Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Gully boysA batsman stretches to reach his crease in a game of gully cricket at Thakurdwar in GirgaonDhake Dhake fixit for this felineWhile most of Dhake Colony in Azad Nagar Andheri West was enjoying a relaxed Sunday some Good Samaritans of the landmark housing society along with Mumbai fire brigade marshals and one Arif Khan owner of New Life Watch Repairs in Azad Nagar mdash who this diarist shall dub as Man of the Match mdash were involved in a cat rescueFirefighters oversee the rescue right the tree on which the cat was trappedDhake Colony chairman Anand Shirali stated with a laugh that this cat a familiar sight in the neighbourhood ldquohad some high aspirations in life but failed to gauge ground realityrdquo On Sunday it managed to scale a coconut tree in the colony to a twostorey height but then was stuck there unable to come down The struggling feline was spotted by resident Nikita Sachdev after which operation cat rescue beganIn came the hero Khan who volunteered to get on to the parapet with a harness to try and rescue the poor creature While different colony residents were watching participating and commenting on the goings on with watchman Pintu doubling as videographer Khan effected the rescue as efficiently and clinically as Indiarsquos cricket victory against South Africa on Sunday The colonyrsquos man of the match was finally successful after a 50minute operation Several colony residents were happy to share cookies all around as their resident feline was brought down safely putting the wow into the meowReturn to the canvasChoudhari with a canvas right an artwork of Lord Shiva from the seriesWhile many give up on their artistic dreams under the burden of professional stress the joint commissioner GST Maharashtra Nidhi Choudhari is set to host an exhibition at the NESCO grounds in Goregaon East as part of the Haat of Art festival from November 9 ldquoMy first introduction to art began with sketching and colouring for a Hindi newspaper competition as a childrdquo recalled the former collector of Mumbai suburban region Having restarted her tryst with the canvas in 2019 she said ldquoI do things consistently and persistently I know that I donrsquot have as much time to paint as others but I have tried to paint every week even if itrsquos for half an hourrdquoAn abstract painting of Lord Ganesha that will be part of the exhibitionThe IAS officer held the first exhibition of her works in January this year and is already in talks with galleries in Delhi and Kolkata for solo shows in the future The weekend show will feature portraits of Lord Shiva Ganesha and Goddess Kali painted after her recent visits to Char Dham in June she said ldquoSince the exhibition is coming up closer to Diwali most of the paintings on display are those of Lord Ganeshardquo Choudhari told this diaristRocking BeatzA moment from the performanceWhatrsquos more rock and roll than children belting out big notes at a rock concert The Beatz Crew from Kanakia International School Chembur showcased their hardcore side at Mahindra Independence Rock in Mumbai over the weekend The performance was a pleasant surprise especially when the choir was joined by children from the Project Nanhi Kali Foundation which works towards educating underprivileged girls in India Speaking about the performance conductor Felix Hug shared ldquoFor the first time we performed a Hindi song Zinda and Stick it to the man from the Hollywood musical School of Rock 2003 Zinda was suggested by the kids itrsquos the type of music they listen to It came naturally to them From the first guitar riff the crowd recognised the song and supported the kids people in the front row began headbanging toordquo With nearly 50 performers including young instrumentalists the choir certainly chose the right location to make their mark