Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Yeh mausam Ki baarish
Actor-waiting-to-debut Ahaan Shetty gets into the car after a lunch with girlfriend Tania Shroff (right) on a rainy afternoon in Bandra. Is she covering her face from the photographers or is it the rain she's dodging? Pics/Shadab Khan

Maria Goretti at Le Cordon Bleu

Maria's living the sweet dream
After realising fairly late in life that she had a genuine interest in making food, Maria Goretti equipped herself with the requisite skills at Tante Marie in London, one of the world's foremost culinary schools. And now, Goretti is in France, enhancing her abilities even further at Le Cordon Bleu, another famous institution for the culinary arts. She posted a photo on Instagram of her a chef's attire, holding up two freshly baked pastries that she was evidently proud of.

She is pursuing a basic course in making these at present, but plans to continue with the intermediate and superior levels as well. Goretti tells this diarist, "It's crazy work and long hours and working Saturdays. But I love it." And why wouldn't she. For, apart from pastries, her Instagram account is also filled with pics of her having a rad time in the French capital, drinking wine by the Louvre and generally living it up in a way that is, well, magnifique.

Guiding the guide
From mispronounced locations to spinning tales that would make it into a fantasy title on urban myths, we've heard all kinds of accounts where city guides have taken unsuspecting tourists on a ride. However, this particular episode about this community made for an amusing departure from their usual antics. A heritage walk was organised by St Thomas Cathedral as part of their tercentenary celebrations where its Presbyter-in-charge, Reverend Avinash Rangayya, took participants around the Indo-Anglican memorial. An acquaintance of this diarist, a heritage buff and raconteur, who was a part of this walk, noticed that a sizeable number of attendees were actually tourist guides! A refresher lesson every now and then wouldn't hurt now, right?

B'day greetings pour in for Alter
The film and theatre fraternities went into shock last year when Tom Alter - the blue-eyed boy of Hindi cinema and the stage - passed away after a protracted battle with cancer. He was 67. And last weekend, he would have turned 68, since June 22 was his birthday. Tributes poured in from all corners on the occasion. For, Alter was a man of many talents. He was a fine sports writer, who famously conducted Sachin Tendulkar's first televised interview in 1989. He was a gifted actor, playing both villain and character roles with equal ease. And he was also a noted thespian, with a special love for Urdu, best exemplified in his role as Mirza Ghalib. Hence, there was no dearth of warmth that poured in from different quarters. His son Jamie, for instance, tweeted an article Alter had written for a sports magazine back in the day. Another user pointed out how the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language had listed his birthday on its calendar. And yet another person posted a clip from Kranti, an iconic film Alter had acted in. Goes to show how even though he may no longer be with us, the memories of this multi-talented man will remain alive.

Driving a veg
Most people would associate Upamanyu Chatterjee with English, August, his seminal debut novel that took the literary world by storm in 1988. But as far as we are concerned, it was Weight Loss, his fourth novel, that had a real impact on us with its bizarre tale of a podgy boy with bisexual tendencies. So we were understandably excited when his latest offering landed on our desk. It's titled The Revenge of the Non-vegetarian (Speaking Tiger), and deals with the mysterious deaths of a family of meat suppliers. Does it have anything to do with the current socio-political climate in the country? Our lips are sealed.

Accidents happen
Harper Collins India has joined hands with Black Ink, the publishing firm that author Ravinder Singh (in pic) started, to launch a book called I Didn't Expect to be Expecting. As the title suggests, it's about a woman, Tara, who didn't plan for a baby, but gets pregnant accidentally. She then has to overturn her past life in Mumbai, where she lives with her jittery husband. And the story deals with the highs and lows of pregnancy, with dollops of humour carrying it forward.

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