Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Rane

Jahaan teen yaar mil jaayein

With the lockdown being partially lifted in the city, three friends seem to be literally dancing in joy in Bandra on Monday. Pic/Ashish Rane

These Good Samaritans show the way

A donation drive in progress, initiated by Pad Squad

In the past couple of months, the people who have kept the spirit of Mumbai alive are caring citizens who have braved the virus to help the underprivileged. One such Good Samaritan is IC Colony-s Mauris Noronha or Mauris bhai, who has been travelling from Cuffe Parade to Palghar for the past 78 days to supply ration and other essentials to the needy. The finance sector professional, who has attended to nearly five lakh people, was on June 3 awarded a letter of appreciation by the Mira-Bhayandar mayor.

"It all started when I stocked up ration for my family, and noticed that house helps don-t have anything. Then, I saw an elderly neighbour going to buy essentials, which led me to arrange for rations for my entire building, house helps and security guards. I started getting more calls, and before I knew it, I was travelling across the city attending to around 2,500 people daily," Noronha told this diarist, adding that he can be reached at bhai9920202666@gmail.com.When asked about the funding, he added, "I was supposed to migrate to Las Vegas, so I had savings."

From left Divakar Shetty, Mauris Noronha, Mira-Bhayandar mayor Jyotsna Hasnale, ex-corporator Anil Bhonsle and Mehul Parekh at the felicitation

Like Noronha, another group of citizens, most of whom hail from the film industry, got in touch with each other to arrange essentials for those in need. And now, the group of 10 women, and director Devashish Makhija, have started a campaign called Pad Squad to distribute sanitary napkins. "The group was put together by Makhija. We have already donated 240 packets of 10 pads each," said Chhitra Subramaniam from the group. Anyone who wishes to donate can order the pads online and reach out to the squad at surya7@gmail.com for more details.

Everybody loves Rashid Irani

Irani at the balcony of his Marine Lines home during the lockdown. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Veteran film critic Rashid Irani doesn-t mince his words, be it about films or his life. So, when he shared his heart-rending story about being quarantined alone at his South Mumbai house for over 75 days in the June 7 edition of this newspaper, it was but going to evoke a reaction. "Like most people, I am disoriented, and have become borderline depressive. I couldn-t have imagined this happening… not even in my wildest dreams," Irani, who prefers to live a bare minimum existence, told Sunday mid-day.

"While I live alone, I do not thrive on this loneliness; I need human contact. What this lockdown has done is turn me into an automaton," he shared with this diarist in his account. Irani-s fans in the film industry and beyond immediately took note. It was Aseem Chhabra, author and director of New York Indian Film Festival, who first shared Irani-s story on Twitter on Sunday. Moved by it, film directors Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghaywan reached out to Irani over the phone. And from what we are told, they spoke what else, but everything movies.

When Harry Potter comes home

An initial edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher-s Stone, the first book in the series, is up for grabs at an auction where it is expected to fetch over £80,000.

It is one of a handful of signed copies that author JK Rowling had given out to her loved ones in Edinburgh, and she said, "The city is very much home for me and is the place where Harry had evolved over seven books and many hours of writing in its cafés." This diarist recalls visiting one of these eateries, The Elephant House, and wondering how life has changed for Rowling from when she was a single mother, living on government benefits, sitting at the café, and writing a book series that made her wealthy beyond belief.

Back in action

One of the city-s favourite bookstores has turned a new chapter. Kitab Khana has started delivering books across Mumbai, with patrons also being given the option to order and pick up titles from their Fort store. "People can either place an order through our social media pages, or send a WhatsApp message to 8879540538," T Jagath inset, CEO of the bookstore, confirmed to this diarist.

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