Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

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

The world is our playground

Children hop onto an abandoned vehicle near Badhwar Park in Colaba during their playtime

Mediterranean hop in Santacruz

The rooftop bar at the restaurant in Santacruz

Mumbai’s culinary scene is all set to get a Mediterranean addition, courtesy the opening of Mirage, a Santacruz-based restaurant that will showcase a Middle-Eastern-meets-Eurasian menu.

Chef Bobby Recto and Chef Maher Ramzi

“Each dish is a celebration of the Mediterranean’s vibrant culture. Mumbai’s palate is dynamic, and it reflects in its openness to global cuisine. Patrons will resonate with the freshness of our fare,” chef Maher Ramzi revealed to this diarist. For Filipino chef Bobby Recto, it is also about finding a balance in flavours, “I’ve focused on maintaining the authenticity of my culture, but also adapted the dishes so that they complement Mumbai’s taste palate.”

This Punekar loves mid-day

This diarist was pleasantly surprised when Muhammad Yamin (inset), a mid-day reader from Pune, shared a doodle-noted version of this tabloid’s frontpage (above) on social media yesterday. “It is my ‘Thank You’ note to the newspaper that has kept me informed all these years,” Yamin revealed. The photographer has been doodle-noting — a technique that blends doodling and taking notes — as a way to keep himself busy between work. “When I moved to Pune in 2018, I set out to find a distributor that supplied the tabloid here. The digital version is convenient, no doubt. But nothing beats having a physical copy in hand,” he added. It is readers like Yamin who remind us that print, indeed, will never die.

Everybody loves a holiday

Khyati Mehta vacations in Switzerland

Kandivali-based entrepreneur and runner Khyati Mehta is putting the happy in ‘happy holidays’ for Mumbai’s persons with disabilities (PwD) community. Dream2Holiday, Mehta’s new venture, will take flight early next year on a fully accessible, disability-friendly tour to Dubai. “Accessibility doesn’t end at providing a wheelchair. More often than not, pushing a self-propelled wheelchair becomes tiring and takes away from the holiday experience. Living with a prosthetic leg, I relate to these concerns deeply,” Mehta shared. To that end, vacationers will be given an electric wheelchair, in addition to other facilities like a sign language interpreter and accessible accommodation and transportation. Those interested in joining, can call 7021884878 to know more about this initiative.

Climate change is for real

A previous session at the Columbia Global Center at Nariman Point

The repercussions of an increasingly changing climate are familiar to the average Mumbaikar but its far-reaching, overarching consequences across multiple ecosystems, needs to be deliberated as well. The Columbia Global Center Mumbai in collaboration with Columbia Climate School is bringing an insightful online discussion on climate change and food systems with Columbia professors, Jessica Fanzo and Ruth DeFries on November 25.

(From left) Ruth DeFries; Rachna Tahilyani

“The session will explore the intersection between climate change and food systems in addressing the global climate crisis. It is relevant for Mumbai as the city is not only a densely populated urban hub but also linked with regional agricultural systems that are vulnerable to climate change. Professor DeFries’ research on the ecological challenges faced by central India is also something that deeply resonates with the environmental and social concerns in Maharashtra,” Rachna Tahilyani, director, Columbia Global Center Mumbai, told this diarist. To register, readers can log on to globalcenters.columbia.edu.

Calling birders to Hanging Garden

Eurasian hoopoe. Pic courtesy/ DARSHAN KHATAU

Early birds will catch not the worm but the walk tomorrow morning. A guided bird-identification trail from 7 am to 9.30 am in the Hanging Garden (Malabar Hill) precinct, by members of the Save Hanging Garden campaign, promises plenty of winged wonder moments. The trail will be led by avian expert Adesh Shivkar. This diarist has learnt that his walks are full of trivia, natural history and anecdotes, interspersed with his amazing skill to mimic bird calls. The meeting point of the walk is Gate no 1, Hanging Garden, Malabar Hill. To register, send a message to: [email protected].

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