On the stage at the majestic Royal Opera House, artistes take their seat in a semicircle for what is an unusual gathering. At the centre is British radio and television presenter Nikki Bedi, who, along with familiarising her guests with the flow of the show is also breaking the ice between participants. They are here to record The Arts Hour, a BBC radio production that goes on a tour once a month to capture the best in arts across the world. The Mumbai edition airs today.

Actor Bhumi Pednekar (with Nikki Bedi to her right) calls out the boors behind Padmavati protests. Pics/Pic/Bipin Kokate

In the city on the evening of November 22, the researchers have picked six artistes who they feel best represent the dynamic cultural scene of the city. Flanking Bedi are film critic and director of the Mumbai Film Festival Anupama Chopra, and actor Bhumi Pednekar. Seated next to them are stand-up comedian, screenwriter and novelist Anuvab Pal, and Shamir Reuben, head of content and social media at the spoken word collective, Kommune. On either side of the stage, fine-tuning their arrangements are the popular Hindi rock ensemble Anand Bhaskar Collective and pop duo from Kolkata — with a big fan following in Mumbai — Parekh & Singh in signature fruity suits. "The show is a way of seeing a people and their culture, and understanding their politics and issues through the prism of art. Stand-up comedy and spoken word are burgeoning fields in Mumbai. There is also a sea change in the kind of subjects that Indian cinema is choosing. Issues like sanitation, erectile dysfunction and fat shaming are not just making it to film, they are also managing to attract audiences into theatres," says Bedi about why it was a good time to come to Mumbai.

Nischay Parekh readies to perform the band's hit song

For this edition's research, Bedi, who was born a Moolgaokar and has roots in Mumbai, played the fact checker for producer Nicki Paxman along with providing other insider inputs. A regular feature of the show, The Culture Cab, involves the presenter hailing a cab with an artiste who then takes her around the city to explore it like a local. Though her Mumbai guide was Pal, with whom she explored the splash of global colours at the ongoing Sassoon Docks art project and the murals of Bandra, Bedi shared her favourite part of the city with him, too — Walkeshwar's Banganga.

Throughout the recording that lasted two and a half hours, the team's homework kept the conversation alive and relevant. Bedi, a natural at hosting, puts her guests at ease. It comes across in Pednekar's candour, who minces no words when asked about the ongoing controversy around Padmavati. "You know, these are people who don't give a s**t about history," she says, a word Paxman gets politely replaced at the end of the show with the milder "damn". Bedi then moves on to ask Pal and Reuben if comedy and spoken word have become popular for similar reasons and how social media has played a part. With artistes as guests, each segment packs in a performance. While Pal's jibes about SoBo residents have the audience in splits, Reuben's poetry moves many to tears. Vocalist Nischay Parekh of Parekh & Singh shares the inspiration behind their music video with a million hits, I Love You Baby, I Love You Doll, before performing it, and Anand Bhaskar shares why all his compositions are in Hindi before segueing the show to its end with a rendition of Fanaa.

An audience member comments about the need to see more everyday people in films

Rahul Baswani, who came to know of the show through Pal's tweet, is happy to have made it in the audience. "I listen to a lot of podcasts. So, the most fascinating bit for me was towards the end when they did the retakes," he says. In the green room, mutual understanding and fandom fill the air. "At the end of the day, we are all artistes, and we could feel the synergy and a shared language throughout," says Parekh, who has just promised Pal that he'll be there for his Kolkata gig the next day, even as Pal admits that the music duo is everything he would have wanted to be as a 27-year-old.

The sound engineers at work

Chopra, on the other hand, is happy that the show recognises the power of Indian cinema and how it is evolving. "Outside India, there is a fixed notion of what Bollywood is. But there is a different language [spoken] now, which most people don't know of. I am hoping that the show will communicate that." For Reuben, it has been a platform for artistic exchange. "The beauty of tonight was people might have come to watch comedy and they learnt a bit about spoken word. Or that they wanted to hear a poem and they left with music," he says. "For the BBC to say that there is something stirring in Mumbai is a statement."

It's painfully humiliating for a 12-year-old to stand before his class during an extempore speech and fumble over words. The derision that one might invite can cripple an adolescent's confidence. But, it can also teach the child to face his demons, participate again in the same competition the next year, and then go on to win the district finals for three straight years representing his institution, which, in Siddhant Sharma's case, was a boarding school in Kurseong.

Siddhant Sharma

Ten years after that incident, Sharma has emerged as this season's winner of The Stage, a reality show that promotes western musical talent in India. This, though, was his second shot at the title, after he was unable to get past the auditions last year. Failure, in other words, seems to have been the singer's constant companion, only for him to climb every mountain that crops up in his path. "I am actually a man made of failure, so it doesn't scare me," he tells us over the phone, having just landed in Mumbai from Kolkata. He adds, "Even in life, a lot of things that I have expected haven't happened. Not all of us grow up in the greatest of situations, but the worst thing a rocker can do is give up. [Rock music] is about fighting failures. So, if I can do it in life, music and competitions are nothing for me to handle."

Those are strong words for a 22-year-old to utter. But Sharma comes across as someone who has truly internalised the rock 'n' roll philosophy of facing adversity with a show-me-what-you've-got swagger. He gives us an example of what that means when he says, "I have a friend who would party all the time and only listen to electronic music. She would never attend live concerts. After a bad phase, she started listening to Pink Floyd, and now she is more of a rocker [in persona] than I am, with all her locks chopped off. I mean, there was a guy who cheated on her, and she's like, 'You think I am going to cry? No. I don't give a f*ck about you or your existence.' That's rock."

One of the biggest adversities that Sharma himself faced was when his parents separated over a decade ago, a fact he had revealed in one of the later episodes of the competition. Talking about that difficult phase, he says, "I'm not a guy who speaks a lot and I anyway didn't want to trouble my mother with all of that. So, I ended up keeping things inside me, which wasn't a good thing since I developed serious anger issues. But art has always helped me. I was a painter and then I got into music, and that just let me be who I am."

Who he is now, having won the show, involves signing a contract with MTV and being flown around the country for concerts. The limelight is well and truly on him and yet, he keeps emphasising how failure is the clay that moulds a person's character. "Do you consider the people who have not got the trophy to be losers?" he asks us, before answering, "No, they are not. You never know, tomorrow they might be working in much bigger places and doing way better stuff than I am. The thing is, you have to be satisfied with doing what you're doing and yet keep trying to be better than who you are. That's really all."

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On a Wednesday morning, the cottages that line St Roques Road in Bandra bask in the winter sun. The lane is quiet, except for the occasional bark of a pet or scooters zooming off into the nearby Ranwar village. As a taxi driver wipes the dust off his kaali peeli, Jay Weinstein approaches him with a camera in tow. He doesn't ask for his name, ethnicity or life story; only for a couple of photographs. Seeing him puzzled, the Australian-origin photographer breaks into crisp Hindi, "Main kahin bhi jaata hoon, anjaane logon ki tasveer banata hoon [Wherever I go, I make images of strangers]."

Hearing the familiar language, the driver is game to play the subject. First, he's asked to wipe the expression off his face and stand next to his cab. Satisfied with the shot, Weinstein tells him, "Ab muskuraiye [now smile]," and captures his wide grin on camera. The interaction lasts only for a few minutes but we spot the driver smiling even after Weinstein's DSLR is back in his bag.

Jay Weinstein documents  the smile of a taxi driver in Bandra. Pics/Bipin Kokate

This connection forms the essence of the 38-year-old's ongoing photography project, So I Asked Them to Smile (SIATS). Over the last two years, Weinstein has shared 250 portrait pairs - non-smiling and smiling frames of kids and adults from all walks of life - on digital platforms. Next week, he will display 30 most compelling frames for the first time at an exhibition.

The photographer shows the images he takes to each subject

The backstory
It was a trip to Bikaner in 2013 that gave birth to this project. When Weinstein raised the camera to photograph a man with a wispy beard, he was greeted with a stern look. Miffed, he turned away, only to hear the man urging him to take his picture. "We make judgments about strangers in binaries as friendly-unfriendly or good-bad. These are rarely accurate. The idea is to change the way we view a stranger, and see how their smile changes our assumptions," says the US-born photographer, who spent his growing up years in Vrindavan, studied recreational sports coaching in Australia and returned to Mumbai in 2004 to pursue acting.

"He was jumping around in the water with a friend one afternoon, as I wandered down Juhu Beach," says the photographer

Soon, he ventured into advertising, and rekindled his love for travel and photography. "It gave me a reason to notice things that we walk past, and start conversations with strangers," says Weinstein, who considers the art meditative. "The calmer you are, the more of the outside world you notice."

"She was exploring the stunningly restored Kaiyuan temple complex one evening, with her daughter in Quanzhou, Fujian, China"

Say cheese
For the last few years, he has turned a full-time traveller and spends most of his time in India. "I love Mumbai but when you step out, you realise how different the rest of India is," shares Weinstein, who has visited Meghalaya, the interiors of Maharashtra, Orchha in Madhya Pradesh and the coast of Kerala, where he found his subjects to be camera-shy. "In rural areas, I also had to translate 'smile' as 'daat dikhaao' since they don't understand the meaning of muskurana."

Language also poses a barrier in non-English speaking countries. "In China, instead of 'say cheese', they say 'chetz', which means eggplant," he laughs. What's the next country on his wishlist? "Pakistan. The project's initial followers were Pakistanis. I assumed they wouldn't be happy seeing these photographs but realised where else would they have seen images of Indians as humans, without an agenda. Indians don't get to see their photographs this way either."

From: December 20 to 26, 11 am to 7 pm
At: Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda
Call: 8828472412

Go click-happy here
>> Homi Modi Street in Fort
>> Industrial estates in Lower Parel 
>> Village neighbourhoods like Chuim and Chimbai in Bandra West

Portrait-making tips
While there is enough information about how to get your technique right, I'd suggest you interact with your subjects and treat them with dignity

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Moshe Holtzberg praying with the Rabbi at Chabad House on Wednesday. Oren Rosenfeld, Israeli documentary maker, who flew with the family to Mumbai from Tel Aviv on Tuesday says the 11-year-old is aware of his past and what it represents. Pic Courtesy/Oren Rosenfeld

It's nearing 4.30 pm, and there's much activity at the Magen David Synagogue in Byculla. Carpets are being laid out and guests who will probably have to wait long are being offered tea and coffee. There's a lawn outside where - with the sun not at its shiniest best thanks to Mumbai's faux winter - a few tables and chairs have been laid out with white satin sheets that the brain registers as celebratory. In the midst of the activity, avoiding the scaffolds that still line the freshly painted blue walls of the 154-year-old synagogue, stands Devina Sankar, a Los Angeles resident who is in Mumbai on a three-week vacation. Looking into a Sony PXW-X70 handycam, she reminisces her school days spent next-door, where as a naughty student she'd often have her ears twisted. It elicits a sound of surprise from the man behind the camera, Oren Rosenfeld. An Israeli filmmaker, in India to document Mumbai's Jewish community, Rosenfeld is collecting several such accounts of the Jewish community's India experience.

In between interviews with his subjects, primarily Eddna Samuel (a Parel resident who Rosenfeld poetically calls the needle through which he will thread the narrative of his feature-length documentary), he points out that the synagogue, which is currently being prepped for the launch of a monthly magazine celebrating India-Israel ties and the Jewish community here titled, Namaste Shalom, is a Baghdadi-Jew synagogue. It's a community that most recall for its best-known Mumbai member, David Sassoon. "What's interesting here is that the Baghdadi Jews and Bene-Israelis [Jewish settlers in India who trace their history to the Lost Tribes] have come together. There are certain prayers in Judaism that cannot be conducted if there are less than 10 men. So, to fulfill that requirement, the Bene-Israelis come over to Baghdadi synagogues to up numbers," he adds.

