09 August,2026 07:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
Pic/Satej Shinde
Construction workers bear the sun, wind, and rain to spruce up this building in Kandivli East.
If July is a month in which great Indian captains Sunil Gavaskar (born July 10, 1949), Sourav Ganguly (July 8, 1972), and MS Dhoni (July 7, 1981) celebrate their birthdays, August witnessed the birth of three former Australian captains - Sir Don Bradman (August 27, 1908), Lindsay Hassett (August 28, 1913), and Greg Chappell (August 7, 1948).
Sir Don Bradman on a magazine cover in 1974. Clayton Murzello magazine collection
In a few weeks from now we will mark the 118th birth anniversary of Bradman. Our in-house cricket nut is always on the look out for the late Bradman's views on the game. The great Australian didn't speak much to the media, but when he did say something, his utterances mattered. Cricket nut discovered that in the 1975-76 season, the Sydney Morning Herald invited readers to name their greatest post World War-II Australian team to find out if their choice reflected similarly with Bradman.
The paper received 51,288 entries, according to the Australian Cricket magazine (February 1976), but none matched Bradman's team of 12, which was: Bob Simpson, Arthur Morris, Don Bradman (capt), Neil Harvey, lan Chappell, Greg Chappell, Keith Miller, Richie Benaud (vice-capt), Alan Davidson, Ray Lindwall, Don Tallon (wicketkeeper), and Lindsay Hassett (12th man).
Bradman said he had to leave out paceman Dennis Lillee after "the most tremendous struggle with my conscience" in favour of Lindwall and Miller. And Benaud beat lan Chappell for the vice-captaincy in a "photo-finish." The super batsman-turned-super selector sure did have his share of selectorial anxieties!
After the launch of Raah Records, Yash Raj Films' new record label dedicated to nurturing original artistes, the label today released its first original track Jaadugari by singer-songwriter Aman.
Aman is the first artiste signed under Yash Raj's foray into music with Raah Records
Speaking to Sunday mid-day about the song he has penned, Aman said, "Jaadugari comes from a very honest place. It's about those relationships where you can feel someone slipping away long before it's actually over, but you keep hoping things will somehow go back to how they were. I think we've all experienced moments where we realise too late that it was the little things - the conversations we never had, the appreciation we never expressed, and the moments we took for granted - that mattered the most."
He appeals to listeners to give his work a shot, "I hope listeners find a part of their own story in it while being reminded to never take the people for granted," he added.
A new minted Mumbaikar, Sudharshan Birla couldn't help but notice felines everywhere. "Every time I go out, I see a cat outside of my building, outside of any café, or even on the park benches." Birla turned his habit of photographing these encounters into Meowmbai, a map-based platform designed to track Mumbai's community cats.
Meowmbai boasts over 16,000 users
Today, Meowmbai boasts over 15,000 visitors, 16,000 users, and a community-driven catalog of over 1250 mapped cats. The 25-year-old emphasises that the platform bridges crucial time-bound gaps, "If feeders, NGOs, or anyone who wants to help a community cat want to connect or find a cat⦠the platform can help them reach out to the right person within that neighbourhood."
By connecting rescuers, feeders, and NGOs directly to localised data, Birla's map transforms how Mumbaikars interact with their community pets. While currently focused exclusively on cats to deeply understand their specific needs, this Malad resident has successfully turned a simple love for strays into something more vital.
Savio D'silva had always loved sketching. He studied sculpting in the JJ School of Arts and eventually became a corporate illustrator. "There wasn't a lot of scope in being a tattoo artiste back then," he says. But he created that market for himself. "I look at tattooing as an art. Someone gives me a brief, I ideate, come up with a concept," he says, "I draw free hand on their bodies - no stencils or reference with me. That's the only way that makes sense to me. Otherwise it's like colouring a colour book."
The tattoo artiste has been sketching underwater for over a year
His artwork has found a new muse in the ocean these days. He's become India's first person to sketch underwater, at around 40-50 metres deep into the ocean. "I scuba dive, and whenever I would go into the ocean I wanted to capture marine life with my art. Like when I'm on ground, I always sketch birds. I wanted to do that with marine creatures as well."
Savio D'silva uses his underwater sketches as inspiration for tattoos (right) Savio D'silva
After trying a series of materials, he's finally landed on graphite and waterproofed canvases. "Now, I sketch underwater. And then, I use them to create tattoos. It's been more than a year now. I'm getting better and better now," he added.
