Mumbai Diary: Monday musings

17 August,2015 08:25 AM IST |   |  Suprita Mitter, Chaitanya Padukone, Fiona Fernandez

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


No need to duck
It's always a delight to dine in Bandra. Apart from the potpourri of restaurants and lounges that keep opening up (and shutting down) with amazing rapidity, another reason is the gossip that floats in the air with the same abundance as the wafting of heady aromas.

So, last week, this diarist was privy to an interesting nugget where a film/theatre actress went into overdrive while commenting on a top star from the industry who had done a lip job and who went into overdrive denying it. From terms like ‘Angelina Jolie wannabe' to ‘Donald Duck' and the like, we were in splits. The name-calling continued well after we'd wrapped up meal. It sure was one helluva quacking time!

Some TLC for RD?
The media might have gone ga-ga over the 40th anniversary of Ramesh Sippy's iconic Sholay.


RD Burman

Sadly, the genius composer-singer Rahul Dev Burman who scored the memorable songs and awesome fusion background score of Sholay seems to have been overlooked amidst the hype.


A neglected board named after RD Burman

Adjacent to the legendary composer's house at Santacruz, this diarist spotted a slightly curved MCGB sign-board that was crying out for urgent repair looking discoloured and shabby with the paint peeling off. A shame.

A Sen-sitive ode
With author dedications, mothers tend to top the list, closely followed by parents, children or grandparents.


Amartya Sen

But this particular mention caught our attention. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has dedicated his recent title The Country of First Boys (Oxford University Press) to schoolteachers and health workers.


The Country of First Boys

The collection, in which Sen examines justice, identity, deprivation, inequalities, the media and several other pioneering essays that hold the essence of his seminal works. A nobel mention from the Nobel Prize winner, indeed.

Seeing is believing
A live performance by The Happy Home & School for the Blind Choir, Worli at an Independence Day event organised by the Dr Bhau Daji Lad City Museum, Byculla on Saturday.


Pic/Datta Kumbhar

These students sang well-known songs like Woh Bharat Desh Hai Mera and Sare Jahan Se Achha.

One for the King!
Days before the death anniversary of legendary singer Elvis Presley, a mid-day reader, Colleen Traynor, from Chembur, sent us a note with a city newspaper clipping from August 17, 1977. Her note mentioned that while she was rummaging through her paper collection, she happened to find this gem.


This file photo shows former US President Richard M. Nixon (left) as he shakes hands with Elvis Presley (right) in the White House on December 21, 1970 in Washington, DC. PIC/AFP

She also mentions that in her handwritten note, "It is surprising that everyone talks of Michael Jackson, while Elvis was a far greater star and still is." The clipping had reactions from Elvis fans in the city, including Ballroom dance teacher, late JJ Rodriguez, music addicts Khusroo Vajifdar and Valerie Concessio among others, who were heartbroken.

The article, however, also mentioned how Presley's music was accused to have created a generation gap and believed to be the kind of music that wasn't for mom and dad. We think, the fact that people still get teary-eyed at the mention of his death and go out of the way to express their love for him, says a lot about the kind of impact the King of Rock and Roll continues to have on his fans.

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