Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Having a Gudi timeMaskedup Mumbaikars at Girgaum ace the selfie game in traditional attire to usher in Gudi PadwaAnxiety unpluggedWhile we cannot ignore that the pandemic has caused anxiety among a great number of people it is also important to understand it as a legitimate disorder and how we can navigate it too In Age of Anxiety Simon and Schuster India that releases this Friday writer Amrita Tripathi in pic and clinical psychologist Kamna Chhibber will bust myths and misconceptions related to anxiety in contrast to pop psychology banter About the contents of the title Tripathi shared ldquoThis book centres on stories of lived experiences via essays and interviews with those who are dealing with anxiety coping strategies and insights by Chhibber as well as via other expert interviewsrdquoSafdar on soundPlaywright Safdar Hashmi Pic CourtesyJanamThis past April 12 playwright Safdar Hashmi would have turned 67 To mark his birthday a new audio series The Halla Bol Podcast was announced Based on his friend and actor Sudhanva Deshpandersquos book Halla Bol The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi the Hindi podcast will go live on April 22 Deshpande told this diarist that the idea was sparked off by Ashish Paliwal its producerSudhanva DeshpandeldquoPaliwal wanted me to read the book and record it as itrsquos also a memoir To give it a different texture wersquove added recordings of interviews that I had done A lot of revolutionary songs by Delhibased choir Parcham also feature in itrdquo he shared Among others who are a part of the podcast are actors Amruta Subhash and Ratna Pathak Shah ldquoThere are also archival clippings of Safdar Habib Tanvir and others Itrsquos a joy to see how so many people became a part of thisrdquo he said adding that the podcast will be accessible on audio streaming platforms Wersquoll be waitingTo Anil with loveAnil Dharker Shashi Tharoor Shobhaa DeldquoAnil Dharker with his zest for living and intense engagement in so many fields mdash literature cinema sports music human rights and current affairs mdash would not have wanted a sonorous condolence meeting He would have preferred a gathering of friends and interlocutors who could all meet share stories and memories and raise a final toast to the man who meant so much to so manyrdquo a spokesperson from the Literature Live Committee recalled about the former founder and director of the festival who passed away last month And while a physical gathering isnrsquot possible his friends and wellwishers will raise a toast to him this Saturday evening at an online event organised by the committee The evening will include tributes by Gerson da Cunha Harish Bhat Jai Hiremath Khushroo Suntook Shashi Tharoor Shobhaa De and Teesta Setalvad and readings by Naseeruddin Shah Dolly Thakore and Nandita Das ldquolsquoCelebrating Anilrsquo will be an evening of tributes and readings of his works by some of his closest associates to remember an astonishingly accomplished just and humane manrdquo the spokesperson told this diarist To join this virtual tribute head to litlive on Facebook or their YouTube channelA lilrsquo bit of Maria in SoBoMonths after their cute little Spanish restaurant took Bandra by storm La Loca Maria chef Manuel Olveira and his wife and coowner Mickee Tuljapurkar started thinking of opening a larger space Of course 2020 had other plans After nearly a year of starting deliveries and takeaways they have now opened a delivery kitchen at Gamdevi ldquoWe get a lot of orders from south Mumbai I know people are comfortable with their food travelling a long way but we felt that 4045 minutes is a long time for our fare to sit in the back of a delivery vehicle It doesnrsquot retain the same qualityrdquo explained Tuljapurkar The duo then put the plan for a bigger restaurant on hold to cater to SoBo ldquoThe new space is also helping us take care of our prep for the Bandra kitchen and experimenting in expanding the menurdquo she added