Rosenfeld meets Baby Moshe's uncle Moshe Holtzberg at the Nariman Point home of common friend Suril Desai, also executive producer of the Mumbai Jews documentary. Moshe Senior, a Rabbi, lives in New York, and has flown in for the three-day visit of the family to Chabad House which he worked to ensure was not shut down. Rosenfeld says that while members of the Chabad House usually don’t mingle with other Jewish communities, the 26/11 attacks changed that in Mumbai, achieving the opposite. Pics/Atul Kamble

The timing of the magazine's launch, admits Rosenfeld, couldn't have been better. While the media seems to have almost given this a miss, just a few kilometres away Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu are setting the stage for better economic and strategic ties between the two countries at Colaba's Hotel Taj Mahal Palace. "But, I don't think they planned it that way."

Almost as if answering a question unasked, Rosenfeld, who runs the Jerusalem-based Holy Land Productions and has worked on projects for the BBC and National Geographic, says "I don't need to be there [i.e. Colaba]. I already have great shots from yesterday." What Rosenfeld refers to is the almost exclusive access he enjoyed as a journalist to Baby Moshe, 11, whose parents Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and Rivka Holtzberg were killed during the terror attacks at Chabad House on November 26, 2008. Baby Moshe (referred to as such because he shares his first name with his uncle) made his first visit to Mumbai post 26/11 on Tuesday amidst much media frenzy. Rosenfeld was invited by the Holtzberg family (Gavriel and Rivka's parents) to travel with them on the flight from Tel Aviv to Mumbai last week, and later Baby Moshe's first steps into Nariman House after the time his parents were killed along with four others.

Devina Sankar, a Los Angeles resident in Mumbai on a three-week vacation, speaks to Rosenfeld outside the Magen David Synagogue in Byculla where the Namaste Shalom magazine was launched on Thursday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

On putting the boy through this, Rosenfeld says, "Baby Moshe always has his four grandparents around him. Plus, there's a psychologist who travels with him. He is showing signs of awareness of his past." Rosenfeld, who has a young son the same age as Moshe, says, "In Judaisim, a boy is said to become an adult at the age of 13, which is when the Bar Mitzvah is held. Moshe is almost that age now."

Initially, shy, Baby Moshe soon became comfortable with Rosenfeld's presence. A photograph the filmmaker picks from his iOS gallery is of the child standing before a luggage conveyor belt at Mumbai T2 alone. "He stepped away from his grandparents and waited at the carousel to pick up his heavy bag," he says, about a symbolic scene.

Chabad House, says the 41-year-old filmmaker, across the world has represented a community that has stood away from local communities. "They are more traditional and have stricter kosher rules." What the Mumbai attacks did, however, was to bring all of the city's Jews together. "On Tuesday, at a local Jewish community event, Moshe's grandparents were invited to speak. This [members of a Chabad House mingling] doesn't happen anywhere. If the idea of the terror attack was to shake the community, it did the opposite. It only made them stronger."

Yet, this might only inform a small part of the documentary. Had it not been for the connection between the communities forged after the attacks, the two would have been separate entities. What he is looking for is a Mumbai Jew's life in the city. "In Israel you have a lot of Jews who have come from different countries. However, the ones from India still share a deep connect with the country. They are in touch with their families and return here for vacations."

The travel back and forth is important. Samuel, when the camera is turned away from her, expresses how a multi-entry visa would help everyone. But that's for the PMs' ears. For Rosenfeld's camera, she talks about the excitement of seeing an article, on her life and her community, appearing in Namaste Shalom. And, when that's done, Rosenfeld disappears into the sidelines and records the rest of the evening. A coffee he was drinking is hastily put to rest on the floor as a BJP dignitary he probably doesn't recognise makes a late entry.

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Even before the term globalisation was coined, the city of Mumbai had neighbourhoods that were multicultural and yet lived in complete harmony. Director-actor Akshay Shimpi's upcoming play Mumbai – The City United, cashes on that beautiful diversity that has now become the nerve of the city. Shimpi says, "As an artist and Mumbaikar, we love this city. It inspires us. Many artists have expressed how the city has served as their muse. Their love has found shape in their respective art form. We have compiled their literature, poems, articles, paintings, plays and songs in this play as a tribute to our beloved city." The play has stitched together songs, skits and readings of stories from the glorious past of the city's literature.

Shimpi and his team acquired works of renowned artists in various languages. When asked why he chose to go with a multilingual play, he says, "Thanks to its cosmopolitan nature, Mumbai, over the years, has developed its own language. In fact, it has its own dialect, and there's also Hindi, which is spoken across the country. Using multiple languages was one way to reflect the true spirit of the city."

Shimpi and Dhanashree Khandkar who have written and performed the play

The cast will be performing songs by yesteryear folk artists such as Vasant Bapat, Anna Bhau Sathe, Patthe Bapu Rao to name a few. Their songs talk about various historical movements in the city such as the shutting down of mills, for instance. These verses have been woven into the script that touches upon the culinary and architectural heritage, festivals and even the city's underbelly.

Shimpi believes that Mumbai is so vast and varied, everyone has a different interpretation of what the city means to them. As for him, he says, "Whenever I'm asked to describe the city, I take reference from the folktale where seven blind men were asked to describe an elephant. For someone, it was a long tube (trunk) while for someone else it was a curtain like a flap (ear). For me, Mumbai is that elephant's stomach. It is so big that it can always accommodate everyone."

When: January 27, 7 pm
Where: Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh, Charni Road, Kele Wadi, Girgaon
Entry: Rs 150
Call: 9619336336

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Nupur Dhingra Paiva with daughters Tara, 9, and Isabelle, 6. Pic/Shadab Khan

When five-year-old Armaan walked into child psychotherapist Nupur Dhingra Paiva's clinic, her impression about the kid, whose shoulders were hunched over, was that he was "weighed down by something significant". Armaan's mother would later tell her how he felt unloved, wanted to run away from home and even shoot himself. But, it wasn't until Armaan's father joined the therapist and his wife for chat, an hour later, that Paiva noticed something alter in the child. The kid slowly crawled into his father's lap, and curled up there like a little prawn, Paiva recounted. That the child was craving for his dad's attention was a given.

Vignettes like these form the crux of Paiva's new book, Love and Rage: The Inner Worlds of Children (Yoda Press), where she breaks down conversations she has had in her healing room with both parents and children, to reiterate how love and affection is central to influencing a child's personality. "I felt an urgent need to communicate with the world that what comes into our consulting room is not crazy or bizarre -it is the stuff of ordinary life - ordinary conflicts, struggles and joys. And that mental health distress in adolescence and adulthood is almost entirely based on early life experience, from conception onwards," says the Delhi-based clinical psychologist, of why she wrote the book. "Adults who are interacting with children, as parents, teachers or carers, are sometimes far removed from the lived experience of the child. They become task focussed and outcome oriented - it becomes a lot about achievement, growth and the end result of happiness," she adds. In doing so, Paiva says that people forget "that the growth of the personality is a complex, slow process that needs nurturing".

Here, Paiva, who is also mother to two daughters, offers an "only love-not rage" guide.

>> It takes two
When a child is angry with one parent, it helps to have an available alternative. I have to add that I am not necessarily talking about the heteronormative two parents - male-female couple. Children need a diversity of responsible caregivers, someone who will take it upon themselves to keep the child's emotional needs in mind. The role of mother and father is about a mental attitude, the function they play for the child. It does not have to be a biological parent.

>> We need daddy
Often women find it difficult to let men get involved in caregiving tasks like feeding, bathing and putting to sleep. When a child has emotional access to their fathers, the diversity of experience offers them a wider range of seeing how to live in the world, because men and women live in the world quite differently. Just as an involved father gives a son a sense of someone to look up to, he gives a daughter an experience of being loved and valued - something she will carry with herself into future relationships with men.

>> Prep for school
The first couple of years of kindergarten are not about learning shapes or the alphabet, it is about learning to separate from home. It is a physical/emotional wrench, leaving safety and going to another space - one that can be fun and engaging, provided we can get over the fear of separating from the people we feel safe around. Once children are helped to adapt to this huge change, they can get on with learning. Otherwise, anxiety hampers learning for years afterwards.

Start early with picture story-books or perhaps even a visit to the school for the child to see what it looks like a month or so before the emotional temperature rises in April. Be prepared for repetition for as every parent of a young child knows, once is never enough. Stories that matter the most must be repeated endlessly, without variation so that they can sink in. The story of how everyone leaves home and goes to school is of central emotional import. In fact, it is a rite of passage.

>> Play hard
Using our bodies is a release for everything - anger, anxiety and other feelings - that get stuck in our muscles. In the emphasis on growing children's minds [or getting them to finish homework and projects], we forget about how important it is to be using their bodies. Children are calmer and more attentive, when they have had an experience of using their muscles in activity, especially free play.

>> It's okay to cry
Never tell a child not to cry. All children cry, for all sorts of things, so it is important to first figure out what the crying is trying to communicate. Simply telling a child to stop crying without first trying to understand what is under it, will damage their relationship with you. If the crying is because of sadness, then telling them to stop crying is plain selfish. We do it because we can't bear their expression of sadness. It is far healthier to accept that they are sad, and give them a hug. This kind of acceptance lets them know that while nothing can be done about it, at least their experience is being validated and acknowledged.

>> Don't ignore
Ignoring feelings teaches your child that you don't particularly care for his feelings, just his actions or his/her compliance. This only ensures that the feelings will reappear in a form that is harder to link to its source. In other words, the child will use a defence in order to deal with a feeling, and the anxiety its presence creates.

>> Keep it real
I am not advising that people deny that they also can get angry with their children. "Only love" is not a reality. My aim is to be real with my relationships, including my children. So, I freely express affection - lots of hugs and physical warmth, an hour at bedtime talking about their day and their worries. I also freely express disapproval or annoyance. I explain, and negotiate. As a result, I have very opinionated children who are expressive and open, including about their anger with me or their father. We accept it as real and engage with it as much as is possible at the time.

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Shawna Pandya

While the world is already counting Dr Shawna Pandya in the league of Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams, the lady in question feels it's all "a bit premature".

Canadian scientist and astronaut, Dr Pandya, is known for her work as part of Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) candidate with project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) and PHEnOM (Physiology, Health and Environmental Observations and Microgravity) that she has been pursuing for two years now to understand several aspects of outer space, ranging from cloud formation to physiology and microgravity. She was one of the two candidates to be shortlisted from 3,200 people enrolled in the CSA programme.

While she has been working extensively in the field of outer space, and has in the past even worked with NASA, she clarifies that there has been "no announcement, flight assignment or selection of missions" [scheduled to take flight] yet. They will soon head off to a Mars simulation for two weeks though, that will help them prepare better for the mission, as and when it happens.

In a telephonic interview from Canada, where Dr Pandya is based, she tells us, "We are still developing our science and our mission. Our programme has done a phenomenal job of recruiting great candidates regardless of gender, ethnicity and country of origin. In fact, India has better representation in PoSSUM now. It is interesting that there is so much international representation in space programmes. It's not a competition to say, 'I will be the first such and such...' It's only about working with the passion and excitement."

Pandya is now part of a show on Sony BBC Earth titled Astronauts — Toughest Job In The Universe. Ask her what makes her job the toughest and she says, "I think everyone is serious and passionate about their job and consider it the toughest in the universe. This job, however, requires a tremendous amount of dedication and time. It's team-based and there is much risk involved. You cannot afford to let anyone down and that really raises the stakes."

Ever since she was a child, Pandya had been fascinated by space. "I remember when I was in grade seven, I'd read books on astronomy and the universe. I think that's where it all began for me," says the 33-year-old, who works as a general physician. When it comes to the areas that she has dabbled in, it's an extensive laundry list. From a black belt in Taekwondo to baseball, to motivational speaking, to walking the ramp and crooning as an opera singer, Pandya seems to have done it all. Ask her how does she pack in so much, and she says, "When I am asked this, I tell people, 'relax, I'm not doing all this in the same 24-hour period'. The trick is to prioritise what you do with your time, line up goals, set deadlines for yourself and act accordingly."

Pandya shares a deep connect with Mumbai and tries to visit the city once every five years. The last time she was here was last February. "I have most of my extended family here, my uncles, cousins and up until recently, my grandmother. There's no other city in the world like Mumbai, for me. There's so much going on here all the time but there's always something that comes out of the constant commotion. This city is always home away from home for me."

Also Read: Virender Sehwag Pays Heartwarming Tribute To Astronaut Kaplana Chawla

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Representational picture

Mangoes can be used for skin and hair in several ways as they are loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, all of which are good for the skin. Here are some amazing skin and hair benefits of mangoes.

