Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Babasaheb stands tall

Two workers draw a purple sheet across a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar outside Thane Railway Station, ahead of Mahaparinirvan Diwas on December 6.

The Maestro’s 90th bash

Zubin Mehta directs the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra in Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in 2024. Pic Courtesy/Beogradska Filharmonija on YouTube

January will arrive with a celebratory tone for composer and maestro Zubin Mehta. Ahead of the celebrations for his 90th birthday on April 29, the city will witness two special concerts by close friends and collaborators of the maestro, hosted by the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation. On January 15, violinist Pinchas Zukerman will perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, while students from the foundation will put on a showcase of Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances. Zukerman traces his friendship with the Indian composer to their early days in the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.

The concerts will also be led by The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the leading orchestras in Europe. Mehta has been a close friend to the orchestra for over 70 years, having led them for the first time in 1958.

Pianist Lang Lang performs in Vienna. Pic Courtesy/@langlangpiano

The second day will also see Chinese pianist and virtuoso Lang Lang perform the Piano Concerto No. 5 by Beethoven on his return
to India.

Fans of Classical Music might want to hurry, as tickets will open to the public on December 15.

Bandra’s steps get an arty makeover

A recent mural at The Steps, by British mural artist Alex Pawson

The side walls of The Steps Bandra, on Mount Mary Road, will be painted with new murals, ahead of the annual Festival At The Steps on December 20. Artists can submit their proposals by December 8. “A jury of respected figures, including Kiran Rao and Arzan Khambatta, among others, will select the finalists, who should be available between December 10 and 15,” revealed Anca Florescu Abraham, member of co-founder of Bombay Greenway, the platform which re-designed The Steps into an accessible, open-air amphitheatre, which was inaugurated in 2019. For more, log on to @thestepsbandra.

Artists and children paint a previous mural. Pics Courtesy/thestepsbandra

Spoken goes big

Roshan Abbas at a previous edition of the festival. File pic

The preparations are already underway for Spoken Fest 2026 in February, shared festival director Roshan Abbas. With the first list of names on the line-up featuring talents from Swanand Kirkire and Sriti Jha to Soumik Datta & Travellers, the veteran Waseem Barelvi, to the more contemporary voices of Psycho Shayar (Abhi Munde) and Mahi G, among them, Abbas told us, “As the largest listening party, Spoken needs to maintain the torch for discovery. That is why we need to find voices that need attention, and voices that people will pay attention to.”

Founder and executive chef at Junsei, Aman Lakhiani

Crab Croquettes, on the pop-up menu at Soho House. Pics Courtesy/Junsei

Mumbai's Soho House, Juhu has been in the middle of a trippy pop-up since yesterday (December 5) and today. This is courtesy of Junsei, a Japanese izakaya and listening bar in London and Jakarta. An izakaya includes small dishes with alcoholic drinks. Founder and executive chef at the Juhu haunt, Aman Lakhiani fondly recalls, “Izakaya dining was part of my daily life. I can’t wait to bring that fire, smoke, and warmth to Mumbai.”

Aman Lakhiani

Secular seekers at Shivaji Park

Pic Courtesy/YouTube

Fables can also have their grounding in reality. Ask Professor Gautamiputra Kamble (right). On Mahaparinirvan Diwas today, the award-winning Marathi litterateur and founder of the Secular Art Movement will be present at Shivaji Park as he talks about his latest work, The Seekers (Blaft Publications). Translated by Sirius J Libeiro, the compilation of five stories delve into the principles that are central to Ambedkarite-Phule thought, and weave together ideas of freedom, ideological conflict and the struggle for artistic excellence. Blending both symbolic allegory and fantasy, the stories stitch together the past and present of the struggle and caste awareness in Maharashtra. Readers looking to catch the title can visit the Secular Movement & Secular Art Movement Stall (No 121) and English Book Stall at Shivaji Park.