Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Blick and Miss
Tabu was seen dodging photographers on Friday at a Santacruz five-star where she was attending a prayer meet for a veteran producer. Pic/Atul Kamble

Mohsin Shaikh is served a drink by his sister, Nilofer

All for a good cause
Shyam Bhatia, the Dubai-based Indian cricket enthusiast, has just completed another round of distributing cricket kits to young needy cricketers in towns across India. And while the smiles on the faces of those kids continue to be Bhatia's best reward for his generosity, he took guard for another stroke of charity towards nearly-paralysed cricketer Mohsin Shaikh recently.

Shyam Bhatia

Mohsin Shaikh, 26, cannot lead a normal life after falling off a train in 2004 while returning to his Ulhasnagar home from an U-16 camp in Dombivili. Mohsin's head and leg injuries have rendered him speechless and immobile. But, a couple of weeks of intensive ayurvedic treatment in a Kerala hospital saw a marked improvement. However, additional sessions were stalled due to a lack of funds.

Bhatia was apprised of the situation by a fellow cricket lover and he instantaneously agreed to fully fund Mohsin's next round of 28-day treatment to the tune of Rs 1,79,000. Mohsin is making good progress in Kerala and his family has Bhatia to thank. Those interested in contributing towards Mohsin's treatment can get in touch with his father Husen on 9021144808.

Epic praise for Banker
It's not very often that you see Indian writers breaking it in the international publishing world. But Ashok Banker, whose epic fantasy series Once Upon A Burning Throne (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is set for international release in April, is almost building a new wave of fans, one review at a time. This time, praise has come from the renowned American weekly trade news magazine, Publishers Weekly. Calling Banker's US debut "highly readable," the 147-year-old magazine has gone on to describe his storytelling as one that moves at "cinematic space". "The story features some memorably epic battles. Readers familiar with Hindu mythology will find the foreshadowing enhances their anticipation of future instalments. Fans of doorstopper epic fantasy will devour this tale of gods and princes," the review said. Now, if only the book could hit Indian stores soon.

Dhanendra Kawade

Nal Jal for young and quiet Italians
When theatre artiste Dhanendra Kawade submitted Nal Jal, a non-verbal play for toddlers, as an entry for Italy's La Baraka Theatre Festival, it was a shot in the dark. To his delight, not only did it make the cut, but was also chosen as the opening play for the international festival. Chatting with his diarist from Bologna, he said, "I performed for a young audience here, and it was a completely different experience because the audience is unusually quiet. But that's the culture. Having said that, there was excitement as well."

Policy talk
Lucknow-based author Dr Binti Singh, who published her book Divided City lat June, recently met assistant municipal commissioner Kiran S Dighavkar at the latter's office. When this diarist asked Singh if the BMC plans on using her suggestions from the book, she said, "Very few municipal officers invite ideas from academicians. But Mr Dighavkar got in touch with me on Twitter after he saw that I launched my book. He is a progressive officer and is pursuing an advance degree in policy studies. He asked to discuss my book that talks about ideological and policy contestations in urban India and hear my views."

A tonic for our evenings
Here's some exciting news for gin fans. Bengaluru-based Amrut Distilleries, makers of Amrut Indian single malts, is set to launch its first gin. The best single malt from India, with a distillery in Kambipura, Amrut has been winning appreciative sighs from whisky lovers since 2004. While India has seen a spate of homegrown gins in recent years, this is the one this diarist is most looking forward to. The distillery has already made room for the new gin still, and we're told that most of the botanicals are locally sourced. If the gin is anything like their whisky, you should be lining up too.

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