Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

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

Uncle Wendell launches his niece
You know there's a lot resting on those slender shoulders when designer and uncle Wendell Rodricks calls you, "The new Twiggy of India" on his social media post. Meet Kyara Coelho, Rodricks' 17-year-old niece who is all set to make her runway debut with Wow Factor, a spring/summer 2019 collection by Schulen Fernandes for Wendell Rodricks at 8 pm, today, at the Lotus Make-up India Fashion Week in New Delhi.

Wendell Rodricks

"I'd be opening and closing the show. I'm thrilled that Wendell has seen potential in me, and given me this amazing opportunity. I'm looking forward to living up to his expectations," an excited Coelho told this diarist. Coelho, an Andheri resident and arts student from St Xavier's College, has been spending all her free time training with former supermodel Anna Bredemeyer since March. "My parents have encouraged me to chase my dreams, and my catwalk debut is a realisation of a dream come true," she
chips in.

A man of words
We have always known Gulzar to champion the cause of the written word. So it came as no surprise to find him accepting the invitation to be guest of honour at an event meant to laud the success of a book.

Bharati Iyer and Gulzar

And it was even less of a surprise since the novel, Anon, was penned by someone from the film fraternity — screenwriter Bharati Iyer, whose notable works include the hit, Raazi. Film critic Rajeev Masand completed the trio who discussed the title before an audience at a Bandra venue. It's nice to see people from the same profession — films in this case — egging on a colleague who's made a career shift of sorts.

Raising a stink in Banganga
As the annual Pitru Paksha rituals take place every year, dead fish are spotted floating at Banganga tank. A frequent visitor who shared this frame told this diarist that this continues unchecked, where fish consume the remnants of offerings made by worshippers who pay respect to their dead ancestors.

The site continues to be in dire need of preservation from an environmental and heritage perspective. Who can forget its half-baked makeover when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the site in 2016! At a time when the Prime Minister is winning awards from the UN for being a champion of the environment, such frames makes one wonder if we'll ever get to see the trickle-down effect in places where it really matters.

Getting schooled
The less we talk about the way the girl child is treated in India the better. But the more we talk about voices that speak out against this injustice, the more the situation is likely to change. So, on International Girl Child Day, here's news about a road show that Our Lady of Salvation School in Dadar will hold today.

The school's students at a concert

Around 800 boys will put up street plays and hand out roses to people in the area, asking them to respect women. Here's hoping that their message reaches the entire country.

Here's some cheesy news
This diarist remembers watching a video where a person in a roadside restaurant somewhere in India takes balls of dough, beats them flat with a rolling pin, and then chucks them one by one to a colleague across the room to make rotis, making the entire exercise seem as if it's as easy as apple pie. It takes supreme dexterity to do that, and it's something that acrobatic pizza makers from Italy would tip their chef's hats off to. Not that the skills of the latter are any less, and Mumbaikars got to witness one such person in action yesterday.

Chef Renato Viola. Pic/Atul Kamble

Chef Renato Viola, who's won multiple pizza-making competitions across the world, held a masterclass at a Lower Parel eatery. In it, he made kneaded flour dance with his fingers. Little wonder, then, that he is part of the Italian acrobatic pizza team. Now, if only we could have a face-off between chef Viola and the person from that Indian roadside stall we had referred to earlier.

Child's play

Actor Sanya Malhotra watches blindfolded participants change diapers for dolls at a promotional event for her upcoming film, on Wednesday. Pic/Satej Shinde

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