The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Anurag Ahire
Meet the fruit ninja
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A man practises a few Shaolin-style moves on a road in Juhu.
A Kipling keepsake
Rudyard Kipling. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons
This month, British auction house Christie's will offer the collection of Mr and Mrs John H Gutfreund 834 Fifth Avenue across live and online sales. In the collection spanning fine and decorative art, jewels and books is a copy of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, illustrated by Paul Jouve and François-Louis Schmied that was completed in 1919. What's interesting is that it contains an original drawing by Jouve in India ink. The book is from the couple's library, and commenting on the apartment, Will Strafford, senior international specialist, European furniture and decorative arts, said, "It is one of the most iconic interiors in New York with each room creating its own individual visual statement."
Saluting Astad Deboo
As if 2020 wasn't bad enough already, it took away from us, contemporary dancer-choreographer Astad Deboo in December. This Sunday, at 7 pm, the G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture is hosting a celebration of the revered dancer. The virtual tribute will be held on their YouTube channel, Anuradha Parikh, founder and artistic director, confirmed with this diarist. It will be attended by some of Astad's relatives, including his sister Gulshan Deboo, nephew Xerxes Antia, and close friends architect Ratan Batliboi and theatre director Sunil Shanbag, among others. A film that he made with his students will also be premiered. Parikh, who was close to Deboo, shared the foundation has lost a mentor and comrade. "We were just consolidating our collaborations; we had so many things planned for the next season — from his performances with the boys from Salaam Baalak Trust, to a film on him, and more. I envied the easy, special rapport he shared with my mother Shaila Parikh, for whom he presented an incredible piece, Dream of Sunshine, as a farewell and a homage to their friendship. I hope that we can, in some way, carry on the journey he so bravely took on."
Not your average murder story
In 1925, Abdul Kader Bawla, a rich corporator, was murdered in Malabar Hill while driving with his mistress, Mumtaz Begum. It was revealed that the target was Begum, who was saved by British officers. The probe led to the abdication of Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar III of Indore. Prominent names of the time, including MA Jinnah, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Prabodhankar Thackeray, Lokmanya Tilak, and Sir Patrick Kelly, an upright police commissioner of the city, were interconnected with the episode. The story will come alive in journalist Dhaval Kulkarni's book, The Bawla Murder Case: Love, Lust and Crime in Colonial India (HarperCollins India). "This case popped up during a conversation with retired police officer Rohidas Dusar, who has written about it in Marathi. This was not a run-of-the-mill murder; I have tried to address the larger narrative, and weaved in socio-political movements of the time. At the heart of it, is also the story of the Begum, who later left for Hollywood," Kulkarni shared.
Good idea, period
NGO Muse Foundation conducted a survey last year on menstrual hygiene among 1,000 women living in 15 slums in Thane. It revealed that they face tremendous difficulty in managing their menstruation due to lack of water, unsafe changing rooms and the lack of a disposal mechanism for sanitary napkins in community toilets. That's why they joined forces with Thane Municipal Corporation and design firm Recycle Bin to build a one-of-a-kind 'period room' in the district, for such women. "It is equipped with a jet spray, a dustbin that does away with the need to touch soiled napkins, a soap dispenser, hooks to hang clothes on and a urinal," shared founder Nishant Bangera. Great job, we feel.
Nostalgic notes for Fr Alban
Fr Alban D'Souza (centre) at a parish event in the city in 2017
One year ago, on January 6, 2020, this paper had reported the sudden demise of Fr Alban D'Souza, a priest who had died of a cardiac arrest at his parish on a Sunday morning. The report had stated that the Amboli (Andheri) resident, who was formerly from Dadar, brought everyone together through music. On Tuesday, January 5, parishioners and the community members whose lives he had touched paid a digital tribute to Fr Alban who passed away when he was 54. This mix of music and memories was to mark one year of his passing. Music, fittingly, formed the central motif of the tribute. Fr Alban was the late founder of the Band of Priests, which played at different churches in the city. At the time of his death, Dadar's Alfred Nogueira had said that Fr Alban had endeared himself to the youth, encouraging them to find themselves through music. He played the guitar himself. Referring to the online tribute, Nogueira, who was Fr Alban's schoolmate, stated that the void he had left has never quite been filled. "The moving and emotional tribute is testament to that," he shared.
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