Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Bhidu, Haath mila
While Jackie Shroff chats with a fan at the international airport, another one seems unaffected by the star, and chooses to click a selfie of himself instead. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

Milind is in tune with Sharon
It's no secret - especially after this newspaper had revealed the story about how he wowed legendary blues musician Buddy Guy with his guitar skills – that politician Milind Deora is also an accomplished musician. He's in fact so good that he even had his own band called Tightrope while in Delhi many years ago, and now, after shifting back to Mumbai, has another act called Third Degree that plays the occasional gig. It came as no surprise that when he was at the SoBo Fest held at World Trade Centre over the weekend, he did another impromptu musical turn. This time, it was with veteran singer Sharon Prabhakar, who pulled him up on stage during her performance. And did Deora disappoint? Not at all, going by the clip we heard of him strumming his stuff. Now, if only more netas were as cool as him.

The 'appropriate' dress code
A couple of years ago, the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) had relaxed its Derby dress up code; in fact, had relaxed the formal dressing code for all classic races, in a bid to ensure more people come racing to Mahalaxmi. After Mr. Scruffy ruled at the racecourse, the dress code is back. It does not get more spiffy that the Derby to be run at Mahalaxmi on February 3. This will be strictly enforced; we are told, especially, for the gentlemen while the women are expected to dress 'appropriately'. Here's a glimpse of the rulebook. Men must choose from the options: i) Shoes, trousers, and shirt (tucked in) with a tie; ii) Shoes, trousers, shirt and jacket or blazer (with or without tie); iii) Safari suit; iv) National dress (chudidar kurta with appropriate footwear, or dhoti and shirt-coat) In fact, very many years ago, the race club used to release advertisements in race books and newspapers about the dress code for the Derby. The ad would begin with listing all the options for the gentlemen, and one line at the end for the ladies that read: 'Ladies can wear anything except beachwear.'

Sahil's spicy meme
"UK needs to tell us what they want, what they really, really want," said Margaritis Schinas, chief EU Commission spokeperson at a Brexit press conference last week, referencing the 1996 hit Spice Girls song Wannabe.

And of course the Internet got into a tizzy, and several memes were shared online. The latest to jump on the bandwagon was Mumbai-based comedian and co-founder of East India Comedy Sahil Shah - who undoubtedly was the wittiest of them all.

United for harmony
Tomorrow is Martyr's Day, and organisations from Delhi including Anhad and India Inclusive, and those from Mumbai such as the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism and the People's Union for Civil Liberties Maharashtra have joined hands to organise a convention on non-violence and harmony. The event being held at the Sophia Bhabha Auditorium will include retired Supreme Court judge Justice Chelameswar, actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar, former DG, Bureau of Police Research and Development Meeran Borwankar and lyricist Javed Akhtar as speakers. Eminent writer Nayantara Sahgal (in pic), who recently cancelled her visit to the city after a Marathi literary meet withdrew its invite to her, will also speak at the event. There will be performances by Dolly Thakore, Imaad Shah and Vasu Primlani.

Tales of Home
Reading a good book always feels like a warm hug with words - the kind you get from family. And going in with the same spirit, an anthology featuring the best works by performing arts collective Kommune will be published by Amazon Kindle India Direct Publishing, an e-book publishing unit, and further details about the release will be announced next week. Themed around family, the anthology will be edited by Tess Joseph, the director of Kommune, who has compiled a set of 12 stories, which include her own. "I've settled on a dozen because it feels like a number that's complete within itself. The process was very easy. Publishing is often associated with letters of rejection, but here no one is throwing your book out of the window," the casting director told this diarist. The e-commerce website also has an ongoing contest till February 9, where writers can submit their unpublished novel, short stories or poetry in English, Hindi or Tamil and stand a chance to win a cash prize.

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