Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

I believe i can fly

Despite unlocking, Mumbai still doesn't feel like its chaotic self (thank god) allowing this enthusiast to pose in an empty street in Goregaon West for the perfect shot for Instagram. Pic/Anurag Ahire

A prodigy in pyjamas

Pic/Instagram

Music seems to be running in the genes of this family. Ishaan, son of Gaurav Chintamani from the fusion band Advaita, has gone viral on social media. The six-year-old has been singing as his father plays the guitar in the background, every day over breakfast on the dining table. The choice of songs is a discerning one - The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel and Yesterday by The Beatles. "Initially, they were the songs we played in the house. He also has my old phone, which only has Spotify on it, so he browses the songs on his own now," said Chintamani. Ishaan not only sings the songs in his pitch-perfect sweet voice, but also looks adorable in his pyjamas. "Honestly, we didn't do it as 'content'. But, he has raked up more than 1.5 million views."

Hamari Silai travels south

Over a year after three young men from Ambedkar Nagar in Colaba started Hamari Silai, an initiative to get female members of their community to learn tailoring, the team is now helping empower women in rural parts of Karnataka. Maruti Chauhan, who is one of the co-founders of the initiative, said that he decided to start a new Hamari Silai centre in the Yadgir district of Karnataka, which is also his hometown, as people there did not have alternative sources of income, apart from farming. "Another problem is that most of the girls in the district drop out after Standard V, as secondary schools are several kilometres away. We thought it would be a good idea to conduct tailoring workshops there, to help them secure a livelihood," Chauhan told this diarist. In September, he, along with his team, visited five villages (Mudnal, Yargol, Dodda Tanda, Balagera and Thangundi) in the district to spread awareness. Many women, he says, have already joined their three- month-long workshops.
Once they complete the course, the team will give them bulk orders of stitching T-shits and masks, which they mostly receive from NGOs.

Why Slats is an old hand

Michael Slater. Pic/Getty Images

Wonder whether Australian Michael Slater is your favourite commentator at this year's Indian Premier League. For those who like his style, it needs to be highlighted that Slater, 50, is one of few international players who dabbled in television media work even while playing for the country. In the reserves for Australia's 1996 World Cup game against Kenya at Visakhapatnam, Slater answered an SOS call from Channel 9 to be behind the microphone as some of their commentators were late in getting to the ground. Slater used to also be part of The Cricket Show on the channel and his executive producer Graham Koos was impressed by his skills and attitude. "He speaks well, he has a great eye line to the camera and takes direction like a pro," Koos told Inside Edge magazine in late 1995. There was one criticism, though. Koos said Slater was too critical of his own work. That could well be the case 25 years later as well. Way to go, Slats.

Serving Mumbai's strays

It's been a year since the Feline Foundation, run by sisters Charu and Mriidu Khosla - also the force behind Cat Cafe Studio - started Mumbai's first low-cost veterinary clinic in Versova. The journey, they say, has been both fulfilling and challenging. "Everyone deserves quality healthcare, including our animals. With the help of our trustee Hitesh Swali, we started the clinic in our area. We are able to cater to around 300-plus OPD patients, perform 150 sterlisations and admit 20 trauma patients every month, along with performing specialised surgeries," says Charu. Running a full-fledged vet clinic on a tight budget comes with its own set of challenges. "Sometimes, it's difficult to keep up with the number of feeders and rescuers who bring in animals and many of them are unable to pay. So we try to fundraise for them, but we are currently on the lookout for companies or individual sponsors who could help bridge this gap."

A new crime debut

S Hussain Zaidi; (right) Jaspinder Singh Kang

Mumbai journalist Gautam S Mengle is all set to release his first novel Intersections. The book is a fast-paced thriller that follows the story of three people - each one fighting their own personal demons - set against the backdrop of a terrorism plot. Mengle has been covering crime in the city for the last 12 years. His book will be the first to be published under Golden Pen, a new imprint of Westland Publications, started by bestselling author S Hussain Zaidi and marketing consultant Jaspinder Singh Kang The initiative is aimed towards showcasing the very best of Indian crime stories (fiction and non-fiction) and writers, by placing them on the world map. "It will be a storehouse for fresh content and a place to bank on for untold stories to be narrated to voracious readers."

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