Helps get a glowing skin: Mangoes are loaded with beta-carotene and Vitamin A. For a glowing skin, smear mango pulp on your face and leave it on for 30 minutes. Beta-carotene and Vitamin A present in mango help to revive the dull skin and turn your skin into a radiant one.

Helps fight acne: The beta-carotene in mango helps fight acne. The best time to apply mango pulp is at night. Apply a handful of mango pulp at night and keep it for an hour. Wash your face before going off to sleep. Alternately, boil a raw mango until the water is reduced to half. Use this water as facial astringent for drying up acne naturally. Use the mango astringent regularly on your face to get rid of acne, pimples and scars.

Helps get a fair skin: Beta-carotene in mangoes has a strong anti aging effect. In addition, Vitamin C in mangoes helps rest down collagen. Mangoes are a great way to reduce dark spots, freckles, acne scars and pigmentation. Apply mango pulp during summer to get a clear and fair skin that is free of blemishes, wrinkles, scars and acne.

Acts as a great exfoliating agent: Mango pulp when applied on skin along with glycerine or honey, helps to exfoliate dead skin cells. This, in turn, results in a smooth and glowing skin. Mix one spoon of mango pulp with one spoon of raw milk and two spoons of honey. Rub the paste on your face gently to remove blackheads and whiteheads. You can use mango scrub for removing dead skin cells and bring back the natural glow.

Acts as a natural peel off mask: We are aware of chemical peel off masks available in the market and their benefits on skin. Raw mango pulp is high in AHA (alpha hydroxyl acid) and Vitamin C, both of which are excellent peeling agents. Vitamin A does wonders to your skin and its deficiency can cause dullness, result in open pores as well as lead to eruptions on the arms, elbows and knees.

It is beneficial for hair: The seed of mango (soft part after breaking the outer hard seed) when kept in oil (any) for few days, and then applied, helps you to get rid of grey hair and prevents hair loss. When the same is mixed with fenugreek and yogurt, it serves as an excellent home remedy for dandruff.

Helps to form happy hormone: Mangoes contain a lot of tryptophan, which helps in the formation of the ‘happiness-hormone’ serotonin. A rise in happy hormone automatically cheers you up and brings back the natural glow on your face. Mango is thus called a happy fruit.
With inputs from Dr Apratim Goel, of Cutis Skincare Studio

Also Read: Mumbai Food: 8 Delicious Mango Dishes You Must Try During Summer

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Representational picture

Washington D.C.: When eating an apple can save you from a doctor then consuming an egg will significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, including China, mostly due to ischaemic heart disease and stroke (including both haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke).

Unlike ischaemic heart disease, which is the leading cause of premature death in most Western countries, stroke is the most responsible cause in China, followed by heart disease.

Eggs are a prominent source of dietary cholesterol, but they also contain high-quality protein, many vitamins and bioactive components such as phospholipids and carotenoids.

Previous studies looking at associations between eating eggs and impact on health have been inconsistent, and most of them found insignificant associations between egg consumption and coronary heart disease or stroke.

Therefore, a team of researchers from China and the UK led by Professor Liming Li and Dr Canqing Yu from the School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Center, set out to examine the associations between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, major coronary events, haemorrhagic stroke and ischaemic stroke.

They used data from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study, an ongoing prospective study of around half a million (512,891) adults aged 30 to 79 from 10 different geographical areas in China.

The participants were recruited between 2004-2008 and were asked about the frequency of their egg consumption. They were followed up to determine their morbidity and mortality.

For the new study, the researchers focused on 416,213 participants who were free of prior cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.

From that group at a median follow-up of 8.9 years, a total of 83,977 cases of CVD and 9,985 CVD deaths were documented, as well as 5,103 major coronary events.

At the start of the study period, 13.1 percent of participants reported daily consumption (usual amount 0.76 egg/day) and 9.1 percent reported never or very rare consumption (usual amount 0.29 egg/day) of eggs.

Analysis of the results showed that compared with people not consuming eggs, daily egg consumption was associated with a lower risk of CVD overall.

In particular, daily egg consumers (up to one egg/day) had a 26 percent lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke - the type of stroke with a higher prevalence rate in China than in high-income countries - a 28 percent lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke death and an 18 percent lower risk of CVD death.

In addition, there was a 12 percent reduction in risk of ischaemic heart disease observed for people consuming eggs daily (estimated amount 5.32 eggs/week), when compared with the 'never/rarely' consumption category (2.03 eggs/week).

This was an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, but the authors said their study had a large sample size and took into account established and potential risk factors for CVD.

This study was published in the journal Heart.

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Food tends to spoil more quickly during the summer. It is important to pay extra attention to your food and look for unusual odour and mould before consuming it, say experts. Indrayani Pawar, team leader, dietitian team, Hinduja Healthcare Surgical and Varsha Gorey, clinical nutritionist, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai, suggest some tips:

1. Which foods spoil quickly
Foods with high moisture content and protein-based foods are easy targets for micro-organisms. Milk and milk products, raw and cooked meats and vegetables are more prone to spoilage compared to dry food items. Foods that are high in sugar, or salt or with high fat or oil content in contrast don't spoil quickly because these act as preservative agents.

Storage becomes important here - low temperatures serve to preserve these food items. One must ensure food is not kept outside for long periods of time.

2. How to identify bad food?
Spoilt food has a telling smell. Quite often, food items that look fine on the outside have mould or fungus growing inside which people don't notice. It is always better to check the food for any unusual odours and open the food item to check for unusual signs, such as stringy threadlike growth. Dairy based Indian sweets are more likely to spoil quickly compared to dry fruit and nuts based, pulse and flour based or dry coconut based sweets.

3. Eating well during the summer
Seasonal fruits and vegetables are always the best option in their respective seasons. In order to quench thirst in summer, fresh fruits and vegetables should be consumed (as they are also good in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals). Smoothies with curds, or simple buttermilk are better options than fizzy or cold drinks. Curd will help to soothe the stomach by providing probiotics and easy to digest proteins.

4. Eat safe while traveling this summer
If you're travelling long distances during the summer, it is best to carry dry foods. Nuts and oil seeds, roasted chiwdas, roasted makhana, multigrain khakaras and chikki are some examples. Kokum sherbet, aam panha, nimbu pani, buttermilk and lassi are also great for the summer.

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Consuming Mediterranean diet rich in antioxidants could reduce the adverse effects of air pollution on health. A diet which includes antioxidants present in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, olive oils, fish and poultry over red meat and processed foods, can weaken the adverse effects of exposure to high levels of air pollution, says researchers.

The study showed that people who least adhered to these antioxidant-rich foods had 17 per cent higher risk of cardiovascular disease related deaths for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in long-term average PM2.5 exposure, compared to 5 per cent in those who consumed such diet.

"Given the benefits we found of a diet high in antioxidants, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that particle air pollution caused by fossil fuel combustion adversely affects health by inducing oxidative stress and inflammation," said George Thurston from Department of Environmental Medicine at the New York University.

The study, presented at the American Thoracic Society 2018 International Conference in San Diego, included data from 548,699 participants for over a period of 17 years. They were linked to estimates of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) based on census tract information.

Deaths from all causes increased by 5 per cent for every 10 parts per billion (ppb) increase in long-term average NO2 exposure in those with least consumption of the diet as compared to 2 per cent among the people with higher consumption.

"However the diet did not appear to protect against the harmful effects of long-term exposure to O3...the ozone effect was not significantly blunted by a Mediterranean diet, so ozone apparently affects cardiac health through a different mechanism", said Thurston.

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Bandra Worli Sea Link

The eternal monument to love, the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra Worli Sea Link in Mumbai figure among the Top 10 TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice awards of 2018 for most visited and popular tourist landmarks, it was announced here on Tuesday.

The other top Indian monuments in the list of awards include: Amber Fort in Jaipur, Golden Temple of Amritsar, the Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, and Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in New Delhi, Agra Fort, and Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur.

The award winners were decided using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for landmarks worldwide over a 12-month period.

This year's TripAdvisor awards recognize 759 monuments spread in 68 countries globally, said the company's Country Manager Nikhil Ganju.

"India's landmarks as as diverse at its heritage and are among some of the most iconic structures in the world. The list presents fantastic gems ranging from poignant memorials to sheer architectural marvels that are great options for travelers," he added.

Mumbai's sole entry to the list, the RGBWSL is one of its most prominent modern landmarks and an infrastructure marvel of a cable-stayed bridge cutting through the Arabian Sea to connect Bandra with Worli.

The top 10 Travellers Choice Landmarks of Asia include: Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Taj Mahal and the Golden Temple in India, Wat Pho or Temple of Reclining Buddha in Thailand, Mutianyu Great Wall of China, Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine of Japan, Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar, Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia, and the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam.

Similarly, the Top 10 landmarks worldwide are: Angkor Wat, Plaza de Espana in Spain, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in UAE, St. Peters Basilica of The Vatican, Mesquita Cathedral de Cordoba in Spain, Taj Mahal, Duomo di Milano in Italy, Alcatraz Island and Golden Gate Bridge both in US, and the Parliament of Hungary.

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Representational Image

While Google Duplex, which lets AI mimic a human voice to make appointments and book tables through phone calls, has mesmerised people with its capabilities and attracted flak on ethical grounds at the same time, Microsoft has showcased a similar technology it has been testing in China.

At an AI event in London on Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed that the company's Xiaoice social chatbot has 500 million "friends" and more than 16 channels for Chinese users to interact with it through WeChat and other popular messaging services.

"Microsoft has turned Xiaoice, which is Chinese for 'little Bing', into a friendly bot that has convinced some of its users that the bot is a friend or a human being. Xiaoice has her own TV show, it writes poetry and it does many interesting things," The Verge quoted Nadella as saying.

Xiaoice interacts in text conversations but now the company has started allowing the chat bot to call people on their phones.

The bot does not work exactly like Google Duplex, which uses the Assistant to make calls on a user's behalf but it holds a phone conversation with the user.

"One of the things we started doing earlier this year is having full duplex conversations. So now Xiaoice can be conversing with you in WeChat and stop and call you. Then you can just talk to it using voice," Nadella was quoted as saying.

Humans will be humans and the latest victim of humankind was Microsoft.

Two years ago, Microsoft launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered bot on Twitter, named Tay, for a playful chat with people, only to silence it within 24 hours as users started sharing racist and offensive comments with the bot.

Launched as an experiment in "conversational understanding" and to engage people through "casual and playful conversation", Tay was soon bombarded with racial comments and the innocent bot repeated those comments back with her commentary to users.

Some of the tweets had Tay referring to Hitler, denying the Holocaust, and supporting Donald Trump's immigration plans, among others.

Later, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the company is taking Tay off Twitter as people were posting abusive comments to her.

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Representational Image

Brain areas that are traditionally not associated with learning science can become active when people are confronted with solving physics problems, finds a study. This shows that the brain's activity can be modified by different forms of instruction.

"The neurobiological processes that underpin learning are complex and not always directly connected to what we think it means to learn," said lead author Eric Brewe, Associate Professor at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, US.

The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in ICT, showed that newer brain regions associated with attention, working memory and problem solving -- the lateral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex, sometimes called the brain's "central executive network" - showed activity when dealing with such problems.

Another area that became active was the posterior cingulate cortex, which is linked to episodic memory and self-referential thought.

"These changes in brain activity may be related to more complex behavioural changes in how students reason through physics questions post- relative to pre-instruction," Brewe noted.

"These might include shifts in strategy or an increased access to physics knowledge and problem-solving resources," he said.

Using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure blood flow in the brain, the researchers looked to map what areas become active when completing a physics reasoning task, both before a course on the concepts and after.

A small group of students were taught a physics course that utilised "Modeling Instruction," a style of teaching which encourages students to be active participants in their learning.

"This suggests that learning physics is an imaginative process, which is not typically how people think of it," Brewe said, in reference to the study which aimed to further explore how students use their own mental models to understand new concepts.

"The idea of mental models is something that people who research learning love to talk about, but have no evidence of what is happening inside brains other than what people say or do," Brewe said.

"We are actually looking for evidence from inside the brain."

