23 December,2022 05:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Atul Kamble
A baby watches a toddler play with a ball in Five Gardens, Matunga
Bollywood Art Project has worked on the Tendulkar mural for eight days, and it will be ready in two days
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While ambling around the bylanes of Mumbai, it's common to meet a larger-than-life-size Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Madhubala or Irrfan Khan on regular walls. Ranjit Dahiya - founder of Bollywood Art Project - believes in peppering the city with images and icons that leave/have left an impression on our lives. This time, it's The God of Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar. "The municipal body approached me for a new mural in Bandra. They had Durga Mata Society in mind, and wanted an artwork that not only inspires people but also bears a social connect. I thought the brief through and pitched the cricketer's painting. Tendulkar was brought up in the area, and Vinayak Vispute, assistant commissioner of H ward, accepted the pitch at once. It's a 230 ft x 38 ft mural, and we will finish painting it in two more days," Dahiya told this diarist. About local people's reactions, the artist said that kids and adults would often gather to chant Sachin's name.
Not many Urdu poets connect with the millennial generation like Jaun Elia did. The late poet was among the most read names says Ahmed Pathan (above), product manager for rekhta.org. To pay tribute on Elia's 91st birth anniversary, the portal shared a page filled with his historical anecdotes in addition to his poetry. "We have his published work, but we wanted our audience to know about his personality, trivia and story," Pathan shared. He added that the portal is planning more such tribute pages that shed light on personal lives of poets to add context to their work. Next up would be Mirza Ghalib on December 27.
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A father-daughter duo is cooking up a storm in a new restaurant that feels like a warm hug for its relaxing vibes. Founded by chef Yashasvi Modi, The Burrow in Bandra Kurla Complex, is like an European bistro best suited for work lunches. Modi (inset) said that the outpost was born of her years of work and chats with her dad, Anil Modi. "Sauces and dips are important for us. And so, the menu has dishes that go perfectly well with a certain kind of housemade sauce," she shared. For instance, their in-house hot sauce is served with mozzarella sticks and chicken popcorn and aji pepper sauce is served with birria pulled lamb taco. She added that the bar menu will include handcrafted drinks. A couple of their star drinks that tipplers must try are the Seville sunset and pisco sour.
Today marks a crucial milestone for the Indian Music Group (IMG) of St Xavier's College that is known for spreading the joy of classical music far and wide. The group that was founded in 1974, and has hosted stalwarts such as Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Birju Maharaj and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, turned 50 today. Their birthday concert will feature Pandit Milind Raikar and Yadnesh Raikar. "It will be a power-packed violin jugalbandi. The masters will be accompanied by Pandit Mukundraj Deo and Rohit Deo on tabla. We will also reveal our line-up for Janfest, that's returning after three years, at the concert," said Gauravi Pradhan, the group's general secretary.
The X'mas tree fashioned from fresh straw at Mindspace, Juinagar (right) a close-up of the crib. Pics/Sameer Markande
If you step into Mindspace in Juinagar this festive season, keep your eyes peeled for a 150 kg-stack of hay. The freshly harvested straw has been shaped to resemble a Christmas tree. Repurposed from waste generated within the business park, the tree will soon become a natural nesting for the birds in the neighbourhood. Rajesh Sunderajan from their horticulture team shared, "There are urban farms on most of our premises in Navi Mumbai. We grow a range of vegetables and fruits, including strawberries and 1,000-year-old rice grain varieties. While the cultivation is done as an educational tool for people working on these farms, the produce is given to a local non-profit. Sometimes, kids from the organisation visit us to learn about farming processes." He added that the Juinagar campus - known for its drought-resistant trees with huge canopies - attracts birds that can nibble on the Christmas tree. "We plan to move the tree to a public garden after the festivities," Sunderajan said.
