Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

Me-time

A man seeks shelter from the October heat in the boot of this car at Fort

Same on you, Australia, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka; Australia skipper Pat Cummins

The Australian team are on a World Cup low, but losing their first two games of the tournament isn't something that hasn't happened before. In the 1992 World Cup, Allan Border's team famously lost the Cup opener to New Zealand at Auckland, followed by a defeat to World Cup debutants South Africa at Sydney. They won their third game against India at Brisbane by one run. However, they didn't make the semi-finals and the defending champs crashing out in a home World Cup sent shock waves throughout the sporting nation. The men from Down Under will now be hoping to open their 2023 World Cup account in tomorrow's game against the Sri Lankans at Lucknow. Both opponents find themselves in the same boat. Who'll be the first to revive or sink is the moot point.

A forever love leads to a Jolly good gesture

Rashmi Jolly and Arvind Jolly

He will live (literally) in people's hearts. Rashmi Jolly, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Mumbai, honoured her late husband Arvind Jolly's memory by presenting defibrillators to three golf courses in the city - the BPGC in Chembur, US Club golf course in Navy Nagar and Willingdon Club in Haji Ali, where her husband played. "My husband passed away in early August. He felt unwell while playing golf at Willingdon, and was rushed to a hospital. He passed suddenly. These are in his memory," Rashmi tells this diarist. She adds, "In the United States of America, it is now mandatory for all sports clubs to have defibrillators on their premises. Also, there are efforts to implement the same at crowded places like malls and airports. I know some residential towers as well as gyms in India that are thinking of urchasing them. Some have already done so." A great way to live on, in our minds and in our hearts.

Also read: The making of a shabdakosh

The classics have arrived

T Jagat (right) The Penguin Classics collection at Kitab Khana, Fort

In some good news for readers and collectors alike, Kitab Khana at Fort has unveiled a Penguin Classics collection in collaboration with Penguin Random House. The one-of-its-kind vintage collection, comprising leather-bound, cloth-bound and paperbacks, boasts of more than 2,500 titles, across all genres, including children's classics, poetry, biographies, and crime and mystery novels. You can find the works of writers like Yukio Mishima and Truman Capote, as well as PG Wodehouse's special hardbound editions. The collection will be available both on the ground and mezzanine floors of the store. "The collection is part of the Penguin Classics festival," Chief Operating officer T Jagat tells this diarist. "It began in September, and will continue for a year. Penguin has some of the best literary classics, and we are privileged to be able to showcase them here. Our customers have really taken a shine to it."

Morning conversations

A candid click by (right) Shantenu Tilwankar

An older couple sits with their backs facing us, in one of the seating areas on a hillock is surrounded by yellowing trees. The woman has her head covered with her pallu and the couple seems to be sharing a secret in the wee hours of the morning in Belapur's Sector 9 - considered as one of the greenest areas of Navi Mumbai. The candid click is by Shantenu Tilwankar, a young local photographer by vocation. We ask him about this particular picture and he says, "I spent a lot of time in this area. It's called nursery by the locals. On that day, I had gone to the area for a morning walk with my parents and, as always, was carrying my camera. The couple just made for such a great picture, so I clicked them." Tilwankar's pictures show he has a knack for finding beauty in the unlikeliest of places, although he says Navi Mumbai is his favourite city.