Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Slaying it on horseback

A saree-clad woman rides a horse at Dadar Chowpatty.

BMC says it with flowers

The installation is placed at the audience gallery at the BMC headquarters

The BMC understands the language of flowers, and for Women's Day, they're speaking volumes. If you're strolling along DN Road, stop by the BMC headquarters for a big Women's Day surprise - an eye-catching floral installation. "The butterfly design was finalised nearly two months ago, but our gardeners started assembling the piece three days before Women's Day to ensure the freshness of the chrysanthemum and bougainvillea flowers we used," said Jitendra Pardeshi, superintendent of the Gardens and Trees Office, BMC. Naturally, the installation has become a selfie spot for women. This diarist was thrilled to learn that the installation will be carefully dismantled tomorrow, and the flowers will embark on journeys to various parks and gardens in the city.

A poetic return

Javed Akhtar at the 2005 edition

Aaina, a poetry circle that took shape in the Kalina campus of Mumbai University in 1999, and graced by literary veterans like Javed Akhtar, will make a comeback on the same campus tomorrow. "It is more important than ever today to promote harmony between cultures in every way possible. I remember how professors from the Kannada, Urdu, Gujarati and other departments would come together. We want to recreate that atmosphere," Zubair Azmi, its convener, told this diarist.

A brush with cricket icons

Brown shares his painting with Rahul Dravid (right) Andy Brown paints a scene in Dharamsala. PIC COURTESY/ANDYBISANARTIST ON X

At your next live match, keep an eye out for Andy Brown. Undeterred by the sea of charged spectators, he'll be the one painting. Brown, who has been painting live sporting events since 2014, was most recently spotted painting scenes from the ongoing India vs England test series in Dharamsala. "Painting here has been great. From the children playing in the maidans, to meeting Rahul Dravid and handing him a painting I made of him, to meeting the England cricket team, it has been quite a journey," the artist who has travelled to over 20 countries painting Formula One, National Football League, European Football Championship, and baseball games, told this diarist. Sharing his plans, he added, "I plan to stay on for a week to paint some wildlife and the mountains. Who knows, maybe I'll get to meet the Dalai Lama as well."

Let's make reading fun for everyone

Participants interact at a previous edition of the book discussions

Do you read books? How many do you read in a month? What genre do you fancy? Actor, and founder of Paperback Talks Book Club, Rahul Saini (below), won't be asking any of these questions at the community's third edition of offline book discussions later this month. "The goal is to make everyone feel welcome without judgement. We choose an easy read for the sessions so that everyone can join the fun," Saini shared. The community will be reading Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before The Coffee Gets Cold followed by a discussion and some ‘exclusive' book games. Saini gave this diarist a sneak peek, "We like to shake things up and have some fun beyond just reading. We'll be playing some improv storytelling games and a round of books-charades. It's like charades but with book titles."