Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

The big allianceSumo wrestlers from Japan demonstrate their skill at the Gateway of India on Friday The event was held by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation to celebrate a decade of relations between Maharashtra and Wakayama Prefecture of Japan Chief Minister Eknath Shinde signed the MoU with the Governor of Wakayama Kishimoto Shuhei who said he hopes that the two states strengthen their ties in sports tooHey spectators would you like this at cricket groundsThe opening page of the souvenir programme made available to fans at Brabourne Stadium during the India v Australia Test in October 1964Across the forthcoming fourmatch India v Australia Test series played for the BorderGavaskar Trophy there will be only talk of redball cricket and arenrsquot the purists delighted Meanwhile our inhouse cricket nut informs us that in another era spectators would be at the cricket armed with transistors and a reasonablypriced scorecard sold to them before they reached their seats The opening day would have a blank scorecard obviously but come next day and the spectator could avail of an updated one with the previous dayrsquos details Our man pulled out one such scorecard originally belonging to a fan who was at the Brabourne Stadium to watch Day Two October 11 of the 196465 India v Australia Test To say this fourpage 58yearold publication is a treasure would be an understatement And therersquos some reason to believe that cricket fans would be delighted to add similar embellishments for their cricket followingAlso Read Mumbai Diary Friday DossierDifferent version but the same feelingMumbaibred LAbased musician Natania Lalwani is the woman behind the lyrics of the English version of Sun Maahi by singersongwriter Arman Malik and his composerbrother Amaan Mallik The original song in Hindi was released in November last year and it was only on Christmas day when Armaan and Lalwani got together to write the English version of the song within an hour ldquoI wanted to give the song a same feeling in English that it had in Hindirdquo says Lalwani Even though the song is not a literal translation Lalwani ensured she got the emotions right because she loved the Hindi song when she heard it ldquoWe wanted to capture the feeling of being in love the feeling that the person is there for you and the feeling of being so shocked by how great somebody isrdquo she says Apart from the English version Sun Maahi The EP also has an instrumental and a lofi mixWhen dessert pro turns to mixologyPastry chef and founder of Le 15 Pooja Dhingra who is widely known for her macarons and other delicious desserts is playing cocktail guru to mark Valentinersquos week From February 8 to 14 one can witness Dhingra sharing her love stories through a series of special cocktails aptly named The Situationship The Galentine The Mistake The Eternal Crush The Comfort Zone etc Is this a talent she always possessed ldquoI donrsquot often make the drinks I am normally used to experimenting in the kitchen but I am excited to explore the other side of thingsrdquo she told midday The names said Dhingra were a collaborative effort between her and the team at Woodside Inn where these drinks would be made available ldquoThe idea was to do something fun and personal but still relatablerdquo she says promising that these experimental cocktails have an element of her famed brand and will hit the right spot ldquoFrom fruity notes to chocolatey ones wersquove got something for every moodrdquo she adds Whether this mixology debut hits the high notes wersquoll have to seeFrom Gujarati verse to artHiral BhagatGujarati artist Hiral Bhagat who honed her calligraphy skills while she was in Mumbai is returning to the city for her debut show at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Her artworks titled Callikavya will be displayed outside Goethe Institute Her work draws inspiration from Gujarati poets Ramesh Parekh Snehrashmi and Niranjan Bhagat among others whose verse find its way into her calligraphy The attempt she says is to redefine calligraphy from a static decorative form of art into a versatile and abstract visual imbibed with cultural and existential reference ldquoThis extensive repertoire illustrates how typographically composed texts from poetry are transformed through designrdquo Bhagat shares adding ldquoI believe there is no movement of civilisation without writing no culture without artScript and writing will continue to enjoy a futuremdashin fact they are the futurerdquo