The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Hugh Evans
'Change means more than billions'
It’s the week few will see Coldplay perform, and most will mope around. But Global Citizen founder/CEO Hugh Evans hopes that we all focus on what happens after the concert ends.
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“For us, this is the start of a 15-year journey, as we are working towards sustainable development. We want Global Citizen to be a platform that people come to address issues and take action,” he tells this diarist. Ask him how does GC plan to get people to take action for problems such as sanitation, water scarcity and lack of education without a reward as bait, and Evans is surprisingly optimistic.
“Once people know how they can make a difference, they don’t need an incentive.” He says that policy wins are more important than money. “In India, for example, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh became the first to publicly say that the state will practice sustainable goals. We give away tickets because raising money through sales is a drop in the ocean. It’s the action that matters.”
And what about people cribbing that even if they go for the free concert, they may not be able to see Coldplay? “We will put up huge screens and make sure the sound is good. We want you to have a great time.”
Insta stories, in paperback
Those who cannot get enough of Manav Kaul’s musings on his Instagram account, can soon get their hands on a book.
Turns out, Kaul’s posts are being compiled into a book by his publisher Hind Yugm. Perhaps the popularity of Kaul’s Theek Tumhare Peeche prompted the move.
“The Instagram book was my publisher’s brainwave,” he says. He’s, however, not going to be involved in the making. About 200 posts will be selected by the publisher. They are also on the lookout for an illustrator. Can’t hardly wait.
Pradip, come back
Last week, Pradip Bhawalkar, the oldest contestant on MasterChef India Season 5, lost in the elimination round.
Pradip Bhawalkar with chef Kunal Kapur
But, that didn’t go down well with fans. Judge Kunal Kapur, who uploaded a selfie with the 69-year-old on his Facebook page, was asked that Bhawalkar be reinstated.
The post has generated over 19,000 likes and 65 shares. “Only when I checked Kunal’s page, did I see the comments,” says the Pune resident. But as he says, “From the start, I just wanted to have fun.” That’s the spirit.
History abroad
Jitish Kallat: Covering Letter – an installation that has its heart a historical letter by Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler – is now ready for its first showcase in the USA. Starting today, the artist’s work will be up at the Philadelphia Museum of Art till March 2017.
Jitesh Kallat
The exhibition also marks the tenth anniversary of the museum’s Live Cinema series, which is dedicated to exploring contemporary video and film work. We are excited that Kallat’s interest in historic documents, such as this letter where Gandhi addresses Hitler as ‘Dear Friend’, is travelling places.
What did you drop?
Pic/Rane Ashish
Actor Sanya Malhotra (right) is distracted on stage while Aamir Khan and Suhani Bhatnagar look on at a promotional event held on Saturday in Juhu to promote their upcoming film that looks at wrestling in India.
Glenn Turner’s great gesture at Colaba
While the entire nation is talking currency notes, it’s time for a cricket-related money yarn from our in-house cricket nut.
Every visiting team has been struck by the poverty they see on the streets out here. Glenn Turner, the former New Zealand cricket captain, who married a Punjabi (Sukhi in 1973), felt sorry for a woman selling flowers near the New Zealand team’s hotel in 1995 when he was in India as coach of Lee Germon’s Kiwi side.
The woman near the Taj hotel told Turner that she could earn more than Rs 30 a day money if she managed to pay for a license. Turner spoke to his team about it and some of them were keen to contribute to help this mother of three. A Rs 10,000 donation would give the woman and her family some level of security. Turner was heartened to see his team willing to help a needy person but it didn't get down to a collection because Turner had already handed over Rs 10,000 to the woman.
In his book Lifting the Covers, Turner revealed that he thought of asking each member of his team at the start of the tour to keep aside Rs 20 or 30 from their Rs 800 daily food allowance to donate to an organisation which would buy equipment for the poor to play sport. Probably fearing that his team wouldn’t lap up his idea willingly, he decided against it. Eventually, the Rs 10,000 donation to the woman flower-seller turned out to be as noble.
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