Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Menu kala chasma jachda e
BFFs Neha Dhupia, in all her pregnant glory, and Karan Johar smile at the paparazzi after recording an episode for Dhupia's podcast in Khar West on Saturday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Gandhi gets ready to go to Spain
Back in 2016, veteran writer and publisher Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books had released an unusual story of the Mahatma, titled Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography. The book, which Kapoor had said was a labour of love, and the result of intensive research that tracked Gandhi's life through photographs sourced from across the world, has since then been translated in eight languages, including Russian, Italian, German and French. Now, closer to the Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, Kapoor told this diarist, he is also working on releasing the book in Spanish and Portuguese. Work on it should begin next month. "The book is a modern rendering of Gandhi's life, and has been broken into several short stories, with relatively lesser-known events from his life. It's a book for the future, and hence, I feel it has got so much attention among international publishers."

Not without my pets
Priyanka Jena and Tanveer Taj who founded Wheels and Tails, a YouTube channel to share their pet travel experiences and raise awareness about such expeditions, are set to hit the road for 100 days in December. The couple, along with their two golden retrievers, Cruise and Frodo, will start the journey from Mumbai, head to the south of India and then move up north, covering all kinds of terrain, from beaches and deserts to snow-capped mountains. "We have been travelling within Maharashtra with our pets, and our social media updates on doggy travels have inspired many pet owners to do the same. We realised there was lack of information on this subject. So, we decided to inspire people to travel with their furry friends," says Taj.

MF Husain

Bombay's Progressive Artists in NY
The short-lived Progressive Artists' Group (formed in 1947, disbanded in 1956) is a subject of unending fascination to the art world. A landmark new exhibition featuring their works is currently on at the Asia Society in New York. The Progressive Revolution: Modern Art for a New India explores the ways in which artists from different backgrounds found common cause at a time of political upheaval. The exhibition comprises works from the group's core founders - KH Ara, SK Bakre, HA Gade, MF Husain, SH Raza, and FN Souza - as well as later members: Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee and Mohan Samant. On till January 20, the show according to The New York Times, is "the first American show in more than three decades to examine the Progressives' entire collective post-war output, as well as their later, independent careers."

Expect a Sanjay sizzler at Brabourne
Sanjay Manjrekar will be at the Cricket Club of India tomorrow to dish out pearls of wisdom at the Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture. Manjrekar, 53, will be the second non-India captain after VVS Laxman to preside over this affair which had been graced by Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. A little birdie tells us that Manjrekar will talk to his audience about, "the changing face of Indian cricket from 1985 to 2018."

Having played and commentated on international cricket for a number of years (no less than 19 seasons as a commentator), Manjrekar can be counted upon to deliver a fine, cerebral, cricket lecture. What we would also like him to touch upon is the Mumbai problem. City cricket may not be in a deep crisis, but concerns over the qualitative aspect persist.

By the way, do you know what it took for Manjrekar to get into the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team in 1984-85? Apart from some sterling performances at the club level, he scored six hundreds in six University cricket games! Turning back this particular clock won't be viewed as being immodest, Sanjay. Go for it.

Will you do fraandship with Aarey?
It takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to protect a forest. And, on this note, photographer Sanjiv Valsan, 41, and writer Yash Marwah, 23 - who have been working towards engaging Mumbai's citizens with these precious greens through walks and poetry open mics for the last one year - are now calling in for a whole host of people to contribute their skills.

Yash Marwah

Through a Facebook announcement, they have called for "social media experts, video editors, PR professionals, writers ". The idea is to get people to document everything that happens in the forest, participate in peaceful protests during crisis calls and regularly update the FB page. Who wants to be friends with Aarey?

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