Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Triple seat

A daredevil trio test their balancing skills at Nehru Nagar.

All for love

Randolph Correia; (right) Meat Loaf. Pic/Getty Images

The world lost one of the best-selling musicians of all time when Meat Loaf passed away yesterday, aged 74. Born in Dallas as Marvin Lee Aday, his album Bat Out of Hell ranks in the top 10 of highest-selling records of all time, alongside the likes of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. But if there is one song that defined Meat Loaf in this country, it's I would do anything for love that aired on Indian television in the 1990s. It's a love ballad that defined a generation, shared city-based guitarist Randolph Correia, adding, "Who has not come across that song in the course of their life? For a person growing up in the '90s, you couldn't have missed it. His videos also had a wholly different vibe. They were like movies - he brought that sense of theatrics to them. They were neo-Gothic, and really modern for the time. He was actually like this cool British Goth guy, but with a pop touch, too." Meat Loaf is survived by his wife and two daughters. His passing away is a void that they - and the world of music on the whole - will find hard to fill.

When storms are but a way of life

This fisherman was spotted making a sunshine yellow fishing net on a crisp, early morning recently. The scene unfolded at Haji Ali, closer to the Worli side, where the fishermen usually take their boats out to sea. B Shaikh, 48, who was dexterously making the net, said he had been going to sea in the past four decades, first with his father, and then on his own. There are fears that the Coastal Road will adversely affect fishing. The doughty water warriors stated they will find a way to survive. "After all, we are people of the sea, and storms are a way of life for us," he told this diarist, stoically.

Let's hear her story

"When we think about our family histories, the stories that are typically passed down are based on the family's patriarchs. We want to reimagine history through the families' women," said Tarini Sethi, editor of The Irregular Times, of their latest campaign titled Herstory. They're inviting people to send them photographs of the important women in their lives. The photographs will be used to create a visual archive that documents South Asian families. To learn more, visit @theirregulartimes on Instagram.

Run time

Entrepreneur and storyteller Lopamudra Mohanty, accompanied by her husband Nihar and pooch Zuko, is walking, running, and cycling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Only, given the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, she's taking this trip online. "We mapped the entire NH44 route and consistently cover a set distance each day, to reach the various destinations we have plotted. I also decided to share little-known stories about these destinations on social media," she explained. The family is currently heading towards Samba and sharing their journey via @lopamudrathestoryteller on Instagram.

Lit award for David

Indian writer Esther David's book Bene Appetit: The Cuisine of Indian Jews (HarperCollins India) was the lone Indian winner at the 2021 National Book Awards by US-based Jewish Book Council. Her book won the Jane and Stu­art Weitz­man Fam­i­ly Award for Food Writ­ing and Cook­books. "This award means that my work is recognised in the genre of Indian Jewish literature. It also recognises the cuisine of Indian Jews, like the Bene Israelis of Western India, Cochin Jews, Kolkata's Baghdadi Jews, Bene Ephraim Jews of Andhra Pradesh, and the Bnei Menashe Jews of northeast India," she told us. The Sahitya Akademi winner's book is a fascinating chronicle of food traditions, customs and recipes. Apart from thanking her publishers, she is grateful to her community for their help about cuisines. David recalls how in 1996, before she wrote the book, when she met Julie Joseph Pingle and her husband Samuel (the cantor) at Ahmedabad's Magen Abraham Synagogue, "She shared detailed information about Bene Israeli food, and made some recipes. The couple continue to be of great help." She was also touched by a gesture by Dr M Jaya Kumar Jacob of the Bene Ephraim Jewish community at Machilipatnam synagogue, near Vijayawada. "After I mailed him a questionnaire, his community members sent information in Telugu that he translated to English before I reached Machilipatnam." Aviv Divekar a prominent member of Ahmedabad's Jewish community said, "The community here is one family. We've always supported and stood by Esther David in her endeavours. We are proud of her achievements."