Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

A jumbo cause takes shape
Three master artisans, 23 days, eight-hour sessions and 1,00,000 mirror pieces in hues of silver, gold, black, red and green - that's what it took to create Kali, the second installation that Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla have made for The Elephant Family, a London-based NGO that creates awareness about endangered tuskers.

Khosla says, "It was a two-sided tribute to women and elephants. And no other title quite sums up strength and power like the name 'Kali'." He adds, "We were part of the project in 2010 as well, when we designed an elephant in Rani pink. It was exhibited at Selfridges and auctioned off later." Kali has been housed outside the historical façade of Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur.

An annual affair, the NGO this year reached out to a medley of Indian designers, including Suneet Varma, Anita Dongre, Tarun Tahiliani and Masaba Gupta, and artists Kalyan Joshi and Sumant Jayakrishnan, to be part of the sculptural initiation titled Elephant Parade India. "Sometimes, a little reminder helps bring attention to causes that are taken for granted," Khosla says.

Jaya Jaitly hits back with book
Former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly's name was dragged in mud when Operation West End - Tehelka's controversial 2001 sting operation - led to bribery allegations being leveled against her.

Now, Jaitly is getting her own back in a tell-all memoir, which is provocatively titled Life Among the Scorpions: Memoirs of a Woman in Indian Politics (Rupa Publications). In it, she accuses Congress President Sonia Gandhi of directing ex-Finance Minister P Chidambram to ensure that Tehelka's alleged financiers were not treated in an 'unfair' or 'unjust' manner.

Not just that, she also accuses the Congress of being the ultimate beneficiary of Operation West End, apart from making other accusations about the party. Diwali might well be over but, clearly, the fireworks are not.

Now, Sindhu in a comic strip
All of us, this diarist included, have grown up on a fair dose of comic books, with Tinkle being one of our top picks at the neighbourhood lending library. Now in its 37th year, the popular children's magazine is celebrating the achievement with two fortnightly specials across November.

We were thrilled to hear from its editor Rajani Thindiath that none other than PV Sindhu will make her debut in a comic strip. "This is a story from her childhood given to Tinkle by Sindhu," informs Thindiath. Sindhu, on her part, was excited that her story was to be included here, saying, "As a child it was always fun to read their short stories and get inspired.

I hope that my short story can connect with the readers and motivate them to believe in dreams." Thindiath adds that copies of the issue have already been sent to the badminton super champ. Here's hoping that this endeavour is a smashing success.

Pic/Suresh Karkera

Mere Anmol Ratan
Tina Ambani looks every bit the loving mother as she feeds her son, Anmol, with cake after one of their joint business ventures with a Japanese company was listed at the NSE last evening. Meanwhile, Anil Ambani is the picture of a proud father.

What kind of vegetarian are you?
Trust food-cum-travel show hosts Rocky and Mayur to make us chuckle. They have come up with a list of nine types of vegetarians in India, and it includes categories like "Eats non-veg while drinking, when not drinking they are vegetarian".

There are also those who "can eat the gravy but not the meat" and are "pure vegetarians on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but can eat anything on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday". And then there are those who "can eat non-veg outside the house, but not inside". Also, what about those who "eat non-veg only when forced by someone" and "can eat cake (which has egg) but not omelette"?

Jugalbandi across borders
Seeing Russian artistes take the stage at the Russian Centre for Science & Culture in Mumbai is not unusual. But those who make it to the venue this evening are in for a surprise. Far from the sautés and relevés of ballet or the upbeat steps of folk dance forms from the country, a troupe of artistes from Moscow will be seen performing complex Kathak sequences before the audience.

The dancers have been trained by Kathak guru Ashwani Nigam, who was taught by the legendary Pandit Birju Maharaj (in pic) before he was selected by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations to represent India at the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center in Moscow. Based in the Russian capital since 1996, Nigam then founded his own academy, where several artistes learn Kathak and other Indian dance forms. We hear that the troupe arrived in the city yesterday, and is having its fill of sightseeing in Mumbai.