Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Bipin Kokate

A star is born
A canine enjoying a drive at Nariman Point redefines ‘head turner' as a taxi driver does the double take.

Don't say we didn't Vaughan you!

Michael Vaughan, the former England cricket captain, is playing true to form. By that, we mean his sweeping, illogical statements and the wrath he is facing for them. Remember how cricketer-turned-TV pundit Vaughan said that India would lose the Test series in Australia 0-4 if they lost the pink-ball opening Test at Adelaide. He also made some caustic comments on the pitches that were dished out for the India v England Test series, giving the impression that it is not cricket when the ball turns. More recently, he suggested that England pacer Jofra Archer doesn't care enough about Test cricket. Archer hooked Vaughan's comments for a six the other day and while we don't think that will stop the Yorkshireman from continuing to talk ruuuubish (that's how they pronounce rubbish in Yorkshire), we fear that he will only be viewed as a loose cannon and not the captain who led England to their first Ashes victory in 2005 after 18 years. Think about it, Vaughan!

Spreading hope with quilts that speak

Corona Quilt Project's art installation at the BMC school, Worli Seaface. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Since early last week, the Corona Quilt Project (CQP) has been presenting a diverse array of installations by Dia Mehhta Bhupal, a Mumbai/Hyderabad-based interdisciplinary artist, throughout the city. After showcasing A Rising Sun, at Jindal Mansion, Bhupal and the CQP team unveiled three other installations on Saturday: Warriors Rise, which is a montage of portraits at Haji Ali Pumping Station; Live to Rise, which has been wrapped around 23 BEST buses on routes from Worli to Colaba; and On the Rise that can be seen on the facade of a BMC school at Worli Seaface.

The latter draws a parallel to the butterfly - a symbol of transformation, evolution and resurrection. Speaking about why they chose to have the installation at the school, Neha Modi, founder of the project, said, "Throughout this project, the squares received by school children have been the most rewarding! We were fortunate to get the BMC School at Worli Seaface - positioned on the sea front - to display our quilt."

Yeoor tribals show the way

A snake rescued by the tribals

A recent social media post by RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare), titled ‘From kill to rescue' caught our attention. It talked about how tribal residents of Ronchapada, Yeoor, have become active responders to reptiles in distress. Incidentally, that wasn't always the case. Till a few years ago, snakes, which were regularly sighted given the proximity to SGNP, were killed at sight out of sheer fear.

Pawan Sharma has been rescuing reptiles for ten years

A dogged awareness campaign by the NGO has led to the turnaround. "Snakes are one of the most misunderstood species globally. Tribals are closer to wildlife than us, and providing them with the right information and awareness has led to this change. Moreover, with increase in wildlife conservation activities, and with efforts of NGOs, the forest department and other stakeholders, people are getting better at understanding wildlife," says founder Pawan Sharma.

Songs of two nations

IN an exciting new collaboration, the Québec Government Office in Mumbai held a concert of Québec and Maharashtra songs last week. ‘Symphonie croisée québécoise et marathe' is an innovative concert of Quebec and Marathi songs; it is a crossover of the tradition of these provinces, which are located in two different geographies of the world. Speaking to this diarist, Consul and Director, Québec Government Office in Mumbai, Francis Paradis said, "In Québec, we have a tradition of narrating lives of historical personalities, events or establishment of cities in a song. This is reflected in the Powada tradition of Maharashtra. The spirit of these songs is the same yet the music is quite different. The Québec songs are like a smooth flowing river while a Powada is similar to a resonating sound of the waterfall."

Not a flying dosa anymore

Balaji Dosa Factory in Kalbadevi, which had been making headlines for its famous "flying dosas", are not serving them anymore. Since this unique serving style has grabbed a lot of attention and crowding at the stall, the BMC and the police have asked him to serve dosas just like any other dosawala, keeping the COVID-19 situation in mind. Shiva is a dosa maker who had mastered the art of tossing the dosas in to the air and straight in the customer's plate. Hence, the name. The assistants were always alert and ready to catch these flying dosas in a plate. The owner of the shop said, "It has been years since my shop has functioned here, but since Shiva joined and started serving flying dosas, my clientele has increased by 25 per cent. People are very fond of this way of serving dosa. But I guess this was short lived. We understand and respect the decision of the authorities, and have therefore decided to stop serving flying dosas." The dosas may not be flying anymore, but they are delicious nevertheless.