<h2>Water Water Everywhere</h2>
<p>Emulating the famous story, a crow drinks from a floating pot off the sea at Gorai</p>
<h2>Paw patrol to the rescue</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/oct/Strays-dogs_e.jpg" alt="The team vaccinates a stray in Andheri; (right) Bid with a group of friendly strays" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>The team vaccinates a stray in Andheri; (right) Bid with a group of friendly strays</em></strong></p>
<p>Furry friends in the western suburbs are having a woof-happy time this month, thanks to animal rights activist Tej Bid. Through his new venture Paws for Peace, the 27-year-old recently vaccinated 500 strays in the Andheri-Borivali belt. &ldquo;Feeders find it difficult to make time to take strays to veterinarians, so I stepped out with my para-veterinarian, Prasad Ekawade to help,&rdquo; shared Bid, a statistician by profession. In collaboration with local NGOs, Bid has also provided free first aid to 350 furry friends in the area. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want a stray to go untreated just because no one had the time to stop and help,&rdquo; he added. Good Samaritans can reach Bid at 810463691 for queries.</p>
<h2>Kurukshetra vibes in Florence</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/oct/Varijashree-a_e.jpg" alt="Varijashree performs at the jazz festival in Colombia. Pic Courtesy/Instagram" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Varijashree performs at the jazz festival in Colombia. Pic Courtesy/Instagram</em></strong></p>
<p>After headlining the Jazz in The Park festival in Colombia, singer Varijashree Venugopal headed to Florence to perform the Mahabharata on Sunday. &ldquo;This is an opera written by composer Riccardo Nova from Milan, and has excerpts, scenes and mantras that have been woven into an opera. As a composer, Nova is a rare genius who has been studying the fundamentals of Carnatic music, and even Sanskrit as a language,&rdquo; Venugopal, the soloist in the opera, told us over a call from Rome. The opera features Western classical music written to Sanskrit verses, and has an Indian entourage that includes BC Manjunath and Guruprasanna aside from Venugopal. The other Indian connection is that the performance was held at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino&rsquo;s auditorium named after an honorary Florentine, and Mumbai&rsquo;s own, Zubin Mehta.</p>
<h2>Return of the local favourite</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/oct/Rays-a_e.jpg" alt="A view of the caf&eacute; exterior at Hill Road in Bandra" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A view of the caf&eacute; exterior at Hill Road in Bandra</em></strong></p>
<p>Bandra is the one place in Mumbai where change is a constant. Since August, the familiar neighbourhood pizza haunt, Ray&rsquo;s Caf&eacute; and Pizzeria had been shut owing to the public road repairs that were ongoing right outside the eatery. With work completed, the restaurant opened its dine-in space for visitors on Friday. &ldquo;We started functioning out of the kitchen on October 3, but there was a lot of cleaning up to do. We decided to finally open our doors to diners on October 18,&rdquo; shared Rashmi Mehta, the caf&eacute;&rsquo;s proprietor.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/oct/Rashmi-Mehta_e.jpg" alt="Rashmi Mehta" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Rashmi Mehta</em></strong></p>
<p>With the festive season around the corner, Mehta admitted that it will be a challenge for them to keep up with demand. &ldquo;Many patrons had begun inquiring about the reopening of the caf&eacute;. This time of the year is always busy for restaurants,&rdquo; she noted. Regulars can breathe easy because the menu remains unchanged. &ldquo;Why change what is already good? Our patrons would not have it any other way. We will include an additional menu for Diwali, as we do for the festive season, but the rest is business as usual,&rdquo; Mehta reassured.</p>
<h2>Love all with pickleball</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/oct/Pickleball_e.jpg" alt="Participants at the session in Bengaluru" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Participants at the session in Bengaluru</em></strong></p>
<p>For those looking for a break from dating apps, matchmaker Radhika Mohta set up a pickleball game for singles last Saturday at the Peninsula Corporate park, Lower Parel. It was a fun matchmaking session where participants played against each other and bonded along the way.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/oct/Radhika-Mohta_e.jpg" alt="Radhika Mohta" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Radhika Mohta</em></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It was an alcohol-free, simple and fun way to meet strangers. We had hosted this in Bengaluru the week before, and it was popular,&rdquo; shared Mohta. As part of a series, she also hosted a book swap at Fictionary in Bandra. &ldquo;Over the last two weeks, we have seen participants from the ages of 24 years to the 40s join in,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<h2>Azeem and a red devil from the past</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/oct/Gary-Neville-a_e.jpg" alt="Gary Neville (left) with Azeem  Banatwalla. pic Courtesy/Instagram" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Gary Neville (left) with Azeem Banatwalla. pic Courtesy/Instagram</em></strong></p>
<p>While most Manchester United fans in India would love to simply find a place to watch their games in peace, stand-up comic and supporter Azeem Banatwalla seems to be making it a habit to meet legends of the football club. The city comic travelled to Chandigarh to catch former Manchester United right back, and a member of the iconic 1999-treble winning team, Gary Neville on Friday. Neville was in India as part of a short visit. &ldquo;It was part of a special invite, and several fans went along. There were also five children shortlisted for selection with a chance to learn from the United Academy,&rdquo; shared Banatwalla. This was Banatwalla&rsquo;s third meeting with a United legend. &ldquo;We did not have a long time. I had met with Wes Brown and Louis Saha before. I must say Neville was very sweet and one of the sharpest guys I have met,&rdquo; he concluded.</p><p>
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