Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Can the capital be saved?
When this diarist recently visited Delhi, a strange mix of humidity and pollution had enveloped the capital, making the otherwise pleasant October weather pretty uncomfortable.

With Diwali and winter round the corner, one can only wonder how alarming the pollution levels would soon be - and if there is a solution at all. Journalist and author Pallavi Aiyar's new work, Choked! Inside the World's Most Polluted Cities, seeks to answer these questions.

Aiyar draws from her experience of having lived in Beijing, the world's most polluted city until Delhi took its place, and analyses what India can learn from the Chinese capital's decade-long efforts to combat pollution. So, then, there is a solution; all we need to do is act.

Camera face or game face?

Pic/Suresh Karkera

We love the expression the photographer caught on director Karan Johar and actress Katrina Kaif at the closing ceremony of a film fest in Andheri yesterday.

Chef's day out
As Diwali celebrations begin today, countless diyas will gleam from the windowsills of Mumbai. But how many of us will be thinking of the dexterous hands that shaped them? Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, in collaboration with an international travel channel, weaved his way through the serpentine lanes of Dharavi to visit Kumbharwada, the potters' hub that gives the city its earthenware.

Meant for the consumption of a primarily non-Indian audience, Kapoor explained the process of diya-making and its significance for the festival of lights. He also tried his hand at the potter's wheel and marvelled at how effortlessly the craftsmen surrounding him shaped their creations. The seven-minute clip, we hear, is part of a larger project.

Now we know who ‘the Indian boy' was
Our in-house cricket nut remembers reading about how Arthur Morris - who until 2015, was one of the two surviving members of Don Bradman's 1948 Invincibles - did not end up possessing even one baggy green Australia cap from his playing days.

The Sport & Pastime issue with the late Hanumant Singh on its cover

In the book, The Baggy Green, authors Michael Fahey and Mike Coward wrote about how Morris presented one of his caps to Sir Frank Worrell, considered a cricketing saint in his short life, and the other to "a young Indian boy who made some runs while Morris was in Mumbai for a charity match."

Presumably, the above words written in the book were a result of what Morris told one of the authors. However, our cricket buff discovered just the other day who this "young Indian boy" was when he got hold of a 50-year-old Sport & Pastime issue on one of the city's streetside book stalls. The (October 1, 1966) magazine featured Hanumant Singh, the late India batsman.

In the article headlined Prince among Cricketers, writer CN Venugopal revealed that as Hanumant was packing his kit after playing in the same Indian Board President's XI National Defence Fund match in February 1964 at the Cricket Club of India, Morris walked up to Hanumant armed with his baggy green and asked, "My boy, if this (cap) means anything to you, would you keep it?" Hanumant who had scored 140 and 61 in that charity match against Indian Prime Minister's XI, accepted the gift and said to Venugopal that it was, "by far my proudest possession." We hope the genial Hanumant preserved this valuable piece of cricket memorabilia.

Halloween 2.0: revenge of the RSS
It's not unusual for two festivals to fall on the same day. But with the Hindu new year and Halloween falling on October 31, a certain woman about town well known for the magic she works on celebrities, is cracking up. The ‘collision' has given her just the idea she was looking for to dress for a Halloween guising bash.

Done playing witch and zombie, this year she will guise as a member of a community inspired by Hindutva. She finds the RSS no less spooky for driving their right wing agenda, she was overheard telling someone. Maganlal Dresswala should be hearing from her soon for the khaki half pants. "But, they graduated to full trousers this Dussera," an earnest someone pitched in. "Ya, but who knows them for anything else other than the khaki chaddis?"

Flowers on my plate
This festive season, skip the flower bouquets for a flower meal. An Edible Flower Festival, starting today at Bombay Vintage, wants to be a feast for the eyes and the taste buds.

The restaurant has added flowers to every course. Think Squash Blossom Soup and Rosa Pizza with rose petals to flower shake and cider. As they say, a flower by any other name is just as sweet.