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Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Updated on: 28 April,2021 07:23 AM IST  |  Mumbai
Team mid-day |

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

Take a Leaf from their playbook


A man offers his goat a leafy snack as the trio takes respite from the sizzling summer sun.


An urban oasis


St+art India has recently unveiled their latest project at Worli Dairy. The vibrant mural was painted by street artist and illustrator Afzan Pirzade. “It was a conscious move to place this mural in one of the most built areas of Mumbai. While most people think of the city as a concrete jungle, there exists within it immense natural heritage that we must acknowledge and protect. From leopards to flamingos, hibiscus to palms, the rich universe of Mumbai’s ecosystem will bloom in the heart of the city,” he told us.

So long, Speedy Uncle


Barkha, SP and Bahar Dutt

That this unforgiving virus has been snatching away young and old, is now a harsh reality that the living have to deal with. And yesterday, it took away Satya Prakash Dutt, father of award-winning journalists Barkha and Bahar Dutt, in a New Delhi hospital. Speedy to his friends, close family and former colleagues, this one-time engineer with Air India, was a die-hard Meccano model maker. With his engineering brain and blessed with oodles of patience, his retirement days were spent at home as he created the most expansive, stunning models, from aircraft to steamboats in his South Delhi home.

Mid-day’s piece on June 14, 2020Mid-day’s piece on June 14, 2020

While it took a backseat during his career, he rekindled this hobby in his later years, and over time, had built an impressive collection. Locomotives were his favourite. This diarist had interviewed him for this newspaper last June, after younger daughter Bahar had posted about this passion. During that chat, he shared how model-making had kept him busy, and his mind ticking, when India was under lockdown. “I want my planes to fly, my ships to float on water and my locomotives to run on tracks. So far, only planes haven’t been able to fly; we’ll have to see about that,” he laughed then. With his craftsmanship, we’re sure he’ll have a safe flight to the other side.

What women (and men) really want

Dating apps have, predictably, witnessed a surge in popularity during the lockdown. A recent survey by a dating app that has 11 million Indian users found differences between how men and women approach online dating. For instance, female users log into the app 48 times a day, while male users log in 24 times. Women are also chattier, speaking with 25 users, while men chat with 10 users.

“We found that 83 per cent of respondents preferred using a dating app as matches from matrimonial sites bring with them the pressure to get married. More than 50 per cent of users are reluctant to reveal that they are using dating apps for fear of being judged,” revealed Ravi Mittal, founder and CEO of QuackQuack.

In pursuit of our children’s happiness

In July 2018, the Delhi government rolled out an educational programme for children in grades one to eight in public schools called the Happiness Curriculum to improve the mental wellbeing of pupils. Now, teacher and documentary filmmaker Samina Mishra has directed a film that explores happiness from the context of this curriculum.

“The film was shot a year after the curriculum was introduced. It explores the possibilities that the curriculum throws up. I hope it reaches educators and policy-makers to guide our direction, especially after the pandemic,” she said. Visit facebook.com/happinessclassfilm to learn more.

Help for those who help us

With the lockdown severely affecting the financial security of millions of Mumbaikars, an eatery has pledged to help feed the worst hit. “Patrons who order a meal on behalf of the needy will only have to pay 50 per cent and we will contribute the rest,” said Sankar Kasirajan, founder of IDlish.

The meals comprise five plates of idlis each and are marked down to Rs 175. The offer is available at Borivali and Goregaon. If you’d like to pitch in, check out instagram.com/id_lish.

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