Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Cuteness overloadKids and a puppy enjoy an evening on the steps of Mount Mary in Bandra WestYeh bheja bheja kya haiAfter six years of reading neurosurgeon Dr Mazda Turelrsquos columns every week in Sunday midday we are glad to once again read his stories from the operation theatre and beyond in his new book Bheja Fry Juggernaut Rs 499 Week after week Dr Turel kept us enthralled with stories and teachings from his clinic some downright comical some heartwarming and others more sobering Bheja Fry takes us down nostalgia lane and Dr Turel takes us inside the mind of a doctor where medicine meets morality and healing meets heartbreakDr Mazda Turelrsquos new book Bheja Fry is out on April 21ldquoSunday midday gave me a rare kind of freedom mdash to write as a doctor but also as an observer of peoplerdquo he says ldquoWhat started as columns gradually became conversations with readers Over time I realised that these werenrsquot just articles they were fragments of a much larger story about how we experience illness fear and decisionmaking The book is really a continuation of that relationshiprdquoItrsquos hard to choose a favourite ldquobecause each story stayed with me for a different reasonrdquo ldquoBut if I had to choose I had the most fun writing about a dream I had about operating on the Pope My piece on loneliness resonated with a lot of peoplehellip and there is the last essay on grown up soulmates mdash a story about why friendships keep us aliverdquo says Dr Turel consultant neurosurgeon at Wockhardt Hospitals Mumbai CentralWe ask how he manages a busy neurosurgical practice and still makes the time to write ldquoWriting became a way of processing what I see every day Neurosurgery is intense precise and often emotionally charged Writing allows me to step back and make sense of it mdash to find patterns meaning and often with humour in situations that are otherwise overwhelming In a way one makes the other possiblerdquo he tells usThose good Cole daysEven the speediest thoroughbreds cannot outpace inflation Recently former chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club RWITC billionairebusinessman and large benefactor of Indian racing Zavaray S Poonawalla was amused to get a ldquoforwardrdquo on his phone of a picture of the popular racing book ldquoColerdquo of 1961 with a picture of the queen being welcomed to the Bombay racesCover of the racing bookRace books are used by punters for information on race day Poonawalla said ldquoI was struck not by a picture of the lsquoColersquo cover but by the fact that the 1961 book was priced at lsquo50 naya paisarsquo Especially since at the time I got this on my phone I was holding a current race book priced at Rs 40rdquo he laughedBusinessman Zavaray PoonawallaldquoI told the sender to send me a physical copy of the book if he had it That book will make a nostalgic edition to my collection of racing cups and trophiesrdquo said ZSP as Zavaray Poonawalla is known ldquoIf a youngster goes through my collection they will get an idea about what 50 naya paisa could buy in the good olrsquo daysrdquo he signed offFabric of the ConstitutionOver 75 years of the Indian constitution are coming to 47 A at Kotachi Wadi in Girgaon in the form of textiles Called Hamari Virasat the exhibit turns to Indiarsquos textile traditions to interpret its core values Curated by Shibani Dasgupta Jain the founder and director of the Hand for Handmade Foundation it brings together 75 handcrafted artworks by artisans across the countryShibani Dasgupta JainEach artisanrsquos work responds to the visual and philosophical language of the Preamble ldquoThe Preamble of the Constitution is a visual document in itselfrdquo says Dasgupta pointing to its recurring motifs such as animals like the bull horse elephant and peacock alongside lotuslike vines ldquoSome used these visual ideas some used words like fraternity and liberty and tried to express their version of what they felt was liberty for themrdquoFrom Porgai artisans in the South depicting a Sambari woman freeing a bird to Ajrak works that cleverly read ldquoBharatrdquo even in reverse for a phone selfie each piece reflects regional craft and individual interpretationCopy of A9 Tanisha AgarwalldquoDifferent groups came up with their own thoughts and ideasrdquo she explains adding ldquoThere are so many different forms of craft like Ajrak Applique Kutch embroidery Kantha embroidery from Bengal Fard painting and Goan paintingbased Applique work Itrsquos a variety of crafts including weaves from various parts of the country that came inrdquoHaving travelled across four cities the exhibition now concludes in Mumbai As itrsquos the final exhibit this time it is also a sale with proceeds going back to the artisans closing the loop between craft livelihood and the idea of India The exhibit starts on April 25 and will be on till May 10GTrsquos got a lsquobigrsquo hero in their midstWe stumbled upon something featuring Matthew Hayden the former Australia opener who is now the batting coach of Gujarat Titans GT The November 1992 issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly carried an item on young Hayden who hadnrsquot played for Australia by then but was recommended by exTest captain Greg Chappell to be blooded against the 199293 West Indies touristsldquoThere could be a no more daunting sight for a rookie opener on a juicy Brisbane pitch than a pace attack of Ian Bishop Curtly Ambrose Patrick Patterson and Courtney Walsh And thatrsquos exactly what hersquoll face if he Hayden gets the nod Hersquos big strong has courage and confidence a good range of shots and also that Xfactor that unknown something that just might workrdquo said ChappellHayden didnrsquot make his debut that summer and had to wait for the 199394 tour of South Africa to be given his baggy green Australia Test cap Of course he was picked for the 1993 tour of England without getting picked in the Test side He went on to become a gun player for Australia and didnrsquot look back after his 19992000 comeback ending up with 8625 runs in a 103Test career that ended in 200809 Members of the Gujarat Titans team can be reminded that amongst them is a big hero mdash literally and metaphorically