The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Atul Kamble
Clean up act
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A worker spreads bleaching powder to remove moss and algae from the steps at Gateway of India.
The winning word
The Gaja Capital Business Book Prize is the biggest book prize in the country with a purse of R15 lakh. It has been instituted to honour authors and their works that celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit in India, and the winner for its 2020 edition was announced virtually yesterday. Investigative journalist Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story by Mihir Dalal (in pic) emerged as the winner among the six shortlisted titles. Gopal Jain, co-founder and managing partner, Gaja Capital, commented, “India has many successful entrepreneurs and businesses. The world should speak of them just as we speak of the world because you don’t have to be western to be modern.”
Girls hit the cricket pitch
The UK United girls cricket team at Chogle School. Pic/Satej Shinde
While sport across the city and state staggers back on its feet it’s nice to learn about an Indian Premier League-style auction-based tennis ball cricket event for women, the Turf Champs women’s tournament, to be held at the Chogle High School ground in Borivali this Sunday.
This is the first competitive cricket event for women in the city since the lockdown came into effect in March. Former Mumbai cricketer Najuka Dawane, who will be leading the Uncle’s Kitchen United team in the 14-team under-arm tournament, is excited. “Boys get a lot of opportunities to play sport, but tournaments for us are few. Having been home throughout this lockdown, the girls are looking forward to have some fun,” said Dawane, who represented the Mumbai Cricket Association’s senior women’s team in 2008-09. Ronnie D’Souza, team owner of UK United explains the concept: “A pool of over 100 players was created from where we had to pick our players and form teams. UK United is known for its prowess in men’s rink football but we are now looking at contributing towards women’s cricket at the grassroots level.”
A poet made the world ponder
Amanda Gorman recites The Hill We Climb at the presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington DC. Pic/@Oprah on Twitter
At 22, Amanda Gorman, a poet from Los Angeles, became the youngest poet to perform at the US presidential inaugural ceremony. Gorman took the stage in a bright yellow Miuccia Prada coat, a nod to first lady Dr Jill Biden, to recite The Hill We Climb — a poem she finished writing the day a violent mob of Trump supporters laid siege on the US Capitol Building. For approximately six minutes, Gorman commanded everyone’s attention with her original piece that touched upon pain, healing and courage.
About what she felt listening to Gorman, award-winning city-based poet Rochelle Potkar told this diarist, “A young dream that never dies. Through a needlework of hope and fiery vision, one line-one word at a time, Gorman stitched together the tattered fabric of present-day society through thorny histories, unifying spines on justice and equality for a riot of diversity, a celebration of world colour. Brown is the new white.”
Gorman’s act today has also moved people to emphasise on the power of poetry. “I’m glad we all agree that poetry was the best part of Inauguration, now please fund the humanities [sic],” Twitter user Dr Kara Morillo wrote, while Hillary Clinton shared an interesting tidbit about Gorman. “She’s promised to run for president in 2036 and I for one can’t wait,” she tweeted. We can’t wait either.
Education via an exhibition
While the term “media” is often thrown around like a rag doll in today’s times, many young people don’t know what it encompasses. NGO Salaam Bombay Foundation (SBF) will thus host a virtual exhibition on the theme of E-learning - A Catalytic Transition this Sunday.
The event will be presented along with the mass media department of St Xavier’s College through the Education Beyond Books initiative. It will be available in Hindi and English, with live stalls, webinars, and a chat corner. “They [students] have seen journalists on television and read newspapers. But they haven’t considered studying media or pursuing a career in the field themselves, and the initiative is aimed at changing their perception completely,” said Rajashree Kadam, VP, projects (arts and media) at SBF.
Heartbreak kid
How would you feel if a former Miss Universe calls you a – quote unquote — “heartbreaker”. Kabir Chakravarty doesn’t think much of it. But then, Kabir is only four years old. It’s the epithet that none other than Sushmita Sen gave him, when he’d gone to a café in Kolkata with this diarist and his parents, where Sen happened to be with her family. She came up to the table where he was sitting, and it was lovely watching a bona fide celebrity with no airs whatsoever playing with a little child she didn’t know from Adam, even trying a trick where she pulled a straw from behind his ears. The parents wouldn’t let go of an opportunity to get a photograph of the two of them, and Khushboo, Kabir’s mother, bribed him with a chocolate to go and ask the actor for one. So, he strolled up to her and said, “Hey, lady. Will you take a picture with me?” Heartbreaker for sure.
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