Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Taking a 'brake'
Former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni adds some glamour to an ad shoot at Bandstand in Bandra on Tuesday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Jazzing it up in the city
The city is slated to get a special visitor from Russia today. Igor Butman (top) is said to be that country's greatest modern-day saxophonist. And one person who has endorsed that view is none other than former US President Bill Clinton (inset), who once said, "Igor Butman is my favourite living saxophone player." The musician will get busy as soon as he arrives in Mumbai, with two shows lined up today and tomorrow.

Incidentally, he is also an American citizen and has stayed in that country for extended periods. In the process, he played alongside the likes of such legendary jazz artistes as Dave Brubeck and Chic Corea. Later, he led his own group that performed at Boston's leading Jazz club, The Regattabar. Butman's American sojourn also saw him play in television shows like Good Morning America. And now, that same virtuoso he displayed on foreign shores will be there for Mumbaikars to enjoy.

What it means to study memes
Memes have become such an integral part of the digital age that they have become a part of the everyday lexicon. Youngsters, especially, seem to be generating and consuming them like there's no tomorrow. And given the state of things, a comedy collective has released a new video titled If Memes Had Exams. In it, a bunch of students hyperventilate ahead of an examination on the subject of memes. And some of them spout hilarious lines like, "I started studying with nihilist memes but then thought, 'What's the point of this?'"

This teen's cooking up a vegan storm
It's one thing to leave home in pursuit of happiness, but it's a whole different story if you don't know how to cook. So, when 18-year-old Sarah Pinto's friends were suddenly burdened with the responsibility of cooking, she chose to do something that most us wouldn't even think of - give cooking classes. The dishes she chose are strictly vegan because that seems to be the popular way to get fit in the 21st century. So, from granola bars to mac and cheese, the items on her menu are simple yet tempting. "My friends have tasted my food and encouraged me. So, I finally decided to take the plunge," says the Mumbaikar (in pic). She assumes that her students know nothing and is armoured to teach 13-to-24-year-olds ways to whip up a culinary storm in the blink of an eye.

Painting rakes in the moolah
Hold your breath. A Raja Ravi Varma painting, Untitled (Tilottoma), has gone under the hammer for $795,000 at Sotheby's New York, after three telephone bidders tried furiously to outdo each other in dramatic fashion for several minutes. This follows the sale of Untitled (Damayanti) for $1.7 million this time last year at the same auction house. Tilottoma depicts a celestial nymph who embodies the perfect being. And we wonder what Varma would have made of the astronomical prices his own paintings command, had he been around.

Mumbaikar makes waves in Dubai
You need an insider to be able to make pointed observations on the goings-on of the art world, and do so in, well, an artistic manner. That's what Abhinit Khanna started doing last year with his art memes that gave many a good laugh, and ruffled some feathers too. In what seems like a fitting way to approach a post-Internet artist, Khanna received a DM from Dubai-based curator and artist Rami Farook on Instagram. And the next thing we know is Khanna's memes are now part of the ongoing Art Dubai 2018 for a pop-up show. "We decided that the best way to display the memes was to show a screen recording of my Instagram page," Khanna told this diarist.

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