April 23, 5 PM: Do you believe you have the coolest dog on the planet? Maybe it's time to let the world know that too. Vile Parle's ZooBar is organising Dog's Got Talent, where your mutt can show off his skills right from his obedience levels, fetching ability, turning tricks, love for food, loudest bark or even for simply looking the cutest. The Applausometer will reward the swaggiest waggers in multiple categories, because we all believe every dog's got a talent."

Humans have had enough fun, it's now time for our paw friends to enjoy. This event will see dogs indulging in a lot of games, competitions and delicious canine goodies. It gives pet owners the time and opportunity to take their dogs out and spend some quality time with them and be a great change and source of entertainment for dogs," says owner Nishant Joshi. The highlight of the event will be some summer treats for y our furry friends by K9 professionals, a nice grub by Mutt Hutt, a photo-op and accessories sale.

Uncharted has dropped its latest installment and it is significant simply because there is no Nathan Drake, the protagonist of the previous Uncharted games. Instead, this time, you get to play with Chloe Frazer backed with Nadine Ross, who are in India searching for the Tusk of Ganesh. We don't know if Naughty Dog planned this, but a game featuring a Ganesh related artifact releasing just around the time of Ganpati Utsav is pretty good timing.

The game unfolds in the mountains of India during a civil war, with everything you would expect, in an Uncharted game — lots of fast paced gun play, spectacular ancient ruins, overgrown jungles and easy to solve puzzles. It is a formula that has worked well for the series in the past and why would you mess with something that works.

You may find both Chloe and Nadine familiar if you have played Uncharted before, they have appeared in the previous games. Chloe as a sidekick in two games and Nadine as the antagonist of the last Uncharted. To get the artifact that leads to the Tusk of Ganesh, Chloe infiltrates the war-torn city dressed in a kurta, she looks very Indian in the outfit. This is very different from any other Uncharted game because it deals with claustrophobic, garbage-filled city streets instead majestic jungles the game is used to. It's a nice change but a short one, once you manage to find the relic it is straight off to the jungle for you.

The Lost Legacy is a lot like Uncharted 4, it plays almost similar, some of the guards look familiar and even some of the ruins. The game is comfortable with what it is and there aren't any new surprises that push the gameplay forward. What it excels at is the ride and that is an action-packed ride that would put Indiana Jones to shame. What you can do is enhance the experience with their new photo mode, it makes everything a little more fun. The photo mode lets you change the expression of Chloe's face temporarily. This, of course, can be used to take hilarious screengrabs.

The game looks amazing on the PS4 Pro, the jungles and the ruins are grand to say the least, enough to make you want to go a nearby forest in search of ancient picturesque monuments. It's a nice use of local mythology to create a brilliant fantasy world.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is great for newbies. Since it doesn't require you to have previous knowledge of the characters or any hard to play sections, it is pretty much a no-brainer for any gamer.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Rating: 4/5
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony
Platform: PS4
Price: Rs 2,499

Cars honk as they make their way through Bandra-Kurla Complex to get to offices or to the newest eatery that has set up shop in the swanky financial district, the people in them all but oblivious to a small park in the back lanes that acts as a haven for the city's youth.

Annul Pale from the Meteoric crew trains at City Park, BKC

You will find them all here - collegians skipping classes, teens on their skateboards, and a group of young men performing exhilarating tricks on their bicycles. These are the city's BMX riders, for whom cycles are not simply modes of transport, but a way to express themselves.

The Sharptune crew at the Cycling Festival of India, held last weekend at Nehru Centre, Worli. Pics/Ashish Raje

"There is a community of approximately 45 BMX riders in Mumbai. Many of us prac-tise here at City Park daily," says 22-year-old Manoj Jaiswal, a Sion resident who was introduced to the sport by his neighbour in 2011. "We used to train along Carter Road promenade and the streets of BKC, but cops would arrive and shoo us away. And no public park allowed us entry with our bicycles. We ran out of places, but eventually, this park's management allowed us to use it."

This struggle is not new to the BMXers, who often end up travelling to far-flung - and thus less crowded - locations like Kalyan and Navi Mumbai. After all, in a city starved of space for even pedestrians, it's hard to imagine people giving up their precious streets to a sport they view as - in Jaiswal's words - a circus act.