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Ameya Davda and Devak Davda at the Sewri facility. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

If there is one problem that most of us perennially face in our daily lives, it is the lack of storage space. But, one man's problem could well be another man's opportunity. Entrepreneurs Ameya Davda and Devak Davda's startup, Space Valet, is a case in point. Their recently launched service aims to be a one-stop storage solution that offers private, lockable and secure self-storage units of various sizes to stash your belongings.

Home away from home
"Think of it as the sophisticated spare closet or stock room you've always longed for in Mumbai," says Davda who along with his cousin Devak came up with this idea when they returned to India after completing their studies abroad. "I was in California and Devak in London, and while we were there, we learnt how popular cell storage is among people. It's a 60-year- old concept and almost a 40-billion dollar industry," he adds. On returning to Mumbai, Davda teamed up with his cousin to launch the startup which they felt would be a good fit in an overcrowded city. They then conducted a survey to find out if people would avail of a service like this. "People are always on the lookout for additional storage space, more so in Mumbai," he says. The top reasons for self-storage rental, he observed, was the lack of storage space at home, temporary storage while moving, and storing things people don't want or need. The most popular things being stored are wedding outfits and furniture.

A walk-in closet

How it works
The process is simple. You either call up the facility or browse the website and find a suitable storage plan. You then order as many boxes as you need, and then pack and label your belongings. "You don't need to move a finger. Our tie up with Movers and Packers ensures a pick-up facility. When you want your stuff back, go online and click on the tab to recall the boxes," he explains. The plan starts from R299 a month and goes up to R11,000. Storage options range from boxes to a large store room. The key to the storage lies with the customer only. Cleanliness and security are common concerns among customers, according to the results of their survey. The facility, therefore, has a designated person to solely look after the cleanliness of the storage space. There's also a 24x7 security and surveillance to keep the goods safe. "We maintain the right kind of environment so that your possessions don't deteriorate over time," he says. Now, the big challenge for the duo is to popularise the concept. "We want to educate people that this is a viable solution to your space crunch."

Where: www.spacevalet.in
Price: Rs 299 onward
Call: 9930832832

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Yashodhara Dalmia with Mashe and his family in the early 1980s. Pic/Maseeh Rahman

When art historian and curator Yashodhara Dalmia first met Jivya Soma Mashe in the early 1980s, the Warli artist had just started working on paper instead of the walls on which his peers and ancestors had for generations. "I found it inventive, brave and fascinating," says Dalmia, who authored The Painted World of the Warlis: Art and Ritual of the Warli Tribes of Maharashtra in 1988.

Traditionally associated with the rituals and ceremonies of the Warli community, who reside in the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, the art form found new horizons through Mashe, who passed away on May 15 in Ganjad village, Palghar. He was 84. On his passing away, he was remembered as the artist who popularised the folk art form, rendering figures on paper smeared with cow-dung or a red background, and nudging Warli into mainstream visual culture.

Mashe's The Fish Bowl

Cultural theorist and curator Nancy Adajania says that it is a misconception that Mashe 'popularised' or 'preserved' Warli. "He did neither. He invented Warli art, as we know it today. He was a pioneer," she says. Before him, there was no "Warli art" as such. In its ritual form, it was practised in the Warli community by its women, not men, who would paint on the walls of their houses, a sacred square with the fertility goddess, surrounded by human and animal forms. "But Mashe wasn't consecrating the goddess in his paintings. He was a witness to his times, using the existing vocabulary of the ritual form and creating a new one," she says.

Cultural historian, prof Jyotindra Jain, who included Mashe in his seminal exhibition Other Masters: Five Contemporary Folk and Tribal Artists of India (1998), says the artist went far beyond the conventional themes of Warli, infusing the form with a narrative quality. "In 1998, Jivya produced an epic work comprising two large paintings on wooden boards entitled: My Life. This work relates to memory — memory of fragmentation and fear," he says.

(From left) Former gallerists Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy with Mashe (centre) at his 1975 solo exhibition at Chemould Pic/ChemoulD Prescott Road archive

Jain's observation cuts through common misconceptions about Warli being a simplistic 'folksy' art. In My Life, a bipartite work, Jain observes that in one section, Mashe ruthlessly depicts a railway line cutting a village in two, dividing the fields, the river, the families, and the community. The second section depicts the memory of Jivya's first visit to this city, arriving at the Mumbai Central railway station filled with an ocean of people. "Despite the limited vocabulary of thin, linear humans of the Warli idiom, Jivya powerfully characterises each figure, be it a coolie carrying luggage, a policeman chasing a thief, or a monkey jumping on to a roof," he says.

In his paintings, we find signs of modernity — schools, railway junctions, as well as a depiction of the crafty moneylender, observes Adajania. His themes may find growing relevance now, as they did then, particularly through what Adajania describes as 'an environmental ethic' — an interdependence of human beings with other living things. Recalling one of his most famous and captivating works, Fisherman, she says, "A vast cosmic net held by a speck of a human being overpowers the painting. But this is not an expression of a competition with the powers of the divine; instead, Mashe is transmitting an ethic of empathetic coexistence among species, even as he asserts his own artistic agency."

The commercialisation of Warli art these days, says Adajania, is a symptom of a chronic problem faced by these artists. "They are susceptible to exploitation, because there are two unequal economies in our art world — one for the contemporary artist, the other for the so-called folk artist," she says. As a practice running parallel to other contemporary practices, as Mashe's did with the Bombay Progressives, there is the continuing need to give the art form the place it deserves. Dalmia, when she remembers that first meeting with Mashe, says he was living in poor circumstances. He would soon become the first from his community to find recognition, both Indian and international, as an artist.

Mentored by Bhaskar Kulkarni, a senior member of Crafts Board, Mashe had his first solo exhibition in 1975 at Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy's Gallery Chemould. It was the first time that an exhibition of an artist from an indigenous community was held at a contemporary art gallery. When the gallery shifted in 2010, from Kala Ghoda to Fort, the gallerists decided to bid farewell by revisiting Mashe's works, instead of a group show of any of the other stellar Modernists. "He was not just an artist who transported the ritual tradition into a parallel contemporary form of art, but also a man of vision. He could foresee that this art would convey the daily life of his people and his own life," says Dalmia.

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A German team practises mallakhamb with coach Uday Deshpande

In a TEDx Gateway talk held in 2017, 65-year-old Uday Deshpande talks of how he started learning mallakhamb at Shivaji Park's Samarth Vyayam Mandir (SVM) at the age of three. The passion for the sport, which has its origins in Maharashtra, gripped him so much, he says, that he even stuck to his daily regime on the day of his wedding. As the audience laughs, Deshpande moves on to talk about what he returned to the sport — spreading its awareness not just to other Indian cities across 29 states, but globally as well. He rattles off a statistic: in the last 25 years more than 2,500 foreigners from 52 countries have learnt mallakhamb.

His passport — which thanks to the several added visa pages has increasing so much in girth that it is a candidate for bariatric surgery — bears signs of his visits to countries like USA, Singapore, Nepal, Germany, France, Austria, Hong Kong. And now, says Deshpande, the director at SVM who also coaches there, all this effort is going to culminate into the first mallakhamb world championship to be held at Shivaji Park, next February. Speaking to mid-day from his Shivaji Park office, keeping a stern eye on the practice sessions on the grounds, Deshpande announces proudly," Mallakhamb is ready to go the next mile. France and Germany in fact, have mallakhamb federations in their countries. We need to now harness that exposure into a competition." The championships — to be held under the auspices of the newly-formed Vishwa Mallakhamb Federation (VMF) — will be held between February 16-17 2019. Deshpande, the secretary of VFM, says all the details of the organisation of the event are being taken care of by SVM officials.

Uday Deshpande

And 15 countries have already announced their participation. Dr (PhD) Neeta Tatke, administrative secretary, SVM, whose thesis was on the mental benefits of the sport, says, "A competition is one way to kindle curiosity, sustain the sport and watch it grow. We also need to increase participation at home." For Tatke, GenNext will take a shine to the rope and pole, "if we have national and world champions here, nurtured and made in our backyard. For instance, see the boost tennis and badminton got in India. This is because with the Saina Nehwals, Sania Mirzas and P V Sindhus, young Indians have role models to look up to. We need to create that in mallakhamb. Competition is one way to do so."

A couple of years ago, when Deutschland came to Dadar, the German mallakhamb team given an Indian experience by Samarth volunteers. After their morning mallakhamb practice, Samarth members taught the Germans, Lezim (a Maharashtrian folk) dance, they learnt to play the flute and even dabbled in Warli painting. This time, organisers say that at the World Championships, there will be a food court at the venue and an exhibition centre outlining the history of mallakhamb.

Ruth Azenberger, German mallakhamb coach — who started learning mallakhamb when she was eight years old, in 2004, and then received the Mallakhamb Trainers Certificate in 2012 from the University of Mumbai and Mallakhamb Federation of India — says, "We are thrilled to be a part of the competition and show what we have learned for the last 15 years." Azenberger adds that the final mallakhamb team will be selected in September.

Shreyas Mhaskar, trustee, SVM and former national Mallakhamb champion adds, "Mallakhamb's origins are Indian, so it is natural that India hosts the debut World Championship." Officials say that, "we also have plans of how to make this a more equitable field for all nations. We are going to negate the obvious advantage India will have, with its long tradition of mallakhamb with a few surprises in rules that we will not divulge now." Ambition is expensive. The committee says they are earmarking R2 crore expense overall and are now hunting for sponsors. Yet, to zero in on that elusive one with deep pockets, the organizers are holding on to their dream because they have the courage of conviction, or when it comes to mallakhamb, like the practitioners that should be courage of their contortions.

Nidhi Tiwari (in orange) with her crew

I have always felt that mobility is key to empowerment — especially where women are concerned," says Nidhi Tiwari, an extreme terrain driver. Let us explain her job profile by outlining a few of her achievements — she is the first Indian woman to drive from Delhi to London in 2015, and became the first Indian to drive to the Pole of Cold in North Eastern Siberia in 2016. She also founded Women Beyond Boundaries (WBB) in 2015, which focuses on undertaking extreme overland journeys. Recently, Tiwari led a crew of five female drivers to Upper Mustang in Northern Nepal, and they became the first crew of women drivers to reach Lo Manthang (the erstwhile capital of the Kingdom of Mustang).

With an average height of around 13,000 feet, the area hosts two of the higher peaks in the Greater Himalayas that stand above 8,000 metres — the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna. "No women drivers from anywhere in the world had ever driven up the treacherous road to Lo Manthang. But then, every journey is about pushing boundaries," says the 37-year-old, who has been now driving for 13 years. The women drove from Delhi and entered Nepal via Gorakhpur to reach Pokhara in two days, from where started the off-road section into the Mustang Valley. Mustang is infamous for its non-existent and challenging roads punctuated by numerous streams and nallah crossings. A particular section between Muktinath and Tsarang, though only 36 km, took them eight hours. And then they headed to Lo Manthang, which is located just 50 km short of the Chinese border.

Five women drove the cars to Mustang

Delhi-based Tiwari may have been be well equipped with what such a journey entails but as they drove, major challenges cropped up. Most of the crew were city drivers and they were all learning on the go. "It was a very steep terrain, with plenty of blind corners," she describes. For example, one had to be very careful where they placed the wheel — there were instances where the road had a gorge on one side, and a river bed on the other. "But the way they adapted to the terrain — that transformation was a very big high for me," says Tiwari of her team. This could do with the kind of training Tiwari is known to provide. Her WBB workshops aim to make women self-sufficient as far as driving goes. "It's all about self-maintenance. A woman has to be ready to fix tyres."

Tiwari also chose her crew with care, making sure she had a varied bunch on the trip. There was an academician, a physiotherapist, an IT professional, and an e-commerce expert. "Extreme terrain is seen as a man's forte. We have broken that misconception. It threw the spotlight on some critical gender questions that have hovered around driving, expeditioning and the extreme terrain overlanding space. Along with being the first women to get there, we are also the second set of Indian vehicles to get there. Isn't that something?"

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Andheri West
Roses in oil
Oil Painting is considered the master medium for painting for centuries and was the medium of choice for masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci. Today, you will learn the techniques of getting that rose just right.

