Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

The ground is ready

A clear sky greets Shivaji Park, after the Bombay High Court allowed Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to lead a Dussehra rally at the ground

Roger that

Roger Federer at the Laver Cup in London. PIC courtesy/Getty Images

As Roger Federer walked off into the sunset, awash in the tears of his friends and foes alike, a group of 150 fans landed at a Goregaon venue to celebrate the maestro's last tennis outing for the Laver Cup. "We wanted to chant and celebrate the legend for his last match," Suneet Kumbhat, founder of organiser Kasa Kai Mumbai, told us. The nightout was filled with fans recalling their memories of Federer's best games. The group had organised such meets before, memorably during the 2019 Wimbledon final when Federer faced Novak Djokovic. "That was a classic match. Unfortunately, he lost despite being on match point. But it was a great memory," Kumbhat admitted.

Give me some bombloes, men!

The postcard for bombloes that Rodrigues' grandmother received in 1958; bombil drying on Uttan beach. Pics Courtesy/Mogan Rodrigues, Navin and Nevit Jiu

What is the plural of bombil? An East Indian (EI) aunty's letter to city chronicler Mogan Rodrigues' grandmother from 1958 revealed it's ‘bombloes'. Rodrigues, who documents stories of Dharavi Island (comprising Dongri, Uttan, Pali, Chowk, Gorai and Manori), said the woman wrote to his grandmother for "1,000 bombloes".

"The EIs in the city still use the term; it's a very Anglicised word." In 1958, Uttan didn't have uninterrupted road connectivity. "So, she must have wanted 1,000 bombloes for everyone at once. A lot of EIs from Dharavi migrated to Mumbai from the 1940s to '60s for jobs but they craved good bombil, white onions or balchao. Even now, these are in great demand among Mumbai EIs."

On the wild side

Participants at a previous trail in the park

Every year, Wildlife Week is celebrated in October to drive a conversation on conservation of the flora and fauna around us. After two years of a pandemic-induced pause, the Wildlife Week Celebration at Maharashtra Nature Park is back on October 2 and 3. An initiative by the MMRDA and Naturalist Explorers, it will involve a photography competition, natural trail and butterfly walk, sessions on Warli painting and rock painting, workshops on growing your own food and more, revealed Sachin Rane of Naturalist Explorers. "The idea is to bring people closer to nature and remind them about this park that stands on a dumping ground," he added. To explore the city's wild side, call 8976451433.

Floored by this eco-friendly idea

Tejas Sidnal

Imagine if we could harness the immense pollution around us into something useful? Tejas Sidnal, founder of the startup Carbon Craft Design, works at the intersection of architecture, design and technology to create flooring tiles out of captured carbon emissions. To recognise this innovative idea that looks at air pollution as a resource, the Rotary Club of Bombay conferred the Taru Lalvani Award for Environmental Protection upon Sidnal recently. Vineet Bhatnagar, president of the club, shared, "The larger vision of Sidnal's company is to reverse climate change by building carbon-negative homes.

A screenshot from a video that captures Carbon Craft Design's process of making the tiles. Pic courtesy/Carboncraft on Instagram

They want to make climate action accessible to all by building products which are not only beautiful but are environmentally friendly and socially inclusive, too." Sidnal told this diarist that the award helps them connect with other like-minded people to address the global crisis from an Indian perspective. "We are also looking to build a carbon lab which would help us with R&D. We urge everyone to think: where is this carbon better stored, in your lungs or in our tiles?" he shared.

On a fluid screen

To facilitate the growth of cinema by and for the LGBTQiA+ comm-unity, KASHISH - the city's international queer film festival - launched an OTT platform. It kicks off with 30 Indian queer films, and aims to widen its scope. "We have a varied curation that includes films such as Maacher Jhol, Yours Emotionally, The Booth, Shot and Catch the Light, among others. We opened as a pay-per-view unit but will shift to monthly subscriptions," director Sridhar Rangayan told us.