<h2>Great Corns on Fire</h2>
<p>The July weather calls for corn on the cob as seen at Manpada road in Dombivli.</p>
<h2>A touch of green ink</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2022/jul/Ashvini-Menon_e.jpg" alt="(Left) Ashvini Menon; her artwork on Aarey conservation. Pic Courtesy/Instagram" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>(Left) Ashvini Menon; her artwork on Aarey conservation. Pic Courtesy/Instagram</em></strong></p>
<p>Our eyes were drawn to artist Ashvini Menon&rsquo;s latest work about the simmering Aarey forest issue on her Instagram page last week. Menon remarked that such conflicts are inevitable. &ldquo;We live in a country where space is a constant problem,&rdquo; she said. Her take features an elderly grandmother telling us the bare facts of the forest. &ldquo;She represents someone who cares for the future, not herself. I only needed to back her up with some humour and basic numbers &mdash; self-evident and freely available.&rdquo; Menon told this diarist that there can be no compromise with nature for development. &ldquo;Sustainability and development cannot be exclusive. If it is not sustainable, it is not development,&rdquo; she remarked. &ldquo;The Aarey, mangroves and the city&rsquo;s coastline are non-negotiables. We can find a way around them,&rdquo; Menon maintained. With the conflict creating political and social rifts, the artist expressed a slight apprehension. &ldquo;All sides need to understand that we only want the city to survive and thrive.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>Here comes the sun</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2022/jul/Day-night_e.jpg" alt="An illustration of the sunlit part on July 8. Pic Courtesy/Earthsky.org" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>An illustration of the sunlit part on July 8. Pic Courtesy/Earthsky.org</em></strong></p>
<p>It might not have felt so in Mumbai, but yesterday had a moment of celestial magic hidden in it. The dark clouds notwithstanding, it was a day when 99 per cent of the world&rsquo;s population was in sunlight. Arvind Paranjpye (inset), director, Nehru Planetarium, remarked, &ldquo;Every year, there comes a time when the axis of the earth is tilted in such a way that the maximum portion is illuminated by the sun.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2022/jul/Arvind-Paranjpye_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>The event, which occurred at 7.15 am Eastern Daylight Time or 4.30 pm Indian Standard Time, saw 7.7 billion people experience sunlight. Before we could be surprised, Paranjpye reminded us, &ldquo;The orbit of the earth is elliptical. That&rsquo;s why it is such an uncommon occurrence. It is part of the magic.&rdquo; The Center for International Earth Science Information Network, New York, noted that 6.4 billion people experienced daylight; 1.3 billion witnessed Twilight. With an overcast sky over the city, few would have noticed it anyway.</p>
<h2>Legal history</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2022/jul/Yogesh-Kamdar_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>The subject of the online talk hosted by KR Cama Oriental Institute next week is a fascinating tale of the city&rsquo;s legal past. Yogesh Kamdar (in pic), moderator of the session, told this diarist, &ldquo;The Bombay Legal Aid Society was a wonderful legal arrangement to help the poor and illiterate in the city escape injustice.&rdquo; The talk, helmed by Dr Alastair McClure from the University of Hong Kong, will focus on the history of a movement, which sadly petered out in the 1970s.</p>
<h2>Love, hawk</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2022/jul/Ticket-owl_e.jpg" alt="A Wimbledon ticket; (right) Rufus. Pic Courtesy/@RufusTheHawk on Twitter" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A Wimbledon ticket; (right) Rufus. Pic Courtesy/@RufusTheHawk on Twitter</em></strong></p>
<p>No matter how the final turns out, this diarist will be most disappointed to miss the adventures of a new star at The Championships. Neither Rafael Nadal nor Nick Kyrgios or Novak Djokovic have earned the plaudits this year like Rufus, the hawk, has. A regular presence at Wimbledon, fans recognise the name from his many appearances on television, or the fun social media feed on Twitter. The 15-year-old Harris hawk has kept the lawns free of rodents, pigeons and other intruders since 1999. Now close to retirement, the bird has earned a space in Wimbledon history denied to even Roger Federer &mdash; a permanent marker on the ticket to The Championships.</p>
<h2>A story of kisses and crimes</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2022/jul/Ashok-Banker-a_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>Who doesn&rsquo;t like the thrill of a budding romantic saga transforming into a crime story? Mumbai-born and raised author Ashok Banker&rsquo;s recently released book, A Kiss After Dying, follows Hannah and her love interest, Ricky. It is all rosy until Hannah acts on her knowledge of a secret. About essaying an anti-heroine, Banker shared with this diarist, &ldquo;Hannah is an avenging angel on the cusp of Gen Z and Millennial. She is not going to sit and allow a billionaire to get away with what he did to her family and several other families.&rdquo; The writer added that quite like him, his protagonist is an Anglo-Indian with a Portuguese-Goan background, &ldquo;So I could freely draw from my culture.&rdquo; Banker said with a library of easy-to-access entertainment, it&rsquo;s hard to not be inspired. &ldquo;I am a believer in the connectedness of things. No art exists in a vacuum. I love watching shows such as Killing Eve, and the title of my book is based on the classic, A Kiss Before Dying,&rdquo; he remarked, calling the book a gender-flipped narrative that&rsquo;s informed and influenced by the music, literature, fashion and attitudes of today.</p><p>
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The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Great Corns on Fire

A touch of green ink

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