Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

This Jugalbandi is for a cause
What happens when the melodious tunes of the Santoor blend with the peppy beats of electronic music? If the talented Rahul Sharma, son of Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, and Grammy-winning musician Eric Mouquet (in pic) are in charge, the audience is in for a treat.

Mouquet, who founded the band Deep Forest, met Sharma in 2012. The latter proposed a collaboration, and the result was the album Deep India, from which the duo will perform at the NCPA on December 15. "I like to be in India; this country is so different from France.

First, I love the food, and I have usually been here in November-December, when the climate is radically different from France. Swapping cold weather for a warm one is always nice," said Mouquet. The jugalbandi is for a Light of Light Trust fundraiser to support children from the drought-affected areas of Marathwada and Vidarbha.

The woman of 2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's globe-trotting schedule has often eclipsed, and even seemingly undermined, the role of Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. But the lady has been doing her work silently and it has finally found recognition - internationally. The UK daily Financial Times' annual special issue has included Swaraj in its list, Women of 2016.

Pic/AFP

Among the likes of leaders Theresa May, Hillary Clinton and Dilma Rouseff, Olympian Simone Biles, musician Beyoncé among others, this is one space where Swaraj hasn't been eclipsed. ‘Through her Twitter feed, Swaraj has answered pleas for help from overseas Indians caught in armed conflict, confronting legal or medical problems,' said the newspaper about her noteworthy work.

Cheers to gorgeousness

Pic/Satej Shinde

(Left to right) Model Ujjwala Raut, actresses Gul Panag and Dipannita Sharma at a book launch in Bandra yesterday.

No adulting here
Book festivals till now have been predominantly about books for adults with some rare sessions for children. But then who doesn't know the importance of reading and imagination in the formative period of life.

Natasha Sharma and Devdutt Pattanaik

A children's books festival was thus long due in the city and this gap is being bridged by Soha Parekh of Red Pepper Books and Lubaina Bandukwala of Booked who are organising a literature and storytelling festival for children titled Peek A Book at a BKC school.

The festival is for children aged between four and 13 years. Authors like Devdutt Pattanaik, Payal Kapadia and Natasha Sharma, Chatura Rao and internationally feted storytellers like Jeeva Raghunath and Ankit Chadha will attend the event.

Charity begins at home
One of the government's latest moves to help mitigate the impact of demonetisation on people and the economy is the slew of discounts Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced to promote digital banking. While the measure's applicability to the millions who still have no access to the Internet remains under question, an online petition has put the focus on those who have no such accessibility issues.

Television host and actor Roshan Abbas's father, Saiyed Anwer Abbas, created a petition on a web platform yesterday, urging the election commission to make digital banking mandatory for election funding and expenditure. Though this demand has been made earlier, we like the fact that it is now in the realm of online activism, where sufficient numbers have helped achieve several objectives in the past.

If the shoe fits
Actor Irrfan Khan was spotted at a luxury footwear outlet in the city yesterday.

The 49-year-old actor has been in the news for his role in the acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Farooki's upcoming film, No Bed of Roses. The Bengali-English film, we hear, is inspired by the life of a Bangladeshi writer, dramatist, screenwriter and filmmaker.