Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Kareena Kapoor Khan spotted outside a studio in Bandra

BOO, says bebo

Kareena Kapoor Khan gives a fan a disapproving look as she is snapped outside a studio in Bandra on Monday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Mumbai dominates UNESCO Asia Pacific Awards

Vikas Dilawari; Brinda Somaya; Abha Narain Lambha

A water fountain. A church. A synagogue. A library. These landmarks echoed the diversity and celebrated the vision of its heritage keepers - all Mumbai-based - who bagged top honours in Penang yesterday at the UNESCO Asia Pacific Region Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2019. Fifty-seven entries were submitted from 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region including Australia, China, India and New Zealand.

Mumbai's Brinda Somaya (SNK Consultants) bagged the Award of Distinction for her restoration of the Vikram Sarabhai Library, IIM, Ahmedabad. This, the citation mentioned, heralds an important step forward in the preservation of 20th century architecture in India. Somaya's vision ensured that Louis Kahn's design of the library was rehabilitated from a state of extensive material dilapidation by using exhaustive research and modeling. Abha Narain Lambah, who's restored the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Kala Ghoda, won an Award of Merit. She told mid-day, "This not only recognises that the restoration work was of the highest technical standards but also demonstrated the spirit of multiculturalism that Mumbai has always stood for, with non Jewish corporates and citizens associations coming together to save and revive a cultural landmark of the minority Jewish community." Also winning the same category was Byculla's Gloria (Our Lady of Glory) Church restored by David Cardoz and Ainsley Lewis; the latter received the award on behalf of the Archdiocese of Bombay. Expressing his happiness over Flora Fountain earning a well-deserved Honourable Mention, its conservation architect Vikas Dilawari shared that the careful restoration of the fountain was an important chapter in the revival of the city's many Victorian era fountains.

Rajan Jaykar, Convener, INTACH Mumbai, said that it was a proud moment for heritage lovers in the city and was recognition of the relentless work done by committed conservation architects as well as NGOs like INTACH Mumbai to preserve monuments of historical significance.

When things heated up

There was a fair bit of tu-tu-main-main between two well-known city-based culinary experts on social media recently. One of them had put up a photo of brass utensils that the other had earlier posted, and claimed that she had spotted them while at the market. The original poster called her out, and the latter apologised, and offered to even pay for using the picture, which only further aggravated things. #Peace.

Sounds hilarious

Last year, when popular city comedian Rahul Subramanian posted a stand-up set themed on DJs as part of his comedy special on a streaming platform, it got many laughing and ended up scoring over 2.7 million views on YouTube. But the comedian ended up incurring the wrath of, who else, DJs. And now, drawing from Subramanian's Instagram page, a talented DJ Paranox has made a mix out of the same video. It turned out to be so good that Subramanian, in a comment, requested celebrity choreographer Shazeb Shaikh to choreograph a dance video. And Shaikh's reply only got followers more excited when he said, "I want to do this the earliest possible and this is lot a joke! [sic]"

Setting noble #couple goals

Yesterday three economists won the biggest prize they possibly could - the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences. Awarded to Esther Duflo, Michael Kremer and Abhijit Banerjee, the prize recognised them for their approach to alleviating global poverty. But there was another special fact that got Twitterati to type #couplegoals. It turns out Banerjee and Duflo are the sixth married couple to win the prestigious global honour. That's not all, the two are set to come out with a book next month titled Good Economics for Hard Times [Juggernaut Books]. Well, we can only say that perhaps, a couple that writes together, stays together.

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