Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan at an an event

King Khan's handy work

Shah Rukh Khan helps wife Gauri Khan with her saree at a fashion award held at a Lower Parel five star on Tuesday. Pic /Anurag Ahire

A chilled ride

Twelve years ago, three SoBo boys Pankil Shah, Sumit Gambhir and Abhishek Honawar, thought of creating a casual and unpretentious neighbourhood space. They only saw nightclubs or bars and felt a dire need for a space where you could head to chill and hang. And the seed for Woodside Inn, which completes 12 years this month, germinated. Over the years, the space has been the haunt for residents and travellers alike, to kick back, converse over cold beer and soak in the city.

"When it opened, our idea was to build a space where people like us could come hang out. We actually contemplated taking a Subway franchise before coming up with the idea of a gastro-pub, when the three of us were drinking beer at Totos in Bandra. It started with the idea of building a beer community at a time when craft beer wasn't even legally available in the city. Today, we are proud to say that we list some of the best," Shah, co-founder and partner at Neighbourhood Hospitality, told this diarist.

Tipple for a cause

Last weekend witnessed a battle between the best, when music maker Devraj Sanyal and F&B entrepreneur Romil Ratra came together to host The Bitter Bartenders, a competition between the two that involved having to recreate cocktails from Yauatcha's new cocktail menu called the infusion list. Adding a noble spin to it, 20 per cent of the sales of over 300 cocktails that night went towards The Dharavi Dream Project, a hip-hop school for talented underprivileged children. "There is no better feeling in the world than to earn the money that you give to a cause by doing something that's completely out of your comfort zone," Sanyal said. Ratra added, "I saw a bunch of like-minded people come together to support a cause that the people who matter to me care about. As Winston Churchill put it - 'We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.'" The proceeds have gone towards the enhancement of the after-school hip-hop sessions.

A lighter shade of grey

Established at 13, Cooperage Road in 1943, Campion School has over the years been one of the city's most respected and coveted educational establishments. Few know that Shashi Tharoor, MP of a Thiruvananthapuram and word wiz on social media was actually an alumnus of the school from 1963 to '68. He struck a nostalgic chord with many of his followers and fans when he posted a photo of himself with former Campionites - Rajdeep Sardesai and fellow MP Praful Patel from a lunch hosted by the latter. In a lighter vein, he went on to comment that despite Sardesai's grey hair, Tharoor was the seniormost of the trio.

What India tweeted

As the year draws to a close, it's time to look back at Twitter, or so believes Twitter India with a report that encapsulates all the things we've cheered and outraged over in 2019. Not surprisingly, the #loksabhaelections2019 was the most tweeted hashtag and Narendra Modi's tweet announcing their victory, the most retweeted. On the entertainment side, Sonakshi Sinha was among the top 10 most mentioned handles (female). Well, haven't we tweeted enough already?

Concert on track

As the day inches closer, spirits are soaring. And why wouldn't they, considering this is the Irish rock band's maiden India tour. This Sunday, as U2 takes the stage at DY Patil Stadium, it is likely that attendees are going to witness history in the making, and it now looks like the Railway Ministry has got their finger on the pulse too. For, we have just learnt that on the day of the concert, an exclusive local train from Andheri to Nerul will be booked for customised service, to make commute for concert goers easier. Kunal Khambhati, head of live events at BookMyShow, has partnered with the Indian Railways to launch this first-of-a-kind chartered local train. "We are thrilled to witness such an overwhelming response. With thousands of fans expected, we have been working towards making the experience seamless and memorable. We wanted to offer solutions that could cut short travel time to the venue and for local trains are the most efficient transport ser­vice here," he said.

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