Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

For the love of knowledge

Heat and dust fail to deter this boy studying under the shade of a boundary wall at Linking Road, Bandra

Mi amo Hindi

Jimy Trujillo

Diplomats and celebs rubbed shoulders and clinked glasses at a soiree hosted by the Embassy of Peru in India at St Regis, Worli, earlier this week. The main attraction was Pisco, a drink native to Peru, while bowls of food curated by Masterchef India 4 finalist Karishma Sakhrani and prepared by Peruvian chef Julio Castillo were also served. We managed to corner Jimy Trujillo, head of the Consular section, to talk about his India experience so far. "Well, I'm vegan, so finding food of my choice can sometimes be tricky," he told this diarist. "But if there's one thing I love about India, it is the Hindi language!" Does he speak it, we asked, and with a huge grin, senor Trujillo said, "Thora thora!" Muy bueno, senor, muy bueno.

It's salt and paper for ex-World Cupper Kaif

Mohammad Kaif. Pic/Getty Images

Cricket pundit Mohammed Kaif, the 2003 World Cupper and hero of India's 2002 NatWest Trophy win, couldn't stress more that the hosts were a better side than Australia after Rohit Sharma's men suffered a shock loss to the men from Down Under last Sunday in Ahmedabad. While harping on India's "on paper" strength, Kaif probably forgot that reputation and form do not always matter in one-day cricket. The team that play better on the day - on the day, we repeat - gets the cherry. By the way, Kaif on match eve said, "We are beating Australia tomorrow 100 per cent," in an off the cuff remark, which was part of a video host Mayanti Langer put out on Instagram. As a past player, Kaif understands the glorious uncertainties of cricket better than us mere mortals, so we're kind of surprised at his utterances. All said, tough luck, Kaif. Your heart was in the right place.

Vaz you doing this Sunday?

The 5th Season of While My Guitar Sings starts today. The live YouTube sessions hosted by music arranger Charles Vaz have become a favourite a amongst those who enjoy live music, with performances in English, Hindi, Spanish, Konkani, Italian, Portuguese and Gujarati language too. Vaz, who was also the music arranger on Baba Sehgal's breakout album, Thanda Thanda Paani in the early 90's, has also worked with artists like Alisha Chinai. Vaz supports local artistes by featuring them in the videos and has also started performing Gujarati songs. Talking about his live sessions, Vaz says that he will soon be celebrating his 100th episode by giving his followers a surprise. "I hope you can tune in every Sunday and enjoy the sheer talent that these artistes have, that too with no retakes," he says.

Parents, the ones who truly know best

Mansi Zaveri, founder of parenting platform Kidsstoppress, is excited - and a little bit nervous. Her new book, The Parents I Met, is scheduled to release on November 30 this month. The book originated after exhaustive conversations and discussions with parents from multiple fields of life - doctors, artists, celebrities, to name a few - who were also parents of successful children. "I strongly believe parents know you better than you know yourself," Zaveri emphasises. "When we become new parents, everyone gives advice on how to take care of the child, but nobody gives you a book on how to take care of a parent!" Zaveri, who is a mum of two herself, recalls talking to Priyanka Chopra's mother, Madhu Chopra, for a chapter in the book. "She told me, ‘You know, Mansi, in your child's teen years, you just have to be their punching-bag,'" she recalls. "As a parent, the secret to raising a successful child is valuing their opinion and their ability to speak up for themselves." The book, she says, looks at parenting through the lens of parents who've been there, done that, and succeeded.

Jaggu dada's heartfelt Teen Batti bulawa

Call it going back to your roots or remembering where you came from. A video of Jaggu Dada, as actor Jackie Shroff is known, has been doing the rounds on our devices, telling people to be present for the maha arti at the Banganga tank in Walkeshwar. Jaggu has often spoken about growing up in the Teen Batti area, before Bollywood happened and carted him off to the western suburbs. He talks about his "heart still beating for Teen Batti and how it will always be home for him." It was quite touching to see everyone's favourite dada inviting us to be there this evening, signing off with the Teen Batti's native's favourite word: Bhidu.