Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Duck and diveA young boy tries to catch a duck at Banganga Tank in Walkeshwar on SaturdayMan on a missionDr Ravikant Singh started Doctors For You doctorsforyouorg in 2007 when he was still a medical student at KEM Hospital Today he is regarded as the countryrsquos foremost medical relief specialists The NGOrsquos journey has been inspiring for budding medical professionals This week the NGO started its 33rd COVID19 hospital in Kanchipuram Tamil Nadu Dr Singh took to social media to share the good news saying ldquoCurrently more than 1100 doctors nurses and paramedical staff attached to the NGO are fighting this battle on ground We have started working on preparedness for the third wave of COVID19 and setting up oxygen plants on war footing Our plan is to set up atleast one dedicated centre to handle paediatric COVID19 cases in all major cities across IndiardquoSingh says ldquoWe have vaccinated about 110000 people and there is so much more that still needs to be done for the people of India We have only begunrdquoIndia had it coming with Greg ChappellPicGetty ImagesGreg Chappell was a fine batsman who rose to be an alltime great However he didnrsquot enjoy the same kind of success in his coaching career a prime example being the India coaching role which he performed from 2005 to 2007 The other day Chappell spoke his mind during a podcast chat on how difficult it was to coach India According to him the senior players resisted change and skipper Sourav Ganguly didnrsquot want to work hard There are two sides to a story but if there was an indication that things would be difficult under Chappell he provided it in an interview he gave this newspaper in April 2005 before he was appointed coach Chappell was then in India for the launch of his Cricket Down Under coaching programme On the topic of selection he remarked ldquoSelection is more than picking players Australia has done that very well We tapped Allan Border David Boon Steve Waugh Ian Healy on the shoulder Itrsquos all about dropping players and telling them that their time is up Thatrsquos going to be a big factor for Indian cricketrdquo Yes Chappell didnrsquot have a vote at selection meetings but he did have a good relationship with Kiran More who was chief selector for most of his tenure And yes More was mentioned in the podcastUsing influence to reach outThe pandemic has seen many lose their jobs Two standup comedians Rohan Joshi and Rahul Subramanian took to Instagram and LinkedIn to help They put up posts asking job seekers and recruiters to comment about the kind of role they were seeking ldquoThese are trying times for everyone As influencers I felt this was the least we could do Instagram has evolved into a platform that comes the closest to a persontoperson connectionrdquo Subramanian told this diaristSoon the posts got a lot of attention and the comment section was flooded with recruiters who were looking for everything from piano lessons to filling digital marketing positions ldquoWe really donrsquot know how many people actually got the job But some did They sent us messages thanking us So even if only a few applicants benefited from it that still gives us a sense of satisfaction that we were able to helprdquo says SubramanianGift yourself a free ebookAt a time when bad news related to COVID19 has become the norm a feelgood book might just help spread some cheer But with partial lockdowns across the country and most bookstores shut itrsquos going to be a while before we can go back to stocking our home libraries again To ensure that readers continue their reading journey irrespective Westland Books recently launched the campaign 31 Days 31 Free eBooks As part of the initiative The Kindle team along with the publishing house has decided to offer a book a day for free download during the month of May The campaign which launched on May 7 has seen an interesting mix of fiction and nonfiction published by Westland on sale with countless number of downloads every day ldquoBooks have been such a source of comfort and hope for all of us in difficult times we thought wersquod help make it easier for readers to access them Help lighten the load a little And itrsquos been wonderful to watch the responserdquo said Karthika VK publisher WestlandDancing in the ValleyArushi Nishank kathak dancer and daughter of education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recently appeared in a music video that has received over 80 million views on the YouTube channel of TSeries Shot in Kashmir Wafa Na Raas Aaye has been sung by Jubin Nautiyal and directed by Ashish Panda ldquoI wanted to upgrade my skills in acting so I enrolled at Whistling Woods And thatrsquos when this offer came byrdquo She says shooting in Kashmir in January was a challenge ldquoIt is extremely cold with temperatures going down to 17 C degrees The Dal Lake was frozen and it wasnrsquot easy shooting But we did it and now we can see the beauty of the songrdquo Nishank says she is prepping for an upcoming web series for Hotstar Kaphal