When: 11 AM
Where: Doolally Taproom, Near Fun Republic Mall, Andheri West
Entry: Rs 2,150
Call: 7400171674

Beach Candy
Van Gogh's Starry Night
Mesmerised by this 1889 classic? Artist Snehal Patil will help you make your own version that you can proudly hang up in your own room.

When: 4 PM
Where: The Bombay Bronx,
Cumballa Hill
Entry: Rs 1850

Powai
An autumn morning
Wonder what that is considering Mumbai's heat? Artist Chrisann Rodr-igues will help you imagine it on canvas.

When: 3 PM
Where: Neel Indian Kitchen and Bar, Powai
Entry: Rs 1750
Call: 49455555

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Enjoy a traditional roast lunch

12 PM - 4 PM: Spend your Sunday enjoying a traditional English roast lunch at British Brewing Company. The Sunday roast is a tradition in the UK where families sit down to enjoy roast beef accompanied by Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and baked vegetables. In the absence of the B-word, you can treat yourself to grilled lamb chop in cranberry demiglaze sauce, chermoula fish steak, wasabi chicken wings and eggplant parmigiana accompanied by offers
on beer.
Where: British Brewing Company, Times Square building, Andheri East
Call: 39698190

Head to a film fest
9.30 AM - 10 PM: It's the last day of Kashish, South Asia's biggest LGBTQ film festival, now in its ninth edition with a strong jury selection of films. Held at an iconic theatre in South Mumbai, the festival's line-up today includes short films, feature films (Evening Shadows and Fathers), and also a panel discussion with filmmakers. Refer to the website for the full schedule.
Where: Liberty Carnival Cinema, Marine Lines
Free
Visit: www.mumbaiqueerfest.com/kashish-2018-film-schedule/

Rock to Parvaaz
9.30 PM: Parvaaz is a Bengaluru-based rock group who sing mostly in Kashmiri and Urdu. If this rocks your boat, attend their gig this evening. Featuring, Khalid Ahamed (vocals), Mir Kashif Iqbal (guitars), Sachin Banandur (drums) and Fidel D'Souza (bass), the members have assimilated several psychedelic rock influences while keeping their roots intact.
Where: Todi Mill Social, Lower Parel
Entry: Rs 400
Call: 7506394240

Laugh out in Gujarati
7.30 PM: So laughter may not have a language, but jokes certainly do. Attend, Hass Ne Baka, a one-of-its-kind Gujarati stand-up comedy event. If you have been in Mumbai for a few years at least, you probably would have picked some words from the language. If not, this is a good chance to learn.
Where: The Cuckoo Club, Bandra West
Entry: Rs 250
Call: 9619962969

Savour the T20 finale
7 PM: The T20 draws to a close today with the big final match this evening. Nurse your cricket fever with unlimited beer, meant to keep you company till the last over. So, whether you are supporting Chennai or Hyderabad, round up your friends for an evening of fun.
Where: Drinkery 51, opposite Trident Hotel, BKC
Price: Rs 999 per head
Call: 40141100

Recall funny instances
8 PM: Embarrassing instances make for good stories in subsequent years. Attend an event where comedian Sumit Anand and his like-minded friends will regale you with hilarious stories from their personal lives. The edition will feature Vaibhav Sethia and Deep Chhabria, among others.
Where: The Square, Powai
Price: Rs 250
Log on to: insider.in

Shop organic from a farmer's market
8 AM – 1 PM: How about making it a 'fruitful' morning in South Mumbai? Head to an organic market organised by Better Foods and Harshita Narwekar, trustee of My Dream Colaba, for a chance to pick from stalls offering chemical-free produce to lead a healthier life. Think you can't make it this Sunday? The market will pop up again every Sunday until July 1, so mark your calendars.
Where: Lane behind Taj President, next to Mehr Naz, Cuffe Parade
Free
Call: 9010143322

Enjoy a evening of ghazals
7 PM: Don't relegate ghazals to the past. The night for the genre is still young. This evening head to Sun Beach Resort, to get mesmerised in this form of poetry that originated in 7th century Arabia. Your singer tonight is Ranjan Debnath. There's a special kids' zone too.
Where: Sun Beach Resort, Manori
Entry: Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500
Call: 8108750767

Relish a picnic platter
Gateway Taproom has curated an indoor experience to recreate the feel of a picnic. Three special craft beers will be on offer along with freshly baked flatbreads with a variety of toppings. The Valencia Orange Wheat comes with citrusy notes while the 'Mangonificent Flatbread' is made of mango, arugula pesto and feta, while the 'Appley Ever After' is a sum of apple, goat cheese, jaggery and walnut candy. Try pepper pig, a topping which is a mix of chorizo, mozzarella and red bell peppers. There's also a blend of grilled eggplant, pomegranate, feta and pine nuts.
When: 12 pm to 1.30 am, till May 30
Where: Gateway Taproom, Godrej BKC Building, Bandra East
Call: 26534748

Watch Farhan rock the stage
Farhan Akhtar, who has time again made himself heard on various social causes, has joined hands with the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA), for a special concert. The aim of the concert is to raise awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco, to mark the occasion of World No-Tobacco Day. The show is titled Love for Life Begins with Music. CPAA is a registered charitable organisation working towards the cause of cancer patients for 49 years.
When: 7 pm, May 31
Where: Rangsharda Auditorium, Bandra Reclamation, Bandra West
Free
Call: 9821078882

Join a jashn
Go for a panel discussion on Urdu culture and how the Internet is helping the revival of the language. Urdu Culture Now, an initiative by Godrej Culture Labs, seeks to explore the state of Urdu culture in Mumbai. There will be art exhibits by Zeenat Kulavoor and Nasheet Shadani and a Soundzone with a specially curated playlist. Actor and storyteller Danish Husain will take centrestage with a Quissebaazi performance and Winit Tikoo will be performing a set of Urdu tunes. There will also be a pop-up bookstore and some authentic Lucknowi and Hyderabadi cuisine.
When: 5.30 pm, June 8
Where: Auditorium, 1st floor, Godrej One, Vikhroli East
Free
Call: 9167077830

Experience Indo-Greek art
Rekha Rana's exhibition Indus Streams and Delphi Hills has been in the making for nearly four years. The works give viewers a glimpse into the Indo-Greek era, drawing parallels between European and Indian art. The technique she has used for this show is mixed media on canvas. She has re-imagined Greek goddess Athena, wearing the headgear of Hippolyta, the queen of the tribe of the Amazons in Greek mythology. Rana has studied closely the influence of Western art on India and selected certain elements in her works.
When: 11 am to 7 pm, May 29 to June 4
Where: Jehangir Art Gallery, MG Road, Kala Ghoda
Call: 9930300064

A love story, or a game of manipulation?
Vrushali Telang's new fiction, Prime Time Crime (Vishwakarma Publications), has all the makings of a fast-paced, sensational thriller. Set against the backdrop of the Mumbai Underworld in 1999, Prime Time Crime tells the story of a young intern reporter, Ritika Khanolker and a gritty gangster, AT Pradhan. It all begins when Ritika wins his unwavering attention at the sessions courts after she asks him a strange question. Soon enough, she lands an exclusive TV interview with him. What follows is a torrid chemistry with both finding it difficult to stay away from each other. But, is the gangster manipulating circumstances and using her as a pawn, or is Ritika playing along so that she can catapult her career and become a star reporter. This love story gets only murkier, as you turn the pages of Telang's book. Telang's well etched out characters, racy plot and lucid writing, makes this one a brilliant page turner.

Pedal into the week
10.30 pm onwards: Want to cycle but the Mumbai summers won't let you? Try cruising on the roads on a midnight
electric cycle ride. Also, if you have been contemplating buying an electric cycle, this ride can serve as a trial. The trail covers 35 kilometres starting at Shivaji Park, on to Worli Seaface, Peddar Road, Girgaon Chowpatty, Nariman Point, before ending at Gateway of India, with a bite at Bade Miya.
28 Monday
Where: Meet at Shivaji Park Gymkhana, Dadar West
Entry: Rs 750
Log on to: instamojo.com

Learn some magic
1 pm onwards: You may have watched enough Penn and Teller and now you want to try and master a few tricks of your own. This session should get you started. Magic is not just about sleight of hand, there's also the fine art of performance that goes along with it. This workshop will teach you a few magic tricks, and along with it, the art of theatre that will add the final flourish.
29 Tuesday
Where: Quistic Learning Centre, opposite Oshiwara Police Station, Andheri West
Entry: Rs 5,000
Log on to: eventshigh.com

Watch Indian Ocean live
9 pm onwards: Formed in the early 90s, the Indian Ocean is one rock band that has managed to stand the test of time. Not only have they spearheaded rock music in the country, they have also held their own in an industry rife with remixes and fusion. Their sound has stayed consistently inimitable despite shuffles in the band lineup. From Sufism, politics, philosophy to religion, the words are as deep as their tune haunting.
30 Wednesday
Where: Flyp at MTV, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel
Entry: Rs 499
Log on to: insider.in

Meet a French Cinderella
6 pm onwards: Massenet's enchanting opera Cendrillon, based on the Cinderella story, had premiered at the MET. It features Joyce DiDonato as Cinderella, Kathleen Kim as the fairy godmother, Alice Coote as Prince Charming, Stephanie Blythe as evil stepmother Madame de la Haltiere, and Laurent Naouri as Pandolfe. This production was first performed at Santa Fe in 2006. The screening will provide English subtitles.
31 Thursday
Where: Dance Theatre Godrej, NCPA, Nariman Point
Entry: Rs 768
Log on to: bookmyshow.com

See a rare kind of jewellery
6 pm to 9 pm: Patola jewellery designed under the guidance of art revivalist Bela Shanghvi is a step towards bringing alive, the lost forms of Indian art. Her Nana Chowk store has been devoted towards preserving the craft heritage across 28 states and villages. While Patola saris are well known, this time one will get to see some rare jewellery from the region that would strike a perfect match with the elegant weaves.
1 Friday
Where: True Tramm Trunk, VL Mehta Road, JVPD Scheme, Juhu
Call: 7738993360

Learn to style your food
3 pm: Step into the world of food photography and food styling in an interactive workshop with the renowned food photographer Assad Daddan and food stylist Amrita Kaur. The hands-on session will include training on lighting, composition, exposure triangle, food styling and post processing. The styling session will involve learning finer nuances of food styling.
2 Saturday
Where: Palate Culinary Academy, Saffron Building, Linking Road,
Khar West
Entry: Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000
Log on to: insider.in

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Timut
At: The Clearing House, Ballard Estate

Pastry chef Husna Jumani sources timut from the Northeast. Pic/Bipin Kokate

It's not often that you come across a dessert with pepper. It's for this reason that Husna Jumani, head pastry chef at The Clearing House, decided to experiment with the timut, the popular Nepalese pepper, in their Greek yoghurt pannacota. "I had already tried using other varieties of pepper, so I thought timut would be a great addition because the flavour is pronounced. It is spicy, with hints of grapefruit," says Jumani, who sources it from the Northeast.

However, it's an ingredient that can work either way, she warns. "If used with the right combinations, it can elevate the dish like no other. Else, it will overpower the other ingredients." Apart from being a tricky ingredient, it's also an acquired flavour. "When people eat it, they might not recognise it or might not realise it's a spice. It has a spicy yet fruity undertone."

Green peppercorn and krachai
At: Izaya, Nariman Point

When restaurateur Farrokh Khambata launched Izaya last November, it wasn't just a new fine-dining address he was looking to introduce. What he also wanted to do was offer the diner an innovative range of spices. "It gets boring to cook with basil and bird eye chilies, when you are talking Thai food. I wanted to give things an overhaul," he says. He sought recourse in the aromatic, fresh green peppercorn, plucked from the Piper Nigrum vine, and the krachai or Chinese ginger, both found in Southeast Asia.

The green peppercorn is added at the end

At the restaurant, krachai finds its way into a sauce that accompanies the Australian barramundi or sea bass fillet, and the green peppercorn makes an appearance in the yakitori style-grilled chicken. Both are crushed on stone and added to the dish at the end.

