Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Enter Sandmen

Two wrestlers sling it out at Versova beach under the watchful gaze of their trainer and other bystanders

Ahoy Mumbai!

Australian chef Sarah Todd never hesitates to express her love for Indian flavours, and Mumbai in particular. Recently, she joined hands with Visit Victoria, the Victorian state government's agency to introduce Indian travellers to Melbourne's delights. She told us, "Mumbaikars would love the different food options here, from all the Southeast Asian cuisines to modern Australian restaurants. Its unique graffiti; day trips and streetside walking trails, as well as wineries make it a really special culinary destination. Since Mumbai is by the sea and Mumbaikars are familiar with the coastal experience, they will be reminded of home in Melbourne."

She swears by the seashells on the seashore

Jessica Luis' illustration from the book, Superpowers on the Shore

Ever wondered about the creatures that live in the deep blue? Follow your curiosity and start that exploratory journey with a talk about tide pooling, as if it's your own version of The Old Man and the Sea, only drastically scaled down. Marine Life of Mumbai is back with their Marine Meet-up series held with marine life experts. They're kicking off a new edition with journalist and author Sejal Mehta at Doolally in Khar this weekend.

Sejal Mehta

Mehta will discuss her book, Superpowers on the Shore, marine life and tide pooling - the activity of exploring coastlines when the tide retreats, leaving behind pools of water with creatures like octopuses, crabs, starfish, and jellyfish. Mehta quipped, "Tide pooling is like a wildlife safari without buying a ticket; all you have to do is walk on the shore to spot these beautiful creatures, some of which are smaller than your fingernail."

You can speak up in this library

If you, like this diarist, have memories of being routinely told to stay quiet in a school library, JoAnne Saldanha's reading sessions will make for a welcome change. The library educator works with reading room curators to spawn democratic spaces of learning. She shared, "With older children, we pick up a book and talk about the things happening across the world. Sometimes, we discuss simple social and emotional learning cues." Saldanha reckons such value-based ingredients are naturally embedded in children's literature but how do adults cull them while reading out stories to children? In Dive In and Explore - an online workshop that will be hosted by Tulika Books this weekend, the library consultant will share ways to explore the many treasures hidden within the pages. Interested folks who work with kids above six years of age, check out @tulikabooks to register.

A lather good idea

All those who fulcrum their calendars around Ganpati, tend to salivate at the thought of kheer, satori and modaks. It is modaks - piles of them - for publicist Kadambari Gupte. "The festival is close to my heart, and having discovered the soaper in me recently, I wanted to make modak soaps to mark the occasion," she said. To make this bath product resemble the sweet dumpling, Gupte has used turmeric powder for that yellow tinge, shea butter for a white hue and vanilla body oil for aroma. If you wish to bathe with modak sud this season, head to @handcraftedsoapsbykadambari.

Look ma, it's a peacock!

Every once in a while, your routine or job, which may start seeming banal, is broken by an uplifting sight. For tourist taxi driver Anwar Palte who ferries people from Neral to Matheran and back, it was bingo. Palte spotted a peacock between Neral and Juma Patti. "I have seen peacocks before in this place but have not had the time to capture them on the phone. Last morning, I got my chance. The passengers too were thrilled," said Palte. The Matheran WhatsApp chats were abuzz with: is it a peacock or peahen? The verdict? A peacock, said the experts but possibly not a fully-grown one. For Palte, whose daughter always asked him to bring pictures of peacocks he claimed to see on the drive, it was: walk the talk and bring home a picture of the peacock.