Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

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

Kursi Chronicles

Four workers relax on stacks of chairs placed on a pavement in Kurla

Sah moves on

Anupam Sah points to a feature on the wooden coffin in 2016. File pic

After an illustrious, 15-year-long association with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), this diarist learnt that Anupam Sah, its head of art conservation, research and training, has moved on. “My Citibank project work has come to an end,” the conservationist told us from Dehradun, adding, “The team at the Art Conservation Department: Citi-CSMVS Conservation and Research Centre has shaped up nicely; these boys and girls are capable, bright minds; it’s in good hands.” Over the years, Sah and his team at the state-of-the-art centre in CSMVS played a pivotal role in the success of the museum’s blockbuster exhibitions. As an expert on heritage conservation, Sah will now utilise his time sharing his expertise in various capacities at cultural institutions and museums, he told us. At the moment, he is working closely with the government of Uttarakhand, his home state, to create new museums, among other initiatives. We wish him well.

Mumbai’s dabbawalas on the cloud

Dabbawalas have been operational in the city for 130 years. Representation pic

Countless lunch boxes stacked up neatly on a hand-drawn cart remain the typical image of the city’s dabbawalas. On Monday, the iconic community hopped on to the cloud kitchen bandwagon. “The past three generations that have worked in this field for nearly 130 years were hardly educated. But the new generation of dabbawalas felt the need to upgrade our service from delivering tiffins to preparing the food. So, along with a few homemakers and the wives of dabbawalas, we got on board a team of 25 women in our centralised kitchen in Borivali East.

Ritesh Andhre

We have a fixed menu every day, and office-goers can order accordingly. We have started a website called Dabbawala’s Kitchen where we update the menu and take orders,” dabbawala Ritesh Andhre told this diarist. Although they launched two days ago, this venture has been in the pipeline for the past one year. “Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns had set us back in our business by a large margin. Some of us even lost our jobs. We first wanted to stabilise our livelihood before floating a new venture,” he concluded.

Making Geography cool again

Kavya Karnatac explaining a station name in the Reel

Content creator Kavya Karnatac belonged to the band of people who felt that Geography was a boring subject in school. But she wanted to change that perception and decided to start her social media channel, KK Create. Covering India’s vast and diverse geography, the idea was to make learning fun, she told this diarist. Her recent Reel that talks about the history behind the names of the various Mumbai railway stations is proof of this effort. “I have been living in Mumbai for the past five years. I was curious about the places in the city, and the reasons for its different, unique names. When I searched on Google, I could not believe the number of historians who have covered these topics. That is how I got to know that the name Mulund translates to trading hub because it was a leading centre for trade, and that Matunga is derived from elephants because it housed stables of royal elephants,” Karnatac explained. “I want to create maps of the city and bring these places alive on Reels,” she added.

Just hot Aer

A rooftop view of AER Bar & Lounge in Worli

This diarist was keen to drop by the newly reopened AER Bar & Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai at Worli. Designed to resemble a yacht, the new AER boasts of a Wimbledon Centre Court-style roof that folds up, and promises a view of Mumbai even in the monsoons without the chaos. When a call was made to book a table, we learnt that the space was shut until further notice. On probing further, we discovered that while it did open in the second week of June, it had to be closed again for further renovations, including a leakage. We wait for the 34th floor rooftop bar to open, hopefully for good this time.

All roads lead to Operation Blood Flood in Dadar

Operation Blood Flood from a previous year’s event

Call it give and let live, or Operation Blood Flood as its official name. Or both, if you wish to; put a twist this August 15 on our Independence Day by putting others before self. The Swantantryaveer Rashtriya Smarak at Dadar is ready to play host to hopefully thousands in its blood donation drive to be held on the premises, adjacent to old Mayor’s Bungalow, on this year’s Independence Day. The drive is held in association with Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH). Many will recall the crisis during Covid-19 when blood banks battled a severe crunch and one of the most pressing concerns for medical facilities were the ‘dry days’ when it came to supply of this precious necessity. It was then that organisers of the Mumbai Ultra run, a 12-hour running event, came up with a (bloody) good idea, and decided to hold an ultramarathon of a blood donation, with TMH quickly on board. Here, donors could donate blood at the venue from 8 am to 8 pm, at any time within the 12-hour-period. While we have turned the Covid-19 curve, let us prove that with floods crippling our country in North India — we pray for all affected — and are able to organise for a flood in Mumbai, of a very different kind. Registrations have started and there is enough time to motivate, friends and family too. For online registration, head to https://youtoocanrun.com/races/mumbai-ultra-blood-donation/

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