Thai ginger. Pic/Bipin Kokate

"Certain spices like kadi patta require oil to bring out their essence, but not these," Khambatta adds. What gives these flavouring agents an edge is their freshness. "When it's in season, we use it fresh, which means that they have a short shelf life. But our dishes won't be the same without them."

Ajamoda
At: Olive Bar and Kitchen, Bandra

The lifecycle of the ajmoda plantsown at the restaurant. Pics/Ashish Raje

A couple of months ago, one of the chefs at Olive Bar and Kitchen, stumbled upon ajamoda or wild celery seeds on a trip to Kolkata. Curious, he decided to plant it and see what comes of it.

"It's only been four weeks since we decided to use it as a brine for the tuna jerky, because of its intense flavour," says head chef Rishim Sachdeva. A well-known Ayurvedic medicinal herb, the ajamoda belongs to the ajwain family and is native to West Bengal. The restaurant sources it from Vrindavan Farms in Palghar.

"We braise it and add it when the brine goes from warm to cold," he says. Interestingly, the guests have taken note. "Those who have tasted the dish have made it a point to tell us that there's something unique about the taste."

Pasilla Oaxaca
At: Xico, Kamala Mills

Chef Jason Hudanish with a range of spices at Xico. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Chef Jason Hudanish wanted to introduce the pasilla Oaxaca at Lower Parel's Xico for more reasons than one. "It's a dark red chill — smokey and fruity with a heat level that is sharp but not overwhelming. Also, it can be used in just about anything — soup, stew, rice or salad," he says. What works against it though, is that it's fairly expensive and not readily available unlike the more common pasilla pepper, a dried chili used in traditional Mexican mole sauces.

The pasilla Oaxaca is produced only in the hilly Oaxaca region of southern Mexico. Here, it is used to make the hearty tortilla soup and borracho salsa, their table side sauce. Apart from pasilla Oaxaca, you'll also find that the achiote, a red paste made from grinding Annatto seeds with oregano, cumin, cloves, allspice berries, black pepper and salt. "It's powerful and pungent. We use it in the slow roasted pork, but warn people before serving it," he says.

Peela Masala
At: All Elements, Khar

The peela masala has been concocted using 12 different spices. Pic/Bipin Kokate

All Elements might be a young, two-month old café, but the cooking techniques it employs are age old. In fact, the peela masala used to spice up the seafood and vegetarian appetisers, is a legacy dating back three generations.

"My grandmother, Harbans Bedi, created this spice mix using 12 ingredients that she would source from local shops in Mazgaon. For me, she's the real mistress of spices," laughs proprietor Gudiya Chadha. The ingredients include star anise, coriander seeds and clove, among others. Understandably, the flavour is strong and hits you the moment you open the lid of the container. "A pinch is all you need. Else, it will overpower the dish."

Gudiya Chadha

Sassafras powder
At: Toast and Tonic, BKC

Pic/Ashish Raje

At Toast and Tonic, most marinades and mixes are prepared in house, using indigenous ingredients. The sassafras powder, therefore, is an exception. Also called a Gumbo filé powder, it comes from a sturdy tree in Louisiana.

At the restaurant, you'll find the powder stored in glass jars. "It is popular for creole and cajun cooking. We use it for both, flavour and texture in traditional gumbo, because it not only thickens the broth, but also lends it an earthy flavour," says sous chef Chirag Makwana. Filé powder is generally added at the end of cooking, or stirred into hot gumbo right before serving. They also sprinkle a pinch on their prawn flatbread for flavour.

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Anand Ahuja and Sonam Kapoor

Remember when a "candid" photograph at a wedding meant pictures of the couple and guests stuffing their faces with food? Well, thank God, that seems to have changed. If the recent celebrity weddings — Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja's, or Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma's, or even Meghan Markle's with Prince Harry — are anything to go by, awww-inducing candids are here to stay. Did we all not drool on those candids from #everydayphenomenal, as the Kapoor-Ahuja wedding was branded on Instagram? We spoke to three photographers who explain the art behind the perfect candid.

'Never doctor a moment'
Anand Rathi, who along with his team at Reels & Frames, is the one who showed us perfect moments from #Sonamkishaadi. Rathi has won several awards globally, and is seen as one of the pioneers of 360-degree wedding films. He says that the photographer has to learn the art of being invisible, and still be omnipresent. "The toughest part is to not stand out but still roam around freely. So we stick to the dress code of the wedding," he tells us, adding that he never likes to over-dose on flash.

Anand Rathi

"You can't doctor a moment. If you missed that perfect moment when the bride smiled at the groom, it's okay. Just be ready to capture the next one." His favourite moment from the Kapoor-Ahuja wedding was when Anand kissed Sonam on the cheek. "Nobody asked them to do that!" In the end, Rathi says that photographer needs to be ready with his equipment, but also a smile. "People always respond to friendly faces."

Log on to reelsandframes.in

'It's not our job to gather people'
THE most important thing to do is get comfortable with the bride and groom. You need to understand them, but even they should know that when they are hiring me, they will get an artistic style, and they need to be okay with that," says Monisha Ajgaonkar, founder and director, The Photo Diary.

The photographer, who has been popular on the on the wedding circuit for a while now, is known for her edgy and different pictures. The JJ graduate started out by shooting a concert she attended to impress a girl she had a crush on, and then diversified when she photographed a friend's wedding.

Monisha Ajgaonkar

"We get all the main shots as candids; we don't really do the 'posey' pictures — a we are not there to gather people around. That's not candid!" Her favourite shot in recent times was when she shot a bride dressed in a Cindrella gown in Kodaikanal. "She was just walking, and I said stop. And, it was perfect!"

Log on to thephotodiary.net

'It's like catching a fish — A hit or miss'
Nikhil B of Tell-A-Tale Studios feels that a good candid is a culmination of many points. "You need to know fashion photography, and also be well-versed with a documentary style. You need to have knowledge of product shots, and how light works. It all looks effortless but a lot of work goes behind it."

Tell-A-Tale was founded by Nikhil and photographer Mamta Kalambe, both visual artists who specialise in wedding photography along with making food videos. Nikhil says that taking the perfect candid is like going fishing — you may get a great picture or you may end up with nothing.

Nikhil B

"It's a hit or miss. The main thing is to remain aware at all times, keep watching without intruding. It's like ice hockey terminology — always have your sticks on the ice. Be ready." His favourite shots are taken usually during the time of varmala, because as he says, he loves "capturing the emotion and excitement that comes when the garlands
are exchanged."

Log on to tell-a-tale.in

Vikramaditya Motwane. Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi

Vikramaditya Motwane, who is readying for the release of his upcoming film Bhavesh Joshi: Superhero, says the movie is about a b*****d child. Except, the protagonist is not a person, but a city. This city. With star kid Harshvardhan Kapoor playing Bhavesh, the film uses a superhero premise to discuss the water mafia, and what happens when vigilantes take matters in their own hands. The story started off as one film about a man, keen to take care of his street, but changed gears somewhere.

"I have been here 40 years, but my love for the city faded away when Bombay became Mumbai. I have mixed feelings about it now, although I can't live anywhere else. It's treated like a b****** child, which no one cares about. Everyone just wants to leech off it. People around the world take pride in where they live. Not us," says the director before he gets into the studio for a morning edit. At 41, Motwane is old enough to know that a superhero cannot solve a megalopolis' crises. But Batman and Superman arrived on the scene, he argues, because justice failed. "It takes one brave person to change society. Come watch my movie, and have fun, and if you walk away with being inspired to do the right thing, great. Make a change, and be a hero yourself," he smiles. Like Bhavesh then, Motwane is grappling with ills that threaten to destroy his city. Mid-day discusses what gets Vikramaditya Motwane's goat, over a cup of morning coffee.

Bhavesh Joshi: Superhero

Traffic
Traffic management is a nationwide problem. Cars are weapons; how can you let anyone and everyone drive? We all know how easy it is to get a license. I read somewhere that around 382 people die every day on our roads. Anywhere else, there would be a suit filed against the RTO for murder. And, we don't have pavements. Pedestrians have first right of way, but if they don't have anywhere to walk, they will walk the road and it's up to motorists to avoid them. This often leads to traffic snarls and accidents. Bombay has a phenomenal public transport system, but it's ageing. And so, people like myself drive. But traffic makes it stressful.

Garbage disposal
My apartment in Juhu started a waste management programme six months ago. It's 2018 and we are talking about segregation now! An incident, actually one of many, that led me to make Bhavesh Joshi was watching a mother and son eat pizza in heir car, and then fling the box and remains on the street. The other side to this conundrum is that the city doesn't have enough dustbins, and those that are there get stolen. But how do you blame a scavenger for wanting to make money off scrap metal?

Water harvesting
My father owns a building in Juhu. A few years ago, he got a waste water harvesting system installed there. Through it, dirty water is cleaned up and goes back into loos for flushing. It cost him only two-and-half lakh rupees. Every housing society can do it. We suffer floods every year in low lying areas because we get sufficient rain and our drains are clogged, but we waste that water.

Pollution
I have a three-year-old daughter and she gets a cold every other day. It's nothing but the polluted air that we breathe that's causing it. No one is working towards stopping it. We use too many cars, especially older cars. We don't have an incentive to use public transport anymore. I love walking — I walk to my mixing studio, which is one kilometre from home. I don't mind the heat, but just give me a pavement to walk. Because if you can't walk comfortably, you will end up using transport.

Also Read: Here's Why Vikramaditya Motwane Put Bhavesh Joshi Superhero On Hold For Over 5 Years

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The European Commission has hailed victory in a World Trade Organisation case concerning Russian anti-dumping duties on certain light commercial vehicles from Germany and Italy.

Russia has requested World Trade Organisation dispute consultations with the EU in a case involving EU anti-dumping duties on certain steel products.

The EU has said that, as a result of dispute proceedings it launched in 2014, Russia has lowered tariffs on certain paper, refrigerators, and palm oil products.

China has made a number of announcements on anti-dumping duty orders, including to launch an investigation into US, Korean, and Taiwanese exports of styrene, which is used to manufacture plastics and resins.

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Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar says he cannot fathom why Mahendra Singh Dhoni has "dragged it for so long" as the right time for the maverick ex-India skipper to call it quits was after last year's ODI World Cup. Akhtar said he hopes the 38-year-old Dhoni gets a resounding farewell despite his resolute silence on what the future holds. "This guy has served to the best of his ability. He should leave cricket with dignity. I don't know why he dragged it for so long. He should have retired after the World Cup," Akhtar told PTI from Islamabad.

"If I would have been in his place, I would have hung up my boots. I could have played shorter formats for three-four years but I left [after the 2011 WC] as I wasn't into the game 100 per cent. So why drag?" he asked. Dhoni, who has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semi-final in July, was preparing to make a much-anticipated comeback with the IPL, which is now unlikely to take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If he had done well in the IPL, there was a possibility of him playing the T20 World Cup in October-November. Akhtar believes Dhoni is now in a limbo but deserves a grand send-off despite the anti- climactic turn of events.

Shoaib Akhtar

"As a country, you should let him go with a lot of respect and dignity. Give him a nice send off. He has won you the World Cup and done wonders for India. He is a wonderful human being at the same time. But right now, he seems to be stuck," he said. Akhtar said Dhoni should have ideally retired after last year's 50-over World Cup. "When he could not finish the game in the semi-final [v New Zealand], I felt he should have retired. Only he can answer why he didn't. He should have played a farewell series after that World Cup probably and then said goodbye in a manner befitting his great stature." Talking about the Indian team's inability to win a global event since the 2013 Champions Trophy, Akhtar said Virat Kohli's said: "Winning tournaments is one thing but staying at top is another. India is still the top-ranked Test team and among the top teams in the limited-overs format. We can't rate their performance only in ICC events.

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South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers says he doesn't want to create any "false hopes" of a much-awaited comeback at the T20 World Cup this year, which, he feels, could be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 has forced the cancellation or postponement of many events but the T20 World Cup remains on schedule in Australia later this year for now. "I can't see six months into the future. If the tournament is postponed to next year a whole lot of things will change. At the moment I feel available, but at the same time I don't know how my body will see it and if I will be healthy at that time," De Villiers told Afrikaans-language Sunday newspaper 'Rapport'.

