Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Best seat in the house

A father gives his son a joy ride in Ghatkopar

Early boast from Caribbean host

England cricketer Phil Edmonds with his wife Frances. Pic/Getty Images

Yet another Test series between England and West Indies will kick off early next month at Antigua. A tour of West Indies used to be a great holiday for Brit cricket fans even before the Barmy Army was founded in the Australian summer of 1994-95. The wives of players too looked forward to a Caribbean trip even though their better halves had to face pace, pace and more pace from the super West Indian quick bowlers. Frances Edmonds, the wife of England's left-arm spinner Phil, arrived in Jamaica for the 1986 series least expecting some light-hearted ‘sledging' from immigration officials, which male cricketers were used to. For example, touring cricketers were often told how the host fast bowlers would demolish them. But Frances wrote about a conversation with a lady Customs official in her book, Another Bloody Tour: "‘You an England cricketer's wife', she asked. I nodded in the affirmative. ‘Our boys gonna murder you' she gloated, her sour face expressionless." It did turn out to be disastrous for the visitors as Viv Richards's team annihilated David Gower's Englishmen 5-0. Yet another example of trouble in paradise!

When the musical legends came to Europe

Shireen Isal

Author Shireen Isal whose last book, Zenobia Mistri: Teacher Par Excellence, revisited the story of one of the most iconic teachers of French language in 20th century Bombay, has now penned a book on her 40-year association with Sargam, which played an instrumental role in bringing India's finest musical artistes and legends to Europe. In Joy, Awe and Tears: My Association with Sargam, Isal writes of the privilege she had to invite artistes to tour Europe from 1978 to 2018. "It's my love affair with the performing arts of India, a discovery that infused me with a passion to reveal its timeless beauty on the shores of that continent - Europe - where destiny brought me in France, the UK and innumerable European countries. It was a mission akin to a personal calling, which consumed my professional life for 40 years. The book is also a catalogue of Sargam's achievements and grateful recognition of those - artistes, organisers, audiences and family - who made it all possible," she shares. The self-published title will be available for purchase by mid-March.

A ‘Srivalli' reel for posture correction

Dr Hansa Yogendra

Established in 1918, The Yoga Institute in Mumbai is probably the world's oldest institute teaching the physical, mental, and spiritual practices that originated in ancient India. That, however, doesn't stop them from getting on Instagram's Reel bandwagon and making yoga fun and interactive. One that piqued our interest is their latest video on Javed Ali's Srivalli, which shows a bunch of young girls mixing dance with yoga as they get interrupted by their instructor, only to be corrected for their alignment. The video, shared on their account this week, has gone viral and registered over 120K views. Although this one tops the charts, there are plenty of short videos and Reels suggesting yogic poses to beat constipation, build arm strength, deal with mood swings among other issues, alongside Dr Hansa Yogendra's simple solutions for a balanced life, saving thousands of rupees that yoga studios nowadays charge per class.

WFH from Goa

Seeking advice on how to be a freelance entrepreneur? Traveller and storyteller Protima Tiwary has been putting out content on her Instagram handle @dumbbellsndrama about freelance entrepreneurship. The Pune-based Instagrammer, who has been freelancing for nine-and-a-half years, moved to Goa in July last year. "I have found everything quite stagnant in Pune and I needed that space to focus on building my company, which I wasn't able to because of the distractions of city life," she says. The most important thing when it comes to freelancing, she says is time management and self-discipline, along with finding a stable source of income initially. "I have always liked social media and have been a social person, so most of my conversation started gravitating towards topics such as how to freelance, and how I made it happen," she explains. Documenting her experiences was important, she states.

Helping kitchen crew hustle

After launching a sprawling rooftop restobar at Worli's Atria Mall, restaurateur Gaurav Dabrai is now opening two hole-in-the-wall eateries at Nepean Sea Road. The aim, he says, is to create a side hustle for mid- and lower- ranked kitchen crew. "I realised the dearth of kerbside F&B options in the city when I started dividing my time between Singapore and Mumbai. We've created neighbourhood bars such as Under The Banyan Tree, Copa and more recently La La Land, but the lockdowns showed us how we are the first to be asked to close and among the last businesses to open up. The collateral damage is the hundreds of people we employ." He will be starting with Ghas Poos that will offer salads, and later, Sandwichwalla.