Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Rohit Sharma with daughter Saimara

Baby beat
The video of Rohit Sharma rapping Asli Hip Hop from Gully Boy while cradling his daughter Samaira went viral on the weekend. The track sung by city-based beat boxer D Cypher aka Gaurav Gambhir surely caught the kiddo's attention.

While Sharma wrapped up his teaching job for the day, turns out Gambhir has been doing it all along. Part of the hip hop collective Bombay Lokal, he has been very encouraging to whoever wants to give beat boxing a try - by requesting interested followers on Instagram to send him their email addresses so that he can help them out with some beginner-friendly tutorials. Well, if Samaira's already a fan, we are sure the requests will come pouring in!

Soupy stuff from chef Kelvin
It seems like after health and fitness freak Shilpa Shetty Kundra joined the Bastian brigade earlier this month, chef Kelvin Cheung of the popular Bandra eatery has also decided to go the healthy way. The chef recently uploaded a plateful of ingredients like wolfberry, honey jujube, whelk, fritillary bulb and Chinese yam, which he was using in a soup, accompanied by stories about their health benefits.

"It's essentially bone broth to which I will add medicinal herbs designed to help heal the body in different ways. Like fritillary bulbs are used for decongesting lymph nodes and fighting other congestions. They also lower your blood pressure, are good for your heart and are used to treat cancer as well," Cheung says. Chinese yams, used aplenty in soups, were traditionally used to treat disorders related to the stomach, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, he added, making us wonder if he might just decide to introduce some of the healthy stuff to his menu.

Uzbek calling for Ritu Beri
When it comes to taking India's textile heritage to the world, Ritu Beri is among the first names that comes to mind. In 2016, the Delhi-based designer was appointed as the advisor to the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, and as part of her role, she took the homespun fabric to the Indonesian embassy in a show. We now hear the news that Beri has been appointed as the cultural and tourism ambassador of Uzbekistan.

The first Indian to hold the position, this is in recognition of her contribution towards bringing India and the Central Asian nation together using her designs. The designer had recently visited the country where she presented a show displaying clothes that were an amalgamation of Indian and Uzbek attires. "I am delighted and honoured to present the glory of Uzbekistan and create a connecting story between the two countries. It would be my endeavour to deepen the cultural and social ties between them," Beri said.

Sense the sounds
In a musician-turns-entrepreneur story, classical flautist Jean Christophe Bonnafous has recently ventured into distilling the soothing sounds of the flute into a more sensory experience with his line of perfumed oils.

The disciple of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia will be in Mumbai this Friday for a short talk on this development at Obataimu design studio. But what's an evening with a flautist without his music? Bonnafous, we hear, will kick things off with an intimate classical gig. We like the sound of this.

Return to Venetian waters
The Venice Biennale is one of the most important art exhibitions in the world. India first made its mark at the event in 2011. And after an eight-year hiatus, a line-up of seven modern and contemporary artists are set to present a group exhibition themed on 150 years of Gandhi, curated by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.

These include noted Mumbai-based artists Jitish Kallat, Atul Dodiya and Shakuntala Kulkarni - all represented by a city gallery - who will critically engage with many facets of the Mahatma by placing his philosophy in the context of a world ridden with violence and intolerance.

We are twinning
Sophie Choudry's hair colour seems to match the fur around Shih Tzu Tia's eyes, as they take a stroll in Bandra on Saturday. Pic/Shadab Khan

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