Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Farewell ShivshahirBabasaheb Purandare PicAshish RaneNoted historianwriter and Padma Vibhushan Babasaheb Purandare passed away in Pune on Monday at the age of 99 An authority on warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji and hence called Shivshahir or Shivajirsquos bard his death has left a void in the fraternity of historylovers As tributes poured in Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray declared a state funeral for the historian Dr Sonali Pednekar principal Mulund College of Commerce and former HOD History Vaze College remarked that he was a person who was able to recreate the narrative of the past in a manner that was academic and appealing to the layperson ldquoThis was achieved through extensive indepth study by the erudite scholar he was always able to enthrall the audience without distorting history He never took creative libertiesrdquo she told usRecollecting her experience of listening to his speeches Dr Pednekar shared that Purandare was not just a storehouse of knowledge but also an iconic speaker ldquoItrsquos very rare and difficult for a historian to have a scholarly approach and yet make his study equally interesting Over the years wersquove advised our students to read his works as well as listen to his talks For a good historian or history teacher it is very important to be able to capture the attention of your audience mdash engage in voice modulation build up that storytelling and make them relive the events of the past which Babasaheb did brilliantlyrdquoMedical care the Parsi wayConsidering that several facilities at Bycullarsquos Masina Hospital had been developed decades ago the administration is upgrading their operation theatres OT which will now be equipped with stateoftheart modern provisions Along with the modernised OT complex the hospital will also inaugurate a Parsi ward ldquoA need was felt to provide highend medical services and stay facilities to our dedicated Parsi patients it being a Parsi Trust Hospital The idea is to provide this infrastructure in a Parsicentric environment coupled with the famous community cuisine within the parameters of hospital diet This will be unique as there is no exclusive Parsi facility attached to a multispecialty tertiary care hospital with all services under one roofrdquo its joint CEO Behram Khodaiji told usEat like a MaharashtrianWhat lengths can one go to to accurately represent the cuisine of a community in a film This diarist recently learned that for his upcoming film Cobalt Blue directorwriter Sachin Kundalkar roped in Punebased caterer Meena Paranjape as a food consultant ldquoKundalkar is very particular about authenticity in his works including the food that is being shown The film portrays a Maharashtrian family living in Kochi I cooked the food for the family along with help from the hotel staff where I was staying in Fort Kochirdquo she shared From daily fare like varanbhat roti and sabzi to ukadiche modak thalipeeth and sabudana wada she cooked up a storm for the shoots ldquoEach community also has a specific way of plating For instance among us the chutney is on the top left side of the plate below which is koshimbir and then papad with rice in the middle Kundalkar wanted me to maintain thatrdquo she addedA still from Cobalt BlueJaipur Lit Fest takes the hybrid roadArundhathi Subramaniam and Dr Shashi Tharoor are among the speakersIn a hattip to the social distancing norms mandated by the pandemic and an effort to make the festival more inclusive the 15th edition of the annual Jaipur Literature Festival will adopt a hybrid format While the onground events are scheduled for January 28 to February 1 at Hotel Clarks Amber Jaipur the virtual sessions will extend till February 6 The recentlyreleased list of speakers includes poet and author Arundhathi Subramaniam Delhibased vascular and endovascular surgeon and writer Dr Ambarish Satwik and member of parliament and author Dr Shashi Tharoor Namita Gokhale its codirector said ldquoWe look forward to welcoming booklovers and friends from the literary community The intense pleasures of shared energies and realtime conversations will be enhanced by the infinite possibilities of digital connectivity across continents and time zonesrdquoRolling backThe Museum on Wheels bus in Alibaug over the weekendThe Museum on Wheels that the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS runs in association with Citibank is back in business after the pandemic The bus that houses it travelled to Alibaug over the weekend where children associated with the NGO SOS had a field day soaking in the exhibits for In Tune The Journey from Sound to Music which the travelling museum is hosting at present Vaidehi Savnal assistant curator of international relations at CSMVS told this diarist that the bus will roll out only for short distances in the near future since they want to proceed cautiously given that the pandemic restrictions still havenrsquot been lifted entirely ldquoThere are lots of protocols that we have to follow like visitors being sanitised and limited people entering the bus at one timerdquo she added