Mumbai Diary page: Saturday Scene

Hey, who's that?
Whozzat? Instead of howzatt? Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brother, Pankaj Modi was spotted at Lalbaugcha Raja recently.

Pankaj Modi, PM Narendra Modi's brother (r)

Those in the know say, Pankaj Modi quietly did darshan and was on his way. No frills, no fuss was made. If you're raising your eyebrows in surprise at reading this, they should disappear into that hairline altogether.

Bhutia scores with a book
While we await the autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar, Playing it My Way which will be released on November 6, another sporting stalwart of this land is playing it by the book. Beyond the Goal, the official biography of footballer Baichung Bhutia has hit the market courtesy publishers Random House India.

Baichung Bhutia's book cover

Bhutia has an admirer in Tendulkar and the batting maestro has been lavish in praise in his Foreword to the book. He writes: "Baichung descended from the hills to make a mark across the country. His positive approach to life and pleasing personality belie the struggles he has faced while single-mindedly pursuing excellence. I can relate to the sacrifices he must have made as a teenager while striving to pursue his dream of playing for India."

Talking about Forewords, one wonders who has written one for Tendulkar's book. The book cover which he recently revealed to the world has no mention of that. Will it be Sunil Gavaskar? Sir Viv Richards? Sir Garfield Sobers? Maybe, there will be no Foreword at all like Sir Don Bradman's Farewell to Cricket? Sach keeps us guessing.

What would the Burj Khalifa (Iconic building in Dubai) be called after 80 years?

The Bujurg Khalifa

Doff of the hat to you
Since we are so used to panning them, day in and day out, one thinks a little pat on the back is in order when it is due.

So, just as Gauri Visrajan (the seventh day) of the Ganesh festival, brought with it unique challenges one must say our cops did pretty well. Of course there was the odd person crawling in traffic, but on the whole it was smoooooth.

A lady who took what she called the ‘Visarjan route' from Lower Parel to Andheri, passing by Juhu said that the commute home was as smooth as butter.

Well, take a bow, traffic cops you do one of the most difficult jobs in the world, in an impossibly crowded city.