"...I might get to a point where I have to tell 'Bouch' (coach Mark Boucher) I was interested, I would like to play a role but I'm not going to be able to play myself. I'm afraid of such a commitment and creating false hope," he added. De Villiers said he does not feel entitled to walk into the South African team as has been alleged in the past. "If I am 100 per cent as good as I want to be, then I will be available. But if I am not I won't open myself up to that because I am not the type of person who does things at 80 per cent. Then I have to do trials and show 'Bouchie' I'm still good enough. "They should choose me because I'm really better than the guy next to me. I've never been the type of person who felt I should get just what I wanted."

The T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November could be a perfect stage for de Villiers coming back but he was mindful of avoiding a repeat of the debacle that unfolded during last year's 50-over World Cup in England after reports emerged that he casually expressed offer to come back and was rejected. "I am uncertain about giving a definite answer because I have been very hurt and burned in the past. Then people will again think I have turned my back on our country. I can't just walk into the team. "...I have to work for my place and deserve it. It was very hurtful for me last year when people thought I assumed there was a place for me. I feel available and I will give it a go with everything I have, but I don't want special treatment."

If de Villiers can make a comeback, the credit would go to South Africa coach Mark Boucher, who convinced him to rethink his retirement decision, taken in 2018. "I could write a book on 'Bouchie's impact just on my life, never mind cricket. I rediscovered that when I played under him at the Spartans (in the Mzansi Super League) in December. He was born to be an instructor. When he talks there's respect." "'Bouch' asked me why don't I give it another go," de Villiers said. "I've always said to him, 'I've never not wanted to be there. I've always wanted to be there. It's just, my life has changed'." De Villiers played in 176 of Boucher's 461 matches for South Africa across the formats.

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Disappointed with Kapil Dev's response, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has backed his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar's proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afridi told reporters in Kohat that he was surprised by the comments of Indian great Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who outrightly dismissed Akhtar's suggestion. "The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don't help at all," Afridi said. "I don't see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket. "Kapil's reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times." Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the "negative comments" Indian stars Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh's support for his charity foundation attracted.

"Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing." Afridi also urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to order the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to restore departmental cricket in the country to save the livelihood of hundreds of domestic players. "I myself played for the departments and witnessed how departments really salvaged domestic cricket in Pakistan and helped it thrive decade after decade.

"Departments take good care of the players and spend lots of money on the development of domestic cricket, so how can departmental cricket hurt Pakistan cricket," questioned Afridi. He also questioned the PCB and the Pakistan team management for making a fitness of players a big issue. "They are always talking about hard training and fitness tests. I have never seen fitness tests taken with such frequency and the result is that many players are getting injured and many of them are also unhappy with the situation."

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India cricketer Hardik Pandya is not just an entertainer on the cricket field but off it too.

On Tuesday, a video of Hardik Pandya surfaced on Instagram where he is seen entertaining his social media followers alongside fiancee Natasa Stankovic.

In the video that went viral, Hardik Pandya asks Natasa Stankovic, "Baby, main kya hoon tera? [who am I to you]." The Serbian model-actor hesitates for a bit before replying: "Jigar ka tukda [a piece of my heart]" after which both burst out laughing at her accent. Take a look at the video below.

 

 

 

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@hardikpandya93 blood💥💯#hardikpandya #nature #nature #naturalhairstyles #naturephotography #photo #photographer #photography #photooftheday #photoshoot #photographylovers #photoshop

A post shared by hardikpandya_93 🔵 (@hardikpandya_93_blood) onApr 12, 2020 at 7:15pm PDT

Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic's dating rumours began in early 2019. Hardik Pandya shocked the world when he announced that he proposed to Natasa Stankovic on New Year's Day 2020 confirming that they were engaged.

Natasa Stankovic has appeared in many reality shows, most notable ones being, Bigg Boss 8 and Nach Baliye 9.  

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Former Indian captain and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday recalled the historic Test victory against Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001.

A user had shared the celebratory moments from the 2001 Test. On that post, Ganguly commented, "What a win." In that Test, India clinched a 171-run win over Australia and became the third team in the history of Test cricket to win a match after being forced to follow-on.

Australia had made 445 in their first innings, courtesy Steve Waugh's brilliant hundred. However, it was Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh who stole the show at Kolkata with his spectacular seven wickets, including the first hat-trick in India's Test history.

In its first innings, India folded for 171 runs and were asked to follow-on by Australia. The Sourav Ganguly-led side played cautiously in the second innings and lost three wickets for 115 runs. India lost Ganguly in the 67th over of the innings, with the side getting reduced to 232/4.

Rahul Dravid joined VVS Laxman in the middle. The next 104 overs were a nightmare for the Aussies as the Indian duo stitched a 376-run stand to revive the innings and helped the team stage a dramatic comeback in the match.

Dravid scored 180 runs, while Laxman slammed 281, his highest score in Test cricket. India gave a target of 384 runs to Australia. However, the Waugh-led side were not able to achieve the target and bowled out for 212, handing India a massive win.

Harbhajan was again the pick of the Indian bowlers as he scalped six wickets. The Eden Gardens Test is best remembered for India's miraculous revival in the second innings and Laxman's knock of 281 runs, which was one of the most marvellous innings played in the modern era. Laxman's stunning innings also halted Australia's record of 16 successive Test wins.

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With most people struggling with the Coronavirus pandemic-caused lockdown, staying upbeat is becoming a challenge.

Former Mumbai club cricketer and coach Kishore Harkisandas Kuvavala, 73, who is also a laughter therapist, is trying to make a difference albeit in the virtual space.

For the last 18 days, every evening at 6.30, Babulnath-resident Kuvavala goes live goes live from his Facebook account in an attempt to make people laugh and relieve some stress.

'Stress, a bigger threat'

He claims around 350 to 400 people join him live everyday for his fitness and laughter sessions. "Most people are worried about Coronavirus even if they are confined 24x7 to their homes. They are only watching and hearing about the pandemic during the day through various mediums. Corona will not be the biggest killer, but stress will surely have a huge impact on everybody.

There is nothing else left for people to talk about except Corona, it seems these days. So, I am trying to ease a bit of tension that's surrounding us today. Laughter is the best medicine. I have been championing this cause for over two decades now. I feel it can make a lot of difference to people especially in these times," a fit Kuvavala tells mid-day.

Kuvavala has always believed in leading an active life. He played competitive cricket on Mumbai's local circuit till he was 50. Kuvavala owes a lot to cricket. He got the Bank of Baroda job for his cricketing credentials. "I led the bank team too," he says with pride.

He played the famous Dr HD Kanga Cricket League in the 'A' Division for Young Maharashtra Cricket Club. He was also a Managing Committee member of the Mumbai Cricket Association in 1988-89 before taking up coaching.

Fitness first

Kuvavala decided to work towards spreading awareness on the importance of fitness after giving up the sport. In 1995, he began his journey as a laughter therapist, starting with lessons at Priyadarshini Park. Before the lockdown, Kuvavala and his group of 30 to 35 people would gather each morning at Chowpatty on Marine Drive for their dose of laughter. "Do we ever laugh at ourselves? When we do that, we laugh from the heart. There is an expression and feel involved in it. It is the best form of exercise. It fills you up with positivity," explains Kuvavala, who is often invited by top hospitals for laughter sessions. He also conducts laughter therapy activities for corporates. "I do that for a fee, though," he clarifies. "People nowadays have forgotten to laugh," he remarks.

With anxiety and sadness around due to the pandemic, all that Kuvavala wants to ensure is that people do not stop smiling.

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Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar responded to Sunil Gavaskar after the former India skipper said that it was more likely to snow in Lahore than a bilateral series to take place between India and Pakistan any time soon. Akhtar pointed out in a tweet that there was indeed snowfall in Lahore last year. "Well Sunny bhai, we did have a snowfall in Lahore last year.. So nothing is impossible," said Shoaib in his tweet which included an image of Gavaskar with his quote and an image of snow in Lahore.

Akhtar was the first to suggest that India and Pakistan should play a bilateral series to raise funds in the fight against coronavirus for both countries. Gavaskar however said in a Youtube chat with former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja that any possibility of such a series happening is next to nothing. "There are more chances of snowfall in Lahore than bilateral series between India and Pakistan," said Gavaskar in a Youtube chat with former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja.

"Both teams will keep on meeting in World Cups and ICC tournaments, but a series between them seems unlikely right now." Earlier, Akhtar's suggestion got backing from his former teammate Shahid Afridi. But India's 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev said that the match wasn't needed because India doesn't need funds.

"The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don't help at all. I don't see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket. "Kapil's reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times. Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing," Afridi had said.

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Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Wednesday said KL Rahul should only be used as a backup wicket-keeper so that workload on the player can be managed.

"People think that Rahul may become our main keeper in the future. But I feel that Rahul should be used as a backup wicketkeeper, if the main keeper is injured or he is not with the team then Rahul should be there because if you rely on him as the main keeper then chances of injuries will grow as the workload will increase on him," Kaif told ANI.

Kaif also feels that MS Dhoni should feature in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup and ruling the former captain out from the tournament will be 'unfair'.

"See people may have eyes on Dhoni that how he is going to play in the IPL (Indian Premier League) and then there will be talks of the T20 World Cup but my view is different from others. I do not judge Dhoni based on his IPL form. He is a great batsman and he is fit now, he wants to play IPL, do captaincy and is showing his availability. He has a winning mentality and knows how to win games under pressure," Kaif said.

"So, I think ruling him out will be unfair. See a lot of cricket is still left in Dhoni and when a player plays for this long, there are ups and downs in his career. It happens with every cricketer not just Dhoni," he added.

The ICC T20 World Cup 2020 is scheduled to be played between October 18 and November 15 at seven venues across Australia.

As the country continues to fight against the coronavirus crisis, Kaif urged people to adhere to the guidelines laid by the government and stay home.

"My message for the society is to be at home and follow what the government is saying then only we can beat this virus. At this stage, this is something very important for one and all to be at home," he said.

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India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has become brand ambassador of 'CricKingdom', a cricket academy based here which will also facilitate coaching through its online platform after the global COVID-19 pandemic subsides.

CricKingdom's online platform "will connect student, coaches, academies and facilities into an integrated ecosystem'. It will help in booking of coaches, ground/nets along with management of academies. "CricKingdom seeks to merge the time-tested theories that has produced legends in the game along with modern scientific training methodologies," Rohit was quoted as saying in the press release.

"The vision is far-sighted and it seeks to make every aspect professional and structured," said Rohit, who is also being proposed to be a Director. The academy also has Mumbai medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni as one of its mentors. There are at least 20 coaches associated with this venture and most of them have worked at the grassroots and junior level. Notable names include Pradeep Ingale, Parag Madkaikar, Subhash Ranjane and Prathamesh Salunkhe. The coaching on offer is for four categories -- from 5-8 years, 8-13 years, 13 years and above and club and elite level cricketers.

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Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Wednesday backed MS Dhoni to play in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman has 'a lot of cricket' left in him and ruling him out will be 'unfair'.

"See, people may have eyes on Dhoni that how he is going to play in the IPL (Indian Premier League) and then there will be talks of the T20 World Cup but my view is different from others. I do not judge Dhoni based on his IPL form. He is a great batsman and he is fit now. He wants to play IPL, do captaincy and is showing his availability. He has a winning mentality and knows how to win games under pressure," Kaif told ANI.

"So, I think ruling him out will be unfair. See a lot of cricket is still left in Dhoni and when a player plays for this long, there are ups and downs in his career. It happens with every cricketer, not just Dhoni," he added.

Dhoni last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup. India was knocked out of the tournament after suffering a semi-final defeat at the hands of New Zealand. Dhoni was run out in the 49th over after scoring 50 runs. After his dismissal, India failed to chase the 240-run target.

Despite Dhoni failing to take India over the line, Kaif termed him a 'champion player'.

"The semifinal of World Cup which we lost, everyone was expecting Dhoni to win it but it did not happen. So, from there on, people thought that Dhoni should not be there. But for me, Dhoni is a champion player. People should look at Dhoni's record in the last 10 to 15 years. See, the current form is important but at the same time his form was not that bad that you rule him out," Kaif said.

The ICC T20 World Cup 2020 is scheduled to be played between October 18 and November 15 at seven venues across Australia.

