Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

All in a whiff

Nushrat Bharucha let's her nose be her guide at the launch of a wellness brand in a Bandra five-star on Thursday. Pic/Shadab Khan

Comfort food in your SoBo home

We had reported earlier that restaurateurs Gauri Devidayal and Jay Yousuf have partnered with chef Amninder Sandhu to for delivery service.

Iktara is now live and dishing out Sandhu's signature Naga pork in bamboo shoot, mango wood-smoked chicken, Patiala chicken, Kakori kebab, burrah kebab and smoked prawns, out of Magazine Street Kitchen.

"We've focused on Indian comfort favourites and classics, Sandhu's signature. We didn't want to deprive people of her food and had the infrastructure in place to get things going. She's incredibly gifted," Devidayal told this diarist.

Salt infusions, Melbourne style

This diarist caught up with Melbourne-based Sebastian Simon over lunch at the Australia India Business Exchange event at city restaurant yesterday.

On his Taste of Australia tour in the country, Simon who is known for Lava Salt, an artisanal line of salt infusions, let us have a taste of his nori salt-coated king prawns with a spicy sausage dust served with a bonito cream canape and a two-way Mulwarra lamb - slow-cooked mince and a lamb shank - coated in Australian salt bush. He also let us in on a secret - his salt infusions might soon be available in the city. "I am still working out logistics," he said. Stay tuned for the details.

No apologies or regrets

Comedian Kunal Kamra who faced a ban from IndiGo airlines and challenged it in the Delhi High Court has now received news of it being reduced to three months. This comes after an internal enquiry from the airlines. Kamra told this diarist, "I'm a victim of nothing and I can get to anywhere through multiple modes of transport like most people in the country. However, I trust the pilot's email and my social media has helped explain why I did what I did." He reiterated that he is undeterred and unapologetic.

"I'd like to say I am neither sorry nor regretful of my actions, if the clock turned back to same day and time, I'd do the exact same thing to the riot-instigating propagandist who spreads hate day in and day out. Also for a man who seeks accountability from inconsequential people with a loud speaker and a dog whistle every day, he hasn't uttered a word on the incident. His silence is the disclosure of his malice. I wish more people would ask Arnab for a comment because the nation really wants to know," he said.

A stitch in time

Legend has it that in ancient China, a certain stitch formed by tiny knots with a comma caused workers to go blind because of its sheer intricacy.

It came to be known as the "forbidden stitch". City-based designer Zenobia Davar has infused the technique into a new collection of Parsi gara sarees and trained her artisans too.

"Now most garas you see are made in the Ari method but so much more can be done with them. Earlier, I would only use the satin stitch but last year, when I went to Singapore for a workshop. I started thinking about using the forbidden stitch and conducted demonstrations for participants there. I've already started getting enquiries," Davar told this diarist, adding that she customises the garas according to the customer's budget, and also makes shawls and clutches.

All for mental health awareness

In an attempt to spread awareness on mental health, Mumbai's Poddar Foundation is organising a conference at Churchgate on March 5.

The event, which will be attended by Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and actor Rahul Bose, will focus on the need for an insurance policy for the disease that afflicts one in four people in the country directly or indirectly and get feedback on the practicality of it from stakeholders owing to recent reports stating that the economic burden due to mental health concerns is high in the country, with over 150 million Indians in need of treatment.

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