionados and racing professionals were a little worried about the landslide that happened recently on the Expressway, causing problems going towards Pune but it seems all is well.

Pune's horse racing season began yesterday

The season under the auspices of the Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd at the Pune Race Course, there will a total 27 race days. It ends on October 25. The prize money of the season is nearly R13 crore. Races will be run on Thursdays and Fridays in July, and on Saturdays and Sundays from August onwards.