Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Love in the Time of camera

A couple poses for a selfie standing in shallow waters at Juhu beach.

Look who's headed to Everest base camp

What do you do when Mumbai's heat gets to you? If you are Aditi Mittal, you take a hike. The city-based comedian has set off to Everest base camp this week. "All I am doing is a ‘charan sparsh' (touching the feet) of Mount Everest," she told this diarist over the phone from Bhairahawa in Nepal. Mittal is not dismissive of the challenge though. "The temperatures right now will be -1 to -4 degrees celsius. My Mumbaikar body is going to miss the humidity," she remarked. With a six-day trek to and from base camp, punctuated with a day-long stay there, the comedian said, "I am excited because I feel like it is going to be a mental test more than a physical one. It is a moderate level trek, but I look forward to channelling the strength to keep going." Having trained for a month by running and stair-climbing with oxygen deprivation masks, Mittal said she was ready.

Also Read: Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Icing on the Alps

A moment from the performance

It was a night when the stars descended at the premiere of the Broadway show of The Sound of Music at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Bandra-Kurla Complex on Wednesday. From singers Shankar Mahadevan and Udit Narayan to director Kabir Khan, celebrities from the music world were in attendance. While being starstruck, an-almost-three-hour duration meant that this diarist had to find some sustenance to keep going. Negotiating the rush hour queue at the food counter - albeit behind some celebrities - we were struck by the cupcakes with notes from a music sheet for icing. A quirky tribute to the Rodgers and Hammerstein spectacle, we thought. The key was in the details, clearly.

The sound notes on the icing of the cupcakes

Emotional sounds

Raja (left) with professor V Krishnan

Musician Rajeev Raja has collaborated on a study with professor V Krishnan, chair of marketing at the University of Northern Illinois to present a paper on Effect of sound on human emotions and brand affinity as an ongoing study. Raja explained, "Certain Indian ragas evoke certain rasas (emotions). We tried to build a theory around the same." The collaboration with professor Krishnan saw them set up an online survey where people responded to musical stimuli to base their results on. Talking about his learning from the study, Raja noted, "Human emotions are mingled, and complex music will evoke even more complex emotions."

Looking out for the sparrow

Illustrations on a model to depict the many reasons that can harm the sparrow

Creating awareness with art, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation along with NGO Sparrow Shelters has set up an artwork of the common sparrow at Narali Baug, Dadar. Superintendent of gardens, Jitendra Pardeshi shared that with summer vacations starting, the shelter will be set up in every famous spot across the city for 15 days each. Pramod Mane, president, Sparrow Shelter, added, "The sparrows keep the insect count in the city in check. We wish to start a conversation surrounding their dwindling numbers with urgency."

Picking the brains of the champion

Sagar Shah with Viswanathan Anand. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

Imagine sitting down with the great Lionel Messi to analyse a World Cup final. It's a chance no one would pass. Neither could Sagar Shah, co-founder of ChessBase India, when former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand agreed for a sit down earlier this week to discuss the championship battles between Deng Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. "Anand has played multiple world championship matches and won five championsips. This is a man with the experience of playing against all these different opponents, and has knowledge of different eras of chess," Shah remarked. From conversations around his preparations to face Garry Kasparov to the sudden decision by Magnus Carlsen to not defend his world title, the former champion shared thoughts on everything, said Shah. "He is literally the best to pick brains when it comes to world championship matches," Shah, an international master himself, said. We can't disagree.