Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

Best pull forward

A team of girls put up a show of collective strength during the 48th Samartha Annual Sports Training Camp at Shivaji Park, Dadar.

Sarah's toast to Bombay

Amid the hustle of the high-pressure MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites kitchen, chef Sarah Todd was recently transported to her Mumbai days, courtesy, the Bombay chutney sandwich. During one of the mystery box rounds, when she had to work with a jaffle maker, the Australian chef sought inspiration in her visit to the sandwich stalls behind St Xavier's College, and whipped up a tribute to the iconic streetside snack. "Every time I land in Mumbai, there are a couple of dishes that I need to eat, and one of them is the butter and corn-filled sandwich behind St Xavier's College. I made a version of it - loaded with spiced corn, a coriander chutney, and tamarind and date chutney, topped with a lot of sev. It was absolutely delicious, the judges loved it."

Delivering smiles

"Your order has arrived." This text, followed by men in orange or red with bags of our favourite treats ringing the bell took care of most of our cravings during the lockdowns. To honour them, Bandra's Fresh Catch is going to treat all the food delivery personnel who stop by the restaurant on International Workers' Day, tomorrow. "Last year, for the first time, we got on to food aggregator apps; we have met these boys every day since then. So, we thought why not celebrate with them. There will be a meal waiting for any delivery person who comes to pick up an order," shared owner Adith Fernandes. What an idea.

Reel side of Deco

Illustration by Niyosha Gandhi, art direction by Ruchita Madhok and Aditya Palsule; created at Kahani Designworks for Storycity

Growing up in Mumbai, artist-designer Ruchita Madhok has always been fascinated by Art Deco buildings. A day after World Art Deco Day on April 28, the founder of Kahani Designworks and Storycity recollected to this diarist that her introduction to Deco was through Regal Cinema. "We used to watch English movies at Regal, and Hindi shows at Metro. The marble floors, wooden panels and brass fittings made up my experience of cinema. Then, there was Eros where we'd bunk and watch movies in college." As an ode to these cinema halls, Storycity has created some stunning art prints of Regal, Liberty, Metro and Eros, as part of their Bombay Deco Cinema series. The four halls are special for various reasons, she asserted. "Regal was one of the first public Art Deco buildings in the city. It was completely air-conditioned and had underground parking. Eros is an ode to the Egyptian-style ziggurat. Metro was commissioned by MGM Studios; it has a resonance with cinemas in Miami. Liberty is the most flamboyant of all Art Deco cinemas in the city," she noted. To bring a piece of these cinema halls home, head to kultureshop.in.

Wander in a Wadi

If you can ignore the heat and step into the neighbourhood of Khotachiwadi with a camera hung around your neck, splashes of history will sort out the rest. Anurag Kukrety, who runs @photowalksmumbai on Instagram, is looking forward to yet another weekend of traversing vibrant hues from the past in a photo walk on May 7 and 8. On what makes the neighbourhood so photogenic, Kukrety shared, "It's the peaceful appeal. Our walk will be a unique experience as you will enjoy a guided tour of the wadi first from one of its oldest residents, and then with that perspective, you can freely roam in the bylanes to click pictures." He added that the photo walk will be educational as participants will be challenged to use the compositional rule of leading lines to create images.

Lord of the rings

If jumping through the hoops of his Class 12 board exams were not enough, Mumbai-based 18-year-old Nishant Karandikar has landed a spot in the team of young Indians heading to France for the ISF World School Gymnastics Championship 2022 from May 13 to 23. Karandikar is one of the 10 Indian students - five girls and five boys - representing the country at the gymnasiad, including two from Thane. "It is a huge honour, but at the same time there is a great responsibility," shared the youngster. He started training in artistic gymnastics in 2013, practising at Prabodhankar Thackeray Sports Complex, and has now progressed to the national level. "It is difficult, but we train for it every day. That's why we are able to perform at that level," he explained. Having wrapped up his board exams, Karandikar has already started preparing for the next big jump in the sporting arena. Now, if only this diarist had the same level of energy.