Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

A poet reads her work

"Like pixels trying to come together in a large, distorted image, we go about living. Juggling, falling, balancing that which we feel in our control. These poems emerge from the state of us": reads the prologue of Pixelated-Poems of Us, an anthology of 49 new poems by Navkirat Sodhi with ace photographers L.A.R (Laura and Rid Burman) and Tarun Vishwa contributing images from their personal work, complementing the written content.

The New Delhi-based Sodhi belongs to the cohort of young Indian poets eager to create a new oral tradition. Her co-conspirators aka close-friends are designer Gaurav Gupta and fashion director at a leading men's magazine Vijendra Bhardwaj. On Thursday night, a select audience that included actor Aditi Rao Hydari, designer Kunal Rawal and contemporary dancer and choreographer Astad Deboo, found their way around the Eva Room at Soho House, to ponder over poems recited by Sodhi from her latest book.

Dressed in sneakers and an armour of broken, triangular pieces of glass pasted over silver foil, her outfit reflected shards of light as she recited poems featured in the book, while the strains of a live sitar rose and fell gently in the background. Sodhi invited actor Mohit Marwah and Burman to join, as Gupta and Bhardwaj read along with her, conveying a collective feeling of frank exchange.

New designs for Pallavi Jaikishan

For a while now, passers-by on Peddar Road would have noticed that designer Pallavi Jaikishan's Paraphernalia store had its shutters down. Curious cat that we are, we decided to check with the designer herself. Regulars at the 20-year-old fashion establishment needed have to worry for this diarist can safely confirm that the closure is temporary, as stated on a small board saying they are closed for renovations.

"We've been closed for four days now as our wooden flooring had to be changed urgently. We're also repairing the wiring and air conditioners, and will be up and running by next Thursday," Jaikishan confirmed this diarist. The designer, we learnt, has plans to give the space a renovation post the monsoon. "The store should be completely ready by the end of July or August," she adds. And that will be right in time for the "pret collection" that Jaikishan is working on, which she says is "between couture and prêt."

From Mankhurd to London

Two boys and two girls - Shama Siddiqui (14), Bhavani Mayavan (15), Mohd Irfan Labbe (14) and Mani Ratinam (17) - from Mankhurd will fly to London to take part in the first Cricket World Cup for street-connected children.

An initiative by Street Child United, a UK charity, the event will unite 80 street children from around the world to play in their own international cricket tournament to raise awareness and tackle the stigma they face. Ten national teams with a mix of girls and boys will represent their countries. India will send two teams put together by Magic Bus, Karunalaya (South India team), and Save the Children and The HOPE Foundation (North India team).

Spreading their cool moves to Vasai

They were all over the news just last week, after they won US reality show World of Dance, where th­ey left the judges, including Jen­n­ifer Lopez, awestruck with their mo­ves.

Back home in Mumbai, Kings United India have decided to put their skills to good use, ann­o­uncing a three-month hip hop di­ploma programme as well as one in contemporary style, in Vasai, st­arting Monday. The certified course will be taught by the 14 members of the crew, and is open to anyone who thinks they have got the moves.

Yeti sighting in Mumbai

There isn't a place in the city that offers authentic Nepali, Tibetan and Bhutanese dishes under one roof. Thankfully, that's set to change, with the opening of Yeti - The Himalayan Kitchen in Mumbai in Khar West.