The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Poser for me, Sallu bhai
Salman Khan was seen celebrating Eid with the tiny tots of his family at his home in Bandra West on Saturday. Pic/Bipin Kokate
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In memoriam
We are sad to hear about the demise of Bhagirath Dwivedi, the husband of the late 'biographer of Bombay', Sharada Dwivedi. Bhagi, as he was known to his friends, was from the corporate world, and was exceptionally supportive of his spouse's publishing company - Eminence Designs. They saw publishing as a marvellous adventure, says cultural theorist and friend Ranjit Hoskote. Sharada had the drive and passion for publishing, while Bhagi had the good sense for order and business acumen.
"They weren't opposites but complementary," says Hoskote. Sharada, a renowned historian and author, passed away in 2012. On her passing, Bhagirath had remarked that it was a privilege to work beside her and behind her. In her memory, the Urban Research and Design Institute (UDRI) set up these annual lectures, at the fore of which was Bhagirath himself. Known to keep a very low profile, Bhagirath will be missed by his friends and the community that so came to love Sharada's work.
Try having a humour pill, Sir Richard!
Cricket fans the world over were delivered a blow earlier this week through the news of Sir Richard Hadlee diagnosed with bowel cancer.
In a cruel similarity, Hadlee's former Nottinghamshire teammate and opening partner Clive Rice suffered from cancer as well. South African Rice, who unfortunately couldn't play Test cricket because of his country's apartheid years, passed away in July 2015 and in a moving tribute, Hadlee said then: "Whether it be Test cricket, whether it be one-day cricket, I can sit here and comfortably say that he would have competed with the best."
There is no way Hadlee will not fight hard in the biggest battle of his life and while he is at it, he'd do well to recall the funny moments he enjoyed on the cricket pitch to cheer himself up. Here's one of several from Hadlee's book of anecdotes called Hard Knocks: Clive Rice was normally a very reliable slips fielder and he took some great catches off my bowling. One day, though, he dropped at least four catches. At the end of the over I walked over to Ricey and said, 'Hey Ricey, have you heard about the epidemic in town?' 'No,' he replied. 'What epidemic is that?' 'You know,' I said. 'The one that's not catching.'
Paying tribute
Last year, when this diarist met lyricist-cum-voice over artist Raajesh Johri, who penned Pari Hoon Main and wrote famous jingles for Nirma and Prestige Cooker, he talked about how fame had always eluded him. "The media never bothered about me," he told us. Now, Johri's contribution will be celebrated posthumously - he passed away in March last year - as his family plans to launch the 'Jeevanotsav', a memorial award in his honour. "The term means a celebration of life... a life that inspires. His contribution in the music and voicing industry has been immense and we intend to pay tribute to him," said daughter Ratika Johri. The award memorial event will be held on June 20 in Juhu, and will be attended by Ameen Sayani and Hariharan.
The grown-ups will croon again
The first Thursday of July will see the adult choir at the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation match tunes again, after nearly three years. This choir, unlike the children's choir, will get together every week for an hour just to sing for the love for it. "Right now, it's not for the purpose of concerts; if they are all up to perform at someone's home, informally, then why not?" says Farahanaaz Dastur, honorary director of education programme at the foundation. The first adult choir started in 2010, primarily for the parents of the students. And it grew from there. This diarist has learnt that Sooni Taraporevala's father used to be an active member of the adult choir, that has few male singers. "That's the case the world over, I think. After the age of 11, male participation in singing fades away. I guess football is more appealing!" Dastur says.
Memoir no. 2 for KJo?
Riding high on the success of his autobiography, The Unsuitable Boy (Penguin Random House), which sold over a lakh copies, when it released in January last year, filmmaker Karan Johar seems to be going in for round no. 2. Sources have told this diarist that Johar is currently in the midst of signing another book deal with a leading publishing house, and like his last, where he roped in journalist Poonam Saxena, this time, too, a senior scribe is going to be on board. While everyone is hush-hush about what readers could expect, if we had to hazard a guess, it could most likely be an extension to his memoir. This time around, we'd, however, like to have KJo speak about being a hands-on dad to his twins, Yash and Roohi.
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