It's raining PDA! Mumbai couple spotted kissing at Marine Drive

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

It's raining PDA
A couple locks lips on a rainy Saturday evening at Marine Drive.

Mark Bennington

Mumbai inspired
New York-based photographer Mark Bennington never seems to tire of the city. Barely months after he published his coffee-table book, Living the Dream, photo essays on the acting community, the photographer recently took to Facebook to announce his new book project Mi Mumbai (I am Mumbai), that began nearly three years ago. From early morning joggers to hawkers, the raddiwala and street kids, everyone seems to have made it to the first 30 photos that Bennington published on his website. We wait to see more.

The chef with coloured coats
Rakesh Talwar, head chef and co-owner of The Spare Kitchen, is often addressed as the style chef, and for good reason. The 49-year-old happens to be the first chef in the city to start the trend of coloured coats when white is the norm.

Rakesh Talwar

"It all began back in 2007. While working in the kitchen, I was fascinated by the colour of the herbs and spices around me. So I thought of wearing coloured coats to represent these," he says. His sartorial choice would often elicit appreciative glances from patrons followed by compliments. "I bought some from San Francisco, Singapore, Dubai, London and the rest were designed here," he tells us. Currently, he has 10 coats in his closet, but his favourite remains red and yellow. "They match with chilli powder and turmeric," he smiles.

Dighe at Level 3 Down Under
Sameer Dighe (in pic), the former India wicketkeeper, is doing his best to be totally equipped and educated before he starts his stint as the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team's new coach.

A little birdie tells us that Dighe (48), already a qualified coach, is in Brisbane, doing a Level 3 coaching course at Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence. The six-day visit will lead to a certification in a year's time. Keeping Dighe company is fellow Mumbaikar Sairaj Bahutule, who made his Test debut for India in the same game as Dighe (against Australia) in 2001.

For Dighe, it's a return to Brisbane where he made his January 10, 2000 one-day international debut against Pakistan. According to a brochure for the course, "The programme curri-culum, assessment requirements and the facilitation of learning will develop the key coaching competencies that allow you to become a more effective coach." Dighe may have no control over the results during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy season, but he sure has done well to be ready for city cricket's most important coaching job.

Nikhil Chopra at Kassel for Documenta 14

An epic journey
We love Nikhil Chopra's Docu-menta 14. Yesterday, he concluded his two-part performance, Drawing a Line through a Landscape,
which began in Athens on May 13. Now, in Kassel, Germany, Chopra concluded his performance on the platform of Hauptbahnhof with a series of drawings that will combine to create one continuous drawing. The project is supported by Piramal Art Foundation, Payal, and Anurag Khanna, Galleria Continua and Chatterjee & Lal , whose gallerist, Mortimer Chatterjee says that Chopra's performance was "an epic journey".

Show some love for this record
Twenty-eight year old musician Amith Suvarna has become the first Indian singer/songwriter to be featured on Spinnin' Records, the world's topmost record label for dance music. A track he composed in less than two weeks, titled Show Me Some Love, was selected to be featured in the website's upcoming artistes' section, called Talent Pool, as the track of the week. There are only two other Indians featured by the label till date, but, they are music producers. "I think what got it noticed was a compliment by Crossnaders, one of the biggest names in dance music. In no time, I got a call from the label guys asking me about the song. Next thing I know, they featured me," he said.