Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Circles of lifeWorkmen take shelter from the scorching sun and rest in cement pipes during their afternoon break at Kale Marg Kurla WestSunshine in my pocketThis diarist calls it the revenge of the meatarians For far too long we have watched sacred nonvegetarian eats get lsquounmeatedrsquo We are talking paneer patranimacchi beetroot burger and soya chaap We broke into an evil laugh on tasting a crisp sev puri Mumbairsquos hotselling street food fresh off Lower Parel restobar The Bombay Canteenrsquos TBC summer menu The nylon sev topped with a scarlet sliver of Bhavnagri chilli crunched between our teeth But it was with the body of the dish that the chef threw us a googlyThe sev puri platter sits on a dry lentils bed resembling a gravel gardenThe potatoaloobatata was replaced with chilled sea bass cured with green mango chutney and carrying the unmistakable zing of kairi chhunda that Gujaratis so love to mop up their thepla with Genius The other section on the menu that deserves your attention for its unorthodox trials is dessert The coffee rasgulla sundae reminded us a bit of TBCrsquos rumdrenched gulab jamun spliced like a bagel but also brought back memories of hot afternoons spent licking ice cream off Korean spoons at Marine Driversquos NatarajSoaked in espresso the Bengali mithai turns fit to serve the Goan uncle from Mapusa Its rum kick comes from the liquorlaced mascarpone Not into daaru Try the jigar thanda in pic left Madurairsquos summer cooler with nannari root extract milk and almond gum The drink transforms into a cesspool of comfort around soaked vanilla sponge cake sabza seeds and orange jelly bits Whatrsquos not to like about sweltering summers in IndiaHistory hoversA model of Lockheed Constellation PIC COURTESYDEBASISH CHAKRAVERTYSome dates draw in nostalgia more than the others Yesterday marked the 75th anniversary of the countryrsquos first international flight The plane that made history was called Lockheed Constellation an Air India aircraft that also earned the moniker Malabar Princess The aircraft took flight from Santacruz airport on June 8 1948 to reach London via Cairo and Geneva Citybased aviation enthusiast Debasish Chakraverty shared with us a picture of a model of the aircraft that was made in England to commemorate 50 years of the carrier ldquoI have a background in aviation this model is part of my collectionrdquo The aviation buff said that he would like to dedicate the plane model to Thelma McCoy a crew member who was on that flight 75 years ago as a flight attendantHeight of hiphopThe mural at LalbaugWhen Delhibased artist Prathma Pandey was invited to paint in Mumbai as part of street artist Man Maujirsquos team she blindly said yes The rest is history It has been a year since and so we are delving into that history After landing in the city she realised that the Lalbaug mural was set to be a 50ft portrait of hiphop stars painted for World Music Day Pandey the only woman on the team shared ldquoIt was my dream project and the biggest mural I have ever maderdquo City streets witness the best secrets we sayYabbadabba loveA still from Radhika Aptersquos video right Mohak BhingarkarGood food wins hearts Mohak Bhingarkar founder of meal plan service Lean Meal Co scooped up Radhika Aptersquos heart with nutritious meals The Mrs Undercover actor posted a video raving about delicious customised dabbas Bhingarkar shared ldquoI started with the thought that healthy food isnrsquot boringrdquo After snooping we found that Apte is not their only celebrity client but Bhingarkar stays mum on that front to protect their privacy We guess customer really is king