Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Catching up on worldly affairs

A Buddhist monk reads the newspaper near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.

Divine details

Ganesha on a rat. Illustration/The Mythology Project

The Mythology Project, an online platform for the study of myths and folktales, recently shared an interesting question - why does a bulky god like Ganesha ride a rat? One of the right answers is, this tiny animal is a perennial fixture in farms that are about to be harvested; and the elephant-god brings prosperity to farmers by controlling the rats who are responsible for the maximum loss of income to the farmers.

Utkarsh Patel and Arundhuti Dasgupta

"The information that we post is from the academic point of view and not religious," said Utkarsh Patel, co-founder of the project. "We always refer to academic sources or travelogues that are available," added Arundhuti Dasgupta, co-founder. This week will see posts on how Ganesha is celebrated in the world.

Dance with this Dilliwallah

Mohit Solanki shows off some moves at a previous workshop. Pic courtesy/Instagram

Delhi's popular dancer and choreographer Mohit Solanki has set out on a pan-India tour to teach his choreography of Moh moh ke dhage, which recently went viral, with nearly three lakh plays. He will halt in Mumbai on September 24, before he moves on to other cities. "I am hosting a workshop in Mumbai for the first time since 2019," the dancer informed this diarist, adding, "I had been getting many requests from the city, and so I felt like doing it on this tour. We have already started receiving enquiries about the session. I look forward to a power-packed workshop." Interested folk can log on to @mohitsolanki11.

Also read: Let's get into this trans, totally, no?

Winning minerals

Victory is so much sweeter when it takes longer to achieve. The city's academia received a boost with two resident researchers being named as the 2023 recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards on September 11. Delayed by a year, the announcement of the honourees this year included the names of Professor Debabrata Maiti, Institute Chair Professor, Department of Chemistry and IDPCS, IIT Bombay and Professor Basudeb Dasgupta of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai). Extremely pleased at the announcement, professor Maiti shared, "It gives me immense pleasure to
receive this prestigious award. At the same time it is a huge responsibility to improve the science for the benefit of common people." Describing his research , he (in pic) added, "I've been working on the discovery of a metal catalysed process to selectively break the strong C-H bond and substitute the hydrogen atom with another molecule for the last decade. Our created processes simplify the manufacturing of life-saving medications, agrochemicals, and critical commodities." While that sounded like Latin to this diarist, it is difficult to not feel proud at a fellow Mumbaikar's achievement.

Trophy Tuesday at this school

Cheers, it is here, say students and faculty to the silverware

The ICC men's One-Day International World Cup 2023 Trophy, iconic silverware, got a red-carpet welcome and guard of honour by the students and faculty of Podar Education Network at Santacruz (W) on Tuesday morning. The school band started playing as the World Cup trophy arrived on campus, amidst much excitement and elation. India will host the ICC World Cup from October 5 to November 19 this year. Vandana Lulla, principal, Podar International School Mumbai said, "Cricket is not just a sport but an emotion in India. The trophy tour is a very well-planned and thoughtful initiative, connecting cricket and children." The trophy has gone to several countries on its world tour and toured various cities in India as well. We say Tuesdays and trophies is a cracking partnership, rather like two set batsmen at the crease.

A Jap-Euro jugalbandi is here

Facade of the new space

Taking a cue from Japan's Izakaya culture, Chrome Hospitality will open GIGI, a 6,000-sq-ft Japanese and European food and cocktail bar in Bandra, off Linking Road, on Saturday. This diarist got a peek into the nightlife venue's offerings, particularly the cocktails.

Dhaval Udeshi, Nikita Harisinghani and Pawan Shahri

Founders Dhaval Udeshi, Nikita Harisinghani, and Pawan Shahri revealed that their menu explores the flavours of bygone eras, "From the secrecy of speakeasies, to the innovations of the cocktail revival era, and the modern-day period, we've distilled the essence of each epoch into every glass."