Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

I got you babe

Actor Daisy Shah cozies up to a puppy at an adoption drive in Bandra West on Friday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Will you take Luna home?

If you think B-town celeb Alia Bhatt is the most lovable cat lady, think again! The Consul General of Germany in Mumbai, Dr Juergen Morhard, and his wife Petra Morhard are feline fans, too. The couple recently took in Luna, a bicolour cat, for fostering.

Speaking to this diarist, Petra said, "We enjoy being foster parents to kittens who may be hurt, or require help. We have been able to do this thanks to our friends Nishita and Geeten, who are animal lovers. So far, we have been foster parents to eight cats in Mumbai and have looked after cats who are blind, or injured.

Luna is our eighth kitty. She met with a terrible car accident, but due to her courage and strength she has bravely started to walk again and sometimes, even runs. She needs a loving and nurturing home." The couple is now hoping to find a permanent home for Luna at the Adoptathon event in Bandra this weekend. "Then we will have room to foster yet another kitten," she says.

Baahubali returns

Two years after his first Baahubali novel, bestselling author Anand Neelakantan is set to release his second book in the series, with Westland. While the 2017 novel, The Rise of Sivagami, took the readers through the story of the Queen mother, Sivagami Devi, wife of Bijjala Deva and sister-in-law to Amarendra Baahubali's father, his new and untitled book will reveal the events that led to those depicted in SS Rajamouli's blockbuster films.

"The second book is going to be all about the political intrigue. Sivagami's journey to become the Queen of Mahishmathi will be through the treacherous labyrinth woven by her ace opponents," Neelakantan told this diarist about the book, which is set to release in April.

Meattle's moonlight job

When we messaged singer-songwriter Raghav Meattle last week to wish him a happy birthday, he told us of a surprising but pleasant development. As his day job, he has joined pop music label Big Bang Music in the marketing department. When we probed, Meattle, who won the world with his 2018 release Better Than It All, was candid as ever.

"I was feeling a bit of pressure, so decided to get some stability into my life." It sounds like a good idea, as being at a label could teach the 28-year-old musician a thing or two. Meattle agreed. "Personally, it's going to help me understand the music business better and build a better network." We wish him luck.

Bob, the builder of fast-bowling knowledge

Bob Willis, the former England captain and pace great, who succumbed to thyroid cancer at 70 earlier this week, toured India twice as a Test player. However, his name in Indian cricket history isn't etched only due to his superlative bowling efforts which fetched him 325 Test wickets. He was the bowler whom Sandeep Patil hit for six boundaries in one over at Manchester in 1982.

Cricket fans try and reach out to fast bowler Bob Willis sitting in a coach during England's 1981-82 tour of India. Pic/mid-day Archives

To some cricket fans of his era (1970-71 to 1984) Willis figured even on their bookshelves. He wrote more, but no less than six books, two of them being instructional guides. An Indian publisher reprinted Pace Bowling by Bob Willis and there were some gems in there for budding fast bowlers. Explaining the attributes of a fast bowler, Willis wrote: "So a fast bowler's a gladiator, he's an attacker, a player with great a responsibility to his team within the framework of the modern game.

What other qualities must he have? He's got to be proud, resilient mentally and physically, he must be determined, optimistic, have a good memory and a lot of guts. All the great fast bowlers of my time in the game have had these qualities. Yet they're worthless unless you've got that one vital aspect - the ability to bowl fast."

Choose a totem that defines you

Last month, Tarang Arora, creator and designer at Amrapali jewels, launched a 'gem bar' at Harrods, London. The space is a vast collection of rare, precious and semi-precious loose stones from around the world embedded on a rotating belt.

"There are more than 60 loose gemstones in different shapes and sizes," says Arora, who was in the city to launch a new store at Juhu. "The idea of a gem bar developed organically as Jaipur is the hub for gemstone cutting. I wanted to take this to London, to make people aware of the origin and qualities of stones and provide them with an experience where they can pick their own gem for their jewellery."

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