The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Free Wheeling
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Two children show off their bicycle stunt skills at Tilak Nagar, Chembur.
Missing the cafe
This Kalaghoda eatery was a favoured hangout that sported a mix of patrons, from mother-daughter duos catching afternoon tea, to septuagenarian friends meeting for a tete-a-tete and white-collared folks brainstorming over work. For many, Fab Cafe was a picturesque oasis of calm in busy, chaotic Fort. In the mood for a quiet Sunday lunch, this diarist and her companion got a rude shock when a staffer informed that the popular adda had been shut since last year’s lockdown and is unlikely to reopen. The Tardeo outlet, we were told, was operational. With Cafe Samovar being long shut, Pantry no longer in its brick-and-mortar avatar, and Kalaghoda Cafe still doing only takeaway deliveries, the hunt for a relaxed cuppa in this SoBo neighbourhood will need some serious R&D.
Bandra’s eco-friendly clean-up act
Last January, dismayed by the sight of locals dumping garbage into Bandra Talao, Sanket Jalgaonkar and Gaurav More, founders of Clean Sweeps, rolled up their sleeves and cleaned the lake.
“Over six months, we removed more than 1,500 kg of plastic with the help of volunteers. Our efforts were amplified by the BMC. We are now working on cleaning up the mangroves along Carter Road and Chimbai over the weekends. This was our second week,” shared Jalgaonkar. To volunteer, contact 8652646064.
Help is a call away
Last week, Mumbai-based NGO Khaana Chahiye launched a WhatsApp helpline chatbot, which enables citizens to reach out for support with groceries. The bot delivers services in Hindi, Marathi and English. “People can reach out to us or report families in distress. Once they let us know, we deliver grocery kits. These include items like rice, flour, oil, pulses and more. There are 15 items in total,” said Neeraj Shetye of Khaana Chahiye. To use the service, message 7669800470 on WhatsApp.
Of dosas and Dravid’s gyaan
Pics/Twitter
Even as the Indian cricket team locks horns with its English counterparts and battles the notoriously erratic British weather, the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis has been taking this opportunity to share his insights into the culture, cuisine and language of his host nation. While on a visit to Bengaluru, he shared a photo of himself savouring the Mysuru masala dosa, and posted a poll inquiring about the best way to devour the Southern delicacy.
With Twitter weighing in, he switched to his hands and reported satisfactory results. In keeping with the flavour of the season, he also enlisted the help of Indian cricketers, including India A team coach, Rahul Dravid, to learn a few cricket-related expressions in Kannada and Hindi.
Beer with us
News that Old Monk, a name synonymous with dark rum and nostalgia, has ventured into beer has taken social media by storm. Beer lover Chatty Girija, who also runs a podcast on the beverage, had a mixed response.
“Old Monk will always be dark rum for the majority of Indians. I would like to try it out, just because the brand has so much nostalgic value for me. With eight per cent ABV, it’s likely to be well-received in the Indian market,” she told us.
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