The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Be counted and get a discount
In the race to grab even a sliver of the poll-action pie, many restaurants and shops have announced discounts for customers who show their inked fingers after election day.
A non-governmental organisation, Saarthi Foundation (saarthifoundation.co.in), has tied up with 50 outlets to offer a discount of 5 per cent to 15 per cent to customers showing their polling-inked finger, on April 25.
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Then there are eating joints which have advertised and have been featured in the news. There are so many such offers that we think it just makes sense to ask at any establishment you visit, “Are you giving a discount to those who vote?” Who knows, you may get lucky!
Bride is getting the dot before tying the knot
Mumbai's election day, April 24, also happens to be Bharti Kapoor’s wedding day. And the Chembur resident will make sure that she casts her vote before she ties the knot.
Bharti Kapoor, complete with mehendi on her hands, holds her wedding card. Pic/Atul Kamble
“The wedding was planned in September and we had no idea that the polls would coincide with the date,” reveals Kapoor. She had her haldi ceremony yesterday, and she should actually not step out of doors as per custom — but the 26-year-old will set aside traditional strictures and go to the booth to vote.
Kapoor says, “There is a puja at home at 10 am, so I will go before that to vote. In my view casting your vote is a very important duty and I will not miss it. My family too has been very busy with the preparations, but all of them will also be voting before the ceremony at 7pm.”
‘Pawar failure’
Sharad Pawar’s no-show at the joint Congress-Nationalist Congress Party rally on Sunday became the headline, practically eclipsing the main event. His disinclination to share the dais with Rahul Gandhi was a talking point in the Congress and NCP too.
Party spokespersons echoed the official line that the leader could not land in time on returning from Mahad, due to a technical snag. But, interestingly, during a series of interviews he gave on Monday to various newspapers, Pawar said that since Sonia Gandhi did not attend, he chose to skip the rally.
It was primarily a Congress event, he added, though his party candidate Sanjay Dina Patil from Mumbai North-East was present along with two ministers from his party.
Then, it was red-face time for spokespersons on Tuesday, when the media asked how Pawar had not balked at spelling out the reasons for his no-show. One of the NCP leaders even said, “Our boss has let us down.”
Floral laurels
At a time when there are more brickbats than bouquets flying around thanks to the charged atmosphere as Mumbai goes to the polls today, it was a welcome ‘saying it with flowers’ at Prabhadevi yesterday.
Participant Radhika Shah with her design on the theme of accountancy. Pics/Shadab Khan
The Institute of Floral Design held its graduation ceremony at the Ravindra Natya Mandir where students passing the nine-month course displayed their work. Topics and themes as prosaic as accountancy and dog training got a floral touch.
Director Seema Jhaveri
Said student Heena Doshi, whose dog training design featured a kennel and a bone, “My topic was challenging and unconventional but these themes prove that flowers can be used aesthetically for practically anything.” Heena put the wow into the bow.
Institute director Seema Jhaveri said, “Our three branches in Mumbai aim to bring floral education into the country. This time, our theme was ‘professions’ and that is why you see designs for accountant, sailor and even undertaker.
Flowers bring beauty and most importantly, in a violent, tumultuous world, there is also a sense of serenity when doing flower arrangements.” The Institute holds advanced courses, and students can go ahead and make careers as professional florists or go work with event management teams.
Contributed by: Ravikiran Deshmukh, Sujit Mahamulkar, Hemal Ashar, Maleeva Rebello, Vidya Heble
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