Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

And the show goes onA civic worker on duty outside the Taj Mahal Hotel Colaba gets on with chores even as the weekend lockdown came into force on SaturdayWhen purses were light but fun unlimitedA tour brochure of the 197778 India v Australia series Down UnderThe ongoing Indian Premier League is synonymous with top quality cricket entertainment Big bucks too Remember how South African allrounder Chris Morris was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1624 crore at the last auction It needs to be stressed that Morrisrsquos base price was only R2 crore and he was certainly not adjacent to the top performers for his erstwhile team Royal Challengers in IPL 2020 Itrsquos fair to saymdashand we donrsquot do so grudginglymdashthat a good T20 player is rolling in wealth thanks to such amazing incomprehensible figures In the midst of all this money talk our inhouse cricket nut came up with a snippet written by Sydneybased cricket writer Kersi MeherHomji in a 1977 issue of World of Cricket magazine Kersi informed his readers that each Indian member of Bishan Singh Bedirsquos 197778 team to Australia was to paid AUD 1000 for the tour by the BCCI Half the amount would be paid after the tour depending on a ldquosatisfactory report from the team managerrdquo And what about daily allowance Kersi had those figures too AUD 1650 including 10 dollars for meals This was way back in 1977 when purses were light but the fun factor prominentA loved neighbourhood cafeacute to start new inningsGudiya ChadhaSome sad news arrived this week for cafeacute lovers as All Elements Cafeacute a beloved neighbourhood joint in Khar became yet another casualty of the pandemic ldquoCafeacutes have been hit the hardestrdquo Gudiya Chadha owner of All Elements told this diarist Chadha started the place in 2017 at a time when she had been suffering from severe clinical depression Although she had no background in the business Chadha started the venture determined to put her energy into something new and the result soon proved to be extremely rewarding ldquoIt was my third babyrdquo says the owner of the place which became known not only for its quaint deacutecor and fresh smoothies but also as a space of compassion where discussions around mental health were encouraged After months of financial strain Chadha finally decided to close it down a few days ago but All Elements will operate with its old staff and menu as a cloud kitchen from next weekFlying high on a cycleIndranil Roy is not your regular cyclist An avid backpacker for almost a decade now he has been to some of the most remote parts of the country and Southeast Asia In June 2020 he started cycling regularly without any plans of making cycling the core of his travelling future He decided to cover 500km in Kumaon starting from Almora to Chaukori Munsiyari and back from Bageswar route From steep climbs to leopard infested territory he had to cover it all Ever since there has been no stopping his new passion Speaking to this diarist he says ldquoIn December I went to Mumbai thought of cycling to Malshej Ghat and back but it all took a very different turn and I ended up riding 700 km covering Igatpuri Nashik Shirdi and Pune traversing through the Western Ghats It was only a few days later that I planned a road trip to Goa wanting to just ride a few hundred km inside but 30km before the Goa border I decided to ride till Cochin and eventually added Kanyakumari to end my journey covering the entire Konkan and Malabar coast Not even in my wildest imagination I had thought I would do this but each time I have surprised myself and now yearn for morerdquoNUDES wins big in NevadaRecently the Burning Man Project and the Land Art Generator Initiative invited innovators across the globe to propose regenerative projects for Fly Ranch an offgrid 3800acre ranch in the Great Basin USA Out of hundreds of entries received the Solar Mountain designed by Nuru Karim was selected to be prototypedbuilt along with nine other shortlisted winning designs in NevadaThe Mahalaxmibased artist Nuru Karim founder and Design Principal of NUDES said that The Solar Mountain uses solar photovoltaic and recycled materials to contribute 300 MWh of electricity per year ldquoThe project combines art and technology in order to have a positive impact on the environment and combat climate changerdquo he saysBeing safe on every streetMumbaibased ElsaMarie DrsquoSilva of Red Dot Foundation Safecity has teamed up with Holly Kearl founder of Stop Street Harassment and Sophie Sandberyrsquos Catcalls of NYC to cohost the Anti Street Harassment week from April 11 to 17 As part of the campaign Safecity is inviting people to participate by submitting quotes for posters theyrsquoll create and share on social media all through the week ldquoStreet harassment and violence against women and girls in public spaces is a global pandemic which has physical emotional and mental consequences We are hosting several activities online to raise awareness of how common it is its impact on women and girls interventions bystanders can take and the remedies available under legislationsrdquo DrsquoSilva told this diarist