10 July,2022 07:04 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Atul Kamble
In a too-close-for-comfort situation, a man takes a nap next to the parking point of a train at Churchgate station
There is good news for all food and coffee lovers on the suburban side of the sea link. A little birdie, who himself owns a Worli restaurant, told us that supposedly Bastian has bought space and will be up and running in BKC soon. It will be stationed next to the very-different-in-vibe Tru Tramm Trunk. Meanwhile, this diarist, during a walk in Juhu last Sunday, spotted construction work going on opposite Prithvi Theatre. When we probed a little, we found out that it was a branch of Bangaluru's Third Wave Coffee. The brand already has two outlets in Andheri and Bandra, and the Juhu one will be a good spot for college-goers and theatre watchers.
Bestselling romance author Sundari Venkatraman is celebrating turning 60 with another writing milestone. The Mumbai-based writer who self-publishes her books on Kindle Direct Publishing, will be releasing her 60th title, Call of the Heart, this week. The journey, we admit, is incredible considering Venkatraman only began putting pen to paper in 2001. "The idea to publish my 60th book in my 60th actually came from my daughter," Venkatraman told this diarist. Her new book, she says, has characters she has already written about before, but it can be read as a standalone novel, too. "It's about a man who has become bitter in life, and falls in love with a woman on a European cruise." At 65,000 words, the book is a fat one. "I let my characters tell the story. If they have more to say, the novel becomes longer, and if they have little to say, I keep it short."
Going from length to strength: The soon-to-be-opened pool
It may be water, water everywhere thanks to very wet past few days, but the Malabar Hill Club members are waiting to get into the swim of things in a new way. The Club, located close to the Hanging Garden, is all set to open its swimming pool, undergoing renovation since the past year. Anand Khatau, club president, said, "The new pool will be 25 metres in length, half the Olympic size. We have also increased the width so that at least nine persons can swim at one time. It was a real crunch earlier, especially in summers when the pool used to become quite full." Adil Engineer, club treasurer, driving force behind the facility, who was monitoring its construction, and and Khatau added that they were able to extend the pool length by doing away with the rarely used diving board. "We are looking at opening on August 15," Khatau explained. Club swimmers will have yet another reason to celebrate I-Day.
Sourav Ganguly and team celebrate on the Lord's Cricket Ground balcony after India beat England to claim the NatWest Series trophy in London on July 13, 2002. PIC/PRADEEP MANDHANI, MID-DAY ARCHIVES
Wednesday will mark 20 years since India's epic 2002 NatWest Series title triumph, achieved by beating England at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London. It was an incredible win, which was made more memorable by then India skipper Sourav Ganguly's shirt-waving antics on the balcony of the fabled ground after India beat the home team by two wickets in a thriller. Ganguly's mode of celebration came as a surprise to many, but not to our Group Sports Editor Clayton Murzello - our reporter on tour as well as Ganguly's collaborator for his columns - which appeared in this newspaper during that series. Clayton remembers going over to Ganguly's room at Birmingham one wet evening to discuss the next column and the India captain telling him that he just couldn't forget the sight of Andrew Flintoff waving his shirt while running to the Wankhede Stadium dressing room five months prior when England beat India to end the six-match ODI series 3-3. "I had just put the finishing touches to my report when I looked up to the right of the pavilion end from my seat in the press box and noticed Ganguly doing a Flintoff. It rang a bell. I immediately remembered what Sourav spoke about on that wet evening in Birmingham," said Clayton.
Boris Becker during the men's singles final at Wimbledon against Ivan Lendl in 1986. PIC/GETTY IMAGES
Had Boris Becker not been behind bars for hiding £2.5 million of assets, the German would have been part of the recent parade of Wimbledon champions at Centre Court. Among the greats were Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Pat Cash, Rafael Nadal and of course Roger Federer. The group of women greats consisted of Angela Mortimer, Ann Jones, Margaret Court, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King. Becker won Wimbledon in 1985, 1986 and 1989, triumphs that contributed in no small measure to his career earnings. And while we are on the topic of money, we found an article which said that even before he stepped on court for his first match in defence of his first Wimbledon title, he had signed a £100,000-a-year deal with an Italian clothing line, £150,000 for using German shoes and racquet and £25,000 for wearing a Swiss watch. Becker went on to grab the silverware in 1986 as well, facilitating new deals and keeping his then sponsors happy. Who would have imagined his current state?
