Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Sumo-sized tribute to Buddhist murals
Nalanda by CMYK bookstore at The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel will soon be home to one of the most prized coffee-table books, we have seen in recent times - Thomas Laird's Murals of Tribute. Priced at a whopping R8.5 lakh, the collector's edition, which has been signed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is, as the title suggests, a tribute to Tibet's spectacular Buddhist murals.

What makes this collection unique is that Laird has deployed new multi-image digital photography, to compile a first-of-its-kind archive of these artworks, some as wide as 10 metres, in life-size resolution. For those who'd like to get their hands on Laird's landmark project (limited to 998 copies), the book comes with a bookstand designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban, and a scholarly companion book by Buddhist writer Robert Thurman, containing detailed text on the murals' spiritual significance.

A Cindrella wedding
It's only befitting that Jennie Jethwani, owner of London's biggest dance company specialising in Bollywood dance, has a wedding as dramatic as her moves. As you read this, Jethwani and her LA-based fiance Roshan Nainani, are prepping for their wedding at Walt Disney World, Orlando. The duo has roped in wedding planner Vikram Mehta for their big day, which will take place at the Wedding Pavilion, a stunning castle inside the Disney property created around a lake and white sand.

The reception will be at the ballroom with crystal chairs that will have Disney characters sculpted on them. Photobooths will be designed in full-size Cinderella mirrors with 'make a wish' (touch technology) cameras, and Mickey and Minnie mascots will join the party on the diamond-shaped dance floor. "To have a wedding after-party at Magic Kingdom with the bride and groom entering in Cinderella's chariot coach is the kind we have only grown up imagining," gushes Mehta.

On Larwood's death anniversary, a Bodyline yarn
Harold Larwood, the English fast bowler, known for his Bodyline exploits against Australia in 1932-33, passed away this day in 1995. He lived long enough - nearly 91 years - to contemplate and write a fine autobiography, The Larwood Story, in 1965. Cricket lovers still find the book delightful to read and that's exactly what our in-house cricket nut did the other day. Chat with him about modern-day tabloid stories and he will tell you that they existed even when Larwood played.

Harold Larwood exchanges pleasantries with a little girl in 1956 during his stint as traffic manager of a soft drink manufacturer in Sydney where he eventually settled down. Pic/Getty Images

He pointed to an anecdote from The Larwood Story in which the fearsome fast bowler revealed that his captain Douglas Jardine once had a tiff with a journalist. Claude Corbett reported in the Sydney Sun newspaper that the English team were 20 minutes late for their game against Western Australia at Perth in October 1932 because Jardine had gone shopping.

In those days, cricket fans wrote letters to cricketers if they were not impressed with something and Jardine had a lot of mail to reply to on this subject. At a meeting aimed at brokering peace between Jardine and the influential journalist, the England captain asked Corbett whether he had any comment to make which could be included in one of the responses to a letter writer who happened to be a friend of Jardine. "Yes, Mr Jardine," remarked Corbett. "You can tell him from me that my comment is this: You can go and get f''''d." Jardine obviously couldn't pen that, but there was no cooperation extended to the media after this incident.

Talk, share, support
Theatre personality Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal has played agony aunt to many. Best known for her play, The Vagina Monologues, Kotwal tells this diarist that she has had several women sharing their distress with her, sometimes even approaching her at home. Now, giving shape to an idea she has had for long, Kotwal is organising an empathy group for women, the first meeting of which will be held in Wilson College on July 30.

The idea is to have a gathering of not more than 15 women and give them a space to share their stories. Kotwal intends to make this a monthly meet. "No one's judging, the message is empathy. If need be, we will also be connecting them with clinical experts."

When the Minister says, 'thank you'
Siddharth Roy, all of 19, started penning his first book when he was in the eighth standard. The Special Fish then became a bestseller. At that time, Roy had pledged that he would donate the profits from the book to help the drought affected farmers of Maharashtra.

Devendra Fadnavis and Siddharth Roy

Now that he has kept his word, salutations are coming his way from all corners. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis sent a letter to Roy, saying, "You surely have inspired many of us to restructure life with courage...you have proven that you're not only a passionate author but a vigilant and responsive person. Kindly accept my wishes for your upcoming assignments."

Bright as a button

The always well turned-out Anil Kapoor fixes his shirt as Rajkummar Rao looks on during the promotions of their next film at a Juhu five-star on Saturday. Pic/Shadab Khan

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