Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

Gabbar khush hua

A smiling portrait of Amjad Khan as Gabbar graces a petrol tank as the driver checks it on Western Express Highway.

And the flag flies on...

To mark three years of the decriminalisation of same-sex relations in the country, producer/songwriter Nishant Nagar aka Khwaab (in pic) has composed the song, Parchayi. Sung by Raghav Meattle, the song is about a blossoming romance in a small village that tries to hide itself in the shadows, afraid of society and its judgment. "When Parchayi was conceived, the idea was different, but it always came from a place of absolute love. And that's the beauty of love, it's the purest emotion and it needs to be recognised and accepted. And I'm glad to share it with Raghav and Gaurav [Gupta, the director of the video] and the entire queer community" says Khwaab. n the end, their goal, says the team, is to make sure that the conversation around LGBTQiA+ causes doesn't wane, and that everyone in love, can hope for a happily ever after.

Fire cracker

Former India captain of the women's hockey team, Sybil Miranda, is in her second innings now. While she devoted her time to play hockey for India in the first half of her life, she is now focussed on passing on the experience to budding youngsters. Miranda started a fantastic page on Instagram, Humans of Sports in India. This account features sportspersons of India, hailing the incredible work they are doing in their respective fields. Speaking to this diarist, Miranda says, "Being a sports enthusiast, I organise a lot of sports tournaments in Mumbai every week. I want to promote games so more women take part. Participating teams play throwball, mixed volleyball and ladies cricket. I hope more women come forward and play, and that this page inspires everyone."

Merchant, Mushtaq and those gems from Manchester 1936

India may have not won a cricket Test at Old Trafford, where India and England were to do battle in the fifth Test, which got cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation in the Indian team. But individual performances there have been nothing short of splendid. Let's go through the list of Indian Test centurions at Manchester in descending order: Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammed Azharuddin in 1990, Sandeep Patil (1982), Sunil Gavaskar (1974), Polly Umrigar and Abbas Ali Baig (1959). In 1936, Vijay Merchant and Syed Mushtaq Ali won hearts when they carved centuries as openers in the second innings. It was a comeback of sorts because they were responding to England's massive first innings total of 571. Two or three incidents during that innings stood out for Mushtaq apart from the satisfaction of having complete command over the England bowlers. One was England stalwart Walter Hammond sportingly cautioning him about being too adventurous in his strokeplay when a century was there for the taking. Being given a six penny coin by the ground's gatekeeper in appreciation for his unbeaten hundred was memorable as well, but the third one involved his captain Maharajah of Vizianagram. In his book Cricket Delightful, Mushtaq revealed that Vizzy presented him a gold watch for his century effort and was also told by an influential figure in Indian cricket to run out his opening partner Merchant to deprive him of a century. There was no way Mushtaq was going to do that and thus Mushtaq and Merchant became the only Indian opening to score hundreds in one innings on English soil. Cricket, the game of camaraderie, honour and honesty came to the fore way back then.

Revisiting the farmers' struggle

Namita Waikar

Novelist and biochemist Namita Waikar, who currently works as managing editor of the People's Archive of Rural India, will be publishing her new book, Farmers' Strike, by next year. The Melbourne University Press (MUP) title will be the first in a new South Asia book publishing series, to be edited by award-winning Delhi-based editor and publisher Arpita Das. Waikar will be drawing on a broad knowledge of the experience of small-scale farming in India, over recent decades, to tell the story of the hopes and fears of the farmers who've been protesting for over a year, for freedom from debt and a fair price for their produce. "I see this as a terrific opportunity to narrativise the contemporary South Asian reality internationally, and to make outstanding voices on the South Asian experience better known on the world stage," Das shared.

Main aur meri shehnai

Music is a medium to express emotions. Which is why the folks at Kadence, are trying to ensure your instrument reflects you. The homegrown brand, that manufactures musical instruments, has launched a new feature on their website that helps in customisation. You can do this by engraving emoticons, names, quotes, and stickers. The brand will accordingly tailor your guitar, piano or sax to your needs. Yash Gupta, who is heading the retail network at Kadence, says, "We believe music should be a part of everyone's life and giving your instrument a personal touch is a great way to achieve that. This flexibility mixed with creativity is our strength."