Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Rajan's tell-all is ready
When Raghuram Rajan took over as RBI Governor in September 2013, the Indian economy was in free fall. Yet, the financial whiz went all out to overcome the barriers, instiling confidence across India and the world with his bold measures, reminding all about the might of India's institutions and its intent on reform and a robust economy, despite the bumps. His three-year stint at his 18th floor office in buzzing Fort was a lesson in economics for any first-year student. Never hesitant to call a spade a spade, Rajan reiterated the need for political freedom to ensure economic growth. Now, his views will come together in I Do What I Do that will reflect this period through his commentaries and speeches on important issues and policies. Against the odds, might we add.

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Throwback to 70 years
The country marked 70 years of independence last week, and the city's literary cognoscenti celebrated the occasion the way they do best - kicking their grey cells into action at a star-studded panel discussion. Titled India at 70, the talk featured journalistic heavyweights N Ram and Shekhar Gupta, SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya and noted academic Homi K Bhabha, with poet laureate Gulzar opening the proceedings with his wordplay. The folks at Literature Live! organised the event, and it was an evening to ponder over how things stand in India today, as is evident from this photo of author Shobhaa De deep in conversation with Dilip, her industrialist husband.

Pic/Satej Shinde

Seek and yash shall find
Our lensman snapped industrialist Yash Birla as he sought divine blessings at the Kali Mata Mandir at Shivaji Park.

Happy 10th birthday, hashtag!
It's time for a #Throwback Thursday piece. The hashtag symbol, which makes its way into nearly everything anyone posts on Twitter, turned 10 yesterday. It was on August 23, 2007 that the first word accompanied by a hashtag, #barcamp, was used. The hash symbol had long been used as an index term on the web, but it was former Google designer Chris Messina who first suggested that it be used, with this post: "how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?" Since then, the hashtag has become a part of the common Internet vernacular, making its presence felt in everything from world events to, well, throwback pictures. Today, an average of 125 million hashtags are used on Twitter daily. That's plenty of growing up in just a decade.

No happy or sad endings here
If you are wondering how the stories of the four feisty characters from the film Lipstick Under My Burkha end, we have some interesting news. This diarist recently happened to speak to Aahana Kumra, who plays Leela in the film, recently, and she revealed that the endings of all the four storylines had been shot. "But when we watched them later, we all felt that it was best to end the film with the scene where all four women come together and share a laugh over a puff," she said. "After all, real-life rebellion is made of small, everyday acts, which are far from dramatic." We agree.

Little champion
Meet Aryaman Shaan, a Class 12 student from Dhirubai Ambani School, who thinks age is no barrier when it comes to doing one's bit for society. The young boy is running a crowdfunding campaign on Fueladream.com, to support 170 children who live in the slums of Indira Nagar and Chaitanya in Powai. Shaan's aim is to raise a total of '2.4 lakh for the rent of the children's classrooms. "I live in Hiranandani Gardens, adjacent to the slums. A visit to the NGO, Logic Centre [which the kids go to after school] opened my eyes to the plight of children my age, or even younger, who have had experiences that were unimaginable to me," he says.