Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Cider lovers unite
When it comes to a buzzing microbrewery culture, our sister city takes the prize. Not surprising then that Pune is also hosting the first edition of the Great Indian Cider Festival.

Representation pic

If you're keen discover the world of this beverage beyond apple cider, hit the Expressway this Sunday to be part of the day-long event at a bar in The Corinthians. Conceptualised by Doolally's brewmaster Oliver Schauf, the fest brings together six other breweries from both, Mumbai and Pune. On offer will be cider varieties like strawberry, karvanda and pear, as well as honey mead and fruit beer.

Rihanna's got a desi groove now
As much as one looks forward to the release of an artiste's new song, official remixes also make for an interesting listen at times. As countdown to the New Year draws near, we have come across the release of several remixes in the past few weeks itself. One such reworked original is Consideration, from musician Rihanna's last album, Anti.

Rihanna and DJ Mangal Suvarnan

From the set of six artistes who've remixed the hit is Dubai-based desi electronic and acoustic music producer and DJ, Mangal Suvarnan. True to his heritage, the uplifting remix sees Suvarnan use notes of the Indian bansuri that merge seamlessly with foot tapping dance beats. "I polar reverse the mood of the track in every remix. Consideration is a very soulful and gorgeous track. Working on it was fun," says the 27-year-old musician about his method.

Pic/Nimesh Dave

Tree's company
Mandira Bedi and son, Vir check out festive decor for the season at Bandra's favourite shopping street, Hill Road last evening.

Raise a racket
Here's some news that will surprise many sports buffs. Commander Ashutosh Pednekar of the Indian Navy will represent India in the Thailand Open Racketlon Championship to be held in late December in Pattaya. Racketlon, what's that, you would ask? Well, it is a combination of the individual racket-sports disciplines: table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis, in that order.

Ashutosh Pednekar

A game goes up to 21 points. The winner is the one who collects the most points in all four racket disciplines. The championship will also feature the 2016 Super World Tour Championship winner, players from below top 20 in the world rankings. Believe it or not, but the sport even has a ruling body called Racketlon India Sports Association (RISA). Bet you never heard about this sport until today.

When Anurag wowed the kids
Here's a story that spells heartwarming with a capital 'H'. Mount Litera School International (MLSI) held a fun fair for kids fighting cancer. Forty kids were invited from Tata Memorial Centre for a fun morning with parents to the school in Bandra Kurla Complex.

Anurag Basu

Guest of honour and cancer survivor, filmmaker Anurag Basu shared his inspiring journey of emerging victorious from his battle the disease. This was part of the school's Service with Smile club in association with an NGO called Annam. Now, if only more survivors would do their bit.

It's all about the money, honey
Who better than a banker to teach little ones about money, and banker-author Ravi Subramanian decided it was time for kids to be taught about the whys and hows of finance. "I find that a lot of parents hesitate in talking about money with their children. Probably, they fear that the kids will become money-minded.

I realised this when a nine-year-old in a conversation told me that ATMs throw out freshly-printed notes," shares Mumbai-based Subramanian, who has to his credit several racy thrillers set in the big, bad world of money. The book is co-authored by Shoma Narayanan, and together they take readers on a journey thorough the world of money with two protagonists, Aman and Anya. We're pretty sure, his daughter, Anusha (in pic), who is also an author, must have played a role in creating the plot.

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