Mumbai Diary page: Saturday Scene

Deano tired of games
Former Australia batsman turned television expert Dean Jones has presumably become cranky because some of his Facebook friends have been inviting him to play games (Farm Heroes Saga, which is a popular recommendation among Facebookers, is just an example) from which they extract humongous pleasure.

Yesterday, the dashing hero of the 1986 Chennai Tied Test, who is contracted by an Indian television channel for the Indian Premier League, posted: "Just a reminder friend of FB... I don't do games, or play crap games... Please don't ask me again." A lot of mates understood Jones' gripe through their ‘Likes' but one young lad decided to ask Jones, "Can you come to Mumbai and play cricket with me?" Deano may have had a chuckle!

Raging over storage? Park your problems!
In a city that is seeing its space crunch worsen, small businessmen in south Mumbai have found a cheap - if not quite legal - way to store their goods.

Instead of paying exorbitant rents for manhole-sized storerooms, the vyaparis have been storing their goods in practically derelict vehicles parked outside their shops. Saturday Scene came across at least two such scrapped tempos on Princess Street and Crawford Market, used as godowns. And we hear that these "godowns" are available at throwaway rates (only R 500, usually paid as a bribe to the traffic cops who are supposed to actually clear such street hurdles).

WHEEL DEAL: The parked goods vehicles that are used as makeshift godowns

Vote for your mango, man
NEVER mind politics, the hot topic on social media is which kind of mango people like the most. While Alphonso may be top of mind, there are lots of other varieties of mango that Mumbaikars know and love… and can now vote for. Yes, the king of fruits has an entire poll devoted to it. You can pick your favourite out of the eight varieties most commonly found in Mumbai, at mid-day.com. You are allowed to consult your neighbourhood fruit vendor for expert advice.

Foodie dreams on film
It is not related to the awards that bear the illustrious name, but there is a film festival that is named after father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke, held in New Delhi on the same date - April 30, the birth anniversary of the great man.

COOKING UP DREAMS: A still from the film Little Big George

While some of the winners in the various categories at this Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival are rather ho-hum (such as Raanjhana for best director), one award that caught our attention is the Best Short Film, which was won by Mumbaichi mulgi Priyanka Tanwar. She has written and directed the 20-minute-long film, Little Big George, which is the story of a little boy who dreams big. Not the standard career dreams you might expect, George has ambitions of becoming a chef.

YOUNG TALENT: Writer-director Priyanka Tanwar

A Sophia College graduate, Tanwar says, "What I am aiming at in this film is to reach out with the message that if you believe in something and work towards it, without ever thinking of giving up, nothing and nobody can stop you from achieving it." Similar to the determination that drives Mumbaikars, we think.

Tanwar plans to show Little Big George at other festivals and we hope to see it in the city too, soon.