08 February,2022 07:14 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Bipin Kokate
A baby-wearing father catches his breath outside a store at Walkeshwar.
Even for a city that has mourned several remarkable fathers - including Charles Correa, Alyque Padamsee, Anil Dharker - a more recent loss leaves us especially bereft. Yesterday was a month since Gerson da Cunha passed on. We shall try to continue living by his beliefs, celebrating his immense knowledge of and hope for the Bombay he held so close to his heart. Exactly two years ago today is also when he graciously released Once Upon A City, columnist Meher Marfatia's book based on her Sunday Midday fortnightly column on local oral history. Besides inspiring our deep admiration for the innumerable civic affairs and artistic concerns he worked dedicatedly for, Gerson exemplified twin qualities that stunned us all - ebullience and energy. In his nineties, too, he marvellously focused on multiple back-to-back meetings in a single day. Gerson was someone who most kindly and readily acceded to any request. Low on ego, high on soul, the sensitive journalist in him respected every writer. When Marfatia asked him to share a jacket blurb for the book, he obliged in the week he was not very well, as she later discovered. It was a wonderful note, of precisely the 100 words she had specified. Then he called to say, "I know the tyrannies of space and deadlines, my dear." He has left a legacy to cherish. It's now up to us to keep alive the immense power and passion of his principles.
Goa gets a new restaurant with bespoke cocktails and an experiential ambience. Newly opened Totem at Ashwem Mandrem, North Goa, is founded by Rinaa Shah, who happens to be the first Indian woman patron polo player, and is also a DJ, drummer, and designer whose clientele includes Naomi Campbell and Kareena Kapoor. Shah's new space will have a globally inspired menu offering tapas, tacos and a variety of fancy cocktails. The theme is modern-tribal, there's a 40 foot-long bar and a pergola to enjoy those summer nights. "I decided to name the restaurant and bar Totem because it is a tribe of like-minded people. I wanted to create a community and magical experiences for these very people. Totem will be known for its DIY crafted cocktails," she told this diarist.
Queen Mathilde of Belgium was spotted in a printed dress by Mumbai couturier Anita Dongre at the Grand Mosque of Sultan Qaboos. She had previously donned it during a state visit to India in 2017. As Dongre said, "Fashion is not just about what is next, but what is good. Choosing to conserve and re-wear is the only way forward."
On the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav, which marked 75 years of India's Independence, 16-year-old Mumbai resident Affan Kutty celebrated in an unusual way. Kutty, who is a speed-cuber and specialises in solving Rubik's Cubes blindfolded, travelled to 75 railway stations across the city, covering a distance of more than 1,200 km. At each stop, he spelled out the station's name and an inspirational social message. "Affan took up the Rubik's Cube to cope with his screen addiction," his father, Biju Kutty told this diarist. The Limca Book of Records title holder is now poised to undertake a new challenge, where he will spell out the national anthem in its entirety, in his own unique style. Stay tuned.
Over 1,000 railway officials, labourers and engineers have been toiling without sleep for over 72 hours for the past three days and nights to lay a new rail corridor to segregate Mumbai local lines and outstation trains. Labourers have gathered at the site from various places and have been camping there with their families, an old tradition where railway labour communities move in groups and families under the guidance of a contractor. This diarist, who is a railway archivist, captured a photo where a few kids can be seen playing with each other at Diva Junction station as their parents toil on the tracks.
