Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Kirti Surve Parade

Stretching is serious work

A woman looks as if she may have other things on her mind during this yoga session at Sion.

New addition to SoBo's nightlife

Aditya Dugar

Paradox, the newest venture from Aditi and Aditya Dugar, creators of Masque, India's No. 1 restaurant on Asia's 50 Best 2025, is set to raise the bar for South Mumbai's nightlife when it opens this week. The interiors by Ashiesh Shah spell a contemporary interpretation of Mumbai's Art Deco heritage - polished, dynamic, and immersive. Aditya shares, "Paradox was born out of a simple observation: There are barely any bars in the city where people can just be, minus clutter and noise. It's for discerning guests who recognise great drinks and food when they see it and appreciate a space that feels new yet familiar. The team, led by chef Varun Totlani and Masque's head mixologist Ankush Gamre, have ensured that this will become a ‘second-nature' bar, where it's natural to come in for their favourite cocktail or meal, without any overthinking, whatever the day of the week."

Safe spaces, safe people

The painting by artist Deepak Dhiman when he first came out to his family (right) Mihir Thakkar

To those who have had to earn their safe space, this exhibition by a group of artists will resonate. The show - to Make a Home with You - has five artists, Aksh Diwan Garg, Deepak Dhiman, Lakshya Bhargava, Namrata Arjun and Zoya Lobo, and is curated by Mihir Thakkar. The artists, including Thakkar, bring their experience of navigating the world and more importantly their home after they came out to their families and then having to build one, if the circumstances demanded it. The exhibition is an ode to acceptance from our friends that we received while each of us were on our individual journeys that when put together is a resounding nod to the openness within and outside the community," says Thakkar. The show began yesterday and will be on until May 31, 6 pm to 9 pm at the Art and Charlie gallery at Bandra's Pali Hill.

Attila's artful Asian alchemy in town

Chef Attila Havas at the NMACC Arts Cafe

Internationally acclaimed Chef Attila Havas - known for his stints at Nobu Budapest, Yubari Barcelona, The Arts Club London, and Sommerro TAK Oslo - brings his culinary mastery in Japanese fusion, Pan-Asian, and contemporary cuisine to the Arts Cafe at NMACC, BKC. "Creating and sharing food in such a vibrant, creative space is truly inspiring. I'm excited to see how our menu resonates with the energy here and I'm looking forward to connecting with more culinary enthusiasts this week," says the Oslo-born private chef. Havas' menu reflects a passion for seasonal ingredients and global flavours - think spicy tuna tartare on shoku toast, scallop sashimi with truffle and black garlic, tofu kara-age with soya glaze, and a standout miso chocolate cappuccino.

In the pink of health

Flower power in full bloom (right) Pink makes Breach Candy wink

We wax effusive about the season's trumpet flowers while the bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra) carries on unassumingly, humble and hardy in a show-off world. We encountered the papery bracts blushing fiercely at Breach Candy, welcoming visitors to the Amarsons garden, tucked away next to Vaibhav building. The rows of pink interspersed with some white may have been planted "a decade earlier or even more", said Amit Karandikar, BMC's Assistant Superintendent of Gardens, C and D wards. The Amarsons Garden is in D ward. Karandikar says, "This is the flowering season, right up to pre-monsoon. Bougainvillea is a thorny plant, excellent for fencing, on arches etc. When it is young it needs water, when full-grown it needs much less water." In our landscape of predominantly grey concrete, the bougainvillea - named after explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811) after it was documented on one of his expeditions - adds an aesthetic twist and is both a delight and respite.

Dennis Lillee was some responder-ask Keith Fletcher

Dennis Lillee and Keith Fletcher. Pics/Getty Images

Sport is all about responding to situations. And that of course includes verbals. Dennis Lillee, the legendary fast bowler from Australia, provided another example of this in a recent interaction with Sydney Morning Herald sports columnist Peter FitzSimons. Perth-based Lillee, 75, will be in Sydney later this month to speak at a function organised by the Chappell Foundation that supports homeless people Down Under. Lillee was asked if he was ever sledged at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Lillee couldn't remember, but recalled an incident involving Keith Fletcher in an Ashes Test (Lillee and Fletcher figured in eight Tests together in Australia during the 1970s). In one Test, middle-order batsman Fletcher responded to a Lillee delivery that hurt him, with a two-finger gesture directed at Lillee. Never known to back down, Lillee asked Fletcher: "What's that, Keith - your batting average or your IQ?" Both parties can laugh about it now, but one doubts if there were smiles way back then.