Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Ready for the roadA maskedup man waits at a bus stop at Vasanji Lalji Road KandivaliRiyaaz Amlanirsquos Asian affairRestaurateur Riyaaz Amlani is making hay while the sun shines With delivery becoming the top mode of revenue now as wersquore locked in at home again Amlani has been pushing for cloud kitchens The latest HungLi is his first Asian cuisinedriven cloud kitchen brand ldquoWersquove doubled down on our delivery business HungLi is our second cloud kitchen brand after BOSS Burger that we launched in February Asian food is a crowd favourite and customers are always seeking highquality wellpackaged Asian food from brands that they trust HungLi will serve up exciting Asian flavours using fresh ingredients that are made to order Wersquore currently delivering from Versova Powai and Lower Parel in Mumbairdquo shared the CEO amp MD of Impresario Handmade RestaurantsTurning eightThe countryrsquos first English lifestyle magazine in Braille citybased White Print completes eight years this month Launched by Upasana Makati the magazine also forayed into inclusive childrenrsquos literature by publishing titles such as Flowers for Sunaina and Run Saba Run While the pandemic has brought a halt to distribution and sales Makati remains optimistic ldquoReaders have been extremely supportive but wersquore hoping things will get better Wersquore very sure that wersquore going to write more in the coming monthrdquo she told this diarist In the meantime Makati has started conducting online reading sessions with schoolchildren ldquoI feel like children are the worst affected in this crisis A lot of them are clueless about why they canrsquot leave the house and how long this situation will lastrdquo she addedBig win for indie shortSamrat ParmarOver 1000 days have passed since the first lockdown Grocery can only be delivered once a month Medicos come knocking on your door for daily vitals checks Video calls now allow you to smell the environment of the person on the other side of the screen Sounds like a future not too far off Well this is the dystopian reality that Madh Islandbased director Samrat Parmarrsquos short film AbNormal has captured bagging him a special festival mention at the recently held Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival 2021 Itrsquos also been selected for the LiftOff Global Network Sessions 2021 and stands a chance to be screened at a studio in Hollywood and Pinewood Studios in the UK shared ParmarActor Ayesha Raza Mishra in a still from AbNormalldquoAt the start of the lockdown last year I was mentally bogged down so I started writing the story I envisioned what the implication of the pandemic would be not only on daily lives but also human relationshipsrdquo Parmar told this diarist about the story centred around a couple The film stars actors Dhruv Lohumi Ayesha Raza Mishra and Neha Singh ldquoThe main challenge was shooting it with all the restrictions and on a shoestring budget but writing shooting and editing it made my lockdown worth itrdquo he admits Well we wish him luck but hope the short doesnrsquot become our realityNew avatar for restaurantsOn social media Zorawar Kalra shared an interesting solution mdash to offer restaurants as vaccination centres ldquoThe current Covid19 situation in the country is heartbreaking We wanted to come forward and provide support in whatever small way we could by providing access to our entire restaurant network across the country during the lockdownrdquo he said He explained that it had multiple advantages ldquoThe more the spaces available for vaccination the lesser the crowding and hence lower the chances of further spread Psychologically also going to a neighbourhood restaurant for getting vaccinated is less intimidating for people than going to a hospital Our restaurants tend to be centrally located and hence easy to reach and are currently not operational So they are ready for immediate userdquo he suggested For now a germ of an idea Kalra is confident the entire industry will come forward ldquoWe are hopeful that a representative from the authorities will reach out to us so we can execute thisrdquo he says Tel Avivrsquos Jenia restopub did this successfully even offering free drinks to those who took the jab Good intention but how does any of this help unless we have enough vaccinesWoof what an ideaMembers of the Thanebased nonprofit Pet Owners and Animal Lovers Foundation have in the past year noticed that the majority of their calls for help come from lowincome areas Chairperson Aditi Nair shared that of late these calls have increased with the rise in unemployment and paycuts as people belonging to these areas arenrsquot able to care for their pets or strays So they have started a fundraiser to set up medical camps in such places ldquoPeople can come forward with their pets cattle and strays and provide them with medication for freerdquo she said Head to kettoorgfundraiserpalmedicalcamp to pitch in