As the nationwide lockdown as been extended to May 3 due to the coronavirus, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely. "IPL 2020 season has been postponed indefinitely," sources within BCCI told ANI on Wednesday.

Kaif feels that postponing the league is the right decision as life is more important than sports at the moment.

"In the present scenario, life is more important than sports. I think the decision of BCCI is right. When the situation improves, we will think of sports. Sporting events all over the world have either been postponed or cancelled. In our country, cases are rising. So, as of now, the situation is not under control. So I think it's the right decision because at this stage first priority is to beat coronavirus and save the people," he said.

When asked about his views on the window for IPL, Kaif said: "I feel when things are sorted out and there is the possibility of games to be played, then they (BCCI) will look for options."

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Binge watching has become the most common activity in the Coronavirus-forced lockdown. Mumbai's India all-rounder Shivam Dube is no different than the rest but his choice is rather unusual.

Dube, 26, who was drafted in the Indian team in place of injured Hardik Pandya (India v Bangladesh T20I series in November 2019), has been watching India's World Cup title campaigns spearheaded by MS Dhoni, for motivation.

India lifted the inaugural World T20 trophy in 2007 and the 50-over World Cup in 2011. "To keep my mindset healthy, I am watching India's two World Cup titles. They inspire me and provide me a pathway for what I can do for my country in the future. It keeps me motivated," Dube told Sunday mid-day on Saturday.

All-rounder Shivam Dube (right) with father Rajesh, mother Madhuri and sister Pooja at their Andheri East residence on Saturday

"I watched the 2011 ODI World Cup final many times because I am confident India can do it again [in 2023]. I also watched the T20 World Cup games several times. I think India are the best team in any format. I am sure we can win these two World Cups again," said Dube, who has featured in 13 T20Is and one ODI. Dube is working hard on his fitness at his Andheri East home. He was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the last IPL, where he scored 40 runs in four games. He was looking forward to playing the IPL again but it has been indefinitely suspended.

"I am missing everything of the IPL. It's difficult but we don't have a choice. We have to stay home and fight the virus," remarked Dube. But there are positives: "I am with my family after a long time, so I am helping my mother, father and sister as much as I can with household chores. I sometimes help my mother with cooking and cleaning. This also helps in bonding."

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Australia opener David Warner is making most of the forced break by spending quality time with his family at home as the cricket world remains on a standstill due to coronavirus outbreak. On Saturday, Warner shared a TikTok video in which he is dancing with his daughter on a popular Bollywood track.

The Australian batsman, who this week only joined TikTok, shared a video where he is seen moving his body with her daughter -- who is wearing an Indian dress -- on 'Sheila Ki Jawani'. He captioned the post, "Indi has asked to also do one for you guys! please help me someone."

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31) onApr 17, 2020 at 11:37pm PDT

Earlier this week, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan had also posted a video of him dancing with his son Zoravar on a popular Bollywood song "Daddy Cool". "Life is so much fun with this mastikhor insaan! Sachi bolu toh daddy aur beta dono hi cool! Love this little one," Dhawan had captioned the video on Instagram.

Warner also shared a video with wife Candy Warner:

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Two battler Tik Tik parents #help us lol @candywarner1

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31) onApr 18, 2020 at 11:37pm PDT

In normal circumstances, Warner would have been currently involved with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which now stands "indefinitely suspended" due to COVID-19 pandemic which has claimed more than 1.4 lakh lives across the world thus far.

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It is common for any captain to have a favourite player and when it came to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it was Suresh Raina, who enjoyed unstinted backing from the former India captain, feels Yuvraj Singh. One of India's greatest limited-overs cricketers, Yuvraj remembered how Dhoni faced selection dilemma when he had to choose two out of him, Yusuf Pathan and Raina in the playing XI during the 2011 World Cup.

"Suresh Raina had a lot of support then, because MS used to back him. Every captain has a favourite player and I think Mahi really backed Raina at that time," Yuvraj said told 'Sports Tak'. Ultimately all three players made the playing XI (although Yusuf was dropped from playing XI mid-tournament) with Yuvraj playing a pivitol role in winning the title. "Yusuf Pathan was also performing well at that time and even I was doing well and was also picking wickets. And Raina was not in a good touch then," he said.

"They did not have a left-arm spinner at that time and I was picking wickets so they did not have any choice," he added. The swashbuckling batsmen also revealed questions were raised over the bat he used to famously hit Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over during the 2007 T20 World Cup, leading the match referee to check the willow. "The Australian coach at that time came to me and had asked if there was a fibre behind in my bat and asked if it was legal. Has the match referee checked it? So I told him to get it checked."

"Even (Adam) Gilchrist asked me who made our bats. So match referee had also checked my bat. But honestly, that bat was very special for me. I have never played with a bat like that. That one and the 2011 World Cup bat, there were special." Yuvraj was lavish in his praise for Sourav Ganguly for nurturing young talent and picked the BCCI President as his favourite skipper. "Dada would be my favourite captain. He supported me a lot, the most. We were young also so he nurtured the talent," Yuvraj said.

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Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim will be putting his most cherished bat on auction in order to raise funds for the relief efforts put in place in the country to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Mushfiqur will be putting the bat -- with which he scored his first double hundred against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2013 -- for online sale and has urged people to contribute to the cause so that maximum funds can be generated for the poor.

"I am putting up the bat with which I made a double hundred for auction," Mushfiqur told the Dhaka-based Bengali daily 'Prothom Alo'.

"It will be put up online, so let's see how we can go about it. I urge everyone with the ability to push up the price of the bat since the proceeds will be spent entirely for the poor people," he added.

Last week, Shakib-al-Hasan had called upon the players to auction their belongings like jerseys and cricket equipments.

"We can do anything like that. It can also be a bat with any of our autographs. We can auction these things through Facebook or the foundation," Shakib had said on Facebook Live.

More than 2000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported and many people have also lost their lives till now in Bangladesh.

England batsman Jos Butter had raised more than 65,000 pounds for two London-based hospitals by auctioning the shirt which he wore in the 2019 World Cup final.

Legendary Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram also auctioned a bat and ball signed by him to raise funds for a charity as the entire world fights against COVDI-19 pandemic which has so far claimed more than 1.6 lakh lives.

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Amid the nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus crisis, former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday cut his own hair and said he went from 'playing square cuts to doing my own hair cuts'.

Tendulkar took to Instagram and shared pictures of him doing his own haircut.

 

 

 

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From playing square cuts 🏏 to doing my own hair cuts 💇🏻‍♂ï¸Â, have always enjoyed doing different things. ‪How’s my new hairdo 💁🏻‍♂ï¸Â looking @aalimhakim & @nandan_v_naik? 😋

A post shared by Sachin Tendulkar (@sachintendulkar) onApr 19, 2020 at 4:59am PDT

"From playing square cuts to doing my own hair cuts, have always enjoyed doing different things. How's my new hairdo looking @aalimhakim and @nandan_v_naik," Tendulkar captioned the post.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 announced the extension of lockdown till May 3 in an attempt to contain COVID-19.

According to the latest update by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of positive cases in India has mounted to 16,116 and 519 deaths have been reported till now.

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Cricket is rightly considered as a religion in India and is the most celebrated sport in the country. Whoever makes a career in cricket has one longing wish to play for the country and Indian cricketers rightly inspire with their story and innumerable achievements. With a dream to become a cricketer since childhood, Jeel Pareshbhai Gajipara grew up looking at his hero Mahendra Singh Dhoni's journey as a sportsperson. Gajipara born on October 24, 2001, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is a notable name in the cricket. Since his school, he was fascinated by the sport after which he decided to make become a cricketer.

Currently, he is pursuing his B.Com from GLS University. The young and good looking guy also loves to do modeling. However, he considers cricket as his only passion in life. He has played for both domestic as well as international tournaments. He has played for many tournaments from Nepal, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. The batsman has also created many records for himself including his smashing batting of 97 runs from 32 deliveries for the Mumbai domestic team. Some of his other best scores include 136 runs in 67 deliveries, 116 runs in 71 deliveries and 177 runs in 122 deliveries respectively.

These batting scores totally show his love for the sport and prove that he is here to stay. His hard work and passion for cricket will one day surely fulfill his dream. Calling MS Dhoni as his idol, Jeel has a dream of playing for India and be successful as the former Indian skipper. "Before playing for India, I want to play in the IPL (Indian Premier League)", he quoted. For his achievements, Jeel was also featured in a Gujarati newspaper and had his interview on E24 news channel. The young blood's journey is commendable and we hope to see him play for the Indian Cricket Team one day.

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Flamboyant India batsman KL Rahul is auctioning the bat he used during the World Cup last year and other memorabilia to raise funds for vulnerable children.

In a video message posted on Twitter on his birthday, Rahul said all proceeds from the auction will go to the Aware Foundation, that works to provide dispossessed, disadvantaged and vulnerable children in India the right to education. "I have decided to donate my cricket pads, my gloves, helmets and some of my jerseys to our collaboration partner Bharat Army. They are going to auction these things out and the funds will go towards the Aware Foundation," Rahul said. "It's a foundation that look towards helping children. It is very special and I couldn't pick a better day to do this."

The items up for auction, which started on Monday, includes Rahul's signed 2019 World Cup bat, Test, ODI and T20 jersey along with his batting gloves, helmet and pads. "Go on check out the auction and show some love for me and the children and let's stay strong together during this difficult time and all of us will come out of this stronger," Rahul said. The coronavirus outbreak has infected over 24 lakh people and caused more than one lakh deaths worldwide. In India, more than 17,000 people have been infected with 550 deaths reported.

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While the country is in lockdown due to Coronavirus, at least two Indian cricket legends decided to have some fun of their own.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and current India captain Virat Kohli have had their hair cut. However, while Sachin chopped his own hair, Virat's Bollywood star wife Anushka played hair stylist for him.

Sachin, 46, recently posted a series of pictures of his new hairdo on social media. "From playing square cuts to doing my own haircuts, have always enjoyed doing different things. How's my new hairdo looking @aalimhakim and @nandan_v_naik?," he captioned his post.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

From playing square cuts 🏏 to doing my own hair cuts 💇🏻‍♂️, have always enjoyed doing different things. ‪How’s my new hairdo 💁🏻‍♂️ looking @aalimhakim & @nandan_v_naik? 😋

A post shared by Sachin Tendulkar (@sachintendulkar) onApr 19, 2020 at 4:59am PDT

Meanwhile, Virat, 31, who got his beard trimmed too, insisted that being well groomed keeps him in the zone. "While we're all indoors, it's extremely important to do stuff that makes you feel good. Staying well groomed is one of the things that keeps me in the zone. So I thought of giving myself this new look. I want all of you to take the #TrimAtHome challenge & post your new look!" Virat posted on Instagram.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

While we're all indoors, it's extremely important to do stuff that makes you feel good. Staying well groomed is one of the things that keeps me in the zone. So I thought of trimming my beard at home and giving myself this new look. 😊 Now I want all of you to take the #TrimAtHome challenge and post your new look! 😎

A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli) onApr 18, 2020 at 4:20am PDT

Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are regarded as one of the finest batsmen to ever play for India. Virat Kohli is second behind Sachin Tendulkar with regards to most hundreds scored in ODIs.

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Reminiscing the old days, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya on Monday shared a classic throwback picture with brother Krunal.

In the 2011 photo, the duo are smiling while posing for the camera with a 'desi swag.'

 

 

 

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Throwback to 2011 😅 How time changes @krunalpandya_official Swag mera desi hai

A post shared by Hardik Pandya (@hardikpandya93) onApr 20, 2020 at 6:42am PDT

"Throwback to 2011, How time changes @krunalpandya_official, Swag Mera desi hai," Hardik captioned the post on Instagram.

The flamboyant all-rounder, who was out of the Indian team due to back injury, made a comeback during the South Africa tour of India.

The first match of the series got washed out due to rain, and the series was eventually postponed following the outbreak of coronavirus.

Pandya made his ODI debut against New Zealand at Dharamsala in October 2016.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all sporting action across the world has been stopped including the 13th edition of the IPL.

On April 16, the IPL 2020 was suspended till further notice due to 'evolving global health concerns'.

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