Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Whispers

Pouch that ouchThere are awards and there are awards Most of these are genuine but there are also awards that fall in the lsquospoof awardsrsquo category Which basically means individuals are rewarded for doing something or saying something inane ridiculous or being plain bizarreNow the Mumbai Press Club also known as the Glass House has jumped into the fray with what it calls the lsquoMumbai Press Clubrsquos Golden Ouch Awardsrsquo for the Craziest and Most Embarrassing Moments in media Some nominees include Shobhaa De BBC and The New York Times Others are Rahul Gandhi Arvind Kejriwal and Gen VK SinghOn Monday April 20 the Mumbai Press Club gives away 10 lsquoprestigiousrsquo awards for the craziest moments in media at a function to be anchored by standup comedian Anuvab Pal This is a whetyourappetite teaser to the main course which is the more serious Mumbai Press Club RedInk Awards on April 30 2015 that celebrate the finest in Indian journalismWe hear for the flip one the s expected the Mumbai Press Club has been flooded with lsquotongue in cheekrsquo nominations in 10 different categories that cover a wide range of subjects from lsquogender equalityrsquo to lsquoscience reportingrsquo and lsquofood criticismrsquo to name a few for the lsquoouchiesrsquoWe hear competition has been particularly intense in categories like lsquoMost Sexist Comment of the Yearrsquo The event is to be held at the Mumbai Press Clubrsquos lsquoOuchrsquo Awards night at 7 pm April 20 at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh Hall Ah we never tire of satireWatch a maestro in actionFor dance aficionados this is a chance not to be missed Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj is conducting a workshop along with his associate and senior student Saswati Sen on April 25 from noon to 4pm Venue West room 1 Registration fee Rs 1500 Contact 9869112010 8879114939 or sdasguptancpamumbaicomPt Birju MaharajThe workshop follows the duorsquos Kathak performance Shyam Chhabi the previous day April 24 at 7pm at the Tata Theatre Tickets start at R 200 These are part of the Mudra Dance Festival at the National Centre for the Performing Arts ncpamumbaicomLet the fabrics flowLovers and followers of Indiarsquos vast repository of textiles can look forward to the opening of a spanking new Textile Gallery in the city at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya sometime next month We were given a sneak peek into the gallery and we were wowed with what we saw despite it being a work in progressThere were workers buzzing around experts were overlooking details as the glass cases awaited their exhibits With expertise like Brinda Somaiya on board the end result we are sure will be another feather in the cap of the CSMVS The little of what we saw be it the fabrics curiosities or the threadwork was impressive We canrsquot wait for the real dealA spark in a sea of blueAs the clock struck the midnight hour a sea of Mumbai Indians fans were on their way home in a slow Virar local The flags they were being waved the airhorns they were being blown the highfives they were being exchanged It seemed like the party had moved from the stands of Wankhede to the firstclass bogie of the Western Railway localIn the midst of all the din and hullabaloo an apparition dressed in flowing red chiffon boarded the train from Santacruz and stood by the gate Her red dupatta began blowing in the wind as the train made its way out of the station Her long wavy goldendyed locks joined the flaming red dupatta and caught the attention of the entire motley gang of celebratory fansPindrop silence followed as many elbows were nudged and several eyebrows pointed knowingly in her direction Two stations passed and the Lady in Red continued to hold the attention of the crowd Whispers began to make their way around the compartment as Andheri approachedThe object of everyonersquos attention turned her head and crossed the compartment making her way to the exit on the other side Her twinkling gaze made contact with the peering eyes for the first time since she had boarded the trainMany jaws dropped many just stared at her With a knowing smile and a rather victorious shrug of her mane she got off the train and joined her fellow ladies of the night who awaited her at the platform ldquoAye Rukhsana kaisi hai re turdquo she exclaimed with joyN is for KasaraCommuters on the Central Railway are by now used to the quirky abbreviations of some of the major local destinations But these still leave newcomers bemused and often confused Kurla for instance is indicated with the letter C This makes absolutely no sense to most people and many have accepted it as one of those thingsThere is a reasoning to this however and it is the fact that during the days of the Raj Kurla was spelt Coorla And the C has been carried over from British times Then come the stations further north such as Karjat and Kasara The former is indicated by S and the latter by N Confusing The answer lies in the points of the compassKarjat is south of the biggie junction Kalyan hence the S And Kasara is to the north so it is N Remembering this is a chore and we asked some commuters how they remember Most said they just look at the full form on the indicator to make sure the right train is arriving One woman commuter said ldquoThere is S in the word lsquoKasararsquo so I know that the opposite N is Kasarardquo Convoluted reasoning but if it works why notIn case you were wondering why Khopoli also a farflung station on the Central line is indicated by the easytofigureout KP thatrsquos because it was introduced later and mdash well we guess they didnrsquot want to go so far as to name it after any more points of the compass