Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Bipin Kokate

Sea of calm

Three women get photographed while practising yoga at Marine Drive on Tuesday.

Biryani bosses

The biryani, like pulao, is a multi-faceted dish that can take on many different avatars. And the folks behind online food platform Culinary Culture are now calling on home chefs, food bloggers and other passionate foodies to come up with their own twist to the dish, for a contest where the winner gets a cool '1 lakh. All you have to do is recreate a hatke version of either rice dish, take a scrumptious photograph, write a caption that says why the twist is special to you, and put it up on Instagram. The eclectic jury includes chef Vineet Bhatia, actor Huma Qureshi and photographer Atul Kasbekar. Interested? Pay a visit to @culinarycultureco on Instagram.

Borivali's IC Colony goes global

The quaint Catholic-dominated region of IC Colony in Borivali has got a unique symbol synonymous with its residents. On Monday, a 12-foot ‘Immaculate Conception' globe was inaugurated by Fr Gerald Fernandes, parish priest of IC church, along with ex-corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar and his wife, Tejasvee. "Most families in IC Colony have someone abroad - in the Gulf, Europe, the US, etc. This globe portrays IC Colony's global nature," Ghosalkar told this diarist. "This iron globe denotes the strength of the three virtues - goodness, beauty and trust - on which every religion is based," added Fr Gerald.

Give a hoot about this

The illegal trading of dusky eagle owls is common in India

What's common to these owl species - rock eagle, brown fish, dusky eagle, collared scops and mottled wood? They are among those that are illegally traded the most in India, according to conservation NGO TRAFFIC. We are a country where superstitions about the bird reign supreme. Tantriks, for example, prescribe the use of different body parts of an owl, such as the skull, claws, egg shells and heart, for various religious rituals. This is one major reason behind the increasing scale of illegal owl trading. Thus, to highlight this menace and suggest ways to curb it, TRAFFIC has joined hands with WWF India to organise a webinar today, which is International Day of Owl Awareness, where experts will address the subject. These experts include WWF India CEO Ravi Singh; Dr Saket Badola, head, TRAFFIC; and Dr Dhananjai Mohan, director, Wildlife Institute of India. "The webinar will highlight issues related to poaching and trafficking of owls for superstitious rituals in India," Badola informed. Log on to either organisation's Facebook page to catch it live at 10.30 am.

A box full of stories

Education platform Parag has launched its 2021 edition of the Parag Honour List Book Box, an open-call initiative that awards NGOs, home libraries, schools and learning centres with a curated list of books that come in a set of 20 titles, in both English and Hindi. This year, the applications will close on August 31 and selected names will receive their collections by the end of September. Nikhil Shetty, director of Upkram Educational Foundation, the recipient of last year's box, shared, "We have used the books as part of our Jhola Library collection, a mobile community library. It involves engaging children in small groups with a focused reading hour, storytelling, read-aloud activities and book talks." Visit www.paragreads.in to register your organisation.

Rest in peace, Jaideep

The good ones sometimes leave way too soon. Jaideep Khare - or ‘JD' - was a Punekar who used to manage seminal indie act Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ) around a decade ago. This week, he died of a heart attack. Khare was only 32. This diarist had met him in Mumbai - a city he would frequent over the weekends to meet friends - and is witness to the outpouring of grief from all quarters, India and abroad, over WhatsApp messages, calls and social media. "Brutal bloody year," messaged TAAQ front man Bruce Lee Mani, while others recalled his kind heart and warm persona. But most had one common refrain while condoling his death - "I am still processing the loss." That's how they unanimously described their emotions, their feelings about JD, one of the good ones who left before his time had come.