12 October,2026 07:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Ashish Raje
With Dussehra around the corner, workers at Samrat Dresswala in Girgaon test out their Ravana costumes.
On Big B Amitabh Bachchan's 84th birthday yesterday, what could you have possibly gifted the megastar who has seen it all? A sitar lesson, perhaps. Sitarist Megha Rawoot, who was invited to Kaun Banega Crorepati's October 9 episode to present a birthday tribute, tells us that Bachchan shares a deep admiration for the instrument. "The experience was surreal. Watching Big B up close in his element was a treat. Once we started playing, he listened intently. He has always wanted to formally learn the sitar," shared Rawoot.
Between the notes, there was room for a Delhi University throwback. "Mr Bachchan is an alum of Kirori Mal College. I went to Miranda House, not too far away. He recalled a time when he would frequent the all-girls' college as part of a theatre play," Rawoot shared. Believe it or not, the angry young man was flustered by all the female attention. "That's when I realised how women feel when men lock their gaze on them," Bachchan then revealed. Whether this encounter inspired his hit from Laawaris (1981), âMere angne mein tumhara kya kaam hai', that we'll never know.
The literary awards season is here. The Binod Kanoria Awards are the latest to announce their shortlist, and this diarist is glad to note a few familiar names there. Rajiv Eipe, Kalyani Ganapathy, and Pankaj Saikia make it to the illustrator's shortlist. Meanwhile, Shabnam Minwalla features in the Early Reader Category with two entries in Detective JJ and the Case of the Missing Necklace (Pratham Books) and The Pink Dress (Penguin Random House), alongside Bijal Vaccharajani's Cuckoo Capers (HarperCollins India). Minwalla finds another spot in the Young Adults category for Death Comes To Matheran.
Urdu Markaz director Zubair Azmi is all smiles this week. In 2016, the organisation that fosters Urdu literary heritage had to move out of their office - a room in the Imamwada Municipal School near Mughal Masjid. "The civic authorities deemed our work ânon-educational'. Nevertheless, we continued introducing the youth to the greats of Bhendi Bazaar [Saadat Hasan Manto, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi] from a Madanpura office," Azmi, director, told this diarist. A decade later now, the Markaz is ready with a clearance to come back home. A âre-inauguration' ceremony is scheduled for October 13, with literary icons like Javed Akhtar expected in attendance. With one win in the bag, Azmi is now shifting focus to the return of the Bhendi Bazaar Festival soon.
Fed up with your job? Need a change of scenery? Or new direction in your life? You'll never guess who has the solution. The OG '90s Hindi rap artiste Baba Sehgal surprised fans last weekend with the announcement of a new self-help and counselling platform, Sehgal One. When we give it a spin, we learnt that the app asks you 16 questions before generating a self-help guide. "We all have worries, fears, hidden talents, and unfulfilled wishes that we sweep under the rug. I want to help people take the first step towards it," Sehgal shared this diarist.
