Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Raje

Sea-ze the day

A group of visitors have fun posing on a boat at Girgaum Chowpatty

With you, Bilkis

Despite the crowds, this diarist has found comfort in a sense of solidarity that unites ladies dabbas on Mumbai locals. It was heartening to hear then, that when some feminist social workers and activists boarded a Churchgate-Borivali train to engage with passengers in the ladies' compartment about the remission given to the rapists and murderers of Bilkis Bano and her family members, they came away with 400 signatures in support of the survivor. Chayanika Shah, who was part of the initiative, shared, "Most of the people that we spoke to were agitated, and wanted to know more. We distributed leaflets, asking them to read and sign. Barring a few, most people were happy that something was being done. One woman was listening to a lecture and couldn't join in the conversation. But she overheard us and read the leaflet, and later came to ask questions and signed, too."

Kalra will now dish out dance moves

Restaurateur Zorawar Kalra has opened many restaurants over the years. Now, he's all set to don a new avatar as a contestant on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa that goes on air on September 3. Dancing, he told us, is out of his comfort zone. "But then, life is all about learning new things and taking on new challenges. Dancing is as far out of my comfort zone as anything can be but that's what makes this a fun experience. The rigorous training schedule will help me get fitter," said Kalra, whose Massive Restaurants runs Farzi Cafe, Pa Pa Ya, Made in Punjab and Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra. He's been training for one and a half months now, which includes practice routines with his instructor in Mumbai. Dancing is very technical and this diarist has learnt that he's been practising dance forms from bachata to Bollywood. "Everything is far more complex than I thought. However, my choreography partner is very understanding and a bit strict; that combination is helping ease the learning curve," he admitted. Let's see if his lifts are as smooth as his ras malai tres leches.

Grand dreams in Ballard Estate

Housed in the Grand Hotel building, Cirqa will open doors in December

The over-a-century-old Grand Hotel in the charming SoBo heritage precinct is set to get a serving of tapas. After giving city diners a taste of different Indian regions with Oye Kake and Taftoon Bar & Kitchen, restaurateur Pankaj Gupta is training his sights on a 4,000-sq ft standalone restaurant at the iconic Ballard Estate hotel. Called Cirqa, the restobar will churn out tapas-style bites and cocktails.

"The food is inspired by the colonists that ruled India including the French, Dutch, Portuguese, British, and the Mughals. Small plates will complement our cocktails," shared Gupta. The hotel attracted merchants who arrived into then Bombay after the Suez Canal opened in 1896, and Ballard Estate came up by the docks on reclaimed land. Gupta is also opening an outlet of Taftoon in Powai soon.

UK calling

Nani, Mr Bhulakkad and Tara-Appa are set to become familiar names for kids in the UK. Highbrow, a streaming platform for children in the UK, has roped in Mumbai-based puppet masters Sangya Ojha and Hashim Haider of The Puppetarians, to stream their puppet videos online. "Earlier this year, they reached out to us; they curate creators from across the world who make works for children," explained Ojha. The 48 videos that will be streamed include content in English and Hindi. "They realised that kids there also watch a lot of content in different languages. The content spans literacy, numeracy, soft skills and social skills," she added.

Reading in the garden

The books at the library have been donated by citizens

Books and the bower. Reading in the bounties of nature furthers the widening of horizons we pursue in books. That classic dream can now be realised even in Mumbai, a city infamous for its scrunched-up spaces. Project Mumbai, a non-profit committed to involving members of the society in the process of change, recently opened their first neighbourhood municipal garden library in Vikhroli. It is the first of the many free community libraries that will be initiated by the organisation with the support of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).

A bench recycled from plastic

Such libraries are bound to open up opportunities for public-private-people partnerships. The platform zeroed in on gardens that had gazebos so that book cupboards could be safely stationed there. The initiative rests on several social and economic intersections. While residents are donating books for civic garden reading, the almirahs have been contributed by Godrej and Boyce. The benches are made up of recycled plastic - collected as part of the non-profit's The Mumbai Plastic Recyclothon initiative - and are painted by students from municipal schools. And it is the citizens who will be taking care of the maintenance, along with their volunteers. What a melting pot, we say.