Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

Kamaal Kamasi

This diarist was gutted that he couldn't attend the Kamasi Washington gig at Royal Opera House earlier this week. And we were even more crestfallen when sources told us that it was the best gig this year in the city so far. The modern jazz saxophonist hit the ball out of the park. He started off slow, warming the audience up. But then the compositions took such twists and turns that people felt like they were Alice walking into a musical Wonderland. What's more? Washington called a special guest up on stage two songs in — his father, Rickey, who plays wind instruments like the flute and clarinet too.

Down the toilet

The need to protect the environment is the talk of the moment, what with fire raging in the Amazon rainforests, the Earth's green lungs. And one of the most essential steps that need to be taken to protect the planet is putting a stop to the rampant use of plastic. The good news is that a five-star hotel chain with branches in the city has now made a move in the right direction. It has announced that it will replace all the single-use plastic bottles that contain toiletries with larger bottles that will be placed on wall stands, thereby reducing the overall carbon footfall. That's a smart move for sure, and it also means that guests who would once pilfer these bottles while checking out will now have their hands tied. We like.

A tiger stripped to its bare bones

The economy, by almost all accounts, is dipping like a stone dropped into a body of water. Some experts fear that the GDP will grow at a rate of 5 per cent over the next year. Most are spooked by joblessness. But the government thinks it has found a solution to the problem by taking out a cool '1.76 lakh crore from the RBI's surplus funds. While there are certain sections that are viewing this move as daylight robbery, the Congress left no stone unturned to pounce on its arch nemesis. And the party did so with a witty meme, where the tiger on the logo of the RBI is stripped down to its bare bones to depict the Modi era. Now, if only it could use similar mental agility to put up more of a fight as the leading party in the opposition party.

Bank of ghazals

A jam-packed audience of city journalists were in for a treat of a different kind at the Mumbai Press Club as Ghazal Nawaz Bhimrao Panchale regaled them with a marathon mehfil of Urdu, Hindi and Marathi ghazals earlier this week. Panchale, a former banker who later took up music full time, is now a veteran with 47 years of soulful work as composer, singer and poet. He unfolded the magic of words and harmony during an uninterrupted performance of over two hours.

Taking a leaf out of Oprah's book

Anyone who follows pastry chef Pooja Dhingra will know that after macaroons, she's obsessed with Oprah Winfrey. Such that Dhingra has now started a book club, much like the famous American talk show host. At the end of each month, Dhingra will send out a newsletter to all those who sign up with a title she's picked, and then, at the end of month, they will discuss it on her blog. "I grew up watching Oprah on TV after school each day. I would come home at 4 pm and be glued to what she was doing... One of the many things I loved, and continue to love, about Oprah is her ability to build a community. It almost felt like she was rooting for you, she wanted you to become a better person. Whether it was through her Angel Network or her book club, I always felt so connected to everything she was doing. Ever since, I've dreamt about starting my own," Dhingra told this diarist.

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