Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Home is where the art isWhen yoursquore a cat any place is good for a snooze mdash even the framed paintings displayed for sale by artists at Kala Ghoda PICSHADAB KHANArt in the cause of fighting eggstinctionDesigner duo Shantnu left and Nikhil second from left meet King Charles and Queen Camilla at Kew Gardens in LondonArt and wildlife preservation came together in a historic moment for India as Shantnu amp Nikhil on Tuesday became the first desi designers to unveil their sculptural installation at The Big Egg Hunt the worldrsquos largest public art exhibition in support of wildlife NGO Elephant Family As part of the exhibit which showcases eggthemed sculptural installations across London the Indian couturiers unveiled their piece Valourrsquos Vessel at the iconic Kew Gardens Shantnu amp Nikhilrsquos piece is adorned with military brooches coins and buttons mdash in keeping with their penchant for military aesthetics ldquoIt is a true honour to represent India at The Big Egg Hunt mdash a platform where art becomes a catalyst for changerdquo said the duo who met King Charles and Queen Camilla joint presidents of the NGO at the Gardens Now therersquos something wersquod give an arm and an egg to seeThe eggMore than just a good bookPages from the bookFormer India wicketkeeper Kiran More was good at surprising batsmen by stumping them The other day More was himself in for a surprise when his Shreyas Vidyalaya teacher BG Bhatt called to say that he had a ldquobig bagrdquo of cricket books for him Among them was Ranji mdash A Centenary Album edited by the late cricket historian Vasant Raiji brought out on KS Ranjitsinhjirsquos birth centenary in 1972 Not only is this book rich in content this copy was presented by the author to J Naoomal who opened the batting for India with Janardhan Navle in the countryrsquos firstever Test mdash against England at Lordrsquos in 1932 More was happy to share his treasure with us and we were just as delightedKiran MoreSindoor salute at Shivaji ParkThe patriotic march at Shivaji ParkA recent evening saw a gathering of over 200 persons at Shivaji Park The iconic Dadar space is known variously as the nursery of Indian cricket a part of Mumbairsquos cultural spine and more That evening it turned into a venue to salute our armed forces and a tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam attack Several organisations connected with the Park came together for patriotic slogans and rashtra geet as they circled the place pride evident in every stride Mallakhamb coach Uday Deshpande heading the Samartha Vyayam Mandir at the park said the patriotism and fervour reminded him of stories of the 1940s preIndependence when people would walk down the area patriotism in every heart national pride in every stride Sometimes history repeats itself in different ways of courseHenry Blofeldrsquos near missHenry Blofeld PicGetty ImagesOur inhouse cricket nut was telling us the other day how the most knowledgeable cricket writers got predictions wrong over the yearsWe tried to impress him by telling him that we knew about how English journalist David Frith then the editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly had to literally eat his words in a press box not long after India won the 1983 World Cup at Lordrsquos in London Frith a widely travelled journalist didnrsquot believe Kapil Devrsquos Indians would go the distance in that third edition of the World Cup As promised he ate his words Our cricket nut brought up another instance of a writer willing to eat his words before Frith Henry Blofeld the English writer and commentator known for spotting earrings among women spectators in cricket matches at Sharjah was in Australia to cover the 198081 season which featured India and New Zealand as visiting teams After the first India v Australia Test at Sydney went Australiarsquos way both teams continued the Test series contest at the Adelaide Oval known as a batting paradise Hence Blofeld predicted that the Test would end in a drawYes there were a lot of runs scored in the first innings by both sides but the game ended in a thrilling draw with Karsan Ghavri 7 runs in 36 balls and Shivlal Yadav 0 in 28 balls holding fort as Indiarsquos ninth wicket pairldquoBlofeld who brought his bowler hat to the ground on the last day waited with bated breath with plate salt and pepper fork and knife in front of him as the Indian batsmen played out the last few agonising momentsrdquo reported Sportsweek magazine Blofeld would love the taste of this recallA dream comes into bloomNancy Tyagi at the Cannes Film FestivalSocial mediarsquos favourite fashion designer Nancy Tyagi returned to the Cannes Film Festival this week in a selfdesigned gown ldquoThe inspiration was a flower mdash soft elegant and full of liferdquo Tyagi said ldquoIrsquove always loved flowers not just for how beautiful they are but for what they represent growth grace and individualityrdquo She added that she wanted the gown to feel like a blooming moment something delicate yet bold much like how she felt walking the red carpet ldquoI really hope that when girls and women see me at an event like this they feel a sense of possibility that they realise no dream is too far if you stay true to who you are and keep showing uprdquo Tyagi addsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params