Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

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

Reason to smile

Last in the news for a not-so-happy sexual harassment case that got India inspired to join the #MeToo movement, actress Tanushree Dutta is back from the US for Diwali. She was seen deocrating diyas with sister Ishita on Saturday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Dada doesn't enjoy this BCCI Control so drop it!

Sourav Ganguly's highest Test score at the Wankhede Stadium is 173 in the 1997 Test against Sri Lanka. But, he probably played his best innings there on Wednesday when he addressed the media for the first time after taking over as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "I don't enjoy that word Control," said Ganguly, while answering one of the many questions thrown at him. The Indian cricket board has somehow not pushed for 'Control' to be knocked off from the BCCI, just like other countries have done.

Pic/Suresh Karkera

It's high time, and if Ganguly can pull it off by bringing up this aspect at the Board's forthcoming AGM, the plaudits for him will be well deserved. So, after Cricket Australia, England and Wales Cricket Board, Cricket South Africa, New Zealand Cricket, Cricket West Indies, Sri Lanka Cricket, Zimbabwe Cricket, Bangladesh Cricket Board and Pakistan Cricket Board there could well be Cricket India. One more thing Ganguly should fix is the name of the BCCI website because www.bcci.tv just doesn't sound right. Go for it, Dada!

For a cause

To celebrate 75 years, Jai Vakeel Foundation has conceptualised Champions of Change, an initiative to spread awareness about children with intellectual disabilities.

Sculptor Arzan Khambatta has curated the show, and created a resin sculpture depicting a seated child, to represent the child-like purity of its members. "Every artist has put his heart into this," Khambatta told us.

Building a history bank for the city

As a student of architecture how do you participate in the #100daychallenege while also giving back to society? Architect Rajeel Arab has managed to come up with the right answer, posting snapshots of Mumbai's buildings on her twitter and Instagram handles @rajeelarab with a brief information on the history of the buildings, their styles, the reason they were built and the brains behind the design.

Arab, who studied at Rizvi college, following it up with art criticism courses & diploma at Jnanapravaha with Masters from London's Architectural Association says students often find theory of architecture and its history inaccessible. What's easily available on Wikipedia and Google isn't enough. The "challenge" is a way to bridge this gap. While she has so far focused on Mumbai's buildings, this weekend she'll give a glimpse of Petra in Jordan and soon move to Ahmedabad, Hampi, Delhi and London. Here's to more such challenges.

Such melodic symmetry, this

We have to tell you about a cute duo that is burning up our Instagram screens. Simetri, made up of singers Riya and Simran Duggal, recently put out a video of themselves singing a stunning version of the beautiful Edelweiss from The Sound of Music. Not only did they remind us of our favourite movie, but they were also very good. We have been following the girls for a while, and quite enjoy their original compositions, covers and dance videos. Both the girls, who also perform with Shalmali Kholgade, come from a musical family. Dad Rajeev composed the title song for the television show Zabaan Sambhalke and mom Melanie performs at gigs across the city.

"Apart from being passionate about our music, it's the reactions to our covers that keep us going. We get messages saying that a video made someone's day, or people write to us asking us to visit their country. People have actually booked us for international shows thanks to our Instagram videos," Riya tells us. Future plans include a new original release next month called On My Mind, and working with AR Rahman. We wish them luck.

Dorji wants you to colour

Remember model-actor Kelly Dorji from the late '90s? The Bhutanese actor has been moonlighting as an artist. His images of the Buddha using the tsambakha meto (the flower of the Oroxylum Indicum tree) are already popular among art collectors.

Now, Dorji is out with a colouring book, The Hidden Rainbow (Penguin Random House). Through a collection of drawings, he re-imagines popular Buddhist iconography from Bhutan, while discussing his own understanding of spirituality. "As an artist, I wanted to share the joy of colouring," he told this diarist.

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