Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Eyes on you
Actor Bhumi Pednekar blushes while addressing the media as Arjun Kapoor looks on at an award function in Bandra. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Thapar's tell-all
For those who have passionately followed Karan Thapar's no holds barred television interviews with the who's who of the country, it's his incisive and matter-of-fact style of asking tough questions that's always left us impressed. Now, we hear that Thapar is penning a memoir eponymously titled Devil's Advocate (HarperCollins India) after his most popular show, that will see the veteran journalist relate different stories from his life. From personal anecdotes about his childhood, college days and marriage, to encounters with well-known personalities in the course of anchoring his TV shows, the tell-all book is slated to release at the end of this month. What we are, however, most looking forward to reading is the story of Thapar's friendship with former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto and why no one from the BJP ever agrees to appear on his shows.

That's serious wheel power
A physiotherapist working in Berkshire has won the NHS Windrush 70 clinical excellence award for her work in improving wheelchair services in Berkshire. This is a big moment from Nashik-born Kashmira Sangle, who moved to the UK in 2003 and now works as clinical lead for Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Her work in specialist mobility service sees her interact with severely disabled children and adults and engage with their families and care givers. Sangle, we have learnt, put in place a process whereby patients who don't meet the criteria for provision of wheelchair, are provided with alternative solutions to make the journey easier. "I would like to dedicate the award to my patients and their families and carers, because they are the ones who keep me grounded and motivated. They are constantly fighting for everyday things that able-bodied people take for granted," she said. Sangle was also invited to the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street to celebrate the award.

Madhukar Vishnu Talwalkar

Not without my dumbbell
Madhukar Vishnu Talwalkar, director at Talwalkars, might have an endless array of fitness equipment at his disposal, but there's one pair of dumbbells that he is admittedly attached to. An heirloom, it belonged to his father's extensive collection. "I started using it in 1958 when I took up gymming for the first time," recalls the 85-year-old. Weighing a total of 60 pounds, he pegs the cost of the dumbbells at around R11 at the time. Back then, they were considered modern and progressive, he adds. "I liked them so much that I carried them along on my 12-day honeymoon to Mahableshwar in a jute bag. That was back in 1960," he laughs.

Diego Maradona resting on his bed with his feet up at home in 1980. Pic/Getty Images

Maradona and the power of passion
They say that the presence of Diego Maradona during Argentina games at the ongoing football World Cup was a distraction. No sooner a goal was scored, the cameras began to pan on him and Maradona responded with animated reactions.

Were his expressions of thrill for real or was he just playing showman? Fair questions but who can say he is not a passionate Argentine?
His book El Diego published in 2004, provided an example. Maradona was inconsolable after being dropped from the 1978 Argentina World Cup squad that played and won on home soil.

He was told about the exclusion during a camp which he left immediately in disgust. He vowed never to forgive head coach Cesar Luis Menotti even though Menotti assured the young gun that he would play "many World Cups". Maradona returned home, which resembled a funeral house - everyone at home was in tears. But he soon pulled himself together and even watched a couple of Argentina games from the stands. And when Argentina beat the Netherlands 3-1 to lift the trophy, Maradona hopped on to the van to celebrate the win all over Buenos Aires.

Vivan Sundaram

Sundaram's musings and memories
Friday evening saw the opening of noted artist Vivan Sundaram's presentation at Haus der Kunst, an art museum in Munich. Titled Disjunctures, the exhibition revolves around the 75-year-old artist's most important concerns - history, memory and archive. To be shown till October 7, Disjunctures is set to be Sundaram's "most comprehensive and wide-ranging survey of his multimedia practice in a European institution" as the museum puts it. New Delhi-based Sundaram is one of India's leading contemporary artists, and well-regarded for his seminal exhibitions, such as Gagawaka: Making Strange, many of which have been shown in Mumbai. Last year, the artist had created a large installation, Meanings Of Failed Action: Insurrection 1946, which was shown in Mumbai.

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