Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Tales

Turn over a white leafWith Mahashivratri being celebrated by devotees of Lord Shiva today it is inevitable that large quantities of milk is likely to be wasted during ceremonies The Rotaract Club of Mumbai Mulund South had taken the initiative to address this problem last year with its White Revolution ProgrammeClub members or ldquoRotaractorsrdquo had asked devotees instead of pouring milk by the litre to pour just a tablespoon and to donate the rest In this way about 160 litres of good milk was collected which was donated to the poor As a statement from the club said ldquoPouring such large quantities of milk in the name of lsquoThe Lordrsquo especially in a country like ours where countless go to sleep every night without a meal this itself defies the very basics of devotionWe aim to throw some light on the grave issue of the misuse of milk and persuade the devotees to make a rational wellreasoned choice It is an appeal to not waste the milk instead give it to the needyrdquo Makes eminent sense and we are sure that Shiva himself would agree We hope reason prevails this year tooShady stuffThough Fifty Shades of Grey has not yet hit our screens chatter around it is ongoing We particularly liked this tweet from technopreneur Amit Paranjape ldquoFifty Shades of Grey hellip thatrsquos the Doordarshan TV broadcast many of us grew up withrdquoFlutes and moreThe curtains will come down soon on the Indian classical music season so rush to catch the last few strains in the city Smritiyaan a concert for Indian percussionist Pt Chatur Lal will be held at Shanmukhananda Hall on February 20The evening will see Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt on the veena accompanied by Pt Sudhir Pandey and Pranshu Chaturlal on the tabla Flute maestro Pt Ronu Majumdar says he is ldquoexcitedrdquo to perform on the occasion Passes are available at Shanmukhananda Hall 24044141 and Rhythm House 43222701 Sounds good we thinkMumrsquos love is no monkey businessVisitors to pilgrimage sites and picnic spots often have to contend with the original residents of those areas birds of course and also bands of monkeys some of which make a career out of picking at food that travellers bring alongThe mother seems to be askingOn a recent visit to the shrine of Malang Gad also known as Haji Malang about 13 km from Kalyan we encountered the usual groups of monkeys but also spotted a few endearing scenesSometimes a hug is all you need PicsShrikant KhuperkarThere were youngsters making faces some monkeys sitting in solitude as if meditating and motherandchild pair which we could not resist photographingOriginal Little Master Hanif watched India vs Pak game from hospital bedJust on Sunday batting legend Sunil Gavaskar wrote in these columns about fellow batting great and the original Little Master Hanif Mohammad in picture from PakistanHanif MohammadGavaskar admitted how he couldnrsquot get his eyes off the prolific batsman in the 1960 Test match at Mumbairsquos Brabourne Stadium where Hanif scored 160 before he was run out via a throw from Vijay Manjrekar fielding at deep third manTuesday Tales caught up with 80yearold Karachibased Hanif over the phone and discovered that he was in hospital for the last few days Battling liver cancer Hanif spent a few days in hospital to cure his stomach problem and urine infection He had to watch Sundayrsquos India vs Pakistan game on television from his hospital bedHis sportsmanship came shining through when he stayed away from any harsh comment about his national team and stressed that the better team won ldquoIndia played superb cricket and it was a treat to see Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina score runsrdquo he said quickly adding that Shikhar Dhawan played a good hand tooldquoDhawan is daringrdquo he said He was disappointed that the Pakistanis who were always known for their bowling strength now have problems with their bowling attack In the same breath he said that they have lost only one game and a strong comeback could not be ruled out His optimism reflected the way he has fought his dreaded illness May he achieve lifersquos biggest victory soon Keep well Sir