26 April,2026 08:39 AM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
PIc/Shadab Khan
Dogs take a break with their humans on the steps near Mount Mary in Bandra West.
It is queer, there and everywhere as the 17th KASHISH Pride Film Festival, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) fest, to be held between June 3 and June 7 is now going to one more venue than the other two which are familiar ground for the fest. Regular hosts Liberty Cinema and Alliance Française are on board but this time there is an addition of a new venue National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) with all three being iconic venues in South Mumbai. Sridhar Rangayan, festival director said of the development, "The NGMA coming on board this year as the third venue is hugely welcome, as it allows our programming to reach new spaces, and we hope this collaboration continues for years." Nidhi Choudhary, director NGMA said, "By this we are reaffirming our commitment to making museums inclusive and accessible spaces for diverse voices. This collaboration gains added significance as it coincides with "Lens & Legacy: Bollywood in Focus", celebrating Indian cinema and Mumbai's recognition as a UNESCO Creative City of Films bringing together art, cinema, and stories of identity in a shared cultural space." We say venue (pun intended) think about it yet another space for queer expression is not about brick ân' mortar alone but about more hearts and minds opening up to different identities and personal freedom.
How many new mums get the chance to focus on their health? "Most conversations around mothers' health are focused on weight loss, creating undue pressure and more often discouraging a woman in motherhood to return to fitness," says women's health expert, Sucheta Pal. "Add to that the guilt of self-care where she thinks she ought to rather spend that time on the kids."
Pal hopes to change that with the country's first fitness festival focused on mothers' health that she is bringing to Mumbai on May 3. "Through the Mom.Bod.Strong Rani Tour across India we aim to take the guilt and pressure out of taking care of our bodies in motherhood and redefine fitness in all stages of motherhood," says Pal, who has curated routines across slow strength, sound bath, face yoga, dance therapy, and more.
India's artisanal cheese story is having a bit of a moment on the world stage. At the Mundial do Queijo do Brasil 2026, we made a confident debut, picking up four medals, 1 Super Gold, 2 Golds and 1 Silver, in a category long ruled by European heavyweights.
Mumbai had a big role to play here. Homegrown brand Eleftheria Cheese, founded by Mausam Narang, led the wins with its Brie-style "Gulmarg" taking home the top Super Gold. It's Brunost, a whey cheese bagged a Gold, while Belper Knolle-style "Kaali Miri" earned a Silver, quietly putting the city on the global cheese map.
"From day one, our focus has been on craftsmanship. We've never compromised on milk quality, which is the most important ingredient. For us, it's about creating a clean-label product with real nutrition, good fats and flavour," Narang said. The other Gold came from a very different setting. Up in Ladakh, Thenlay Nurboo makes Yak Churpi-Soft at his Nordic Farm using traditional methods and yak milk, a product deeply tied to the region's terrain and food culture. Nurboo shares, "I still can't believe a cheese from a small Ladakhi village has earned global recognition. It's made only here, and carries our culture in every batch. It needs no machinery; its process is unique, and that's what makes it truly special."
Former India cricket captain S Venkataraghavan turned 81 earlier this week. During his association with the game, he was known to be very stern and didn't mix as freely as some would expect him to.
But journalist Shirish Nadkarni and he got along well on the 1989 tour to the West Indies, where Venkat managed the Dilip Vengsarkar-led Indian team.
Nadkarni revealed on Facebook the other day that he partnered Venkat for a tennis doubles match in Jamaica. Their opponents were West Indies's then captain Viv Richards and star batsman Richie Richardson. The Indian pair went down 3-6 in the first set, but stormed back to win 6-4 in the second. The âIndia vs West Indies' match-up was tantalisingly poised when rain stopped play.
"The even result did us proud and I was able to become friendlier with both Viv and Richie, while continuing on excellent terms with Venkat," wrote Nadkarni.
Considering India were thrashed by the West Indies in the Test and one-day series, Venkat will remember this segment of that tour with some degree of pleasure.
