Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Mumbai's comic stars
India may have got its Comic Con 40 years after it was first held in the US in 1970, but the gathering of comic book lovers, to put it simply, has grown exponentially ever since. At the Comic Con India Awards held in Delhi on Friday, comic book creators, graphic novelists and illustrators from across the country converged to see the best in their fields walk away with awards in various categories. And Mumbai, with its significant number of comic lovers, had much to boast of. The Best Web Comic of the Year award went to the city's Sailesh Gopalan for his hugely popular Brown Paperbag series, which captures what it's like growing up in an Indian family. Holy Hell by Meta Desi Comics, another Mumbai-based collective, won in the Best Continuing Graphic Series category, while also being a runner-up in another category. So, a pat on their back, please.

Honesty is the best policy
It happens all too often that when a restaurant is caught in a pickle, it puts its entire PR machinery into action to do damage control and divert attention from the situation at hand. And a denial is almost de rigueur especially when a place is shutting shop. For, let's face it, it's tough to admit defeat. Which is why we were pleasantly surprised to notice a sign outside the Doolally Taproom in Colaba that read, "We are closing shutters… Honestly, the numbers just weren't working out. We are a small company and have to make hard (and quick) choices. Like this one." Such candour is as tough to find in the F&B industry as butter chicken would be in a Jain eatery. So here's raising a toast to Doolally. And if you're around in SoBo before March 25, drop in there to show some love since that's the date the shutters will be downed permanently.

Pic/Satej Shinde

Crouching tiger's daddy
Directors Ashutosh Gowariker and Rajesh Mapuskar break out into a laugh at actor Jackie Shroff's antics, during the muhurat of a movie at Goregaon's Filmcity on Friday.

(From left) Mustansir Dalvi, Sampurna Chattarji, Ranjit Hoskote and T Jagath

Book releases of the non-celeb types
If you're a Bombaywallah who can't do without the smell of a new paperback, it's not been an easy time. With the shuttering of one of our biggest landmarks, Strand, it's been a bad time. Which is why when the few that are still standing tall make news, we take note. We came across a warm frame of the release of Ranjit Hoskote's Jonahwhale at Kitabkhana. T Jagath, its CEO was invited to do the honours, in what we felt was a wonderful gesture and a refreshing break, instead of the celeb types that we are used to seeing at such dos. Mustansir Dalvi and Sampurna Chattarji engaged Hoskote in a lively discussion to an audience that soaked in every word. We like.

So fur, so good
Here's some great news for the city's furry population. Animals Matter to Me (AMTM), an NGO that works for the welfare of neglected pets and strays alike, has acquired a 17-acre plot of land in Ainwahal in the state's Kolad region, where it plans to build a full-fledged sanctuary for all kinds of animals. Not just that, AMTM also intends to cultivate an organic farm at the site and build a cow shed to make it a self-sustainable space. People can also visit the sanctuary for leisure. But they are asking for monetary help to get things off the ground. So, log on to the AMTM website if you feel that you have the milk of human kindness.

Samosas get a British nod
Vada pav aside, one Mumbai street food that is a daily source of the city's sustenance is the samosa. Sandwiched in a pav, these spicy potato-filled triangular delicacies make for the perfect quick fix while on the move. But it's not just this city - or country on the whole - that is gaga about the snack. We hear that Leicester, an English city with a sizeable desi population, will host a National Samosa Week in early April. Organised by the Leicester Curry Awards and with the city police's patronage, the event seeks to train the spotlight on other South Asian food as well. And knowing the British affinity for the beverage, we are assuming that like it is in India, a lot of the samosas in Leicester, too, will be had with tea.

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