17 May,2026 07:44 AM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
Pic/Satej Shinde
A large-billed crow and a ring-necked parakeet head for a face-off in Government Colony, Bandra
RTI Foods at Babulnath
This week, when this diarist visited the Ratan Tata Institute (RTI) Foods, what really stayed with us was the fact that most of the staff employed at the cafe were differently abled. When we asked for one of the dishes to be packed separately, we loved how everyone was breaking down orders, and explaining it to the staff.
The person serving us was patient, even as we went back and forth on what to get. We couldn't help but think about how they were so kind, despite them not being awarded the same courtesy in everyday life. We wish more and more folks in Mumbai's F&B industry adopt this practice and help those who do not get more support from the government.
Editor Jehangir Patel looks back on Parsiana's 61-year-old legacy at his office in Fort (right) The last issue dated October 21-November 6, 2025. FILE PIC/SHADAB KHAN
After over 61 years of reading about the Parsi community, culture, and history in the Parsiana magazine, the periodical shutting down has left a void in the city. While there will be no new issues, long-time readers will be glad to know that they can step back in time and read any of the past issues on the magazine's website, free of charge!
"One has only to log in to our website [www.parsiana.com] to access issues from November 1964, when Parsiana started, to October 2025 when the journal ceased publication," reads a missive from the editorial team.
One can only imagine the relief this will bring to both Parsis and non-Parsis with an interest in the culture, for the Parsiana digital archives bear witness to six decades of meticulous chronicling of the community. It's nothing less than a national treasure!
Padmaja Kumari Parmar, from the royal House of Mewar, has spent decades working for advocacy for Type 1 diabetes. Parmar, who hails from the former royal house of Mewar of Udaipur, Rajasthan, has been living with Type 1 diabetes since the age of five.
Padmaja Kumari Parmar is a woman on a mission to end lack of awareness about Type 1 diabetes
Parmar says that living with diabetes has been manageable but it's the lack of information that has been the problem. "For my parents it [diabetes] meant suddenly stepping into a world that was unfamiliar. There was an initial concern about the unknown, but they chose very early on to respond with determination, curiosity, and positivity rather than anxiety. They were clear that my life should be full and joyful, just one that needed a more planning and vigilance.
My mother became the anchor of my day-to-day care, learning everything she could, managing injections and blood sugar checks. My father provided enormous emotional strength. He never allowed my diagnosis to become the centre of my identity, and constantly reinforced the idea that there was nothing I could not aspire to," she says.
Parmar, who lives in Boston with her husband and children, has founded the health activism NGO, Through The Friends of Mewar. It works in awareness programmes that focus on early diagnosis, preventive blindness, and basic healthcare.
"We do this by partnering closely with those who already have a strong grassroots presence. I work very closely with international Type 1 advocacy organisation, Breakthrough T1D, where I serve as a global ambassador, and with the William J Clinton Foundation, alongside government stakeholders," she says. Parmar has been making sure that insulin and screening programmes are the norm and not the exception.
Two of four Kolkata Knight Riders IPL centurions are New Zealanders! Finn Allen (left) joined fellow Kiwi Brendon McCullum as well as Venkatesh Iyer (2023) and Sunil Narine (2024) in the list of players who have hundreds to their name for the Kolkata franchise.
Allen smashed a match-winning 47-ball 100 against Delhi Capitals at the Kotla earlier this month. His May 8 exploits reminded cricket enthusiasts of his 33-ball unbeaten 100 against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-final last March.
McCullum's ton is still spoken about and deemed as the knock which gave the IPL steam. Who better to endorse that than Lalit Modi, the tournament's founder. Those who like listening and re-listening to Modi on Raj Shamani's podcast, will hear Modi saying how he was too nervous to watch the IPL opener in Bangalore on April 18, 2008 as McCullum tore apart the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers for an epic 158.
Modi dedicated the IPL to McCullum. It's been years since Modi was the top boss of the IPL. McCullum, nicknamed Baz, went on to, and continues, to be in charge of England teams while Finn will probably have to wait for next year to give KKR another shot at the title.
