<h2>On a slippery wicket</h2>
The heavy rains are no deterrent for these kids playing cricket in Antop Hill. Pic/Atul Kamble
<h2>This book's got the UN's nod</h2>
<img title="This book's got the UN's nod" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2020/jul/dos-july-sixteen-b.jpg" alt="This book's got the UN's nod" />
Sunehri and her friends, who built a make-believe house in author Meghaa Gupta Aggarwal's book, A Home Of Our Own (Tulika Books), have made headlines overseas. The title is among the five shortlisted by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Reading Club, under the theme reduced inequalities.
"Sustainability is a pressing need of our times. So, I felt incredibly validated and was pleasantly surprised when the UN selected my first picture book. I hope this helps it reach more children," the author said.
<h2>Khanna whips up the nostalgia</h2>
<img title="Khanna during his demo at the Culinary Institute of America. Pic courtesy/Instagram" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2020/jul/dos-july-sixteen-c.jpg" alt="Khanna during his demo at the Culinary Institute of America. Pic courtesy/Instagram" /> Khanna during his demo at the Culinary Institute of America. Pic courtesy/Instagram
Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna recently took to Instagram to share a throwback picture of his time at the Culinary Institute of America. "I remember being intimidated in a room of big shots. I had no support system; I was new to America and spoke broken English. I remember people passing comments like, 'It's just Indian food!' Yet, instead of demotivating me, their statements pushed me to prove them wrong. I served hingwale aloo that day [not knowing what hing was called in English!].
What I brought to that table was craftsmanship, and pride in India's heritage and its cuisine. I went from being bullied out of the kitchen and mocked for my English to winning a Michelin star and selling reservations," Khanna reminisced with this diarist. He also had a mantra to share &mdash; "If I go back in time, I would tell Vikas from 25 years ago, 'Don't be scared. All these people trying to scare you are scared of you. Be yourself and continue to do so until they salute your craftsmanship." Well played, chef.
<h2>Door to their world</h2>
<img title="Pallabi Deka" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2020/jul/dos-july-sixteen-d.jpg" alt="Pallabi Deka" /> Pallabi Deka
Zubaan Publishers is ready with an online exhibition, Through Her Lens: Reframing the Domestic, curated by Mridu Rai and Anushya Pradhan. The exhibition portrays the experiences of marginalised identities within domestic spaces during the pandemic.
Illustrating the idea, Pallabi Deka whose series of photographs, titled Half-locked Door, featured in the exhibition, said, "The door of the room that I share with my sister is closed but never locked. If we lock it, we are questioned. It is our room, and yet not our space. We now resist this unrestricted access by pressing a curtain against the door so that it doesn't remain ajar &mdash; making it a 'half-locked' door, and 'half a private' space." Log on to www.throughherlens.in to check it out.
<h2>Desi wine on world's best list</h2>
<img title="Desi wine on world's best list" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2020/jul/dos-july-sixteen-e.jpg" alt="Desi wine on world's best list" />
In a first for India, KRSMA Estates, an hour from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi, has made it to the 46th place on the World's Best Vineyards 2020 list, which if not for the pandemic, would have been announced in California's Sonoma County wine region. The London-based awards feature entries from five continents and 18 countries. "As the regional chair, I drew up a list of 35 to 40 judges who I then asked to vote for their top 10 vineyard visits. I also ensure that the entries are all active and open to visits and other such background checks. My duty was to bring out valid results by choosing the right panel members to be the local jury under me," said sommelier Magandeep Singh.
The boutique winery pours in Bengaluru, Goa and Hyderabad with 1,200 to 1,500 cases a year on an average. Devati Mallick, sommelier and brand head of the winery, said, "We started in 2008, and our first wine rolled out in 2011. After Nashik, we fall in the only other winery belt. Our main red is the Cabernet Sauvignon and white is the Sauvignon Blanc. The terroir [French: environmental factors to grow a crop] here is different from Maharashtra, and we make only single varietal, vintage wines." Zuccardi Valle de Uco, an Argentinian winery in Uco Valley, near the Andes, retained its first place from last year.
<h2>Aarey's green warriors are back in action</h2>
<img title="Aarey's green warriors are back in action" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2020/jul/dos-july-sixteen-f.jpg" alt="Aarey's green warriors are back in action" />
Last month, we had reported on this page that the organisers of the #pedlagao drive, which took off in Aarey in 2019, were planning to restart it. This diarist is happy to report that they have resumed, albeit on a smaller scale, with a plantation drive every Sunday.
Their current focus is on reviving the Picnic Point, a once-famous park in Aarey that's turned into a jungle of garbage. Sanjiv Valsan, one of the organisers, said they've been maintaining social distancing and asking volunteers to constantly sanitise their hands. "Those who can't venture out can help by contributing towards the purchase of saplings, offering safe plantation spots, procuring clearances, gifting trash cans, and amplifying the movement on social media," he said. Reach out to them at 9892212133 to do your bit.
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Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

On a slippery wicket

This book's got the UN's nod

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