Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Divine serviceAn idol of Goddess Lakshmi in a shop at Lalbaug market on Margashirsha Thursday when Lakshmi Puja is conductedBowl a guava googlyThe humble peru or guava is enjoying its last days now with the season spinning towards its end A Bandra resident known just as ldquoDee Kayrdquo is enjoying the fruits of his labour or of the season with guava amongst several fruit trees in his terrace garden at home Said Dee Kay ldquoEach guava is bigger than a cricket ball I planted this in a pot a couple of years ago and it has pride of place in my terrace gardenrdquo Dee Kay said he kept some for himself and distributed the guavas among those he knows who like them Whether you enjoy it plain or with with salt and chilli powder the fruit which shares its name with a South American country grown in a humble pot on a terrace garden in Mumbai has you saying ldquoGuava wah wahrdquo As for cricket balls Lob that guava across the terrace garden and call it a guava googlyThe collab we didnrsquot needPICINSTAGRAMANUVJAINSingersongwriter Anuv Jain recently faced backlash after a widely circulated video of his onstage collaboration with global music star Jacob Collier in Mumbai drew criticism for its lack of chemistry and allegedly offkey delivery The performance evoked sharp reactions from musicians and listeners alike with some calling it ldquoembarrassingrdquo and saying Jain is overrated and technically underwhelming as a live performer While fans continue to defend his emotionallydriven minimalist style the controversy has fuelled a wider conversation about musical standards and the rise of socialmedialed indie pop Music artist Chaar Diwaari wrote ldquoI donrsquot blame him meri bhi personally fatt jati Jacob ke samne tbh Even I would be scared in front of Jacob Collierrdquo Flutronic added ldquoI feel embarrassedrdquo Musician Shreya Jain commented ldquoWhyrdquo Meanwhile Mayur Jumani weighed in with ldquoThe only mistake was thinking this pairing made senserdquoItrsquos 10 years for Rahanersquos double treatAjinkya Rahane after scoring a century during the Colombo Test between India and Sri Lanka in August 2015 PICGETTY IMAGESIf you suddenly asked India and Mumbai batting stalwart Ajinkya Rahane where he was exactly 10 years ago today hersquod probably come up with a pleasant lsquoNo ideahellip whyrsquo response We can tell you that Rahane was lapping up the accolades for the role he played in Indiarsquos 337run win over South Africa at the Kotla in New Delhi He scored a hundred in each innings of the Test joining greats like Vijay Hazare Sunil Gavaskar Rahul Dravid and then teammate Virat Kohli in a distinguished group of Indians to accomplish such a feat Quite naturally Rahane took home the Player of the Match award as India ended the series 30 This feat and Rahanersquos overall ability reminds us what India are missing in their current ranks As for South Africa they were thoroughly defeated but their batsmen showed they could stick around and scrap away even in tough Indian conditions ESPNcricinfo tells us that SA battled for more than eight hours before India dismissed them for 143 in the last session of Day Five Their current skipper Temba Bavuma hung on for nearly three hours the previous day for his 117ball 34 as opener He wonrsquot probably forget the December 37 2015 Test easilyOn the other side of a love storyMilan VohraMilan Vohra the Bengaluru basedauthor who primarily writes romantic novels has ended up collecting the stories of broken hearts along the way in Heartbreak Unfiltered ndash Things Nobody Told You About Love Loss and Letting Go ldquoPeople often shared their real life stories oneonone with me on flights on trains Not just about a glossy love but all the highs and lows I knew I must write about the other side of loverdquo Vohra says ldquoI researched heartbreak for 10 years struck by how no one is spared this experience I spoke to experts and tracked the full relationship journey especially what came after that heartbreak It often led to such inspiring changes in the person People usually suffer silently from heartbreak unable to move on Heartbreak Unfiltered gives you an understanding and doable way to work through itrdquo she adds So if you want to know why heartbreak is so hard for you to get over pick up this readMon ami Miami was a roaring successA little birdie tells us that Indian art just had a major moment of pride at the Miami Art Week Not only did the Rajiv Menon Contemporary gallery sell out its entire booth in under 24 hours but collectors were queuing up to catch a glimpse of the exhibit The Missing Figure Comprising work by three artists Ahsan Javaid Ammama Malik and Sid Pattni the exhibit confronts migration colonial memory and gender politics with an unapologetic edge ldquoThe response was instant every piece was placed before the second day even openedrdquo says gallery founder Rajiv MenonVisitors at Miami Art Week gather to appreciate Rajiv Menon Contemporary galleryrsquos exhibitldquoThis is a cultural watershed moment Indian artists didnrsquot just lsquoshow uprsquo at Miami mdash they dominated it We havenrsquot seen this level of momentum for talent from the subcontinent at a major American art fair in years Miami Art Week is one of the most influential artmarket events in the world A sellout at a fair of this scale is more than commercial success mdash itrsquos cultural validation visibility and a signal that South Asian artists are shaping the international conversationrdquo