Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Sameer Markande

My daddy strongest

A father gives his child a ride on his shoulders at Sanjay Gandhi National Park on the weekend

Hansaji's reels are feeling it

It's Yoga Day on June 21, and what better day to start it than by heading over to Dr Hansaji Yogendra's Instagram handle. Hansaji, as she is fondly called, is the director of The Yoga Institute in Santa Cruz, and is known for her wise and worldly ways. Now, as any true yogi would do, she has adapted to the changes in the world beautifully, and in her case it means she is making Reels to get her message out in the world. Be it tackling issues about how we are "scared to change", or "how being too nice could cause us harm", the Reels have a clam and peaceful Hansaji, dressed in beautiful saris, sitting in greenery. Hearing her say the words we all internally know, but are yet to put in action, could finally make us make the change.

Ain't no mountain high enough

Mumbai-based ultra marathoner and journalist Shibani Gharat was part of a 82-member women's team that recently summited Breithorn, a mountain range of the Pennine Alps in Switzerland, to form the largest women's rope team in the world on the mountain. Gharat was invited by the Switzerland Tourism board to represent India as the ambassador of this world record. "We had to learn how to walk on ice with snow crampons. There were certain parts of the trail where the ice was so soft that your feet would sink right in." When Gharat did manage to reach the summit, she says it was a "goosebump-moment". "There were so many inspiring women from diverse backgrounds and cultures. It was amazing that we could all do it together."

More and less from the Indian cricket board

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deservedly attracted kudos from cricket lovers and members of the cricketing fraternity earlier this week for hiking pensions of their former players and umpires. The press release was a detailed one with quotes from the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, Secretary Jay Shah and the Treasurer Arun Dhumal.

"It is extremely important that the financial well-being of our former cricketers is taken care of. The players remain the lifeline and as a Board, it is our duty to be by their side once their playing days are over. The umpires have been unsung heroes and the BCCI truly values their contribution," stated Ganguly.

The press release about IPL media rights was a detailed one as well, with statements from the above trio and Brijesh Patel, the former India batsman, who is the tournament's Governing Council chairman. While this is the right way to go about sending press releases, some in the media are wondering why team selection press releases are not so elaborate and are bereft of a statement from the chief selector. Now isn't that a fair point?

Releasing old songs again

Mumbai-based rock band Tough On Tobacco (TOT), will be releasing their second album Big Big Joke on June 22, after nearly six years. The band also re-released their first album, The Happy Goat, on June 17 on streaming platforms. The original versions of these albums were released in 2013 and 2009 respectively, during the pre-streaming era. Songwriter Sidd Cuotto, the front man of TOT, recalled how it was just him and his best friend and sound engineer Hans Dalal, who initially formed the band; it wasn't until 2009 that Johan Pais, Pozy Dhar, Gaurav Gupta and Jai Row Kavi got on board to form a full band. "Big Big Joke was supposed to be a two-part album," says Cuotto, who has been in the industry for more than two decades. The album currently has eight tracks and it was supposed to be a double album, "but we didn't end up finishing it and putting it out," he adds. The band will come together on stage on June 23 at antiSOCIAL for their show - It's aLive! "We haven't played in Bombay for six years!"

NairOnFire brings Kerala's street food to Bandra

The trio behind the popular Bandra-based delivery kitchen NairOnFire - Chef Sara Jacob Nair, Toral Sanghavi and Chef Vinod G Nair - is back! This time with NairOnFryer. "We established ourselves well as a premium brand offering authentic home-style Kerala cuisine, but being a cloud kitchen, there were limitations. So we thought of making it more accessible while retaining the use of authentic ingredients sourced from Kerala and thus, was born our Thattukada [a Malayalam word for kart] fare," Sanghavi told mid-day. Expect rustic and authentic Kerala street food, including pepper fried prawns, tamarind fish fry, crispy fried chicken, medu vada, and dal vada alongside a wide range of porotta, served with chicken curry, beef fry and omelette among other options. "While people relished our food during the pandemic, there can be no comparison with a meal served hot and in person. We have also priced ourselves differently, on an average it would be around R450 for a non-vegetarian meal for two. We want to reach out to everyone, like old Bombay joints who have everyone from a student to the Ambanis visiting them," adds Sanghavi. The outlet, which opened earlier this month, can be found on Bandra's SV Road, right next to Suburbia cinema hall.