17 June,2025 06:45 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Satej Shinde
Students pose for a cheerful selfie with their teacher on the first day of their academic year at Shri Krishna School in Borivli
We had promised you an update in these columns (June 8, Sunday mid-day) on how the Pataudi family's legacy will be retained in some form in India vs England cricket series played on English soil, even as the Pataudi Trophy has been reportedly retired.
What did little birdie mean when it told us recently that the Pataudis (father IAK and son MAK) will still be honoured while the winner of the forthcoming five-Test series accepts the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy? It meant a Pataudi Medal will be presented to the winning captain when the series concludes at the Oval in London in early August.
While the retirement news of the Pataudi Trophy, initiated in honour of the two India captains, has attracted criticism, this diarist has learnt that Tendulkar, before the storm emerged, dialled a member of the Pataudi family and said that he'd accept the honour of being part of the new trophy only if the Pataudi legacy is restored in some way. Tendulkar's suggestion was taken on board and that's how the Pataudi Medal took shape.
We were expecting a formal launch of the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy during the recent Australia vs South Africa World Test Championship final, but we hear Tendulkar was in no mood to make any public appearance at a time when world citizens and himself were grieving over the loss of 200-plus lives in last week's air crash at Ahmedabad. So we will now have three India captains remembered at the end of the forthcoming series. And if Shubman Gill's India ends up winning, there'll be a fourth!
Rahul Ramugade (centre) receives the e-bikes with his teammates at a Vile Parle venue. PIC COURTESY/SHALINE SERPES
The Mumbai Wheelchair Cricket Team is revving their swanky new e-bikes this week. "Travelling with our cricket kits has always been a task. I brought up the concern with the Rotary Club District 3141 (Mumbai District) when I was recently asked how they could help us," team captain Rahul Ramugade told us. "The joy on the team's face made our efforts worthwhile," said club member Shaline Serpes, who delivered four e-bikes to the team last weekend through a CSR initiative. While we're glad the team's wish came true, the quick delivery is quite the googly. "The bikes will also help us take up jobs as delivery partners. Since we don't get many opportunities to play, and practice only on weekends, many of us have taken up day jobs to earn a living," Ramugade revealed to us.
Areas outside the west exits of Mira Road railway station and (right) Khar railway station promise to be ideal garden spots. PICS COURTESY/INATUREWATCH
This diarist was delighted to learn that the mid-day impact extends to Mumbai's wild residents as well. Following our January 25 report in The Guide about the 10 vibrant butterfly gardens in Navi Mumbai built by iNaturewatch and the Navi Mumbai Police Department, new takers are already lining up. "Soon after the story was published, Western Railway reached out to us enquiring if a similar project can be conceptualised for them.
We obliged, and after some planning, set out to identify suitable stations. Tentatively, we have shortlisted 10 railway stations including Charni Road, Prabhadevi, Khar and Mira Road. We are awaiting clearance from the railway authorities to begin work," revealed founder Dr V Shubhalaxmi (below). With monsoon clouds over us, the organisation is racing against time to build at least a handful of the gardens before August.
Call it payback in your own coin, or somebody else's really. Ramjeet Yadav, a city-based cabbie, originally from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, was taken aback to see that he was given a Rs 10 coin from Sri Lanka, recently. He told this diarist who travelled in his cab from Matunga, "I have been driving a cab in Mumbai since 1983, and I thought I had seen it all. A Sri Lankan denomination coin is a new one for me though. This lady passenger who got off at Matunga gave me the cab fare which had this Rs 10 coin from Sri Lanka. She was in such a hurry; she just gave it to me, and ran off." He peered at it for some time, grumbled, "It is no use to me," and then stated, "Let me see what I do with it," before driving away. Well, what can one say except that foreign exchange comes in different ways, or as we'd like to say - âHum aapke hai coin'?
