Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

The rehabilitation centre for animals that's being built in Kolad

A stray idea

Stray and abandoned animals on Mumbai's streets are usually left to fend for themselves unless a good Samaritan decides to adopt them and give them shelter. That's exactly what the folks at an NGO called Animals Matter to Me have set out to do, by building a comprehensive cage-free animal rehabilitation centre in Kolad, a village in Raigad.

The place will also promote organic farming and include facilities for people in need of therapy. A crowdfunding initiative has been started where the NGO is not asking for your money, but for a pack of bricks that cost only '90, which they need to complete the outer wall.

Fashion that lasts

Fashion designer Narendra Kumar recently launched a line of sustainable clothing, Alcis x Nari. Now, he has tied up with the Olive chain of restaurants for a unique initiative. Kumar will design an exclusive range of clothes for the eatery's team.

The material he will use isn't cotton, silk or jute. Instead, the clothes will be made using recycled polyester from PET bottles. That's a commendable way to promote an ecologically conscious mindset, and the next time you reserve a table at Olive, you will know that the hip
clothes that the steward is wearing are made of sustainable fabric, something that you learnt
here first.

This Rath is on a Hollywood yatra

This year has already been a busy one for comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath. Fresh from releasing the second season of his web series Laakhon Mein Ek, Rath has now flown to South Korea. While sharing Instagram stories of himself savouring food and making fun of store names in Seoul, Rath also ended up being a journalist for a day.

Turns out, the comedian got an opportunity to interview the star cast of X-Men: Dark Phoenix comprising Sophie Turner (in pic), Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, as part of a paid partnership with a ticketing platform.

He then posted individual shots of the actors from the interview, who all looked like they cracked up to one of Rath's jokes - Turner was captured in splits which led a fan to comment, "Biswa, vo pyaar karti he tujse!" Well, we'll only know if this is true once the video is out.

This cop reflects on traffic problems

In a bid to curtail accidents, an assistant police inspector (API) of Gholwad police station in Palghar has chosen a unique method to keep bicyclists safe at night. API Sambhaji Laxman Yadav recently purchased three bundles of "traffic reflective strips" and has been sticking 4-inch long tapes on the front and rear sides of cycles, so that motorists get alerted about their presence at night. Gholwad is situated on the border of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

"There are many people who work in Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation and prefer cycling to work. They return only at night. Recently, a cyclist died in an accident since the motorist did not see him in the darkness. Had there been a reflector on his bicycle, his life could have been saved," Yadav said.

A local problem

A German design firm recently made a video in which - in a crowd of faces that resemble pink balloons - one man is pushing and shoving his way through to move up in front. Trust Mumbaikars to come up with hilarious captions for it.

One read, "When you get into a Vasai train and try to get off at Kandivali." Another read, "Bike riders while they are stuck in a traffic jam." And yet another said, "When you need to be centre stage but show up to the concert five minutes before the headliner starts."

Passage of arms

Salman Khan reaches out to give famed choreographer Geeta Kapoor a hug on the set of a dance reality show for kids, where he dropped in to promote his upcoming film. Pic/Sameer Markande

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