The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
The common man has little else but the mask to fight the pandemic in Maximum City
Aam Admi Party
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The common man has little else but the mask to fight the pandemic in Maximum City. Pic/ Ashish Raje
Armaan's made it to Times Square
In these testing times, here's some good news. Armaan Malik became the first Indian singer-songwriter to be featured on the Spotify Times Square billboard in New York City for his English debut track Control. "It's a huge honour for an Indian artiste to be on a Times Square billboard. I have always wanted to take India to the world with my music and this is like a dream come true, especially for my first English single. This wouldn't have been possible without my amazing team, family, and my fans, and their endless love and support," says Malik.
The stars foretell: Stay home
Trust Mumbai Police to consistently up their game in a time of total lockdown across
the city. On their Twitter handle, the team posted a Linda Goodman-inspired horoscope. The big difference? From Aries to Pisces, the prediction was the same: You'll be spending time in your home. "For once (and only once), the stars may definitely favour you if you follow these predictions!" read the accompanying text of the post. Speaking to this diarist, commissioner of police Param Bir Singh said, "In times like these, the idea is to always ensure the message reaches maximum people in minimum time.
The Twitter handle of Mumbai Police has been able to accomplish this goal effectively with topical and relatable content for all age groups. And we will continue innovating with meaningful content to create awareness and encourage caution among the citizens."
A kitchen of hope
Roti Ghar, an initiative of the NGO Khushiyaan Foundation, has opened up its doors to daily wage labourers who are losing income owing to the lockdown. Team members of the kitchen have been reaching out to people, egging them to contribute meals for security guards, labourers, rag-pickers, apart from kids, who cannot afford it. "Political leader Priyanka Chaturvedi got in touch with us to begin this initiative. Mumbai Police gave us the essential services pass. The food is prepared in our Thane kitchen. We distribute meals across Thane, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai for free," shared Chinu Kwatra, who helms the foundation. If you want to contribute, head to their Facebook page for details.
A clean act
To tide over the shortage of sanitisers, a leading alcohol beverage company has announced it will produce around three lakh litres of hand sanitisers for public healthcare workers, and donate five lakh litres of extra neutral alcohol to the sanitiser industry. "We stand united with the government and the citizens in this fight. The demand for sanitisers is increasing by the hour, and we would like to use our manufacturing units to join in the effort to fill the demand-supply gap," said Anand Kripalu, the company MD and CEO.
In troubled waters
Pic/ Suresh Karkera
While we've all been struggling with the lockdown in our own ways, for Abhishek Achrekar, owner of Deepa Aquarium in Antop Hill, it poses a new challenge: how to feed his 3,000 fish? He tells us that many like him are having trouble reaching their shops to take care of their fish. "The police are not letting us travel around for necessities. Our regular visiting cards or identity cards are not enough to travel across the city, even though the Chief Minister said that pet shops need to be open. Those shop owners with 2,000 to 3,000 fish in their godowns can't feed them or give them medicines," rues Achrekar, adding that providing medicines and food to customers has also become a problem. "A lot of us are having to turn customers away. I appeal to the authorities to help those shop owners, who have such a large stock of fish," the owner of the 26-year-old shop told this diarist.
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