Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

From Tip to tailWorkers go about their job of touching up statues of monkeys at Byculla Zoo which reopened on Monday for the first time after the lockdownLooking backThe interiors of Cafe Dela Paix PicAnushka GuptaAnushka Gupta is a Bandrabased poet and branding professional who started a series called Histories of Bombay last year to highlight the hidden gems of Mumbai She is set to host the next session at Cafe Dela Paix in Girgaum one of the cityrsquos oldest Irani cafes and unravel its history with owner Gustad Dinshaw IranildquoThe idea is to redirect people to these dying spaces The owner has put his heart into the place to make it more than just a cafe mdash itrsquos like a cultural centrerdquo she shared Want to know more Write to anushkagupta5gmailcomOde to the BurmansThis diarist is in Kolkata at the moment and as a diehard fan of Sachin Dev Burman he underwent a surreal experience when he visited the house that the legendary music composer had built in 1944 in the cityrsquos erstwhile South End Park area lsquoErstwhilersquo because the state government recently renamed the neighbourhood as Sangeet Sarani as a tribute to the icon Itrsquos also the house where RD Burman was born meaning that it spawned some of the finest music to have come out of Bollywood Itrsquos an Art Decoinspired building and must have once had enthralling music emanating from its windows But today it stands in a dilapidated condition The lone guard who lives there informed that the upper floors have been empty for years How time fliesAkerkarrsquos flight into troubleThe flight that Rahul Akerkar was onThe pandemic is still not over as you would know as a reader of this paper given the daily updates on rising COVID cases in Mumbai we have been offering you But some people seem to think that everything is hunkydory once again Thatrsquos what chef Rahul Akerkar of Lower Parel eatery Qualia found out recently He was travelling from Mumbai to Kolkata via Varanasi on a GoAir flight and the blatant disregard that passengers had towards basic safety protocols shocked him Worse even the flight attendants didnrsquot have face shields on ldquoItrsquos tragic for the airline to not insist on them since itrsquos critical for the staff to wear one because they are the ones most at riskrdquo Akerkar told this diarist Letrsquos hope that the airline pulls its socks upAfter 25 yearsTulika Books arguably one of the most respected Indian publications for children celebrated its 25th anniversary recently Radhika Menon publisher and managing editor recalled ldquoWe took on a difficult course when we started mdash being independent selffunded with multilingual picture books as our primary focus Staying with our convictions and continuing to publish in nine languages and more against all odds has been enrichingrdquo Herersquos hoping that they churn out their illuminating titles for many more years to comeThe many colours of AnaidaAnaida Parvaneh is a woman who wears many hats The singer who made a splash in the 1990s with Indipop hits including Oova oova later turned into a chef who till recently was associated with the Powai outlet of SodaBottleOpenerwala That apart she is also an avid artist and conducts healing sessions and yoga classes She has now combined those last three attributes to launch a colouring book titled Tattva ndash An Aspect of Reality ldquoI was stuck in Pune when the lockdown was called and thought of drawing to pass my time A friend then asked me for a copy of what I had made saying she wanted to colour on it Later a second friend asked for another copy and within just a few days she wanted another one for her motherinlaw Thatrsquos when I thought to myself that this is really helping peoplerdquo she shared about the inspiration behind the book Log on to amazonin to get your copy