Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Something's brewing in Lower Parel
When Verbena Brewpub and SkyGarden opened in 2017, this diarist, wished hard for the eatery to serve craft beers under its leafy ceiling. Our prayers have been answered. Starting August 26, they will launch a microbrewery. On offer will be Belgian-style witbier, aye blonde! a yellow European ale; stout-n-out; forbidden fruit, a fruity beer and MVP, a beer and Jägermeister blend.

"We wish to manifest our love and talent by quenching the thirst of our customers. It's no small task, but will be extremely rewarding for everyone involved," says Sachiin Khhavle, the beer geek behind the brewing.

The effects of comparisons
Whether Hardik Pandya, India's cricket hero with the ball at Nottingham on Sunday, will come close to the feats of a certain Kapil Dev Nikhanj with whom he is compared to, is to be seen.

Ian Craig

Generally speaking, comparisons do more harm than good for the concerned player and in most cases, he doesn't match up. Australia's Ian Craig is one player who comes to mind. The media not only christened him the 'next Bradman' when he was picked for Australia at the age of 17 in 1953, the Australian selectors even made him captain later on. Craig's Test career was restricted to 11 Tests and he made just 358 runs without a century.

Hepatitis caused his premature exit from the game in 1958, but the fact is that he didn't produce in accordance to his ability. In all this strife, Craig didn't lose his sense of humour. When he was introduced to the Queen at Lord's on the 1956 tour of England, she enquired whether he was on his first tour to her country. His reply was spontaneous: "Yes, your Majesty, and unless my batting improves, it will be my last." And he was right. The 1956 was his first and last. Where Pandya is concerned, he is gifted enough to make another tour of England and we don't just mean next year's World Cup in Britain.

News, as it should be
We have seen national television news anchors sit in bathtubs to fathom how Sridevi must have drowned to death. But when it comes to covering sombre occasions, their regional counterparts are doing their job with both thoroughness and sensitivity.

Pic/AFP

Viewers proficient in Malayalam can't stop praising the calm and effective reporting on the floods in Kerala that they have been watching on news channels from the state. Apart from working under unimaginable conditions, they have also been helping with rescue efforts. The channels too are relentlessly relaying information and acting as SOS centres. Time to take a leaf out of their book, we say.

India abroad
When Indian actors make their mark internationally, they always carry their roots with them. Assamese actor Adil Hussain had his moment this Sunday when he became the first Indian to have the Norwegian national award conferred upon him. He dedicated the award to his hometown Goalpara, in Assam.

Adil Hussain

Hussain was declared Best Actor for his role in What Will People Say, directed by Iram Haq, a second-generation Norwegian national, where he plays the role of a strict Pakistani father.

Cow-ered by art
The voice of reason against nepotism in Bollywood, the inspirational icon who was so vocal about acid attacks as she showed unflinching support to a survivor, her own sister - Kangana Ranaut was all this until last Wednesday. Since then, she seems more of a sympathiser for gaurakshaks, an apologiser for mob lynchings and a bit of those vegans who are more cognizant of their eating habits than they are of the larger picture.

Observing all of this is popular artist Orijit Sen, whose work always comes with political commentary. He has put together a meme of sorts. In it, a caricature of Ranaut is seen dashing towards the crease, where real feminism lies, but falters at the intersectionality of secularism and feminism only to be Run Out! Get it?

Orijit Sen

Ignoranceis bliss

Unaware that a photographer is clicking her, Kajol is all smiles at a college festival in Vile Parle on Monday. Pic/Sneha Kharabe

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