Dipak Panchal

The beginnings
BMX racing took off in California back in the 1970s, inspired by motocross. It didn't take time for its popularity to rise among the youth, and soon, you could find them trying tricks on their own cycles across the world.

Rahul Mulani

Bandra resident Rahul Mulani was among the first few to bring the BMX movement to Mumbai three decades ago. "When we started out around 1987, we used to practise at a parking lot near Scandal Point in Breach Candy. There were fewer cars in the city back then, so there was plenty of space for us," he says.

Manoj Jaiswal

Not just empty parking lots; the seafront promenades used to be fair game, too. Thirty-year-old Dipak Panchal, who dropped out of college to pursue his passion for BMX and now runs a bicycle store in south Mumbai, shares that even as late as 2005, he could be found practising his moves at Marine Drive.

"Lately, whenever I have tried to practise there, policemen passing by have come and stopped me. They have even deflated my bicycle's tires, and there have been times they've threatened to throw me in the back of their van," he says, adding, "If there is a rule preventing people from cycling on promenades, they can tell us that without being rude. They allow elderly gentlemen to cycle peacefully, and even though we're not causing any damage to people or property, we are treated like criminals."

So, to avoid such conflicts, his crew, Sharptune, practises at a space they have rented out in Bandra. Last week, at the city's first cycling festival, amidst panel discussions and stores exhibiting the latest gear, they got a chance to show off their skills, but such events are few and far between. Though Panchal and Mulani try and organise jams and competitions, sponsors are hard to come by.

Need of the hour
Today, Mulani and Panchal, as well as the rest of the community, stick to a handful of spaces, including their own building compounds, that they know won't draw any unwanted attention.

"Even skateboarders are now getting recognition. In 2015, Khar Social set up a ramp, but it is too small for us to practise on, even though our requirements are not too different from a skateboarder's," says Jaiswal, whose crew, Meteoric, comprises skateboarders too. And because BMX is hidden away from the spotlight, the community is growing slower than it would have, had its members been given the chance to showcase their skills in public without any fear of repercussions.

The problem in India, Panchal believes, is that cricket overshadows every other sport. This leads to other sports, especially extreme sports like BMX, being ridiculed and even neglected by the public and the authorities. "The country's first pump track came up in Hyderabad this year, and it was built by a private body. We don't see the Cycling Federation of India [CFI] taking any interest in the BMX community," says Mulani.

VN Singh, assistant secretary, CFI, which is based in New Delhi, says they can't do anything for the sport until it is officially recognised. "I know it's an Olympic sport, but until there are enough practitioners of BMX in the country, we can't provide any support," he says. He follows this up by saying that a pump track in Delhi is in the offing, but quickly adds that he doesn't know how long it will take. "You see, we don't have the funds for it."

Alita: Battle Angel
U/A: Action, Adventure
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali
Rating: 

This film, which has Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron working together with Peter Jackson's visual effects, has wonders never experienced before in cinema. The film may have taken a long while (twenty years) coming to screen, but the end result is fantastic enough to keep you asking for more. A manga-based action thriller, James Cameron's $200 million-worth, long cherished dream is aimed at young adults seeking fresher pastures from that of The Hunger Games variety and hopes to make it to bigger box-office returns than that sub-genre hit-starter.

Cameron started on the cinematic adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's original manga comics way back in the late 1990s, (much before Avatar), but the phenomenal success of Avatar had him relinquishing directorial control to Rodriguez while holding firm as screenwriter (with Jon Landau and Laeta Kalogridis) and producer.

The resultant kick-ass cyberpunk adventure may not be as original as he imagined it, but it has certainly got all the chops to make it to a long-term fan-following on its own.

The filmed adventure is set 500 years from now, in Iron city - a junkyard that is a wasteland for the flying citadel of Zalem. The city is peopled with AI controlled cyborgs mingling with real humans in a community so tech-spangled that it's hard to decipher one from the other. Kindly Doctor Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) reconfigures a former robot superweapon and rechristens her Alita (Rosa Salazar), after his own daughter. I do, who moonlights as a hunter-warrior, tries to protect the young Alita, but her mind has memories of a past that keeps haunting her present. She even develops a crush on handsome robo-junk dealer Hugo (Keean Johnson) and eventually ends up becoming the super weapon she once was.

