Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Just another day in Mumbai

A broken-down vintage car distracts a BMC worker in Fort who works on a water pipeline

A new saga

Pranika Sharma and Aakriti Patni

When Saga Fiction launched in 2020, the hope was to offer fast-paced, bite-sized fiction on our mobile phones. The mobile fiction app has since catered to a wide range of readers and writers. Saga founders Aakriti Patni and Pranika Sharma are now taking their first steps into print publishing with the launch of Varun Gwalani's The Only Way Out Is Death at a Mumbai bookstore on November 26. "We are nervous, but extremely excited... we always wanted to publish a book that audiences can curl up with. And this book is just that: a fast-paced, thriller novel."

When drama meets science

Kitu Gidwani

Well, fact is fact and act is act and sometimes, the twain do meet. Like they did at Worli's Nehru Science Centre recently which hosted the National Science Drama Festival, where actor Kitu Gidwani was chief guest. The drama festival is an annual event for school students and the Western Zonal level contest was held at this Mumbai Centre. Gidwani stated about science and drama, "These may seem unusual on the surface, but theatre can be a vehicle for any idea, be it spiritual, political, so why not science?" The actor addressed a kind of intimidation associated with science, as she said, "Science always seems to be closed. I think if physics for instance, was taught more creatively when I was in school, I would have been more interested in it!" The actor said that theatre must be used more powerfully than it is currently, its full efficacy is yet to be realised, and it was one of the first modes of communication. We think science and drama do mix. Theatre veterans will tell you about the science behind acting on stage, and history will tell us there has been drama in science.

Boosting Indo-Japanese ties with a little bit of Ikebana

Next month, Marine Lines-based Nalini Doongursee (in picture), former president of Bombay Chapter Ohara School of Ikebana, will be conferred with the Foreign Minister's Commendation. She will be felicitated at the residence of Consul-General of Japan in Mumbai for her contribution to the promotion of understanding and friendship between India and Japan, and also for promoting Japanese culture through Ikebana. It is an art of flower arrangement, counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement.

Speaking to this diarist, 76-year-old Doongursee recalled how she joined the chapter in 1972, four years after its inception in Mumbai. The chapter is like a membership programme where members learn from assigned teachers, based on their availability, from a couple of times a week to once in a fortnight, and then apply for examination, which earns them a diploma. Climbing the ladder slowly and steadily, appearing for various levels of diploma exams while also travelling to Japan to attend workshops, Doongursee retired last year as the president of the Bombay chapter, a position she held for two decades. "I started it as a beginner and in 2018, I earned the title of Grand Master from the Ohara School of Ikebana. At present, I am the only one in India to have this title," she says, sharing how the years saw her mastering the art form and organising many Ikebana exhibitions and workshops in Mumbai.

Feast your eyes, dikra

Irani ads in the days of yore

Enough and more has been said, written and even movies made about Mumbai and its Irani Cafes. And yet, we just cannot seem to get enough of cutting chai, bun maska, omelettes and even ice cream sodas. Irani restaurants are not just eating spaces for Mumbai, they are an emotion. There is a whiff of nostalgia on a Parsi community WhatsApp chat. Pictures of early 20th century advertisements of Iranis in what was then Bombay - quaint ‘n' quirky are doing the rounds. A real feast for the eyes. Well, bon appetit, dikra!