Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Nimesh Dave

Old man and the sea

After the day's toil, a dabbawala relaxes on an anchored boat on Versova beach

Khanna breaks into Top 10

Celebrity chef and restaurateur Vikas Khanna has made it to Gazette Review's list of Top 10 Chefs in the World - The Best in 2022. Khanna, sixth on the list, said he was humbled to be mentioned among some of his mentors. The list includes heavyweights like Anthony Bourdain and Alain Ducasse. Khanna admitted that the recognition wasn't just his but of the collective work of chefs within and outside of India who have been working to uplift the cuisine. Khanna recounted, "While in college, I asked my professor that it's 1991, and how come all top chefs are white. He said that's because they have a superior way of cooking. I have always disagreed on that, and believed that it's only a matter of time until someone else rises to the top."

Book a garden in Kandivali

Earlier this week, BMC flagged off their latest initiative, Garden Library, at the Hindu Hriday Samrat Shri Balasaheb Thackeray Udyan in Kandivali. "The project is the brainchild of our superintendent of gardens, Jitendra Pardeshi. The digital addiction around us prompted this idea," Shubhajit Mukherjee, ambassador, Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyan, told us. The initiative will ensure that each library will have access to dozens of books across genres, in addition to occasional shows and entertainment for kids and adults. The folks behind the idea also plan to encourage people in the neighbourhood to donate books to these local libraries. "People no longer visit libraries, so we are taking the library to the people," quipped Mukherjee.

Mangoes and the poet

This diarist chanced upon a post by Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca, the daughter of iconic poet and Bombayphile Nissim Ezekiel, which is bound to make the mango-obsessed among us smile.

Kavita, who is based overseas, had received her first batch of mangoes from India, and it instantly led her to share her father's poem Mangoes that is from the Edinburgh Interlude, which she added, is her father's favourite city.

Mangoes / Nissim Ezekiel
I have not come to Edinburgh
To remember
Bombay mangoes,
but I remember them.
even as I look
at the monument
to Sir Walter Scott,
or stroll along
In the Hermitage of Braid.

Perhaps it is not the mangoes
that my eyes and tongue long for,
but Bombay as the fruit
on which I've lived,
winning and losing
my little life.

The world is her stage

City-based writer Himali Kothari's play, Friends for Life, has been selected to participate in the International Drama|tik|er|innen Festival in Graz, Austria. The play will be staged as part of a collection of dramas titled Once Upon Tomorrow. She is elated that her play, themed on climate change, has made it to the global stage, "Every writer wants his or her story to be read, and read extensively. The best part is that my story communicated enough for it to be featured at the theatre festival." She explained that theatre's role in effecting change is not taken very seriously. With her play being able to access an international audience, she is thrilled that her story will play a teensy part in the dialogue about the most crucial global issue. Kothari will also host a workshop at the fest that will focus on dramatising non-fiction. "How can one start off with a reported or cause-driven incident and extract a story out of it? The session will help frame a story that stays with the audience well after the curtain call," she said. For more details on the fest, head to @himaliko-thari.

The pearls of envy

Here's one that's worth our envy. Online auction house AstaGuru set a national record with their latest heirloom auction as a rare necklace of pearls went under the hammer for Rs 6 crore, this diarist was told.

The pearl necklace; a choker from the auction. Pics courtesy/ASTAGURU

"This necklace is large and rare to come by," Jay Sagar (in pic) from the online trading platform, said. While not antique, the necklace's unique nature lies in the size and quality of the pearls strung together in one piece.

This earned it generous appraisal across European markets. As for the price, Sagar was clear that it was the largest number bid for a set of pearls in the country.