The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Shadab Khan
Coast is clear
The sky hasn't been bluer, and water, cleaner. Mumbai sparkles like a topaz on Saturday morning in this picture clicked in Bandra. Pic/Shadab Khan
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Steve and his wonder calls
West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor. Pic/Getty Images
Retired West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor turns 74 today and he won't be getting many birthday wishes in the form of calls from international players around the world.
Not because Bucknor was an arrogant official; far from it. But his dreaded finger sent many a batsman back to the pavilion rather unjustifiably. This diarist can never forget Bucknor's horrendous leg before wicket call that shocked Sachin Tendulkar and everyone else at the Gabba in Brisbane during the opening Test of the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
If there's one batsman whom Bucknor was 'kind' to, it was chirpy Pakistani Javed Miandad. The England camp was stunned when Bucknor negated two confident leg before shouts off pacer Derek Pringle in the 1992 World Cup final at Melbourne.
A little birdie tells us that Miandad made it a point to spend some time chatting with Bucknor on the flight to Melbourne after the semi-final in Auckland. Wonder whether their friendship spilled over to the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 25, 1992 when Pakistan clinched world cricket's greatest prize.
Wedding bells during lockdown
Monisha Ajgaonkar, a professional photographer, had no idea how the experience of shooting a wedding during lockdown would feel like. When Ajgaonkar (in pic) was approached to do just that, she took on the challenge because she wanted to get her creative juices flowing. She made her way to the groom's house, where the wedding was hosted, along with a videographer. The small team of two from The Photo Diary was Coronavirus-ready. They were wearing protective gear such as face masks and a bottle of sanitiser was always handy, using which they would regularly sanitise their hands and equipment.
They shot the wedding, which was held in Mumbai, while adhering to social distancing norms. "I'm used to shooting a wedding with a 1,000 people but in this case, there were only 15 people. It was a calm and unique experience," she said. The bride and groom, their family, and everybody else, including the priest, were wearing masks. The bride and groom's extended family, as well as their friends, were witnessing their wedding ceremony through Zoom. "The important thing to remember is that love survives. No matter what's happening in the world, there will always be an occasion to celebrate love," she added.
History lessons on Bombay police
Pic/@deepakrao49, Instagram
Police historian Deepak Rao is using the lockdown time to do what he enjoys most—share his love for all things Mumbai. Over the last few days, Rao has been digging out rare finds from his prized collection of books and magazines, to acquaint his Instagram followers with the Bombay Police force of the early 20th century. From the postcard of a traffic police constable from 1947, who is seen going about his duties while taking shade under an umbrella that is harnessed to his uniform, to a 1936 picture of a loudspeaker van, which was used to alert motorists, and the portrait of AE Caffin, the last British Commissioner Of Police, Bombay taken at Hamilton Studios—Rao is keeping history buffs glued to his page.
"How much can one read in a day? I thought why not use this time, to share some of the pictures in my collection," Rao told this diarist. The back-story behind the 1947 postcard of the constable is most interesting. "A Swedish traveller visiting Bombay had sent the postcard to his friend back home in Sweden. It eventually landed at a London market, and my friend Dr Shekhar Krishnan [historian and archivist] got hold of it online, and gifted it to me on my last birthday," says Rao, who has previously authored a coffee-table book on the Mumbai police force.
A celebration of drag queens
Poorva Dinesh made her debut as a documentary filmmaker, writer, and producer with Haus of Maya last year. Dinesh was very intrigued by the growing drag culture in Bengaluru, India and soon her intrigue grew into a strong desire to tell the stories of drag queens in urban India. The movie tells the story of Maya, India's most popular contemporary drag queen and a matriarch to a drag family.
Maya, the drag persona of 30-year-old queer Alex, recounts her journey of discovering her passion for drag, fighting her internal demons, surviving fallouts and establishing her drag family 'Haus of Maya'. The movie is available on YouTube starting today and is worth a watch during the lockdown. "I want to tell stories that are thought provoking and make people more aware of themselves and the world they live in. And Haus of Maya is just that. It makes you aware of a different side to India, which is also very promising in current times," says Dinesh.
More than just a restaurant
At a time when city restaurants remain locked up, Chembur's Pot Pourri has been witnessing activities of a different kind. The owners are using the 5,000 sqft diner to store and distribute relief material.
"A big advantage we have is the space and we wanted to put it good use," says co-owner Apurva. "Seven staffers have been helping us prepare the food and pack it. Another team picks it up and distribute it to families in the nearby slums." The team collated a list of needy families in M-West ward with the help of the BMC and are reaching out to over 2,200 families per day.
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