Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Now a ghaghra from FerreiraA mere glimpse of James Ferreirarsquos designs is enough to distinguish it from any other label yoursquove seen His design identity mdash the natural flow inventive cuts and sharp tailoring of his western silhouettes mdash is what stayed with this diarist from a past visit to his Khotachiwadi home Thatrsquos why it is a pleasant surprise to learn that hersquoll be delving into an ldquouncharted territoryrdquoFerreira will be collaborating with friend and founder of Kerala Fashion League KFL Abhil Dev for an exclusive bridal wear collection that will be part of Devrsquos new boutique KFL Couture in Cochin set to open next month ldquoTill date I havenrsquot made any readytowear Indian lines and have only done commissioned work For me itrsquos always the bride who is most important and I have never repeated a ghagra choli ever I want to take the ghagra to different places Irsquove taken a lot of inspiration from European clothing from the 16th and 18th centuriesrdquo he shared Wersquore sure bridestobe will call dibs on this oneRose for a causeWhile Valentinersquos Day is mostly celebrated by couples in love this diarist learnt that a division of the Maharashtra Traffic police decided to celebrate it in their own unique style albeit with a message The Charoti Junction stretch on the outskirts of Mumbai is often used by sports bikers to speed 100 kmphplus their 1000ccplus mean machines particularly on weekends These traffic cops decided to barricade the area on Valentinersquos Day that was celebrated last Sunday and stop the bikers and advise them against speeding Tushar Poojari 24 a rider from Dahisar was first frightened to be halted by the sea of cops along with over a dozen bikes but then pleasantly surprised when the policeman offered the riders red roses ldquoThe policemen took a rose out of their bag and handed it over to me and said lsquoPlease donrsquot speed because there were a couple of fatal bike accidents here two days agorsquo I froze for a moment but then realised their noble intentions Irsquoll never speed on that stretch again and Irsquom sure my other biker friends wonrsquot toordquo Poojari told this diarist Cheers to the cops for their special rose with a causeHelping hand for an iconVanraj Bhatia at the NCPA for a rehearsal of one of his compositions PicZubin Balaporia PhotographyA doyen of music composition in the sphere of Indian New Wave cinema Vanraj Bhatia needs a helping hand The 94yearold directed the music for iconic films including Shyam Benegalrsquos Ankur 1974 and Kundan Shahrsquos Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro 1983 But his work has dried up over the past 20 years after Bollywood has taken a new direction His finances consequently have dwindled ldquoVanraj is a bachelor and he doesnrsquot have a lot of family He has very little money left and lives on a sort of stipend that some friends including myself offer himrdquo shared ace pianist and former Indus Creed band member Zubin Balaporia adding ldquoBut my greatest fright is what if he has to be admitted to a hospital Even Rs 1 lakh is nothing in that situationrdquoBalaporia first met Bhatia in the 1980s as a studio musician and has sought his advice ever since He told this diarist that the nonagenarian had called him up a few weeks ago saying that his medical insurance was about to expire and he didnrsquot have the funds to renew it Thatrsquos when Balaporia thought of starting this donation drive spreading the word among friends and the larger music and film fraternity ldquoThe response has been phenomenal But it has nothing to do with me Itrsquos the sheer power of Vanrajrsquos music and the relationships he maderdquo he shared Thatrsquos heartening to know and if you would like to contribute too visit June Banerjeersquos Facebook page for details regarding the bank account and addressWill Parsis make Uddhav lsquoaaprorsquoThe meeting with Cooper third from leftParsis and political parties As unlike chalk and cheese Parsis and the Shiv Sena Now that is really stretching it Well sometimes the twain does meet After the recent induction of wellknown Colaba activist Pervez Cooper into the Shiv Sena it is mission lsquoBawas for Senarsquo Recently Cooper held a meeting with a few members of the community at a SoBo venue to discuss issues that concern them His ambition is to try and see if Zoroastrians with drive to bring about change will come aboard the Sena ldquoWe also have a WhatsApp group which is about making the possibility of a Parsi wing in the Shiv Sena a realityrdquo said Cooper ldquoI am not just going to be a WhatsApp warrior but will do my best to bring Parsis into the Sena foldrdquo he said Well it should be lsquoAapro Uddhavrsquo soonVaccine viewsWith vaccines being rolled out globally the new normal is here And a new survey by a healthcare company revealed that while 53 per cent of their 10000 respondents were apprehensive about the vaccine in December 2020 61 per cent Indians are now fine with being administered the available vaccines People also seem to be slipping back into their regular routines mdash about 27 per cent were eating out at restaurants 26 percent were attending family functions and birthdays and 19 per cent were at weddings