Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Win and loo-se
A little ahead of Dahanu, on the outskirts of Mumbai, is an isolated village called Karvale. It might be off most people's radars, but Mumbai's KC College students have changed the lives of its residents.

Students from KC College at work

In 2005, under KC's National Service Scheme (NSS), 300 students adopted the village. One of those adoption duties included upping hygiene levels by building toilets. In the last decade, the NSS unit has built 48 toilets in the area.

Just recently, the same unit finished building seven new toilets in the neighbouring village of Ghatim. The students had been working on this project since December 2015. The complex of seven toilets was built for Sane Guruji Vidhyalaya. Here's to a bunch of collegians who showed us that college life isn't just about lectures, hip hangouts, Instagramming and rat races.

Go for gold, Gagan
His analytical, calm and witty commentary was sorely missed especially amidst the tamasha and OTT overkill, courtesy the fellow men (and women) behind the mic at the just-concluded sixth edition of the IPL.

Pic courtesy/Twitter.com/bhogleharsha

Yesterday, cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle caught up with ace shooter Gagan Narang, and posted this photo on his social media account: ‘With our champion shooter and Olympic medal winner, Gagan Narang. Wishing him another medal for India'. We, like Harsha, are hoping he hits bull's eye.

Say cheese

Pic/Shadab Khan

Actress Urmila Matondkar, who made her first public appearance after her wedding, was spotted posing for a selfie at an event organised by Cancer Patients Aid Association and Pawan Hans in Juhu yesterday.

Warming up to Coldplay
The last time British Rock band Coldplay was in Mumbai to shoot a video for their album Hymn for the Weekend, social media was flooded with thoughts from fans and those who were dismissive.

A still from the video

Their new video Up & Up, featuring a volcano that pops out popcorn, a baby that flies on the wing of a plane, and skydivers who jump into a bowl of pasta seems to have caught India's fancy again.

In the first eight days of the launch, the video has clocked over 22 million views, of which over a million views are from India's cities including Mumbai and Pune. The song talks of a world as it should be, and how it's intrinsic human nature to mend all that's gone wrong.

Say it like Vir

As the jury is still out on Tanmay Bhat's Snapchat video, birthday boy Vir Das, despite being on a heady escape in faraway South Africa, stepped in to back his ilk with this sagely tweet: The only two labels that comedy deserves are Funny or Not Funny. If it's funny - say so, watch. If it's not - say so, don't watch, move on.Well said, Vir.

Biennale, round two
Bose Krishnamachari, one of the country's patron saints of contemporary arts, now dons one more biennale hat. The co-founder of the Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB), Krishnamachari is now curator of the very first Yinchuan Biennale in China, which will commence on September 9.

Bose Krishnamachari

The site of this maiden biennale, The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, is also significant, as it's the first contemporary museum along the Yellow River. Krishnamachari announced the names of the first 40 artists who will be part of Yinchuan Biennale yesterday, and we can't stop ogling.

Ai Weiwei, the iconic Chinese dissident, is on this plush list, along with names from home turf such as Benitha Perciyal. We, of course, were delighted to see Riyas Komu and Sudarshan Shetty, the other KMB men, on this list too.