The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Stache it away
After a shoot, actor Varun Dhawan twirls a security guard's moustache as Arbaaz Khan enjoys the moment before a selfie. Pic/Satej Shinde
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Pic/Suresh Karkera
When Mona set the ramp on fire
It was a sartorial extravaganza unlike any you would see at a fashion week. For its fashion show, Varnam, by their graduating class, SoBo's SPJ Sadhana School for children with special needs invited actors Mona Singh and Arjan Bajwa to walk the ramp, and they looked drop-dead gorgeous in their attires. Rakshanda Khan hosted the event that was conceptualised and directed of fashion designer Krishna Mehta. "The students have been helped to play with an array of hues under the guidance of their teachers. They want to be liked, appreciated and to be respected for their individuality," principal Fionika Sanghvi said.
The knives are finally out
You're entitled to laugh if someone uses ardent quotes around responsibility with respect to the job of a food writer. But the truth is, it isn't easy getting away when someone gets a bad tummy after eating at an eatery you gave a five-star rating to. It's food, and unlike politics, it's for everyone. So, when Rashmi Uday Singh and Vir Sanghvi sparred on Instagram yesterday, it became a no-holds-barred war of opinions. The hot topic was, as Singh called it, the "Oscars of Asian gastronomy," aka Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards where Manish Mehrotra's Indian Accent bagged the accolade as India's best. It was also the sole representative from the country. This irked Sanghvi who spoke about the need to recognise new talent. The battle that ensued included everything from jibes to straight-out accusations, with Garima Arora leaving a passive comment and Gaggan Anand calling for introspection.
Many valid points were raised along the way, but it also left this diarist mulling over the irony of the situation. Even in 2019, some of our most-acclaimed food critics seldom spare even a line in their writings to hail bright young hands in the kitchen. A glance through the column space utilised for their culinary escapades will reveal that it features only the crème de la crème. And that's why folks, we'd rather rely on the greatness of the food, than that of the critic.
India's richest book prize is back
The first edition of the JCB Prize for Literature kicked off last year and Malyalam author Benyamin bagged the inaugural award worth Rs 25 lakh for Jasmine Days - making it India's richest literary award. This week, the organisers announced the jury for the second edition and members include noted economist and former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian (in pic), as well as novelists Anjum Hasan, KR Meera, Parvati Sharma and filmmaker Pradip Kishen. With a diverse jury, we can only expect an eclectic literary lead-up to D-day.
Stamping their presence
In a world where mail means email and the red letterbox is on the verge of extinction, a postal stamp and cover is delightfully quaint. Founded by YK Sapru, the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) reached a milestone yesterday, completing 50 years dedicated to total cancer management.
C Vidyasagar Rao, Maharashtra Governor, unveils the postal stamp
To mark the occasion, C Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra, unveiled the CPAA postal stamp cover at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Swati Pandey, Postmaster General, Mumbai Region and Sapru. We like how this half-century has been immortalised, and the fight against The Emperor of all Maladies, as Siddhartha Mukherjee's prize-winning book on the disease says, has been recognised.
Work for peanuts
Here's some good news if you live in or around Bandra and are looking for a workspace in the suburbs. Adagio - a musical store in the neighbourhood that strives to hark back to an analogue era in a world that is getting increasingly digitised - is opening up its basement as a co-working space for a relatively small sum of Rs 2,500 a month. That's peanuts compared to what some of the other, fancier places charge.
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