Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Oh to be a phoolA woman sells an array of braided blooms at the Dadar flower marketMarolrsquos cypher crew gets on filmA short documentary on Marolrsquos Rap Cypher mdash the Sunday freestyle ritual in Marol Art Village mdash is now live on YouTube shining a light on its beatboxer Tash and peers from the local scene Shot by Showstopper Network the documentary hosted by Milind Mehta takes you through the cypher sessions in Marol Therersquos raw energy underground rappers making videos on phone cameras rap in Marathi Punjabi English and an infectious passion throughout the filmTashThe 16minute film tracks the cypher circle that has been laying it down every weekend mdash no stage no tickets just rappers poets and the freedom to flow Tasheer Khan aka Tash the founder of the cypher is excited to have his peers on film ldquoThis project means the world to me It captures our journey our love for hiphop and the real energy of the underground scene wersquove been building from scratchrdquo he saysFor the next generation of rappers and beatmakers this documentary is a nudge to be a part of the Mumbai rap and hiphop scene And a reminder that there are folks who can help support and train them to be better As Tash puts it ldquoIt uplifts every local artist trying to make their voice heardrdquoGreig on the write lineManchester where India play their next Test against England in the AndersonTendulkar Trophy on Wednesday is where popular England allrounder Tony Greig made a splendid Test debut two matchwinning halfcenturies and five wickets against the Australians in 1972Tony Greig PICGetty ImagesThe departed crowd favourite shouldnrsquot be forgotten for his cricketing deeds as well commentary ldquoThey are dancing in the aislesrdquo he loved exclaiming on air to describe a crowdloving moment of play Greig was also a forthright writer When hosts Australia lost five games in the league phase of the 198283 triangular series also involving England and New Zealand Greig spoke his mind in his Australian Cricket magazine columnHerersquos what he wrote ldquoThe Australian selectors must wield the axe Rod Marsh should be chopped for Queenslandrsquos Ray Phillips Jeff Thomson is far too inaccurate and expensive and I read with interest where Geoff Lawson told Australian Cricket magazine he thinks oneday games are ldquocowboy gamesrdquo Sack him too and find someone who likes being a cowboy Letrsquos bring in players like Bruce Yardley Trevor Chappell or Ken MaCleay men who can bat and bowl And letrsquos not forget Kepler Wessels Itrsquos time he went back to Shield cricket to work out his leg stump weakness Drop him and recall the fasterscoring Graeme WoodrdquoAlthough Greigrsquos concerns were valid Australia went on to win the triangular series by beating New Zealand in the best of three finals However they underperformed in the 1983 World Cup which they kicked off with a shock loss to ZimbabweBringing in Tyeb Mehtarsquos birthdayTyeb Mehta and Sakina Mehta Pic courtesyThe archives of Tyeb MehtaThe coming week marks an important anniversary for the art world mdash Tyeb Mehtarsquos birth centenary on July 26 mdash and the whorsquos who of the cityrsquos art fraternity is expected to join celebrations at Jehangir Art Gallery on July 26 Organised by The Tyeb Mehta Foundation and Saffronart Foundation one of the highlights of the evening is the release of a limitededition portfolio of 13 prints by the feted modernist handpicked by his wife Sakina Mehta In addition scholarships will be announced for students of Sir JJ School of Art The grants will be offered to two students In addition in honour of 100 years of Mehtarsquos legacy the Foundation has planned a series of programmes through the year Herersquos to the birthday boyLittle hands for the planetKids can learn about Earth from these books PICISTOCKParents are you wondering how to explain climate change to your little ones And what they and you can do about it The Centre for Science and Environmentrsquos environment educational set of books can help your child learn about the environment waste management healthy food etc Sounds boring Not really mdash there are colouring books fun stories and activity journals making it powerful learning toolkit designed to nurture critical thinking environmental awareness and scientific curiosity in students from primary to senior secondary levels Each book is built around reallife challenges which can help students develop critical thinking and the motivation to act The books are aligned with NEP 2020 and NCERT guidelines and the group activities will take your kids beyond rote learning You can get them at csestorecseorginTime for some solesearchingMalini with her father Mohan MansukhaniThe Kolhapuri chappal and controversy made unlikely sole mates pun intended recently when the humble footwear and Italian luxury fashion brand Prada made headlines The latter acknowledged being inspired by the footwear for its sandals featured in the recent menrsquos SpringSummer 2026 collection There was significant slamming for a failure first to acknowledge the similarity to Kolhapuri chappals A blitzkrieg of opinions followed Dr Malini Mansukhani Laud who manages Mumbairsquos iconic 75 yearold Navyug footwear store at Prathana Samaj next to HN Reliance Hospital in SoBo gussies up the humble footwear she said ldquowith snazzy colours so that we reach a younger demographic What the Prada controversy brought inadvertently maybe was visibility for the humble Kolhapuri We get our footwear stitched never pasted and source from places like Kolhapur Neral Wai We also buy directly from the craftsmen eliminating the middlemanrdquo said Laud who added ldquoWe should now concentrate on a much younger demographic This should be a springboard to bring the Kolhapuri to young feetrdquo she added while acknowledging that Navyug founder her grandfather Gangaram Mansukhani and then her father Mohan Mansukhani who held the reins till he passed away last year would have been mighty amused at the Kolhapuri Prada fashion bit of a raada ldquoPure leather stitched footwear desi indigenous craftsmanship We have been doing that for years they would have laughedrdquo Laud signed off with a chuckle