Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Sameer Markande

Dressed like a king

A child dresses up like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for a school function in Mulund East, to celebrate his birth anniversary, which falls today.

Taking a turn

There are some people who are happy working in the same profession their entire lives. But there are some others who chart unexpected paths for their careers, choosing to take a turn that might not be more lucrative, but is more meaningful for them. Ten such people will recount their journeys at an event called TEDxStXaviersMumbai that will take place at the SoBo college, with Embracing Crossroads as its theme. The speakers include Dr Luis Dias, who left a thriving medical career in the UK to start a children's care home in Goa, and Rinaa Shah, a DJ who started playing polo professionally at the age of 40. "[At the event] we will explore possibilities that challenge stereotypes surrounding careers, strength, norms and age. This year, we will build a narrative that emphasises the power that lies at the crossroads of life," shared Dr Rajendra Shinde, the college's principal.

Banks on Bappi

(From left) Gino Banks, Louiz Banks, Shankar Mahadevan, Rakesh Chaurasia, Sheldon D'Silva and Ustad Zakir Hussain receive a standing ovation in England

After two long years, Mumbai jazz legend Louiz Banks finally went on an international tour again this month, when he travelled to London and Birmingham for two shows. The star-studded line-up also included Ustad Zakir Hussain and Shankar Mahadevan, who played to packed houses since most pandemic restrictions have been lifted in England. This diarist reached out to Banks soon after music legend Bappi Lahiri had passed away, and he reminisced about his collaborations with the maestro in the 1980s, "Bappi had his finger on the pulse of the people. He valued my inputs and his creativity never ceased to amaze me. May his soul rest in eternal peace."

Making waves in the UK

Back in 2018, this newspaper was one of the first to write about Indian-origin British pop artiste Rika, when she became the first ever artiste with a desi background to be signed on to Virgin EMI, a major global label. And now it seems that the suits at the label made the right choice, after Rika won the award for The Artist of the Year ASIA at the 18th annual Urban Music Awards 2022. It's a prestigious event that also honoured the likes of Beyonce and electronic giants Major Lazer (Best Collaboration) and Ed Sheeran (Artist of the Year). She beat off competition from the likes of Arjun B.Praak, Gurj Sidhu, Sidhu Moosewala and Neha Kakkar, and speaking about the recognition, Rika shared, "I am very honoured to win this award; it is not just for me but for my family, my team, my fans and everyone who has supported me in my career. This is only the beginning." Our congratulations.

Gender goes pop

Avneshi Research Centre for Women's Studies is a Hyderabad-based institute that has created a textbook for undergraduate students. It's called A World of Equals, and promotes the idea of gender equality. The interesting bit is that it uses pop-culture references to do so, via the medium of films and advertisements including one for Surf Excel. "We have also used a snippet from an interview with [ex-PepsiCo CEO] Indra Nooyi [in pic]," shared the centre's coordinator, Suneetha A (inset).

Catering for care

Jyotirmay is a city-based centre that imparts skills training to differently-abled young adults. Started in 2019, they recently set up a catering unit, where the centre's members are training to cook wholesome dishes like daal-chawal and sabzi-roti for lunch, and smaller bites like puran poli and brownies. They are operating out of a one-room kitchen in Vile Parle, where Sunita Varma and Jyoti Badsan are training them. "These students have done a one-year catering course already, and while we are catering mainly to our own members and friends right now, the idea is to make the food available to the public as well when the time is right," shared Jyotirmay's founder-director Amena Latis.