Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Class in Hasyasana

Shilpa Shetty Kundra's love for yoga rubs off on to press photographers at a media interaction ahead of International Yoga Day at her Juhu residence. Pic/Satej Shinde

Banter over chai

In February this year, this page had carried a report on Chai ki Dukaan, a social media initiative by two friends from India and Pakistan, which offers a platform to young people from both the countries to share their tales of friendship. For the Indo-Pak World Cup cricket match on Sunday - which off the field, was played out as the mother of all rivalries perhaps more than ever before in the recent past - we came across banter between the founders.

Rudrani Dasgupta (in pic, right) from Kolkata reminisced about how she had grown up seeing the immense popularity Imran Khan and Wasim Akram enjoyed in India. And Karachi's Ramsha Baluch (in pic, left) spoke of Virat Kohli being the current favourite in Pakistan."He has inspired quite a few hair and beard styles. You can see his pictures hanging at barber shops in Karachi," she said. Of course, there was some leg-pulling, too, but it was a welcome break from the daggers-drawn animosity all around.

Aamir's birthday surprise for mom

While we saw Aamir Khan post a picture of his entire family wearing a T-shirt with his mother Zeenat Hussain's photo on her birthday last week, what we didn't know was the surprise the actor had planned for her in Dharamsala.

Khan invited city-based theatre artiste and poet Danish Husain and artiste Yasir Iftikhar Khan, satirist Sampat Saral and filmmaker Shabnam Virmani of the Kabir Project for special shows. And from those in attendance, we hear it was a "truly memorable" affair.

Famous workplace

Having served the film industry for decades before moving on to become the new address for international music gigs in the city, Famous Studios is now ready to take on another identity.

The Mahalaxmi landmark, which was founded in 1946, now has a co-working space called the Famous Working Company on its premises - a decision, founder-director Anant Roongta says was based on a "meticulous understanding of the paradigm shift in the media and tech industries in the past decade."

Hindustani GoT

Game of Thrones may have ended, but the fan fever is still on. Among the many memes and jokes around the show, this diarist spotted a constructive exercise themed around the show.

It was one where city-based singer Mugdha Hasabnis, who is also a faculty member in the Hindustani playback department at The True School of Music, conducted a choir where participants started off singing the theme song of 20th Century Fox followed by that of GoT using the semitones of Hindustani Classical music. With nearly 20 people taking part, it was impressive to see how each singer played a role in harmonising the tune, keeping the Indianness intact. It certainly will leave the Indian GoT fans in awe.

A taste of Israel

Although that's what it might seem like if you go to an Israeli café anywhere in the Himalayas, there is more to the country's food than sakhsukha, hummus and falafel. And chef Shipra Khanna will now get a first-hand experience of the West Asian nation's gastronomic delights, after the Indian embassy invites her for a familiarisation course on the cuisine.

This is after Maria Goretti received a similar invitation from the Israeli consulate general last month, to go on a culinary tour of the country. Khanna met the Israeli Consul General yesterday and looked pleased as punch in photos of the two of them chit-chatting.

Here's hoping that when she returns, she adds her inspirations from the tour to the dishes she whips up in Mumbai.

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