The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
PIC/NIMESH DAVE
Picture-perfect Poornima
A woman in traditional Koli attire squeezes in a quick selfie between Narali Poornima celebrations at Madh Jetty
Smells like green spirit
A moment from the sensory trail in Goregaon. PIC COURTESY/SAHA
Mumbai’s green lungs are turning inclusive, thanks to the neurodiverse community, SAHA. Earlier this week, a special trail at the BNHS Nature Reserve in collaboration with the Roots Forest School saw participants make a splash in streams and smell fresh blooms of flowers amidst the sound of rain. SAHA co-founder Aarti Parikh told this diarist, “Children loved getting their hands dirty in the soil while studying earthworms and fungi. They were given a bag and told to collect items along the trail. At the end, kids had to smell the items they had collected before putting them back on the ground.” To keep an eye on upcoming trails, log on to @saha_togetherness.
Paean to a paanwala
Taking time off venting about the messy chaos that marks their traffic-clogged street, Breach Candy residents are engaged in exchanging fond memories of 60-year-old Ramesh Thadani, of Om Cold & Sweet Paan, who passed away earlier this week. The picture of humility, though popular enough to have his OG meetha paan packed worldwide for loyalists who swore by his cold concoctions alone, he would philosophically say (possibly referring to Muchhad Paanwala located metres away from his little alcove), “I don’t believe in competition. At the end it is you, your karma and your naseeb.”
A dated photograph of Ramesh Thadani at Om Cold & Sweet Paan on Warden Road. FILE PIC/ATUL KAMBLE
Exiles from Sindh, his father Bhagwandas Prataprai Thadani and his elder brother Sundarlal Prataprai first reached Ahmedabad in 1947. In Bombay a year later they settled at SS Nagar in Sion before arriving at Breach Candy. “Bahut bhari time tha — we underwent the toughest times,” Ramesh had shared in an early interview with Sunday mid-day columnist Meher Marfatia.
Born in Nanik Niwas, where the Thadanis set up their stall opposite Tata Garden, he often declared, “My shop is my temple.” Hailing everyone with a hearty “Hari Om”, he was always greeted likewise in turn. “Muslim customers make it a point to wish me with a ‘Hari Om’, which is wonderful,” he had said, handing one of them, with a respectful bow of the head, an adroitly folded aromatic bundle of khuskhus, sauf, kopra, gulkand and gulab ki patti sourced from Shah Kunverji Khimraj & Co at Gol Deval in Null Bazaar. “Hum sub ek hain aur aap hain gentleman,” pronounced his happy customer.
The Ambani snack stopover
Anil Ambani grabs a quick bite at the Fort cafe
Recently, during a quick evening snack halt at Poornima, the popular South Indian eatery in Fort, a mini flurry took over the otherwise factory-like ambience that is a regular among office goers in the business district. Clad in a crisp light pink shirt and formal trousers, business tycoon Anil Ambani briskly walked past us, looking fit as ever, as he made a dash to the mezzanine section where he settled down for a snack with his acquaintances. No paps, no army of bodyguards, and no entourage of glitzy cars parked outside. When we enquired with the owner, he revealed that the business baron drops by occasionally, while in the neighbourhood. With his brother being a regular patron of Café Mysore in Matunga, it’s clear that both siblings take their South Indian fare seriously.
A Braj poet arrives in Pune
While the debate on linguistic pride heats up, Ashwin Chitale aka Afraad (below) is bringing the story of Kavi Bhushan, the court poet of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to Pune this month. A National Award-winning child artiste and linguist, Chitale was first fascinated by Kavi Bhushan’s use of chugaan — a Persian word for Polo — to describe the politics of the time. “He [Kavi Bhushan] was a poet from Varanasi, who wrote in Braj Bhasha and Persian, in the court of the Marathas,” shared the artiste, who will soon bring the work to Mumbai.
Change in sight
Beneficiaries of the initiative. PIC COURTESY/FRST FOUNDATION
The erratic monsoon is looking a tad less intimidating for Mumbai’s visually impaired residents this year. Special high-visibility reflective raincoats conceptualised by Frst Foundation have reached homes for blind across the city. “A large number of motorist-pedestrian accidents involve individuals with visual impairment. We sat down with the community to understand their grievances and came up with the raincoats. We’ve also ditched the man-with-a-stick iconography for a more stylish logo,” founder Fateh Randhawa told this diarist. Those keen to know more can log on to @frst.foundation.
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