Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

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

Praise from the Austrian great

Ashwin Joharapurkar’s posters of Shivaji Maharaj and Bhagat Singh

Five years ago, Thane-based advertising professional Ashwin Joharapurkar created five posters depicting different freedom fighters, namely Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Lokmanya Tilak and Subhas Chandra Bose. “When I was looking for a poster, I found all of them created in a very old style. So I decided to design them in a contemporary style that can be put up in living rooms,” he said. Earlier this week, these posters made an appearance on famed Austrian graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister’s Instagram account. “Sagmeister asks people to send in their works to be reviewed. I had sent my work three weeks ago. It feels special to be featured because very few people have this opportunity. Last night, my app began pinging non-stop and I realised it was people celebrating the news,” Joharapurkar told us.

This September, wear second-hand

To mark #SecondhandSeptember, an online thrift store named Dolce Vee has put together an exciting calendar of events to encourage the practice of thrifting. “Several prominent celebrities and stylists have joined hands with us to donate from their closets — a significant part of the proceeds is donated to charity. The idea is to encourage people to thrift instead of buying new and through our partnerships, we’re hoping to reach as many different audiences as we can,” shared its founder Komal Hiranandani. She added that buyers will have the option of selecting a charity or cause they feel strongly about, and with every purchase, they will be informed about the environmental impact of choosing pre-loved over new.

Bappa’s message to BMC

Sion-based Franklin Raju Paul, a 27-year-old art decorator and businessman, has recreated his experience of being stuck in water-logged Hindmata for his Ganpati decorations. His reasoning is to ask pertinent questions about the city’s struggle with flooding, every monsoon. Environmental activist Zoru Bhathena endorsed his views: “Every initiative taken by the BMC has proved counterproductive. They spend thousands of crores every year, but end up contributing to the problem. From cutting down ancient trees to dumping cement in open spaces and poorly planned drainage, the problems are manifold.”

Gourmand high

Mumbai-based restaurateur and chef Michael Swamy’s latest title The Diabetic Cookbook will be part of a four-month-long sustainable gastronomy exhibition at the Alfred Nobel House and Museum. The exhibition has been organised by Gourmand Awards and the Hallbars Research Institute for Sustainability Reports, in Karlskoga, Sweden. “All the top cookbooks published in the last year will be showcased. This is my fourth Gourmand Award. It’s an honour to be seen amongst the best of the best,” Swamy shared.

NRAI announces a change of guard

Restaurateur Kabir Suri, co-founder and director, Azure Hospitality, has now taken over as the president of National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), after the two-year term of Mumbai-based Anurag Katriar came to an end. The development comes amid a slew of new appointments to the managing committee of the industry collective, including city-based restaurateurs Karyna Bajaj, Pankil Shah and Yash Bhanage. Suri, who’s behind brands like Mamagato, Dhaba Estd 1986, Sly Granny and Foxtrot, shared that he remains committed to NRAI’s focus on the welfare of the industry, which is experiencing a hard time. 

“From GST issues, e-commerce policies and developing a common ground with aggregators, to strengthening our membership and accelerating vaccination, whatever issues we’ve highlighted so far remain on our agenda. We’ll also look at helping players in smaller cities, and hearing out their issues. The idea is to keep everyone’s requirements on the table and tactfully resolve or support them, as the case may be,” he added. We wish him luck.

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