The plotting here is a little too jumbled up, ensnared as it is in creating set-piece thrills and out-of-this-world experiences. Stereotype characters and genre tropes make the engagement less than wondrous. The tech-specs are certainly the best we've seen in a long time, the IMAX imagery is splendid and beguiling and the vivid expressions of the actors make it feel all the more real and intimately experiential.

Watch the trailer of Alita: Battle Angel

Even though Salazar is the most riveting and fascinating of characters, she does feel a little artificial at times. The CGI blends in effortlessly with digitally morphed motion-capture performance, but the artifice can be felt - too strongly at times. The array of side characters also feels like old hat killing the originality of the experience and allowing déjà-vu to creep in. Even so, there's no belittling this explosive cutting-edge adventure that takes cinema thrills to never-seen-before heights!

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The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Dir: Mike Mitchell
Cast: Chris Pratt, Tiffany Haddish
Rate: 

The Lego universe gets a sequel intended to keep the young fans happily engaged, but the film fails to come close to being entertaining, even if we whittle down expectations and limit them to their target audience.

The novelty that the first Lego movie had going for it, has, of course, worn off. First-off, the script by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Raphael Bob-Waksberg goes intergalactic in its attempt to give Lego Batman a life-partner. Their resulting union is meant to spread the message of peace and love in the universe. That's a place where no Batman sequel has gone before, and therefore, seems a little too contrarian and far-fetched to stomach. Even the threat to Bricksburg by Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, seems like a marketing gimmick rather than a believable story idea.

The usual characters Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) end up having to confront an alter ego that appears more sinister and powerful than it seems at first glance. The belief that kids from kindergarten and pre-primary school will relate to this sort of story ideation is preposterous. That they make it all link to everyday family friction may seem commendable, but the consequent labelling is not something to be proud of.

The ideation here is musty, the characters are no longer likeable, and the story is too tortuous to be considered engaging. Garishly coloured animation, sentimental live-action montages meant to connect the dots, and musical numbers (including a not so catchy, Catchy Song) make it all the more off-putting. There's over-abundance of elements here, which makes the experience jarring for the senses. The puns being bandied (including Ourmomageddon) about are silly and patronising.

The stray humour sputters to life in intermittent gurgles, but it's too little to be entertaining. This sequel reeks of commercialisation, and there are no two ways about that!

Check out The Lego Movie 2 trailer here:

Also read: Fun facts about The Lego Movie 2 we bet you didn't know 

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Notebook
U/A: Romance
Dir: Nitin Kakkar
Cast: Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl
Ratings: 

I, for one, am not of the belief that remakes are a bad thing. If made well, they can stand their ground and even shine, in some cases, better than the original. Given that Notebook is directed by Nitin Kakkar (the man behind the luminous gem Filmistaan), I had a fair share of expectations, despite the underwhelming trailer. Kakkar's powerful storytelling in the unassuming Filmistaan played in my mind as I walked in to watch Notebook, an adaptation of the Thai film, The Teacher's Diary that released in 2014.

It's not a good sign when, in a love story, children steal your heart over the lead pair. Individually, both debutants Zaheer Iqbal and Pranutan Bahl sparkle, but they meet only at the fag end of the film. Kakkar draws out adequate performances from both, playing to their strengths, using the naivety of the novices to build on some screen charm. But with so much solo heavy lifting and a wobbly screenplay in tow, Kakkar delivers far short of what he is capable of.

Watch the trailer here:

As a plus, the film uses the picturesque settings of Kashmir, blending it with good music. The story, much like the original, traces the unlikely love life of Firdaus (Bahl) and Kabir (Iqbal). She leaves behind a notebook full of sketches and doodles; he is her replacement in a school where they teach. The notebook becomes a source of hope for Kabir, who connects deeply with her over the pages. She is an unusual teacher in an abusive relationship. As Kabir struggles to bond with the children, the notebook comes handy. The rest of the film paves the way to their final interaction.

