Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

Tenu kala chashma jachda ve

With her trademark mane looking great, the original diva, Madhuri Dixit, exits a salon in Juhu on Saturday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Love in Mumbai

Diplomat Carlos Rojas-Arbulú, consul and head of Trade and Investment with the Consulate of Canada in Mumbai, is painting the town red with his wife, Melanie. After being in Mumbai for over six months now, Carlos's Twitter feed is giving us major relationship goals. He recently posted a picture with his wife, saying how the new Mumbaikar couple went on their first date night of 2020.

When this diarist spoke to him, he said, "Besides the high paced work life and regular travel, I enjoy taking time out on weekends to discover the diversity, gastronomy and culture of Mumbai. My spouse Melanie and I recently discovered 145 Cafe & Bar (145 The Mill) in Kamala Mills, Lower Parel. We were excited to see the vibrant nightlife of maximum city." Looks like you are having a ball of a time in aamchi Mumbai, Carlos.

Not without my floof

That the city could do with more pet-friendly cafés has driven Dhaval Udeshi, partner at Butterfly High and London Taxi, and media professional Isha Kashyap to launch Fetch. Scheduled to open next month in Versova, the space promises to be more than just a café. It will include a patio play area, a puppy Instagram booth, and will play host to 'petworking' events.

"As a dog-mom, I constantly look for reasons to include Hope in my social plans. Fetch is a solution for people like me, who don't want to leave their dog(s) back home," says Kashyap. In terms of food, you can expect plenty of superfood smoothies, artisanal coffee, moon milks and collagen coolers.

An arty 'court' of paint

The basketball court at St Andrews College will be seen in an all new avatar, starting next week, all thanks to a new and unique urban arts intervention by St+art India Foundation, in collaboration with Adidas and Asian Paints.

Work is currently on at the court

The initiative aims to transform the court into an iconic location, featuring a typographic artwork by Khatra that celebrates the spirit of inclusivity in sports. Khatra, who is well-known for his body of work including calligraphy, typography and abstract art, hopes his art work will encourage locals to visit the court, incentivising them to take up the sport themselves.

"We have been working on infusing art with sports. For this particular court, we are working on the idea of equality across genders," said Hanif Kureshi, creative director, St+art India.

Before Soo-chin, there was Edge-Baston

Our in-house cricket nut's latest literary acquisition is a 1997 edition of Wildmen of Cricket Volume 1, written by Australians Ken Piesse and Brian Hansen. They got Greg Chappell to write the foreword and in his fine, anecdotal piece, Chappell recalled his first county game for Somerset in 1968. In the opposing Yorkshire team was legendary England fast bowler Fred Trueman, someone whom Chappell first saw as a teenager in Adelaide during the 1962-63 season.

Despite being 37 and in his last season of first-class cricket, Trueman in Chappell's words was, "still a formidable sight." The controversial Yorkshireman beat Chappell with a series of outswingers and was lucky to edge a few for singles to third man. Trueman was soon exasperated and after yet another edged single, said to Chappell in his typical Yorkshire accent: "I know where thee learnt thy cricket son, Edge-Baston." Unlike Donald Trump's recent horrendous pronunciation of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, this was a deliberate pun.

Chappell said Trueman's further verbal barrage included some "expletives and libellous" remarks. Chappell didn't, too badly. The scorecard of that May 8-10 game at Taunton shows the former Australia captain and India coach unbeaten (14 and 30) in both innings. Nice yarn, Greg!

2 Foreigners in Bollywood wins big

For Johan Bartoli, Hampus Bergqvist, and Vidhan Pratap Singh, it was serendipity that brought them together. The three of them were looking to become actors in Bollywood and met each other in Mumbai, as they came to the city to chase that dream. They formed the social media handle, 2 Foreigners In Bollywood and started making short, comedic videos depicting Bartoli and Bergqvist's firangi experiences of culture shock in 2015.

"Comedy is the toughest genre to crack, but it also allows you to reach out to a wide audience, as everyone loves a good laugh," says Singh. Today, they have managed to amass a dedicated fan following, with 28 lakh subscribers on YouTube and 53 lakh followers on Facebook. They were recently felicitated at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival, where they received the Content Creators Of The Year award. "It feels amazing to be recognised. We feel overwhelmed at having been chosen for such a prestigious award," adds Singh.

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