The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Satej Shinde
Jaane bhi do yaaron
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Two tired workers take a much-needed nap in a tempo on the Eastern Express Highway, Mulund.
Mustard up
A stone-ground mustard made by Ruchira Sonalkar, founder of Native Tongue, a homegrown condiment brand, has made it to the top five at the Worldwide Mustard Competition 2021, hosted by the National Mustard Museum, Wisconsin. “We drew inspiration from the classic Bengali relish made of coarsely ground mustard seeds and aam kashundi,” says Sonalkar. She used two varieties of mustard seeds, yellow and black, that are broken down using a traditional stone grinder. What takes it a few notches up is the amba halad or mango ginger, a seasonal rhizome that mimics the flavour of green mangoes. “It allows the core ingredient to shine by mellowing the pungency of the mustard. By creating a nuanced mustard blend, we were playing to our strengths and thus, felt confident about our entry.”
A case of selective selection for Sri Lanka
Bishan Singh Bedi led India against Sri Lanka in 1975-76. Pic/Getty Images
The other day, former captain Arjuna Ranatunga lashed out at the Sri Lankan cricket board for putting financial gains before a wholesome cricket fare by agreeing to host, what he believed, is a second string Indian team, which will play a series of limited overs matches. With second string coming into focus now that Ranatunga has said what he wanted to say, our in-house cricket nut brought up Sri Lanka’s 1975-76 tour of India in which they played three unofficial Tests, five games with the zones and one fixture against the Indian Universities. Sri Lanka were then six seasons away from their Test debut and the BCCI decided to spread their best players across the three ‘Tests’ with Bishan Singh Bedi leading the side in all of them. According to the late statistician Anandji Dossa in Cricket Quarterly magazine, India played three wicketkeepers in the series—Syed Kirmani, P Krishnamurthy and Bharath Reddy. There were three sets of opening batsmen—Sunil Gavaskar-Dilip Vengsarkar, Chetan Chauhan-Anshuman Gaekwad and Parthasarathy Sharma-Gopal Bose. S Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath opened the bowling in the first Test at Hyderabad before Amarnath and S Abid Ali kicked things off in Game 2 at Ahmedabad. Domestic toiler Barun Burman and Eknath Solkar were in charge of the new ball in the final Test at Nagpur. The islanders lost two ‘Tests’ but who can say they didn’t gain from the exposure by playing a below-strength Indian team?
When a love for baked goodies helps society
Nearly two months ago, author and culinary consultant Saee Koranne-Khandekar put together an ebook, From My Oven, comprising a lovely collection of bakes, for a fundraiser for Snehalaya India, an NGO based out of Ahmednagar, which among other issues, has been working for treatment and rehabilitation of those affected by the pandemic in the district. Her tiny effort reaped big rewards, when she managed to raise Rs 12,63,611, from the sale of the book. The fund is now, not just being used for for Covid relief, but also for a water project. A 60-feet well will provide water to a centre for psychological research, treatment and rehabilitation for mental illnesses and de addiction called Manasgram, being erected under the aegis of the NGO. “There’s only so much one can do as an individual, so a fundraiser seemed like a good idea to form a collective, of sorts. I set out with a target of Rs 3 lakh, but was pleasantly surprised that we managed to raise four times as much. I have followed Snehalaya’s work for many years, and knew that they are a deserving organisation,” Khandekar told this diarist.
This DJ has got some love songs up his sleeve
It’s a good time for Zaeden fans. The 26-year-old singer released his debut album on July 2 to celebrate his birthday. A mix of pop, dance, and hip-hop, the albums also sees him collaborating with various artistes. The entire album was conceptualised and produced remotely, in the middle of the pandemic. “Genesis 1:1 has been both a liberating and intimidating experience for me because it’s a heartfelt project as all the songs journal my real-life journey. The word genesis in its literal sense means the birth of something novel. It’s the perfect analogy for my career, and explains my evolution from DJ producer to singer-songwriter. All this while, through the transition, I’ve come to re-discover myself as an artist and I couldn’t think of a better word than Genesis to describe the birth of my new sound,” he told this diarist, adding that he wanted to put out an album that was therapeutic and comforting, in these turbulent times. We think the singer’s honeyed vocals will help you get over a heartbreak as well.
Music to the rescue
In order to support India’s urgent vaccination drive, the Anuradha Palakurthi Foundation has announced Vax.India.Now—a virtual music concert to be held on July 7. The concert will feature Gloria Estefan, Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Ma, David Foster, Norwegian DJ Alan Walker, Aasif Mandvi, Nishat Khan, Ranjani Gayatri Sisters, Matteo Bocelli and Anuradha Juju Palakurthi. Speaking to this diarist, Palakurthi said, “Artistes have catalysed many social movements by driving participation and awareness. The Vax.India.Now team is honoured to count some of the biggest hearts for support. Scientists estimate that Indian herd immunity kicks in with 600 million more adult vaccinations. India has already demonstrated that it has the capacity to vaccinate 10m people a day. The event is one of the many steps being taken worldwide by many organisations and individuals.”
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