<h2>Early bird perks</h2>
A Painted Stork fishes in the shallow waters of the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/mumbai-civic-corporation-completes-replacement-of-old-pipeline-supplying-water-to-bhandup-treatment-plant--23607007" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Bhandup</a> Pumping Station wetlands
<h2>Bus routes and Bombay gupshup</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/Kiran-a_e.jpg" alt="Heta Pandit, Kiran Rao, Paul Fernandes, and Rahul Mehrotra" width="1280" height="720" /> Heta Pandit, Kiran Rao, Paul Fernandes, and Rahul Mehrotra; (right) Fernandes signs a copy on a tabletop of his illustrations
In a city that often gets a bad name for showing up fashionably late for events, the packed aPaulogy Gallery in <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/night-schools-in-mumbai-face-teacher-shortage-due-to-strict-allotment-rules-23607733" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Worli</a>, on a Sunday morning, made for a pleasantly surprising sight. Perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that two personalities who adore the city, the illustrator-writer duo of Paul Fernandes and Rahul Mehrotra, were in town for the launch of 11 Limited: Colaba to Bandra, Life in Mumbai.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/Bus-routes_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />
Hosted by Heta Pandit, historian, heritage scholar and former mid-day columnist, the book was released by filmmaker Kiran Rao amidst applause, laughs, renewed friendships, and chatter about everything from traffic jams to Turf Club goings-on, over wine and hors d&rsquo;oeuvres. The mini coffee table book is a treasure trove for cityphiles, with 29 stories and 285 illustrations inspired from halts and landmarks along this bus route between Colaba and Bandra East. Later, with a bit of prodding from this diarist, the heroes of the day, both extremely low-profile, revealed that another book is in the pipeline, based on stories and conversations around food in India. We&rsquo;re sure it will be a lip-smacking collaboration.
<h2>Just what the Ustad ordered</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/Ustad-a_e.jpg" alt="Ustad Zakir Hussain. FILE PIC/RANE ASHISH" width="1280" height="720" /> Ustad Zakir Hussain. FILE PIC/RANE ASHISH
On Ustad Zakir Hussain&rsquo;s first death anniversary yesterday, his love for a hearty Yakhni Dum Biryani, Fillet Mignon, and Brioche French Toast came alive through a tribute menu at Waarsa in <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai-guide/mumbai-food/article/cocktail-hour-in-sobo-a-nariman-point-favourite-shutters-after-13-years-to-make-way-for-a-classy-unrushed-cocktail-bar-23604175" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Nariman Point</a>.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/Chef-Rahul_e.jpg" alt="Chefs Mukhtar Qureshi and Rahul Akerkar" width="1280" height="720" /> Chefs Mukhtar Qureshi and Rahul Akerkar
&ldquo;I share a close bond with the maestro and his family. They have always cherished simple, home-style food. Ustad loved cooking and offering warm hospitality to those around him,&rdquo; said chef Mukhtar Qureshi, who crafted the menu with chef Rahul Akerkar and chef Jaydeep Mukherjee.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/Zakir-Hussain-meal_e.jpg" alt="A section of the spread" width="1280" height="720" /> A section of the spread
To this delicious tribute, we say, &ldquo;Wah, Ustad!&rdquo;
<h2>Raj Kapoor&rsquo;s mehfil at Haji Ali</h2>
On cine icon Raj Kapoor&rsquo;s 101st birth anniversary (December 14), this diarist learned that the great showman shared every Mumbaikar&rsquo;s timeless obsession with the sea. Urdu Markaz director Zubair Azmi, who is compiling a book of Mumbai&rsquo;s untold oral histories, revealed to us, &ldquo;As an anecdote shared by the actor&rsquo;s assistant Riyaz Khan goes, in the early 1980s, the actor was travelling past the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/over-1200-vehicle-capacity-parking-facility-to-be-set-up-at-haji-ali-maharashtra-cm-devendra-fadnavis-23494421" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Haji Ali</a> promenade when he signalled his convoy to make a halt. What followed was an impromptu mehfil of Urdu poetry and literature by the sea. His companions started reciting their best poems, and Kapoor lit a cigarette to soak in the atmosphere.&rdquo;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/Raj-Kapoor-a_e.jpg" alt="Raj Kapoor. FILE PICS" width="1280" height="720" /> Raj Kapoor. FILE PICS
It was one such poem on lost love &mdash; &lsquo;Veh suraten Ilahi kis des bastiyan hain, ab jinke dekhne ko aankhen tarastiyan hain&rsquo; &mdash; that seemed to have hit a nerve. &ldquo;He took a deep puff of his cigarette and gave the group an earful before asking to move on. In that sense, you could say Raj Kapoor didn&rsquo;t just read poetry, he quite literally imbibed every word of it,&rdquo; Azmi summarised.
<h2>When Messi got a GOAT&rsquo;s welcome</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/GOAT-Messi_e.jpg" alt="(Above) Fans at the parade; (right) a local train is decked up. PIC COURTESY/FCB MUMBAI " width="1280" height="720" /> Fans at the parade; (right) a local train is decked up. PIC COURTESY/FCB MUMBAI
The stands at Wankhede Stadium that usually root for a certain Master Blaster, welcomed Lionel Messi with roaring chants last weekend. From a parade on Marine Drive with a banner that read &lsquo;GOAT Messi yanche Mumbai madhe swagat aahe&rsquo;, to a local train takeover from Borivli to Churchgate, it was fan club FCB Mumbai helming the Messi mania. &ldquo;We even started a chant for <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/mumbai-police-dismiss-social-media-claims-of-rise-in-missing-children-cases-23607694" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Mumbai Police</a> to thank them for the arrangements,&rdquo; shared co-founder Anand Mishra.&nbsp;
<h2>A futuristic vision</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/dec/Tanya_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />
Freedom is at your fingertips, suggested Tanya Balsara (inset) as she helmed the 14th Convocation Ceremony of her initiative Tanya Computer Centre in Mumbai &mdash; an initiative that enables visually-impaired people to be computer-literate. &ldquo;Once you are computer literate, you are almost as active as a person with eyesight,&rdquo; she said in her address.

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce: A Painted Stork fishes in the shallow waters of the Bhandup Pumping Station wetlands

Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier | The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

In Photos: Pleasant winter weather draws colourful birds to Mumbai

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Early bird perks

Bus routes and Bombay gupshup

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