Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

What's cooking at The New Yorker?
For over 90 years, the weekly US magazine The New Yorker has given its readers a stimulating mix of reportage and commentary on politics, international affairs, the arts, science and technology, business and pop culture along with fiction and cartoons. While food writing has been part of the magazine's offerings through investigative, sociological essays, as popular culture increasingly leans towards gastronomy, the web arm of The New Yorker has decided to go the whole hog (no pun intended).

"...We have decided to bring on two new writers who have been a big part of our recent food renaissance," said an internal communication mail, a part of which newyorker.com editor Michael Lou posted online. While one position is that of a roving food correspondent, who would contribute food-related essays and reported stories, another is that of a food critic, whose writing style is eventually likely to find its way to the print version as well. Safe to say then that this is one global trend that's here to stay.

Rewind time: Left, right and centre
Remember the days when television news was just news and not a shouting match? We were recalling some of those quieter snatches when senior TV journalist Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted this blast from the past, asking his followers to identify the people in the picture. While a young Sardesai, sitting next to Dr Prannoy Roy, is hard to miss, the other panelists make for a rather interesting mix.

The leftmost panelist is none other than Narendra Modi (who, going by the probable year in which the photo was taken, was perhaps the then Gujarat CM), while right across him is the late communist patriarch Harkishan Singh Surjeet, with political analyst Dorab Sopariwala and historian Mahesh Rangarajan (hidden in pic) completing the panel. We wonder if fireworks would fly if some of these same panelists were to meet again.

Undiscovered gem
It's always a joy to get wind of a lesser-known international act coming to perform in the city, hear his or her music to find out what it's like, and discover a hidden gem we might have been oblivious of otherwise.

That's exactly what happened to us with Hyleen, a French singer who will perform at The Royal Opera House this Friday. Her sophisticated pop music still hasn't attracted the number of hits it deserves. But that doesn't change the fact that all those who attend her concert in the city are in for a treat.

Pic/Atul Kamble

I won't tell all
Ustad Zakir Hussain gestures to writer-columnist Anil Dharker during a discussion at the release of Zakir Hussain: A Life in Music, co-authored by (left) Nasreen Munni Kabir at an event at NCPA last evening.

Playing for India
This one caught the eye of our resident social media maven for the star power line-up in the frame.

Former Olympic silver medallist and Union Minister for Sports Rajyavardhan Rathore tweeted this photo from the shoot, revealing in the post that a sports anthem was nearing completion.

The photo shows Sachin Tendulkar and Rathore with a few youngsters in sporting gear. Let's see if this one resonates like the baap of all anthems, Mile Sur Mera Tumhara.

Seeing red at The Golden Globes
Kolkata-based fashion designer Anamika Khanna has been a favourite for her luxe pieces that merge Indian class with a global appeal. Mumbai-born Meher Tatna, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association stood out in a sea of black at The 75th Golden Globe Awards.

Meher Tatna at the awards. Pic/AFP

Dressed in a red outfit by Khanna, she was one of only three women who skipped wearing black, which was a choice for most women celebrities who backed the Time's Up initiative that supports victims of sexual harassment. Tatna stuck to her choice, stating that Indians don't wear black for celebrations. She, however, showed her support for the cause by wearing the organisation's black pin on her jacket.

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