Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

Handle with care

Putting up a balancing act, a squirrel carefully sits on a bicycle handle at Shivaji Park

Big change on our small plate

Bombay Bhukkad, a local site for small food businesses, wants to integrate sidelined players from the food and beverage sector. Tanmay Bahulekar, the site's founder, announced that every time people eat from/at a small food joint, Bombay Bhukkad would reimburse the bill. "They must submit unedited video footage of their experience and we will publish that video on our social media handles. By small-scale businesses, we mean home chefs, specialised kitchens, home bakers and pop vendors," he shared, adding that crowdsourced video content allows for myriad perspectives on food.

It's all in your mind

Like many others, this diarist often wonders if there's a way to be successful without burning oneself out. Graphologist and high performance coach, Aditi Surana believes there is. The founder of the country's first mental gym called APT, is set to celebrate the half-year birthday of her gym with a brand new podcast, Daily Mental Fit Bit. This fitbit implores you to spend three minutes every day to build a toolbox of mental hacks. The podcast will help you find a step-by-step method to deal with piling stress, anxiety and an overactive restless mind. Scheduled for launch on January 7, Surana said the idea behind the audio series is to have a daily mental workout and emotional diet for our minds. "One doesn't need to invest a lot of time in this, but the awareness to make it a habit is necessary. We will also be compiling our old conversations with high performers where they've spoken about their mental struggles; the format will be new. Our outlook will be to help people with daily hindrances such as overthinking and stress," Surana elaborated. The coach, who has worked with over 20,000 people in the past 18 years, has mastered a knack for making you reflect on your challenges. She shared with this diarist that pausing and reflecting allows people to make the changes they always thought were too difficult to be adopted.

Walk down Madanpura's nostalgic lanes

A picture of Salim-Javed that will be displayed at the exhibition

Madanpura, a place that reeks of nostalgia around cinema, will host a photo exhibition at its Urdu Markaz Hall to celebrate National Screenwriters Day that is observed on January 5. The display will be open between today and January 5. Titled Jadooee Kalam, it will discuss the legacy of Hindustani film writers, especially in Bollywood. Commenting on the need for such events, advocate Zubair Azmi, director at the hall, said, "It reminds present day writers of our rich film heritage. I don't think screenwriters got their due. At this exhibition we will look at the work of stalwarts such as Wajahat Mirza, Kamal Amrohi, Salim Ali and Javed Akhtar, and many more. It will be a walk through film history." The physical event is free for all, as Azmi wants more individuals to take an active interest in the Urdu language and culture.

Let's talk science and conservation

On-screen learning can expand the gamut of interactive experiences for kids. The third edition of India Science Festival (January 8 to 23), titled Continuum, aims to engage participants in meaningful scientific dialogue. This event will cover diverse topics like the science in cooking. Krithi Karanth, chief conservation scientist and director at Bengaluru's Centre for Wildlife Studies, said, "It is exciting to see the fest's organisers focus on science, creative arts and life." Karanth will be speaking on the topic, Are Tigers Man-eaters? Those keen to sign up, can check out @indiasciencefest on Instagram.

An ideal title

Author Kunal Basu - known for novels like Kalkatta and his short story collection, The Japanese Wife - released his latest novel yesterday. It follows Sarojini's Mother, released in 2020, and is called In an Ideal World. The plot follows the story of a compassionate and humanist couple with a son, who has developed nationalist tendencies. He is implicated in the disappearance of a Muslim boy. Pick up the novel to trace that couple's journey in finding out the truth behind the Muslim youth's disappearance in order to absolve their son of the crime.