Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Chal beta, no selfie here re
Actor Raveena Tandon ducks as an excited fan tries to take a selfie with her at the airport on Saturday. Pic/Sneha Kharabe

Mumbai shares its food
The jury, otherwise, would have been divided over whether Mumbai is a mean, cut-throat city, or leans more towards the friendly kind. But, last week, while figuring where to eat next, this diarist came across a lovely story that will make your heart melt. Powai resident Sanjeev Nichani, wrote on an online review, that he found himself waiting for entry at Bandra's latest hip spot, the Nooresha's Kably's (in pic) Japanese eatery Izumi on Carter Road, for a bit more than he'd have liked. Yet, the wait, he says was worth it. "My friend and I were happy to share our table with anyone else, provided we got seated earlier. We ended up being in the company of two lovely people, who were willing to let us share their food, only so we could try varied dishes." They ended up sharing a portion of ramen, one portion of sushi and another portion of the assorted nigiri. Now, a city that shares its food, is a city that's worth living in. Right?

A scientist's story
Not many would know of the contribution Ved Prakash Sandlas made to India's space mission. But, the late scientist, who was once part of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's core team that launched SLV-3 in 1980, and later took over from him, was a key member of the Indian Space Research Organisation. A new title, Leapfroggers (HarperCollins India) by Sandlas, which will release posthumously next month, will now offer a critical insight into India's story of becoming a space power to reckon with. While Sandlas did not live to see his writing project take final shape, he penned the entire book to the last detail, before he passed away last year. The book, sources told this diarist, is both the personal story of Sandlas, who was one of the first 50 engineers to join ISRO, and that of the culture at the organisation. There is also an entire chapter dedicated to Dr Kalam.

Sale prep begins at Christie's
We are looking forward to Christie's Mumbai preview, this coming week, for their September sale of South Asian modern and contemporary art. Set for September 12 in New York, the sale includes 89 lots and will have the artists who have been bringing in top dollars for the Indian art market, such as Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee, FN Souza and VS Gaitonde. Some of these works have been created and collected outside the country, and this will be their first public viewing in India. Leading the sale is Diagonal XV by Tyeb Mehta, painted in 1975, and estimated at $1.5 million to $2 million. The cover lot of the sale catalogue is Akbar Padamsee's Rooftops, completed upon the artist's return to Mumbai from a second trip to Paris. Sonal Singh (in pic), Head of Department, Christie's India, says she is quite excited about Rooftops. "Having recently spent some time with the artist, Mr Padamsee told us how he would have the canvas in a roll and only paint a section of the work at a time. For me, this canvas is a highlight of our view," she says.

Using an Olympus 35mm analog camera, Kallol Datta captured this image in the Grotta island on the outskirts of Reykjavik, Iceland. "It was peak winter. I was the only person on the island. It was extremely windy and it took me ages to get my hands to hold still for the camera and the subsequent image," says the designer about the image probing spatial dimensions, featured as part of the Volume 1, Issue 2 project.

Walking the middle road
Kallol Datta is on a good, holistic cleanse. What began as "rage" and relentless questioning of his role in the Indian design universe is now a spark used to strike up conversation around the politics of gender and body. The Kolkata designer is returning to Lakmé Fashion Week after two years, with a presentation titled, Volume 1, Issue 2, on August 24. "It's a project that explores visible markers of identity and culture, and ideas of space - all condensed into a collection of snapshots taken during my travels to Imphal, Istanbul, London, Mumbai, New Delhi, and in Kolkata, of course, and my experiments with proportions. I'm also including two objects, which I've inhabited," he says mysteriously, adding, "at this point, I don't want to divulge too much."

Ten pieces from the collection are crafted in cotton that appears, "literally or subtly", like silk and crinkled paper. It's evident that he is investigating proportions, with greater attention to garment construction than detail. "I'm enjoying this space - out of the mainstream, but still participating on a mainstream platform," he tells us over a phone chat.

Satara to Shivaji Park and back
The decision to have Ajit Wadekar's funeral on Friday despite the former India captain passing away on Wednesday night allowed some members of his family to arrive from abroad. It also provided an opportunity for friends and acquaintances living within India sufficient time to plan their travel for the funeral - the Indian physically handicapped cricket team, for example. Also, Suresh Mahajani, 77, the founding secretary of the Satara Cricket Association, which Wadekar supported.

Mahajani (in pic) had to travel for more than six hours from Satara to attend Wadekar's afternoon funeral after leaving home at 6 am. "Ajit has been a friend for many years and always visited Satara when he could, to attend matches and be a chief guest for our tournaments," Mahajani told mid-day at the Shivaji Park crematorium.

The journey in a State Transport bus couldn't have been very comfortable. Ditto the feeling when he saw his friend Wadekar all set for his final journey. Satara to Shivaji Park and back made for a hard day, but as Dionne Warwick once crooned, That's What Friends Are For.

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