<h2>Final Touches</h2>
An artisan polishes a <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/photo/in-pics-ganesh-chaturthi-2026-mumbais-most-iconic-must-visit-ganpati-idols-112784/1" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Ganesha idol</a> in Kandivli ahead of Ganeshotsav festivities
<h2>Kudos from Down Under</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/sep/Chris-Minns_e.jpg" alt="Mumbai Dabbawalas president Ulhas Muke (centre) with NSW premier Chris Minns (right). PIC COURTESY/ULHAS MUKE" width="1280" height="720" /> Mumbai Dabbawalas president Ulhas Muke (centre) with NSW premier Chris Minns (right). PIC COURTESY/ULHAS MUKE
The dabbawala&rsquo;s point outside Churchgate railway station had a special visitor from Australia on September 2. New South Wales premier Chris Minns was in for a proper Mumbai-style welcome when he was received with a bouquet and a tiffin box memento. Minns was in Mumbai to meet Maharashtra Chief Minister <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/recruitment-for-vacancies-in-tribal-areas-must-be-completed-within-6-months-maharashtra-cm-devendra-fadnavis-23647937" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Devendra Fadnavis</a>, and decided to meet the men in white as a goodwill gesture, we learnt. &ldquo;He learned in detail about the Mumbai Dabbawalas&rsquo; 135-year-old operational methods. Minns was keen to know how we deliver over 200,000 tiffin boxes a day with high accuracy, without using any modern technology,&rdquo; said Mumbai Dabbawalas president Ulhas Muke.&nbsp;
<h2>Navi Mumbai gets &lsquo;Con&rsquo;-ned</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/sep/Anime-characters-1_e.jpg" alt="The artwork features popular anime characters and superheroes meeting the flamingos of Navi Mumbai. PICS COURTESY/COMIC CON INDIA" width="1280" height="720" /> The artwork features popular anime characters and superheroes meeting the flamingos of Navi Mumbai. PICS COURTESY/COMIC CON INDIA
Fourteen years after Mumbai Comic Con debuted in the city, and became a mainstay in its cultural calendar, our neighbours from the satellite city &mdash; Navi Mumbaikars &mdash; are finally getting their due. The news of the first-ever Navi Mumbai Comic Con to be held on November 28 and 29 at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Vashi, set pop culture communities abuzz yesterday.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/sep/Anime-characters-2_e.jpg" alt="A cosplayer at Comic Con Mumbai 2026" width="1280" height="720" /> A cosplayer at Comic Con Mumbai 2026
While the landmark announcement itself was reason to celebrate, it was a teaser in the form of an artwork that stole the spotlight. Created by illustrator Ankur Debnath, the graphic features the popular Utsav Chowk in Kharghar thronged with Pokemon, anime characters, and superheroes. We were most excited to see a friendly neighbourhood superhero make the cut &mdash; the flamingos of Navi Mumbai.
<h2>In Gandhi&rsquo;s words</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/sep/Ramchandra-Guha_e.jpg" alt="PIC COURTESY/RAMCHANDRA GUHA ON X" width="1280" height="720" /> PIC COURTESY/RAMCHANDRA GUHA ON X
The more I engaged with his [Mahatma Gandhi&rsquo;s] life, the more I realised how deeply controversial his legacy was...&rdquo; shared historian and writer, Ramchandra Guha about his newest title, Arguments with Gandhi.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/sep/Front-Cover_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />
This diarist had the chance to listen to a short excerpt from a reading of the book, and learnt that it features notable contemporaries such as <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/maharashtra-prepares-for-br-ambedkar-jayanti-2026-extensive-security-and-arrangements-being-made-in-mumbai-23625077" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Dr BR Ambedkar</a>, Albert Einstein, Vladimir Lenin, and Nelson Mandela. &ldquo;I enjoyed writing it, with its rich cast of historical characters across time and space, and their insights on the human predicament, past, present, and future,&rdquo; Guha said.&nbsp;
<h2>Second act</h2>
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/sep/Tavleen-Singh_e.jpg" alt="PIC COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS" width="1280" height="720" /> PIC COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Trust Tavleen Singh (above) to grasp the zeitgeist. The writer has made her literary debut with her first fiction title, The Actor, and it captures the current state of unrest and disillusion among the youth.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/sep/The-Actor_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />
Singh began writing the story of superstar Amit Singh and Naresh Khanna two years ago. &ldquo;The Actor is about a group of young Indians coming together to start a political party,&rdquo; shared Singh.

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Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Final Touches

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