Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Pondering on the post box

A man perched atop a post box outside Churchgate railway station

Making us proud

Neha Panchamiya in a still from the documentary

It's a proud and emotional moment for Neha Panchamiya, founder and president of the RESQ Charitable Trust, with a documentary on her work in the field of animal rescue and rehabilitation being released in the OTT space. A dedicated non-profit in the field since 2007, the Pune-based RESQ, which now has over 60 volunteers, has helped thousands of animals across 200 species over the last 15 years. The documentary is streaming in eight countries through various platforms. An enthusiastic Panchamiya tells us that she got talking with the makers of the documentary about her work, and it just went forward from there. "I had told them at the outset that I wasn't going to do any retakes, just focus on my work," she chuckles. "I was also clear on the fact that the documentary should focus on the entire team, not just me. And they've done it beautifully!"

We weep too, Maharaja

Atul Chaudhari

More than a few tears are being shed at the revamp of Air India's Maharaja logo and despite statements by the airline, rumours of the logo's demise continue to swirl. Mumbai artist Atul Chaudhari took to the canvas to depict the Maharaja reacting emotionally to the change. "I took a paper, water colours and sketched my emotions. We, who have grown up with this symbol and had an immediate connect, are similarly moved," says the 64-year-old professional artist and art teacher. Well, old Maharaja, take a bow and thanks for the memories. Like they say, the only constant in life is change.

Also read: Maharashtra: Senior IRS officer commits suicide in Kharghar

The plot thickens

The plagiarism can of worms that opened in the Indian web series space earlier this month doesn't look like it's shutting any time soon. After writer Yashica Dutt accused the makers of web series Made In Heaven 2 of taking parts from her book without giving her credit, Dalit scholar Sumit Baudh has now thrown his hat in the ring. According to him, Dutt has plagiarised his work, from an article called Reflections Of A Queer Dalit, published in 2007. "There appears to be some hypocrisy on the part of Dutt in demanding acknowledgment and credit of her work from filmmaker [Neeraj] Ghaywan, while having curiously failed in acknowledging and crediting my article in her memoir," Baudh tells this diarist over email.

Athletics lover Hoshie Contractor is Hungary for more

Hoshedar Contractor and wife Aban and Daley Thompson

Adille Sumariwalla (AFI prez and vice-president of World Athletics) is not the only Parsi sportsperson from Mumbai to witness the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. There's Hoshedar Contractor too. Hoshedar (Hoshie to friends) is a former Mumbai Ranji Trophy fast bowler, who represented the country at the U-19 level. He is also the son of ex-India cricket captain Nari. Hoshie and wife Aban are thoroughly enjoying the international and Indian action, and also meeting some track and field legends. Earlier this week, Hoshie caught up with Brit runner Seb Coe, who he used to watch at Crystal Palace on his England club tours in the 1980s. Closer to the weekend, which had him focus on the Indian javelin throwers, Hoshie got an opportunity to meet decathlon legend Daley Thompson. The men's 100m final will always be a spectacle to watch, but if you ask Hoshie for his favourite memory, he'll point to Netherlands's Sifan Hassan bouncing back from her fall in the 10,000m final to reach the 1500m final. Hoshie's smile will be wider if the Indians attain javelin glory on Sunday. We can't wait either.

City's chronicler is back

Father Milton Gonsalves of the Holy Cross Church in Kurla West is out with a new book. Called Christian Villages and Institutions of Andheri East, the book chronicles the Christian community staying in areas like Chakala, Mahakali, Marol, Sahar and Vijay Nagar. "I like to meet people individually and collect information from them, which is how I went about the research for this book. The story of these villages needed to be told," he tells this diarist. The Catholic priest is known for his love for chronicling the city's Christians through his books, one of his earlier books - Kole Kalyan or Kalina: The Origin Story, focused on the Santa Cruz East area. This one is his seventh and we're quite eager to see what he comes out with next.