Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Yeh andar ki baat haiAn apt hoarding in Bhandup advertises the importance of staying indoors at present unless absolutely necessaryA grand victoryP Sainath is a journalist who has possibly championed the cause of rural India more than anyone else in the country considering the groundbreaking work of the Peoplersquos Archive of Rural India the platform that he started in 2014 His work has now earned him the Fukuoka Grand Prize one of Japanrsquos top awards that honours Asian stalwarts from the fields of academics art and culture The citation for his award stated ldquoAs Asia goes through turbulent changes Mr Sainath has been seeking new lsquoknowledgersquo and promoting civil cooperationrdquo The last winner of the Grand Prize was AR Rahman Our congratulations to SainathBun times in BandraFrom left Darshan Desai Kunal Sikhwal and Rahul GianchandaniThe number of burger joints that have mushroomed in Andheri over the years is a testament to the fast food itemrsquos popularity But in the turf war between the suburb and Bandra the latter is not to be left behind with its own vast list of burger places The latest addition is called Hashtag One Itrsquos the brainchild of Darshan Desai Rahul Gianchandani and Kunal Sikhwal who earlier launched Zenmai an Asian finedine in SantacruzThe Seoulful burger available on the menuThe new eatery offers a range of classic nonvegetarian and vegan burgers including Doppleganger which is made with mock meat and GOAT featuring a lamb patty Deliveries are from Bandra to Lokhandwala covering Khar Santacruz and Juhu as well ldquoMumbai does have its fair share of great gourmet burger places but we believed that there was room for another contender Hence we put pen to paper and with the help of our kitchen team we were able to execute Hashtag Onerdquo Gianchandani told this diaristPutting desi food on the global mapSix years ago restaurateur Zorawar Kalra started Farzi Cafe to make Indian food cool among the youth of the country Cut to 2021 and the restaurant has expanded its footprint to nine countries with their newest outpost coming up in Toronto Canada in September The journey has been epic the restaurateur told this diarist ldquoWe started a wave of modern Indian casual restaurants Irsquom happy to note that the youth of India now enjoys Indian food more than ever before Our goal was to make Indian food hip for the youth so it remains relevant forever The secondary goal of Farzi Cafeacute was to put Indian food on the global map by opening highquality restaurants across the worldrdquo shared Kalra admitting that the restaurant was built on the belief that Indian food is the greatest cuisine in the world His next stop The United States of America Kalra revealedBimba we are looking for youYou would have watched Simba the lion in The Lion King Now hear about Bimba the cat The yearold feline indie cat has been missing from a Colaba home since Friday June 25 Owners Darius and Kerman Madon have been looking for their pet Kerman told this diarist ldquoSurveillance footage revealed to us that Bimba had jumped out from our third floor flat at Elysium Mansion on Walton Road and went down using small roofs and balconies She liked to sit on window sills but had never jumped beforerdquo We hope Bimba is back That should put the lsquowhewrsquo into the lsquomewrsquo for the Madons If you happen to spot Bimba send an email to kermanchotmailcomCanvas of recordsThe works of some of Indiarsquos greatest ever modernist painters went under the hammer recently amassing sales worth almost 28 crore But there are two pieces that stood out since they fetched record prices for the painters concerned And untitled work in pic by HA Gade who was one of the founding members of the Progressive Artistsrsquo Group and painted scenes from Mumbai during his lifetime fetched 49 lakh while the late Paritosh Sen a foundermember of the Calcutta Group had painted House of Banaras which fetched 68 lakh Other artists whose works were sold include SH Raza FN Souza MF Husain and Amrita SherGil ldquoThe auction showcases how the demand for works by Indiarsquos modernists has steadily and significantly increased over the years as collectors look to acquire them across several mediums and different price pointsrdquo shared Sunny Chandiramani VP of client relations at AstaGuru which hosted the online auction