Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pride of the Park

Call it burgeoning awareness or simply, art cropping up in the most unexpected of places. More aptly, call it a pleasant surprise. Our eyebrows shot up and went straight into our hairline on seeing this graffiti on a Shivaji Park building called Tulips House. Espousing equal love, it certainly looks like a statement for the Lesbian Gay Queer Bisexual Transgender (LGBTQ) community, a thumbs-up to diversity.

Painted on the front wall of one of those charming three-storied residential structures just behind the first ring of homes around Shivaji Park, it has a rainbow-like ribbon snaking on the wall, and slogans like Equal Love, Love is Love and Pride. It proves that gestures supporting equality in love is not just a phenomenon in bohemian Bandra or care-a-hoot Colaba but in the stolidly traditional neighbourhood in Dadar, too. We have heard of the adage 'walls have ears', but this proves they have an opinion too, and a pleasingly progressive one at that.

Taking gara to Singapore

While she has been working towards reviving and raising awareness about gara, the intricate Parsi embroidery, for over a decade, Mumbai-based Zenobia Davar is now in Singapore to conduct demonstrations and workshops on the craft of her community. Invited for Kala Sangam, an initiative by Indian Heritage Centre and the High Commission of India in Singapore, Davar's name was recommended by a client based in the South-East Asian country.

Commissioner to Singapore, Jawed Ashraf

"I taught the participants different stitches used in our gara embroidery, including the bullion stitch. The workshop was house full," Davar told this diarist, adding that she also took them through origins of the embroidery style in the Far East, which explains the recurrence of certain Chinese motifs in the art form.

Game of love

Now that a lot of the time that you spend with someone you're dating is dedicated to binge-watching your favourite show, maybe listing it in your dating profile would make life easier? And since Game of Thrones, the iconic series that enters its last and long-awaited final season this week, is all that anyone is talking about, a popular dating app is introducing a GOT badge users can opt for.

Its sole purpose is to help fellow fans match with each other easily. You can also pick which house you support, making it easy for a Stark fan to avoid Lannister supporters or maybe go ahead in the hope of a good argument. Your badge will be visible till June, which is when the series finale airs.
So, pick a House, and get swiping. If it worked for Jon Snow and Ygritte in real life - actors Kit Harington and Rose Leslie got married last year - maybe GOT could prove lucky for you too?

BEST way to read

Something rather progressive took place in the Netherlands recently. As part of the country's National Book Week, train passengers who were carrying a book written to mark the week - celebrated Dutch author Jan Siebelink's Jas Van Belofte - were allowed to present their copy instead of having to buy a ticket.

This got us thinking about how difficult it is to read in a Mumbai local, unless you manage to get a seat. But a post on an Instagram page, called beststoriescollective, which documents interesting things that happen on BEST buses, pointed out how reading is easier on a bus. Either way, we hope the city's transport authorities take a leaf out of the Dutch initiative, and take steps to promote the habit of reading here.

Flavours of India in Khar

Remember Corniche, that cute little Mediterranean eatery in Pali Hill which shut down in November last year? Well, news is, Sagar Kadam, its owner, is back with a new venture, along with partner Aniket Mayekar. This time, it's a restaurant celebrating regional Indian flavours like Goan and Malvani.

Speaking about White Peacock, which will open its doors to patrons on April 15 in Khar, Kadam told this diarist, "From the very beginning , we were clear about wanting to offer authentic cuisines and serving it the way it should be, albeit in a modern setting.

While there are many options in Asian, Pan Asian, Thai, Continental and fusion Indian cuisines, the city has few restaurants serving authentic Indian food. So, we wanted a space that represented the country's kitchens in the truest sense."

Share the joke, please!

Zoya Akhtar and Vidya Balan share a light moment during the announcement of nominees for a new set of awards at an Andheri multiplex. Pic/Sameer Markande

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