Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Thodi si toh lift kara de

A JCB becomes an unexpected source of lift for labourers at Bandra Kurla Complex in Bandra East

Martian guest on Marine Drive

Students of DJ Sanghvi college with their rover, Abhyaan, on Marine Drive

Whenever this diarist visits Marine Drive, irrespective of the time of the day, she notices a flurry of activity along this promenade - bloggers playing innocuous pranks on passersby; singers crooning at their mini concerts; gymnasts performing coordinated back flips; dancers hosting flash mobs and artists writing motivating quotes. At midnight on Thursday, this diarist spotted a different activity altogether - a rover leading a group of young people. When we asked around, we learnt that the students from Vile Parle's DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering were taking their new creation for a test drive before an international competition that starts in September. "This is a Martian rover," the team told us. Telling us more, 21-year-old team leader Bhaumik Thakker shared, "This is for the European Rover Competition 2023, where engineering aspirants from across the world design rovers for exploring space, particularly Mars. Just like Chandrayaan was sent to the moon recently, this could be termed Mangalyaan." The rover took seven months of team effort to build, he added. To check the traversibilty, navigation and water resistance of the rover, they tested it on sand dunes, parks, farms, slopes and now, Marine Drive.

Drama on screen

From fatal superstitions to star criminals, Sunetra Choudhury and Sunil Gupta's co-authored Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer, a memoir of the latter's career, is being adapted into a series by Vikramaditya Motwane. While talks were underway since 2019, Choudhury (below), national political editor of a national daily, said, "You never start out thinking it would be made into a series." Priya Kapoor, director, Roli Books, shared "Apart from the astonishing stories, what struck me most was his [Gupta's] honesty. To see two of the best (Andolan and Applause) in the business take our book to a wider audience has been magic. Can't wait to see what they do with it."

Let's make this reunion happen

Kushnaz and Khushnuma with their parents on Parsi New Year in 2001. Pic/Ashish Raje

Isn't there something sweet and nostalgic about old photographs? As the city's Parsi community prepares for Parsi New Year on August 16, we could not help but recall this lovely moment captured by mid-day's principal photographer Ashish Raje at Wadia Atash Behram at Marine Lines in 2001. It features twins Kushnaz and Khushnuma with their parents as they exchange greetings. Over two decades later, we'd like to recreate the moment in time for the festival. If any of our readers are known to the twins and/or their family, write to us at mailbag@mid-day.com. We would love to make it a special Navroze Mubarak for them.

Astral aspirations

A moment from Chandrayaan 2's lift-off in 2019. File Pic (right) Arvind Paranjpye

Chandrayaan's entry into the lunar orbit today seems as good a time as any to spark a conversation around astronomy. The Nehru Planetarium has launched a certificate course in astronomy and astrophysics, commencing from August 6. "It is a citizens' science course and is open to everyone - from young aspirants to enthusiastic seniors," said director Arvind Paranjpye. From studying the constellations to the math used to measure the distance between the stars, the year-long course is a step towards inspiring a new generation, he remarked. Interested folks can register at nehru-centre.org/planetarium. As for the Chandrayaan, the director shared, "It is an exciting week. It now moves from the earth's orbit into the moon's orbit. It will orbit the moon thrice before landing on the surface later this month."