Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Rane Ashish

Bappa's Coming Home

A girl watches as the procession of Andhericha Shree Ganpati mandal passes by her bus near Gundavali in Andheri East ahead of Ganeshotsav.

When Bharat flew over our skies

A DC-4 Sykmaster aircraft belonging to the erstwhile Bharat Airways fleet. Pic Courtesy/Debasish Chakraverty

What's in a name, you might ask. Quite a lot, evidently. The buzz caused by the possibility of a name change from India to Bharat has resulted in praise, debate and, inevitably, some hilarious memes. One of the memes imagines airlines having to switch to the initials ‘BhaGo' to catch the attention of their flyers. While the meme-ing continues, the name is not entirely out of place, shared amateur aviation historian Debasish Chakraverty. A Bandra boy and the son of a pilot, Chakraverty grew up on stories of the early aviation history of India which included Bharat Airways that ran from the late 1940s to 1950s. "My father would often take me on drives by the airport hangars, and I would see many of these old planes sitting around. Among them were planes of Bharat Airways," he shared. A picture in his collection is that of a Douglas DC-4 plane of the Bharat Airways fleet at Delhi airport. "These planes were the workhorses of World War II," Chakraverty revealed, adding that after the war, they were handed off to countries in need of airplanes. "They were very popular aeroplanes and, in some ways, were the backbone of airlines in India. I remember spotting one at Santacruz airport as recently as the 1980s," he remarked.

Chakraverty

Salt, spice, all things nice

Chef Gresham Fernandes; The interiors of the bar at the café; The familiar façade of the eatery. Pic Courtesy/Facebook

City foodies went into heartbreak mode when one of Bandra's favourite hangouts shuttered last weekend. Salt Water Cafe on Chapel Road brought down their shutters on September 8. Thankfully, it is just the beginning of a new story. "[It is] to make space for something new and equally exciting," shared chef Gresham Fernandes. While fans of the cafe's egg akuri and cheese cake will have to wait a while, chef Fernandes promised there is more to come. "We haven't shuttered Salt Water Cafe forever; you will be seeing us somehow, somewhere," he promised. The cafe received much love on social media platforms, through calls and messages on its last day, shared Fernandes. "To be honest, we didn't feel we had a legacy till we put out the message that September 8 was going to be our last day. We received calls from people sharing how they spent their life's milestones here - from anniversaries, first dates, baby showers, promotions - to visiting the cafe when they had a bad day. We didn't realise the impact we had on the foodscape in the city, but we're glad they shared their memories with us," he said.

Also read: Mumbai: In eco setback, no action against PoP Ganpati idols

Swim till dawn

A participant swims during the session

The recently concluded second edition of Dusk to Dawn by Mumbai Sea Swimmers saw more than 100 participants test their limits by swimming all night at Palava City in Dombivali. "This year, we had people doing 12-hour solo swims, six-hour solo, three-hour solo, and also introduced a one-hour introductory swimming session for newcomers. The idea of people wanting to learn swimming without competing is an alien concept in India. We are trying to cater to that segment of amateurs," shared Mehul Ved of Mumbai Sea Swimmers, adding that the new one-hour category was popular among youngsters and the elderly, and will be back next year.

Mehul Ved

Seoul call for an Indian star

Kayan during a performance

The recently concluded second edition of Dusk to Dawn by Mumbai Sea Swimmers saw more than 100 participants test their limits by swimming all night at Palava City in Dombivali. "This year, we had people doing 12-hour solo swims, six-hour solo, three-hour solo, and also introduced a one-hour introductory swimming session for newcomers. The idea of people wanting to learn swimming without competing is an alien concept in India. We are trying to cater to that segment of amateurs," shared Mehul Ved (inset), of Mumbai Sea Swimmers, adding that the new one-hour category was popular among youngsters and the elderly, and will be back next year.