Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Friends in needWith COVID cases on the rise again going to a barber may not be a safe choice But one BEST bus conductor whose family has his own barber shop has a solution He cuts his colleaguesrsquo hair at the Kandivli bus depot for a discounted rateMumbai NGO gets international shoutoutApni Shala a Mumbai nonprofit that works with children and educators is earning laurels for their approach towards mental health A podcast produced by the Chicago School of Professional Psychology has dedicated an entire episode to discuss the work done by the NGO during the pandemic ldquoBefore the outbreak Dr Breeda McGrath PhD Associate Campus Dean Online at the Chicago institute happened to visit us and was impressed with our promotive and preventive mental health strategyrdquo says Rohit Kumar CEO Apni Shala Foundation In the podcast he talks about his experiences with the education system and the need for mental health support at schoolNew year new dreamsArpana Gvalani is set to move to the next chapter of her life The founder of Bandrarsquos popular Gostana restaurant has a new venture on the cards this year A little birdie told this diarist that Gvalani is soon going to launch Acoustic Flavors When this diarist spoke to Gvalani she said ldquoGostana started out when I was already 12 years into the hospitality industry I have been a part of the hospitality industry for which I studied and trained in Australia The work culture which I inherited was to always be hands on casual but precise and make work fun I guess thatrsquos what made the spot a popular hangout with a relaxed ambience and delish burgers I took a break as I had worked nonstop for 12 years Last year I started my own recipe video channel Arpanarsquos Cooking on You Tube The next step was to start a delivery kitchen This is a small start with a weekly curated dining menu and a few of my signature dips and spreadsrdquoSilver jubilee celebrations for Kenyan cricketThe Kenyan cricket team celebrate their win over the West Indies at Pune on February 29 1996 PicMIDDAY ARCHIVESYesterday was 25 years since Mumbai hosted its first floodlit oneday international mdashthe India v Australia 1996 World Cup gamemdashat the Wankhede Stadium The match was an exciting one and Australia ended up with the bragging rights The Kenyans will soon celebrate 25 years of their greatest ODI winmdasha February 29 upset victory over the mighty West Indiesmdashin the same tournament at Pune There was more interest in the Pakistan v South Africa game at Karachi that day but all attention shifted to the Nehru Stadium in Pune as the Kenyans threatened to bowl out West Indies despite putting up only 166 Ultimately Kenya stunned the twotime world champions by 73 runs Midday did not miss out on opportunities to provide its readers with a plethora of exclusive stories The main scoop was accompanying victorious Kenyan captain Maurice Odumbe to his hotel room for an interview as soon as the team bus landed at Blue Diamond Odumbe opened his room to a flood of congratulatory calls and messages from all over the world The last question in our interview was about how he planned to celebrate this victory ldquoWe are going to get pissedrdquo he said Letrsquos just say the mood did justice to the achievementVaccination onthegoVijay CavaleIn an attempt to ensure speedy administering of the COVID19 vaccine a Mumbai resident Vijay Cavale has launched a crowdfunding campaign for a firstofitskind mobile vaccination clinic on wheels on the Impact Guru website Cavale has even identified a vehicle and is currently in talks with a manufacturer The ambulance which he calls mVAC would include a small cold storage refrigeration unit for storing of the vaccines in low temperatures for up to 48 hours at a stretch and a capacity of up to four staff or healthcare professionals along with all other required functional fit outsThe mVAC ambulanceHe is looking to raise Rs 25 lakh and believes that the van could eventually be used to administer vaccines in far flung regions especially the rural and hilly areas ldquoThis pandemic has battered our spirits perhaps more than our bodies and it is time for everyonenot just the governmentto be a part of the drive to bounce back to normalcy Crowdfunding activates and empowers the belief that lsquoI can make a differencersquo A small personal financial contribution forwarding the message to onersquos peers is all the action required to move a few mountainsrdquo Cavale told this diaristBreaking gender stereotypes one boy at a timeBoyish founded by engineerturnedcreativemaker Rajat Mittal is bringing to us an 11part essay series which brings to light different stereotypes that Indian boys often have to deal with and then tells the story of a successful individual who defied them Mittal interviewed 11 Indian men who have broken into and excelled in traditionally nonmasculine fields ranging from ballet dancer Manish Chauhan to makeup artist Elton Fernandez Before Boyish Mittal has also coauthored books like Menstrupedia Friendly guide to healthy periods and two editions of She Can You Can The AZ Book of Iconic Indian Women ldquoBy working on projects focused on education and empowerment of girls I slowly began to realise that gender stereotypes hurt not just girls but boys as well This is honestly why I created Boyish With Boyish my aim is to unlearn my own conditioning and to invite others to think more deeply about masculinity and how we raise boys in Indiardquo says Mittal Through the series Mittal hopes that readers can discover newer role models and also realise that in todayrsquos world our lives should not be limited by the genders we were born with Boyish can be subscribed to for free by visiting boyishin