Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Chehra Chhupa ke rakhna

Unlike Taimur Ali Khan, AbRam panics at the sight of photographers at Mumbai International Airport on Tuesday, hiding behind his soft toy. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

Proving his medal

The accolades don't seem to end for Amartya Sen. He, of course, was given the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998, which made him one of the few people from the country to receive the honour. And now, Nandana Dev Sen, his daughter, has posted that Sen has received this year's Bodley Medal from Oxford University, which is conferred on individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the field of communications and literature. So, congratulations to Sen for making the country proud yet again.

Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel and Rahul daCunha

Write your way to the Edinburgh Fringe Fest

Whether in films or on stage, the importance of the script cannot be overstated. To help young playwrights hone their skills, Rage Productions, Mumbai, has joined hands with Traverse Theatre in the UK. As part of the Scotland-India Legacy Project, they will host a workshop by award-winning playwrights Abhishek Majumdar and Irawati Karnik, director Arghya Lahiri and professional actors. For that, prospective participants need to submit the full script of a play they are currently working on, by tomorrow. From these online submissions, 12 playwrights will be selected for the workshop, and through further filtration, two writers will get the opportunity to share their work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019. This isn't the first time Rage, helmed by thespians Shernaz Patel, Rajit Kapur and Rahul daCunha, has collaborated with Traverse. Last year, the theatre companies worked with schoolchildren from diverse backgrounds in Mumbai and helped them write, develop and stage their own plays.

A child tries chocolate pudding in a clay pot

A field day for kids as they get some food for thought

It isn't everyday that schoolchildren in the city get a sneak peek into the inner workings of a restaurant, thus understanding the back end of the F&B business. But that's the opportunity that around 94 kids from Ascend International School got recently, when they were taken on a tour of Taftoon in BKC. They were also given a demo of the eatery's new initiative, Garden to Glass, and learnt how to make juices from fresh fruits and fresh ingredients, which they later got to taste.

The kids have a ball with their chef's hats on

Plus, the kids were given an important lesson in sustainability. They were taken to the restaurant's composting area, where they make their own manure for the herb garden. Before leaving, the young ones were given chef's hats, cookies and chocolate pudding in clay pots that they took back home, having evidently had a ball on their field trip.

Mango-ing gaga

Winter is over and summer is here. Evidence of that fact lies in the way a Tardeo-based outlet known for its strawberries has shifted focus to mangos for its second outlet, which will soon be launched in Kandivali. And while Bomberry's strawberry and mulberry products will still be available at the new branch, owner Bansri Shah says that one of the reasons why she decided to open the Kandivali outlet is their customer base. "It seemed like the right area for the second outlet because about 70 per cent of the customers we get in our SoBo outlet on weekends is from the suburbs," she told this diarist.

RIP Olga, the city's faithful chronicler

Olga Esther Baptista Valladares, a former journalist, passed away in Melbourne yesterday. For historian Dr Fleur D'Souza, she remains one of the early chroniclers of little-known Bombay. Valladares moved to Australia in the '90s, and D'Souza reminisces about her contributions. "Her column, Bombay That Was, in the newspaper where she worked, featured stories about the city she was born in. An East Indian, her childhood was spent in Cavel, from where she moved to Bandra. She wrote about neighbourhoods and street names, communities and shrines," she told this diarist, adding, "The stories evoked vivid images of Bombay's past: its colour, sights and smells. Her 1998 publication, The Story of Bandra Feast, remains one of the most concise publications on the iconic church and the celebration of the Bandra Feast every September. The Cudd system: a study of Goan club life in Bombay, her 1958 Master's thesis, awaits publication. Rest Olga. We all wish we had more time with you."

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