Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Homework away from home

A young girl finishes her homework in a Powai garden. Her uncle tells us he brings her to the garden to study, as her cramped home isn't ideal

Eleven years in the making

Nihad Panju, a runner, marathoner and a para-athlete, recently received a surprise in his inbox. An email from the International Book of Records confirmed him as the fastest individual with hemiplegia (paralysis on one side of the body) to complete a half-marathon, a feat he achieved in 2013 by running a half-marathon in three hours, 22 minutes and 40 seconds the. Ask him why he took so long to apply for the record, and he says, "I was focused on running other marathons and obstacle-courses, which require intense training. I‘m happy. It's a surreal feeling."

History in tweets

Kamble's tweet about Dr Martin Luther King earlier this week

A bureaucrat from aamchi Mumbai has been making waves on the internet with his tweets. Dayanand Kamble, currently posted as Deputy Director at the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations, Maharashtra, is a history buff, with particular focus on the struggles of the marginalised. Every day, he puts out one tweet about the historical significance of the day, but his tweets go over and above the usual birth and death anniversaries.

For instance, his tweets this week include the day that Dr Ambedkar wrote to the British government 80 years ago, seeking a national holiday on Gautam Buddha's birthday, and the day Dr Martin Luther King visited a school in Thiruvananthapuram, where the principal introduced him as "The untouchable from the USA." "I read a lot, and as I read, I note down the historical significance of specific days in my diary. I took a year and a half to compile this data before I started tweeting and I keep adding to it. I only trust data from books and authentic sources, and never search engine results or open source encyclopedias," Kamble tells this diarist. We can't work for the next one from Mr Kamble.

‘Denying' Boycott a few runs can prove costly

Geoff Boycott. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

While talking about great Yorkshire batsmen, it is inevitable that former England captain Geoff Boycott gets into the mix. On Friday, Ravi Shastri was on air when England's Joe Root, also of Yorkshire, was working away to a fine hundred during the opening day of the India v England Ranchi Test. Boycott will forever be linked to obdurate batting and someone who didn't believe in quick scoring. He also was obsessive about scoring centuries. Shastri decided to illustrate Boycott's ‘qualities' with an example. Many years ago, Shastri, Boycott and Michael Holding decided to share a cab to their Trinidad hotel after a commentary stint in the Caribbean. The taxi driver - like several in the West Indies - told Boycott that he watched his innings of 90-odd in a Test at Georgetown, Guyana. Boycott offered no response. When he got off, he didn't pay the driver his share of the fare, leaving Shastri and Holding to pay it off. His reason: For saying he missed his hundred when he actually scored one (116 in 1967-68). Moral of the story: It doesn't pay to get your facts wrong with men like Boycott and travel with him.

Play it again in Powai

The hills may not be alive with the sounds of music, but the gardens certainly are. This garden in particular, which will host two musical performances this evening. The Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Park, Hiranandani Powai, also known as Ambrosia Garden will witness the Symphony Orchestra of India, an evening of light, Western classical music at 6 pm. Then, at 7.30 pm, Indiva, the all-women multi-lingual band will get the beats going in Powai, with its world folk fusion music. Entry to both is free. "This is our effort at giving a platform to artistes and making music accessible to many. The gardens provide an idyllic setting," says Jitendra Pardeshi, BMC's Superindentent of Gardens and Tree Officer. We agree.

An artistic jugalbandi?

Jayeeta Chatterjee

On a breezy evening this week, visitors took in visual artist Jayeeta Chatterjee's nuanced works of block print and embroidery at Chemould Prescott Road. Chatterjee's solo show is extra special for Chemould - it is the first time that an artist who attended a residency at Chemould CoLab, its incubation space for emerging practitioners, is exhibiting at the larger gallery. "We realised Jayeeta's work deserves a bigger platform. We hope this is the first of many future collaborations," CoLab co-founder Sunaina Rajan said.