Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Striking a balance

Women constables share a cart with young women dressed in their traditional best at CSMT on Tuesday.

Of love and woofs

A donation bin at the Pali Naka outlet

As a part of their Good Living Initiative, Good Flippin' Burgers is conducting a donation drive for the benefit of animal rescue organisation YODA. "We started the drive on World Kindness Day [November 13], and are inviting people to drop off a variety of supplies - from old newspapers and clean towels, to food and medication. We've set up donation bins at our Pali Naka branch for the purpose. The drive is on for the next two weeks and will culminate in an exciting adoption event, for which we are lending our outdoor space. We hope to support the good work that YODA is doing for abandoned and abused animals," shared Viren D'Silva, the brand's co-founder.

Creating art you can eat on

(Left) Gayatri Shrikhande (@thedessertedgirl) (Right) Marie biscuit truffles created for the project

Stepping into new territory with their latest collection, The Plated Project, a socially-minded Mumbai-based initiative, will now offer patrons delightfully designed serve ware. To introduce these new serving plates and mugs, they've joined hands with Gayatri Shrikhande, a baking maven who blogs under the pseudonym The Desserted Girl. Together, they will showcase treats that evoke nostalgia. "I've known the team behind the project for many years as friends and erstwhile colleagues. They were receiving many enquiries about whether the wall plates they had curated could also be used to serve food. This inspired them to create a special line of food-grade plates and mugs," Shrikhande told this diarist. She's whipped up four recipes - two desserts and two beverages - which will be revealed through this week. "We're following through on the theme of Children's Day, and are marking this week as children's week," she added. The first recipe, which will debut on the project's social handles today, is for Marie biscuit truffles. Check it out at @theplatedproject on Instagram.

There's no age bar for fitness

When it comes to fitness, few celebrities are as inspirational as Milind Soman. In a new social media challenge, he roped in his 81-year-old mother Usha, for coordinated squats. The idea is to promote fitness among the elderly. "We hope the video reminds youngsters of the importance of being involved in the fitness routine of the family's elders. Through the challenge, we want to introduce elders to our platform, where they can sign up for online sessions for entertainment, wellness and learning," said Tapan Mishra, founder of Evergreen Club. To participate, upload a video of yourself and an elder performing any exercise and tag @milindrunning and Evergreen Club.

Notes from a historic watery tale

The Narmada Bachao Andolan that was waged as a popular movement against the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Narmada, Gujarat, in the 1980s and '90s is one of the more notable citizen-led protests in our country. Artist Orijit Sen was part of the andolan. His graphic novel, River of Stories, is loosely based on that experience. Sen will now be part of a talk on the book this evening, hosted by the initiative Water for Wednesdays, which works to sensitise people about the importance of conservation. "There is a lot of politics around water, and today, it's a scarce commodity too. A lot of people don't have access to water, so it's also about social justice," he shared.

The man behind Chandler Bing

Most people recognise him as Chandler Bing from the hit sitcom Friends. But in his new tell-all, Canadian-American actor Matthew Perry is giving fans a rare glimpse of his life behind the screen. With snippets from his time on the show to his private struggles with addiction, the memoir is pegged to be honest and hilarious - traits that Perry's on-screen persona is renowned for. About the book, Perry writes, "There has been so much written about me by others in the past. I thought it was time people heard it directly from the horse's mouth. In this case, the horse's mouth being me." The memoir will release next year.