Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Big ideas, small ages

Kaamya Karthikeyan, Tanvi Jindal Shete and Nandini Rastogi

The next generation isn’t waiting for their turn; they are already shaping the world. That message is behind TEDxGateway Youth 2025, at the Museum of Solutions (MuSo) on September 18 and 19. Tanvi Jindal Shete, MuSo’s CEO and founder, says, “We are excited to bring together young dreamers and inspiring voices from all over.” The showcase will see young visionaries, such  as Kaamya Karthikeyan, 18, who has conquered the Seven Summits; or Snehadeep Kumar, 21, who is building satellites from local materials; or Nandini Rastogi, 19, who is using gene-editing to create drought-proof rice plants. There are also workshops and performances. Registrations are open on the TEDx website.

For the dawn of Gen Z’s careers

Abhijoy Gandhi with his book

After having worked with both Gen Z and millennials, Abhijoy Gandhi launches a road map for upcoming joinees into the corporate world. The book, A New Corporate Mantra: The Playbook For Organisational Success, speaks about social interactions, understanding psychology, motivations and the context of a team that gets people to go. “Gen Z are a misunderstood bunch, and it is grossly unfair to try and shape them into what earlier generations of profit workers were, rather than giving them the tools that can enable them to continue to be themselves.” Being a witness to bias against Gen Z himself, Gandhi hopes that his new book will help them manoeuvre through the toxicity of the corporate world.

Have a good fair day

It’s a cut above the rest for Thomas Fernandes or Thompsun. PIC/FILE

You know the Mount Mary Fair is on when it’s September, busloads of people throng to the Bandra West venue, and the excitement is palpable. Another regular feature of the fair is Bandra hairdresser Thomas Fernandes’ his haircutting chair outside his salon, Thompsun Hair ‘n’ Makeup Studio, on Chapel Road. He offers free haircuts today and next Sunday, from 11 am. Fernandes said, “I will go on till 10 pm, depending on the amount of people who come in for the haircut. I want to give back to society, this is one of the ways,” he said with a smile. “Maybe we will have a real rush of visitors with the opening of the restored Mount Mary Basilica, which looks stunning. I contacted a few salons around too to ask if they have a couple of students who can lend me a hand in case the rush for haircuts is overwhelming,” said Fernandes, or Thompsun as he is known. He promises us a good hair day — and we hope people have a good fair day, too. With 30 years of experience, there’s no doubting Thomas.

Dad’s a strange way to give a batsman out!

An umpire declares a batsman out. REPRESENTATIONAL PIC/GETTY IMAGES 

For those who like yarns about umpiring decisions, our in-house cricket nut has come up with one that falls into the ‘strange-but-true’ category. He quotes an anecdote from The Cricketer Book of Cricket Disasters and Bizarre Records by Christopher Martin-Jenkins, excerpts from which were carried by The Sportstar magazine way back in 1984. “In a first-class match in Karachi, a batsman from Sind Province was at first relieved to survive an appeal for leg-before by the home side’s bowler. He was less delighted when the bowler refused to accept the decision and, furthermore, insisted on telephoning his father for a verdict (his father just happened to be the executive in charge of the local cricket association). “The call was put through and in turn the bowler, the batsman and the umpire spoke to the bowler’s father, each giving his version of where the ball pitched, its line, and which part of the body it hit. After listening to all three men, the father gave the batsman out. “When he had taken his pads off, that unhappy man vowed never to play cricket again.” Pakistan is not famous for producing the finest of umpires across eras, but this chap would have been considered a good one.

Giving women footballers a kick-off

Mumbai-origin teen Vir Shrinagesh’s initiative, EduKick Naari, is helping girls access sports scholarships with mentoring and awareness sessions on the sports quota, eligibility, and applications

Growing up in a football-obsessed family, it was inevitable that Vir Shriganesh, 16, would go on to play too. The teenager, who originally hails from Bandra and now lives in Gurugram, plays for the Bhaichung Bhutia Football School in Delhi’s U-17 circuit alongside his Class 12 studies. “I noticed that a lot of girls in our sister club, Garhwal Heroes, were dropping out of football because of having to choose higher education,” the teen recalls. He realised not many are aware of education quotas available for female athletes, and set up the initiative EduKick Naari, a year ago. “We conduct workshops at NGOs, spread awareness among footballers about the quotas, and guide them on the application process” he says. So far, the programme has mentored a total of 110 girls. Good going, we say, and all the best to the girls and Shriganesh!