Free flying
Seagulls fly over the waters of Gorai Creek, and give us something to awe over.
Opera with a raga twist
Hindustani classical vocalist Mahesh Kale will be performing at NMACC
Hindustani classical vocalist Mahesh Kale will take the stage at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) tonight with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra.
The full Western symphonic ensemble along with Hindustani classical vocals, makes this a rare moment where two vastly different musical traditions meet. For both, the collaboration has required a fundamental shift in approach. “The biggest challenge is that Western classical music heavily relies on the score, and Indian classical music heavily relies on spontaneity,” says Kale. He explains that he had to work to find a centre point where his improvisation does not bother the orchestra’s score, and vice-versa. “And I think we were successful in solving it,” he says. For Kale, the performance is part of his larger mission to expand the audience for Indian classical music. “When the young audience picks up and follows a certain kind of music, it gives a new lease of life.”
Where science meets spiritual inquiry
At the welcome dinner of Global Economic Cooperation 2026 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, the tone briefly shifts from balance sheets to being. In a special dialogue titled Cosmos, motivational speaker and spiritual guru Palga Rinpoche invites the audience to consider what remains unanswered in an age of AI, quantum physics and deep-space telescopes.
The welcome dinner of Global Economic Cooperation 2026 was focused on merging science with spirituality. PIC/TANISHA BANERJEE
Rinpoche is quick to clarify that this is not a rejection of science. “I’m a science buff and I love astronomy,” he says, musing about the Big Bang and the atoms that make us. But, he adds, “science is limited to research, instrument, and analysis. They can only answer so much about this world.” The deeper questions — what we are, where we are, what preceded the cosmic beginning — inevitably push beyond measurement.
Palga Rinpoche
For him, the divergence lies in direction. “In the scientific approach it is mostly towards the external; in spirituality it is more towards the internal.” Scientific endeavour, he suggests, is collective and connective. The spiritual journey is personal. “Some things cannot be translated with words. It can only be experienced personally.”
A night out on the town
On a random Wednesday when a friend calls up this writer to go out for drinks, we think, “You’re only 21 once”. And so we end up on the famous Road 3 in Khar, just outside the station that is lined with bars. The bars are full with young people dancing and singing their hearts out. In the middle of the work week, when most of us dread a hangover the next day, those out with me that night are proof that no matter how busy you are, Mumbai makes time for you to have fun. How nice it is to be in the city that never sleeps! As the clock hits midnight, we spill out of the bar and a kind gentleman greets us. “It’s my best friend’s birthday today. Here’s some cake,” he said, an offer that put a smile on all our faces.
Muzumdar’s soaks in Bradman history in Bowral
Amol Muzumdar sits at the feet of Sir Don Bradman’s statue. PIC COURTESY/INSTAGRAM
The most hailed cricket coach in the country, Amol Muzumdar (after guiding the women’s cricket team to their incredible ODI World Cup win last year) is in Australia for a series against the feisty hosts. The Mumbaikar pounced on the opportunity to visit Bowral, New South Wales, the place where Sir Donald Bradman spent his childhood before Adelaide became his next home. Muzumdar lapped up the exhibits and history material at the Bradman museum and marvelled at the cricket icon’s statue. He was proud to post pictures of his visit on his Instagram account. “Childhood dream... read, heard, watched videos, and now to actually go to the revered place to see the great man’s statue and museum [is] just amazing,” wrote Muzumdar. We wonder if he picked up some souvenirs to make the trip all the more unforgettable.
This garden is a green-spiration
The garden nurtured with Tender Loving Care
In Mumbai, where every square foot is precious, a garden is a true luxury, deserving of respect, reverence and generous doses of Tender Loving Care (TLC). That is exactly what Worli resident Douglas Saldhana has created in his MIG Adarsh Nagar home near Worli Seaface: a lush, lovingly tended green retreat that has just been recognised as the “Best Medium Sized Garden in Mumbai” by the National Society of the Friends of the Trees.
Douglas receiving the award from art historian Pheroza Godrej with his gardeners Bambam (l) and Susheel (extreme right)
For Saldhana, known to friends as “Douggie”, the garden is his “little oasis of peace and calm,” he said. “I spend ensure plants get the right amount of water, sunlight and, most importantly, a healthy dose of love.” He calls it his therapy and his “greenspiration”, a living space that restores his energy in the middle of Mumbai’s relentless pace. Reflecting on his award, Saldhana said, “I am heartened by the growing go-green awareness in the city.”
* This article was originally published here
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