Mumbai Diary: Thursday theme

Fold up for the future
As much as we love Ganesha and the stories related to the elephant-headed Hindu deity, we aren't fans of the environmental aftertaste that it leaves. While it might be late to try this green option for an idol at home, you can make amends next year or get your hands on this foldable makar for Navratri.

Utsavi offers the altar for Ganpati known as makar, made of paper. Pic/Rane Ashish

Utsavi is a brand that offers paper Ganpati decorations. These are foldable and reusable. The decorations are available in 25 designs and for idols measuring six inches to 20 feet. It costs lesser than thermocol decorations.

"My father had a successful business of manufacturing thermocol decorations but when he saw the pollution his factory and product created at his village Parner in Ahmednagar, he stopped production in 2001 and started this," informs Shyam Shendkar about his father Nanasaheb Shendkar.

We can already imagine Ganesha smiling at this development. Head to Prabha Kutir, Ganesh Galli, Lalbaug or call on 9324804790, 66633221

Of Dalrymple and the magic
Amidst the recent spat between William Dalrymple and Aatish Taseer, there's a bit of good news for the former. His mammoth Return of a King (Bloomsbury India) has been awarded the Kapuscinski Prize for literature.

(Left) William Dalrymple; (right) jacket of Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic

This award was initiated in Poland to celebrate and honour exceptional work in literary reportage. Bloomsbury India is also ready with their big-ticket title, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert that will hit stands next week.

The author of the blockbuster Eat, Pray, Love, is back, and from what we know, it's a different trip altogether from Gilbert. Watch this space for more.

Open the bottle!
Having created a buzz for a while now, restaurateur AD Singh's SodaBottleOpenerWala will finally open its doors.

Touted as Bombay Irani Cafe and Bar, this venture is AD and Sabina Singh's way of reviving the love for eedu and the Parsi community.

The quirky instructions (see pic) that came with a preview invite to the cafe's outpost in Bandra Kurla Complex give a glimpse into the eccentric and vibrant world of the café. We can't wait for the real deal.

New sight, new ideas
September 15 and 16 saw the Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) organise Anatarchakshu, an awareness event that sensitises participants to the world of visually challenged persons. The theme for the programme was ‘Creating an accessible world'.

Blindfolded participants try to figure out the world around them like visually challenged people, at Antarchakshu that was held at St Xavier's College. Pic/Suresh KK

It saw participants blindfolded and made to do their daily chores. During the one hour session, participants were made to walk using a blind stick, to enter a bus blind folded, figure out board games by touching them, read Braille and write using it among other things. It proves that all life's lessons are not learnt in classrooms.