Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Ken Rosewall and Roger Federer

Ken, you are such a gem!
Ken Rosewall (83) is probably the biggest Roger Federer fan going around among former tennis players. The Australian golden great, who won the Oz Open four times (1953, 1955, 1971, 1972) said a few weeks ago that he never thought he'd see Federer seeded so low (No 17) for a Grand Slam. Nevertheless, he predicted good things for the Swiss master in Melbourne.

Ken Rosewall and Roger Federer

"I think he's had enough tennis to put him back in a good frame of mind as far as confidence and ability to win some tight matches, so he's going to be a force," Rosewall predicted.

On Friday, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) newspaper reported that Rosewall left his customary good luck note for Federer while in Melbourne for the unveiling of Rod Laver's statue, before returning to his Sydney home.

Federer, when asked about Rosewall after his win over Stan Wawrinka in the semis, said: "I think he's (Rosewall) a wonderful man. He wrote me a letter again this week to wish me well. He does it every year at the Australian Open. Still haven't seen him, unfortunately."

When the SMH reporter told Rosewall what Federer said, the golden great remarked: "Oh did he? That was nice of him." But then, it's such a nice thing to leave all those good luck notes for Federer as well!

Headed to the Delhi fair
THE India Art Fair weekend in New Delhi is almost there and it looks like several of our Mumbai galleries are putting up a tempting line up. From Priyasri Art Gallery, work from two masters, Akbar Padamsee and Jogen Chowdhury, will be collaboratively shown in an exhibition titled Schema, which will then travel to Mumbai. Chemould Prescott Road will show works by Jitish Kallat, Mithu Sen and Bijoy Jain, among others.

An untitled oil on canvas by Akbar Padamsee

In other artist ventures, Thukral and Tagra will set up their next series of Memoir Bar, supported by the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (we remember the Mumbai edition from last year and cannot wait to see this one).

Akbar Padamsee

We are also kicked about Sudarshan Shetty's Taj Mahal, supported by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and part of the artist projects, a monument made of 250 miniature metallic reproductions which will have a video sequence inside. What's not to love?

Let's play safe
The city's traffic police seem to have found an unlikely companion in SHIVA, a home-grown animated character from a kids channel, while manning the roads. The nine-year-old 'brave, fearless and intelligent' boy has been roped in for a road safety campaign, and will be seen at key city signals and crossroads in areas like Cuffe Parade, Tardeo, Byculla, Bandra, Santacruz and Andheri this week.

"It is of paramount importance for children to learn road safety early in life. SHIVA is a fine influencer to inculcate road safety awareness ," says Milind Bharambe, Joint Commissioner, Mumbai Traffic Police, adding that he hopes the kids, influence their parents as well.

Trump's got a wall!
Before Donald Trump's US-Mexico border-wall promise becomes a reality, a team of graphic designers have made it a virtual reality.

Happy Finish, a virtual and augmented reality platform has created an interactive website called Build That Wall. Users can build it on a 360-degree-view landscape. Once done, it shows the money spent. Yikes!

Celebrating music
Music teacher Rita Kaul's Vinod Sur Shringaar Music Academy celebrated its 20th anniversary at the Iskcon Auditorium in Juhu on Friday night. One of Kaul's students is playback singer Armaan Mallik.

Rita Kaul. Pic/Nimish Dave

Another student, Ena SinhaâÂu00c2u0080Âu00c2u0088(second from left), who is learning Light Classical, said, "For me, music is a passion, and a hobby. I take classes to keep in touch with music, and I get to perform too." pic/nimish dave