Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

The tide is high but they are holding onWorkers entrusted with building Mumbairsquos Coastal Road brave the lashing waves at Marine Drive on ThursdayThe business of mythical mysteriesFrom financial blueprints to Pharaohrsquos tombs it might seem like a long journey but Mumbaibased author S Venkatesh has it all covered The private equity investor and business guru who has helped establishments scale up across different spectrums is back with his second book AgniBaan is an ancient and mystical connection between India and Egypt that stitches a modernday conspiracy with the plot covering everything from The Giant Pyramid and Lonar Lake to environmental disasters and ewarfare The intrepid explorer shared ldquoWriting this book gave me an opportunity to delve deeper into certain ancient secrets connecting the two countries and link them to electronic warfare and climate change I am delighted to have been able to blend my love for history science and intrigue into a thrillerrdquoTake note of SOIrsquos callThe National Centre for the Performing Artsrsquo Symphony Orchestra of India SOI has been a flagbearer for western classical music in the city and they are now continuing in that vein with an open call for composers to submit their musical creations SOI members will rehearse the selected entries before performing them at a later point in time Some of the criteria on which the compositions will be judged include how freeflowing the musical emotions in it are how they reflect the current situation and what the experience of creating and composing music while remaining confined indoors was like Applicants must be Indian citizens or hold an Overseas Citizen of India card The pieces can be meant for solo instruments or go up to a chamber orchestra ldquoApart from performing the mainstays of the orchestral repertoire SOI is now seeking to provide a platform for local composers to showcase their workrdquo Marat Bisengaliev the orchestrarsquos music director told this diarist The last date for submissions is September 12 Those keen to sign up can visit soimumbai comcallforcomposersFire safety in numbersThe folks at NGO Project Mumbai have joined hands with the Mumbai Fire Brigade for an important initiative called Agni Rakshak ndash Making Mumbai Fire Safe ldquoIt involves training citizens in various aspects of fire safety including evacuation methods understanding different types of fire learning how to make a firesafety call and practical training in using extinguishersrdquo its founder Shishir Joshi told this diarist He added that the sessions will be held every Saturday and that at the end of each the participants will be given a certificate and cap for being a lsquofire safety championrsquo The training is free of cost because they want every citizen of Mumbai to be a firesafety volunteer The first batch last weekend witnessed 30 participants who were trained at the Byculla headquarters of the Mumbai Fire Brigade Those interested in joining the next session tomorrow can email volunteerprojectmumbaiorg to registerDiners take cautious stepsNow that the second wave is waning or at least seems to be doing so the restaurant industry is slowly tottering back to its feet after being brought to its knees for much of the pandemic But the big question is how will customers respond to the prospect of dining out knowing that we are still far from being out of the danger zone A study by analytics firm Economix Consulting Group has some revealing insights While 33 per cent of respondents ate out at least thrice a month in the prepandemic days only 11 per cent are willing to dine out now Also 86 per cent of the respondents felt that safe seating arrangements are of paramount importance and while 50 per cent of people in Chennai want to visit finedines Mumbaikars are more inclined to visit only those restaurants that they would frequent earlier ldquoIt is evident that the shift to home delivery or takeaway is here to stayrdquo shared ECG CEO Latha Ramanathan