The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Their bag of tricks
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School children have a ball while tossing up their bags in Chembur on the Eastern Express Highway
Lens on the Parsis
For years now, writer Ashwin Sanghi’s Bharat Series has engaged and enthralled readers. We’re glad to report that the seventh title in the series is on its way. The Magicians of Mazda (published by HarperCollins India) will hit the bookshelves in May. Blending fact with fiction, this time, the story will take readers to the port of Sanjan in Gujarat, where a fleet of boats carrying 18,000 frightened Parsis arrived in 720 CE. Centuries later, a Parsi scientist called Jim Dastoor is abducted by the Ayatollah to uncover an ancient relic known as the “Athravan Star”. “The Magicians of Mazda explores a facet of Indian history that has remained obscure for around 1,300 years — the arrival of the Parsis in India. I was keen to examine the ancient connections between Vedic and Zoroastrian philosophies, but packaged in a fast-paced thriller,” he told us.
Star-studded desi touch to Gaiman
Comic book fans have reason to rejoice. Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series, The Sandman, will have its first-ever Hindi adaptation on Audible. The Hindi audiobook will feature a voice cast to rival its starry English version.
The star-studded cast includes Vijay Varma, Neeraj Kabi, Tillotama Shome and Kubbra Sait, among others. Tabu will take on the role essayed by Gaiman in the English version of the audiobook.
Speaking to this diarist, she shared, “As a fan of The Sandman, I love how this adaptation is so faithful to the original graphic novels. I play the narrator and lead listeners along a winding path of myths, imagination and, often, terror in this groundbreaking fantasy horror series.” The celebrated actor confessed she was excited to see Indian audiences react to this global phenomenon. You are not alone, we say.
Look who’s raising the bar for Mumbai
Yash Bhanage; The Bombay Canteen bar
The Asia’s 50 Best Bars is a much-coveted list of the most innovative beverage programmes in the continent. This year, in the run up to the announcement of the top 50 bars — to be unveiled on April 28 — an extended list of establishments ranking between 51 and 100 was published. Among a host of bars from Kuala Lumpur to Kathmandu, making Mumbai proud were the folks from The Bombay Canteen (No. 76) and The Living Room (No. 73) at Masque, which we learnt is just six months old. The only other Indian entrant was speakeasy-style cocktail bar PCO in New Delhi that was ranked at 54.
The rankings come close on the heels of city restaurants capturing global attention on the honour roll of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Founder and COO of Hunger Inc Hospitality, which runs The Bombay Canteen, Yash Bhanage — who has previously voiced his desire for a similar honour list for establishments with the best employee culture, equal pay policies and staff benefits — dedicated the achievement to his team. “Over the years, we’ve attempted to be the driving force behind the cocktail culture in the city. We’ve tried to elevate the cocktail experience beyond sugary mojitos and Long Island ice teas with our bar programme that is committed to celebrating and using Indian ingredients. We’ve always dedicated our achievements to our teams. It is their dedication without which we wouldn’t have managed to reach where we are today.”
Songs of home
Moushumi Bhowmik. Pic/Facebook
For the past few days, singer, writer and researcher Moushumi Bhowmik from Kolkata has been a visitor in the city, presenting her research on preserving the shared cultural legacies of Bangladesh and India, as part of a programme by TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) to mark 51 years since the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Tajdar Junaid. Pic/Ramanuj Das
The singer — whose songs of hope and resistance have resonated with this diarist for years — shared the visit will culminate with a concert on Sunday where Bhowmik will perform with Tajdar Junaid. Woven with the performance will be a presentation by Pushan Ayyub, who will delve into his personal archives of documents capturing the language movement and struggle for Bangladesh. “The concert will tie up the lectures, the panel on Bangladesh, my research, work with musicians like Junaid, and my songwriting,” she concluded.
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