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Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

In susegad mode

As a group hogs past, a young man takes a break at a Powai playground. 

Just arrived: A diplomat's new year gift

German Ambassador to India, Walter Lindner, celebrated NYE in Sam Sand Dunes in Jaisalmer. Before leaving for his mini vacation, the rockstar ambassador announced the release of his latest album on social media.

In October last year, it was no more a secret that the diplomat is also a gifted musician, when he performed the Winds of Change for German Unity Day. Titled, Symphonic Sketches, every instrument in the album is played on his Kurzweil, Roland, Doepfer and Nord keyboards. In the post, Lindner said, "This is my second release while in Delhi, even though work on the 18 pieces began two years ago. Beautiful symphonic compositions, all played and recorded at Tucan Records Studio. Hope you like it."

Sydney can't always be the finale host!


The Sydney Cricket Ground. Pic/Clayton Murzello

Sydney usually hosts the last Test of a series in Australia, especially Ashes contests. And, had it not been for the pandemic, the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) would have been the venue for Test No. 4 in this edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well. Somehow, India have not played all their final Tests of various series Down Under in Sydney. When they won their one and only Test at the SCG (in 1978-77), it was in the penultimate tussle of the series. The same venue was the rubber-opener in 1980-81 which India lost before the scoreline ended up 1-1 in Melbourne. The 1991-92 series-finale was in Perth, not the NSW ground, while the second Test of the 2007-08 series was held in Sydney - the famous Monkeygate Test. The same schedule was followed in 2011-12. So while next week's Test at Sydney also departs from tradition, it's going to be a mighty battle.

It's raining men all of this year

We're all familiar with calendars featuring sultry bikini-clad models, but photographer Amit Khanna's new calendar will have none of that. Featuring men from diverse fields, it has LGBTQi activist and singer Sushant Divgikar, dancer-choreographer Terence Lewis and hairstylist Amit Thakur. "While there has been increasing discourse about women's issues, I felt we are we are were forgetting the men. All enders require equal attention. We need to voice the pressures that men experience in society. Hence, the idea of an-all male calendar. Societal conventions demand that men stay emotionless if they are to be a symbol of masculinity. But you can be tough and sensitive," says Khanna.

Rohan's got something to say

Bandra boy Rohan Mazumdar, once the lead singer of Mumbai band The Colour Compound, dropped a single on December 31. Titled I See Fire, the song is a comment on the protests and goings-on of the last year. The feel is of a rock song meets anthem, and Mazumdar's vocals are strong and clear. "In the initial part of the lockdown, I was just super overwhelmed by all that was going on. From our lives coming to a halt due to the pandemic, to seeing the plight of migrant workers, I found myself stuck in an unhealthy spiral, mentally and physically, till I realised that the change needed to happen inside me. So, I decided to get healthy again and do that thing I do, that makes everything better, which is to turn how I feel into a song," he says about the inception of the song. It's been three days since the song released and it's already getting decent traction. "When in the chorus, I sing, 'I hear it gets better', it doesn't necessarily mean that things will do a full 180. Instead, it's us who can make that change. We can roll with the punches and make the most of what is," he says.

Moving beyond IIM spiritually

As we leave behind, what in many ways has been a challenging year, most of us are looking inwards for answers. In this journey comes a book titled 7 Divine Laws To Awaken Your Best Self, by Swami Mukundananda, published by Harper Collins. Now, the journey of Swami Mukundananda in itself is an interesting one. Having had what's probably still considered the best education in India, the IIT-IIM graduate turned to spirituality to find his true self. "After the course I worked for a few months, but the call of God was so great that I gave up everything and took sanyas." It was after five years of travelling across India, staying at a number of monasteries and meeting several teachers, that he found his guru, Shri Kripaluji Maharaj, and another part of his spiritual journey began.

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