Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pictureperfect PoornimaA woman in traditional Koli attire squeezes in a quick selfie between Narali Poornima celebrations at Madh JettySmells like green spiritA moment from the sensory trail in Goregaon PIC COURTESYSAHAMumbairsquos green lungs are turning inclusive thanks to the neurodiverse community SAHA Earlier this week a special trail at the BNHS Nature Reserve in collaboration with the Roots Forest School saw participants make a splash in streams and smell fresh blooms of flowers amidst the sound of rain SAHA cofounder Aarti Parikh told this diarist ldquoChildren loved getting their hands dirty in the soil while studying earthworms and fungi They were given a bag and told to collect items along the trail At the end kids had to smell the items they had collected before putting them back on the groundrdquo To keep an eye on upcoming trails log on to saha_togethernessPaean to a paanwalaTaking time off venting about the messy chaos that marks their trafficclogged street Breach Candy residents are engaged in exchanging fond memories of 60yearold Ramesh Thadani of Om Cold amp Sweet Paan who passed away earlier this week The picture of humility though popular enough to have his OG meetha paan packed worldwide for loyalists who swore by his cold concoctions alone he would philosophically say possibly referring to Muchhad Paanwala located metres away from his little alcove ldquoI donrsquot believe in competition At the end it is you your karma and your naseebrdquoA dated photograph of Ramesh Thadani at Om Cold amp Sweet Paan on Warden Road FILE PICATUL KAMBLEExiles from Sindh his father Bhagwandas Prataprai Thadani and his elder brother Sundarlal Prataprai first reached Ahmedabad in 1947 In Bombay a year later they settled at SS Nagar in Sion before arriving at Breach Candy ldquoBahut bhari time tha mdash we underwent the toughest timesrdquo Ramesh had shared in an early interview with Sunday midday columnist Meher MarfatiaBorn in Nanik Niwas where the Thadanis set up their stall opposite Tata Garden he often declared ldquoMy shop is my templerdquo Hailing everyone with a hearty ldquoHari Omrdquo he was always greeted likewise in turn ldquoMuslim customers make it a point to wish me with a lsquoHari Omrsquo which is wonderfulrdquo he had said handing one of them with a respectful bow of the head an adroitly folded aromatic bundle of khuskhus sauf kopra gulkand and gulab ki patti sourced from Shah Kunverji Khimraj amp Co at Gol Deval in Null Bazaar ldquoHum sub ek hain aur aap hain gentlemanrdquo pronounced his happy customerThe Ambani snack stopoverAnil Ambani grabs a quick bite at the Fort cafeRecently during a quick evening snack halt at Poornima the popular South Indian eatery in Fort a mini flurry took over the otherwise factorylike ambience that is a regular among office goers in the business district Clad in a crisp light pink shirt and formal trousers business tycoon Anil Ambani briskly walked past us looking fit as ever as he made a dash to the mezzanine section where he settled down for a snack with his acquaintances No paps no army of bodyguards and no entourage of glitzy cars parked outside When we enquired with the owner he revealed that the business baron drops by occasionally while in the neighbourhood With his brother being a regular patron of Cafeacute Mysore in Matunga itrsquos clear that both siblings take their South Indian fare seriouslyA Braj poet arrives in PuneWhile the debate on linguistic pride heats up Ashwin Chitale aka Afraad below is bringing the story of Kavi Bhushan the court poet of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to Pune this month A National Awardwinning child artiste and linguist Chitale was first fascinated by Kavi Bhushanrsquos use of chugaan mdash a Persian word for Polo mdash to describe the politics of the time ldquoHe Kavi Bhushan was a poet from Varanasi who wrote in Braj Bhasha and Persian in the court of the Marathasrdquo shared the artiste who will soon bring the work to MumbaiChange in sightBeneficiaries of the initiative PIC COURTESYFRST FOUNDATIONThe erratic monsoon is looking a tad less intimidating for Mumbairsquos visually impaired residents this year Special highvisibility reflective raincoats conceptualised by Frst Foundation have reached homes for blind across the city ldquoA large number of motoristpedestrian accidents involve individuals with visual impairment We sat down with the community to understand their grievances and came up with the raincoats Wersquove also ditched the manwithastick iconography for a more stylish logordquo founder Fateh Randhawa told this diarist Those keen to know more can log on to frstfoundation