Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Such is life
Those looking for some year-end cheer may find it in Saransh Goila's (in pic) recent reminiscence of his salad days. Five years ago, the now well-known chef was jobless and had put together all his savings to try his luck in the food industry in Los Angeles.

His visa application was rejected and Goila grew despondent. But as luck would have it, exactly 15 days after the rejection, Goila received a call from the food channel he is now an integral part of. A year later, he was invited to the US to represent Indian cuisine. Well, what is life without twists?

Confessions of a troll
Joining social media requires swallowing the bitter pill - with followers come trolls. But even those used to the vitriol on online platforms were aghast at the misogyny television journalist Barkha Dutt was subjected to earlier this year when she spoke up about the fact that she was molested as a child.

Barkha Dutt (left); Sadhavi Khosla

Well, according to the recently published book I Am a Troll by journalist Swati Chaturvedi, so vicious were the comments that they even moved the troll army leader who was tweeting them. Sadhavi Khosla has confessed in the book about the discomfort she felt when she saw tweets turning into rape threats to the anchor. Dutt has herself termed the turn of events as digital hate politics, misogyny and smear.

Lucknow set to get all filmi
Lucknow is all set to get its Film, Television and Liberal Arts Institute, said to be the only such organisation in the country after the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.

(Left to right) Abhishek Bachchan, Akhilesh Yadav, Jaya Bachchan and Anurag Kashyap at the event. Pic courtesy/Akhilesh Yadav's Twitter account

At the inauguration were present a melange of actors, each interestingly representing a different state of India. While Abhishek Bachchan has been born and raised in Mumbai, mother Jaya Bachchan has her roots in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. And Anurag Kashyap hails from Gorakhpur, UP.

In the mind of the poet-politician
When the current government's right leanings become too hard to digest even for staunch BJP supporters, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime gets evoked with great nostalgia. Those interested in knowing more about the ideology and politics of the man can read about it in the new biography, The Untold Vajpayee: Politician and Paradox, by journalist and political commentator Ullekh NP.

Released on December 25, Vajpayee's 92nd birthday, the book explores the secular image of the politico in the context of his brief excursions into the hard-line camp. The book also looks at his relationship with other leaders of his party and his love-hate association with the RSS and other allied organisations.

Of Parsis and papeta
Parsis certainly are an interesting bunch, and this diarist recently came across an article that shed some light on yet another of the community's eccentricities - their odd surnames. The piece - written by two Parsis - talks about the community's immense fondness of food and how it is pretty much etched into their identity.

Sodabottleopenerwala's interiors pay tribute to the archetypal bawa and their universe

From the popular Sodabottleopenerwala (which has also inspired the name of a bigwig restaurant chain) to the nutty Badamwala and Kajuwala, following the stories behind the surnames is a merry ride through legends and folklore, peppered with a bit of speculation.

The daughter returns
Out of jail for some hours, murder-accused Indrani Mukherjee performs her father's post-death rituals in Mulund yesterday.

Pic/Sameer Markande