Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Aditi Haralkar

Maa ka laadla!

A doggie gets a joyride on a local train, and becomes the centre of attention.

A wish list come true...

Raghav Sachar

Singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Raghav Sachar's collaborations are making waves on Instagram. The music cognoscente recently posted a video with veteran singer Rekha Bhardwaj, performing her cult classic Namak Ishq Ka, which has garnered lakhs of views. "Rekha ji is phenomenal. Having her in my studio was an amazing experience. She is a motherly figure, who guides whoever is working with her. I was told that Vishal (Bhardwaj) ji would love to be around in my studio, too, which is such a great honour," said Sachar speaking to this diarist, clearly smitten. On collaborations, he said, "Whenever I work with a maestro, I appreciate that they trust the work they are doing with me. As an artist, their work needs to be presented as authentically as possible. And if I get to showcase their talent through me, nothing likes it. I want to collaborate with four artiste per month."

Michael Vaughan bats for SoBo roadside barber, gifts cricket kit

SoBo barber Dindayal Sharma says British cricketer Michael Vaughan has been going to him for haircuts and shaves for two years. PIC/ASHISH RAJE

Every time British cricketer Michael Vaughan flies down to Mumbai, there is one person he just has to meet - Dindayal Sharma, 50, a roadside barber from Bihar who has been cutting hair and giving the cleanest shaves outside BEST Bhavan in Colaba for over 30 years. "He has been coming to me for a haircut or shave or massage for the last two years, and drops by every time he is in the city," says the barber.

Last week, Vaughan went to see Sharma for his usual shave and massage, and brought a surprise along. "He brought a brand new cricket bat and full kit for the local children after I told him how they like to play cricket near my barber stall. I gave the kit to the children and they were so happy," says Sharma. "He [Vaughan] stays at fancy hotels like the Taj, but always gets his hair cut by me. Initially, I didn't even know who he was, and was very surprised to learn that such a famous man wants to get his hair cut by a roadside barber," says Sharma.

Aunty mat kaho na!

Author Richa S Mukherjee was so over the use of the word aunty being used to put women in their place. It made her think, "It has gone from being a term of endearment to an insult," she tells this diarist in an amused tone. This diarist can relate. But since everyone, everywhere seems to pining to give their unsolicited opinion thanks to social media, Mukherjee, author of five books, decided to show the world what aunties can do in her new book, Vigil Aunties. The book, a soft comedic thriller, is set in a unnamed yet quaint little town and an even more sleep housing society, that is similar to the gossipy housing societies of Mumbai. Protagonist Philadelphia Waghmare, finds out that her mother Varsha, considered a boring "aunty", is anything but that. "Philadelphia comes to know that her mother is a part of a secret society. That is how I have done my bit to personally rebel against this term," giggles Mukherjee. We think it's time to join one of these secret clubs. What say?

Greening - the Milky Way

Hansu Pardiwala (l), Kunti Oza and Chitra Hiremath started the Milk Bag Project back in 2019 which converts milk bags into bins and pencil boxes

The Milk Bag project, started in 2019 still has some swag in the bag. Contrary to several well-meaning initiatives which start strong but fizzle out, this environmental endeavour is soldiering on. The project - collects used milk plastic bags. "People send us these bags, the only prerequisite is that it needs to be washed and dried. We store them at our space at Cooperage ground, after which they are sent to the recyclers. These bags are reborn into products like pencil boxes, benches, desks, bins, buckets etc. All of them are made up of the recycled plastic from these milk bags," say the three Mumbai women: Chitra Hiremath, Hansu Pardiwala and Kunti Oza, who have founded the initiative.

"It's an on-going effort. Though we have different chapters through India, we receive bags in Mumbai from Mumbaikars of course, but also from Faridabad, Surat and other places. It shows the power and reach of the movement," she tells this diarist. The trio's advice? "Visit beaches, or speak to those involved in any beach cleaning movement, and you will witness that amongst the mounds of rubbish are a huge number of milk bags," say these voices of experience.

In their most recent collection, the women had three bins full of bags, "Overall, we had 300 kgs approximately, which equals to 1,20,000 milk bags which have been sent to the recyclers," the three signed off. The message is simple: drink milk? Have bag? Wash, dry and say goodbye.

South Africa… it's been a while

South Africa captain Hansie Cronje bowls during the Wills International Cup final against West Indies at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on November 1, 1998. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

South Africa is not known to win big cricket trophies despite the kind of talent they have put out on the park ever since they returned to international cricket in 1991. If you wake up to the unlikely news of them beating India in the ICC T20 World Cup final held at Bridgetown, Barbados, it will be unprecedented in a big final against the multiple world champions, and another example of so near yet to far for the Rainbow Nation. However, those who believe South Africa have no ICC trophy in their cabinet, we must remind you of their 1998 mini World Cup triumph in Bangladesh, where Hansie Cronje & Co clinched the Wills International Cup.
It was a Jagmohan Dalmiya-driven ICC event and Brian Lara's West Indians were beaten by four wickets in the final. Cronje led from the front by claiming two wickets and ending the game with an unbeaten 61. The Caribbeans could have got far more than 245 centurion had Lara's troops capitalised on opener Philo Wallace 103 off 102 balls. The next highest score was Carl Hooper with 49.