Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Katrina Kaif with Arjun Kapoor at Javed Akhtar's birthday party

Nach ke dikha

Is actor Katrina Kaif coaxing Arjun Kapoor to join her on the dance floor at Javed Akhtar's birthday party in Bandra on Friday? Pic/Bipin Kokate

The childhood reading list

Considering the surplus of quality children's books out there, we often find ourselves at our wits end trying to pick the right title for a kid. A new and annually curated collection of books in English and Hindi for children and young adults by the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts, might just be of help. The collection has been created after careful screening and multiple reviews by experts of children's literature.

This inaugural list, Parag Honour List 2020, which features 53 titles, including Twice Upon A Time (Payal Kapadia) and A Cloud Called Bhura (Bijal Vachharajani), was showcased at the capital's World Book Fair, and will now be promoted at schools, libraries and among parents. "It is heartening to see the response we have got to the list. At the book fair, both adults and children picked up the list enthusiastically. Since we had displayed all the books, they browsed and marked the books they liked and looked them up with the respective publishers. This is what we aimed for - enabling access and awareness about good Indian literature," said Swaha Sahoo (in pic), head, Parag Initiative.

Jamming in Goa

While scrolling through our Instagram feed, we stumbled on a picture of restaurateur Sahil Timbadia immersed in work while in Goa. A little snooping around revealed that the Bonobo and Jamjar Diner boys - Anup Gandhi, Sahil Timbadia and Nevil Timbadia - have collaborated with Abhijit Choksi, owner of Goa pizzeria Melt. The result is a 2.0 version of the outpost which will double up as a performance venue as well. Choksi told this diarist, "Together, we aim to create a sense of gathering that's comfortable and communal." Let's just say, there's one more reason to hit the sunny beaches.

Fan-tastic side of Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh focuses on a wall bearing images of great cricketers at the Cricket Club of India's Polly's Bar on Monday. Pic/ Clayton Murzello

Steve Waugh sure knows how to keep his admirers happy. Earlier this week, the former Australia cricket captain was at the Cricket Club of India, Churchgate, to shoot images for his upcoming book, Spirit of Cricket India. Our reporter followed him around the club and even shared the lunch table with the Australian legend at the Wet Wicket.

Next stop was Polly's Bar, named after ex-Test player Polly Umrigar, where Waugh attracted the attention of the waiters, who wanted a selfie with him.

He put them on hold and stepped outside for his next location only to encounter another group of club workers requesting a selfie. He duly obliged but kept in mind that he had to fulfil his promise to the waiting men at Polly's. He quickly went in, posed with them and only left for the next floor after he had satisfied them.

A good deed at a very good cricket venue!

A crash course for the queer

As part of the Pride month celebrations in January, the Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai collaborated with Deepak Kashyap from the Toronto Mindfulness Centre and the Keshav Suri Foundation to launch the first edition of the Queer Youth Leadership Course. This course was aimed at equipping participants with the skills and knowledge necessary for them to step into community leadership roles, and cultivate the ability to deal with the challenges they face. A group of 20 young queer participants were selected from over 200 applications. Annie Dube, Consul General of Canada in Mumbai (in pic), says, "I was particularly excited to see how this platform brought together such diverse participants and expert speakers. We truly were united with pride and I would like to wish Happy Pride to Mumbai."

A humerus tale

Pic/ Instagram

Comic Akshar Pathak, also the brain behind the hilarious social media accounts of food aggregator Zomato, had quite a time at his honeymoon recently. In fact, he broke his humerus bone, which is the long bone in the upper arm. The injury sustained was so bad that a titanium plate had to be used to put the hold back in place. But, Pathak being Pathak took it in his stride and posted the story on his social media handle, ending it with, "Silver lining, I have a titanium plate and screws inside me, so I am like 5 percent terminator. Hasta la vista, baby."

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