Kakkar remains faithful to the original design, transporting his viewers into a world of innocence. It is concerning that the director never delves deep into the problems of the state, bringing forth its elements for a pure cosmetic use. A child with a fundamentalist father is a needless addition to the plot. Kabir's former job as a soldier, and his Kashmiri pandit background, also do little to add to the larger plot. It's a balanced view, but not a bold one; too simplistically handled, which is unlike Kakkar's risque style.

Watch it for the adorable kids, and if you are excited about star children in general, Pranutan is a good deal as a first timer.

Also Read: Notebook celeb review: Bollywood unanimously touts the film as a sweet and genuine

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Junglee
U/A: Action
Director: Chuck Russell
Cast: Vidyut Jammwal, Pooja Sawant, Atul Kulkarni, Akshay Oberoi
Ratings: 

There may be a relevant message lying at the heart of Junglee's story, but the wafer-thin plot renders director Chuck Russell incapable of translating it into a thought-provoking film. Poor execution and bad acting makes this Vidyut Jammwal-starrer a mere comedic watch.

This wildlife adventure revolves around Raj (Jammwal), a vet working in Mumbai. He shows his extraordinary Kalaripayattu skills by taking on a bunch of goons who are torturing a stray dog. While his relationship with his father may be strained, the two harbour a shared passion - their love for elephants. Raj's trip to the elephant sanctuary owned by his father turns all the more interesting when he meets female mahout Shankara (Pooja Sawant) and a journalist-animal rights activist (debutante Asha Bhat). However, our mighty hero has little time for romance - trouble looms large over him as he has to protect the elephants from poachers (led by Atul Kulkarni) who trade their ivory tusks for moolah. How Raj saves the pachyderms from the hunters forms the crux of the story.

Watch the trailer here:

Russell appears to be well-acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of his protagonist. So, you have a script that has little plot and more frills. You will be sold at the good ol' hand pummeling, as Jammwal spices up the desi maar dhaar with mixed martial arts. As for the rest of the cast, Kulkarni's poker-faced bad guy act is something one doesn't expect from a seasoned actor. Sawant is convincing while Bhat as the babe in the jungle is completely wasted. Akshay Oberoi as the forest ranger and Makrand Deshpande are sincere.

On the upside, Mark Irwin's cinematography keeps you hooked to the screen. He captures every moment in the lush jungles with sincerity. But that doesn't save the film from sinking. With a runtime of 115 minutes, this thriller feels longer than it should. You will miss the deft direction that Russell displayed in his previous outings, The Mask and The Scorpion King.

Also Read: Chuck Russell on Junglee: Made film keeping Vidyut Jammwal in mind

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Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases across the city, the Mumbai Police on Monday took to Twitter to thank Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar for his humble contribution towards the Mumbai Police foundation amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Mumbai Police thanks @akshaykumar for contributing Rs. 2 Crore to the Mumbai Police Foundation. Your contribution will go a long way in safeguarding the lives of those who are committed to safeguarding the city - the men and women of Mumbai Police!#MumbaiPoliceFoundation

— CP Mumbai Police (@CPMumbaiPolice) April 27, 2020

While extending a thank you note to the action-superstar of the B-Town industry, Mumbai Police said that the contribution will help to safeguard the lives of the Mumbai Police personnel who are committed to safeguarding the city to fight the global pandemic.

In the past too, Sooryavanshi actor donated Rs 3 crore to help the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in order to help them to make rapid testing kits, personal protection equipments and face masks in its battle against the deadly virus.

#RohitShetty has facilitated eight hotels across the city for our on-duty #CovidWarriors to rest, shower & change with arrangements for breakfast & dinner.

We thank him for this kind gesture and for helping us in #TakingOnCorona and keeping Mumbai safe.

— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 21, 2020

Besides helping Mumbai Police and the country's richest civic body, Akshay also contributed Rs 25 crores to the PM CARES fund to help the country fight the epidemic. Earlier, Mumbai police expressed gratitude to Bollywood director Rohit Shetty for facilitating eight hotels across the city for Mumbai police personnel.

Thanking Rohit Shetty for his kind gesture, Mumbai Police said that the facility would help on-duty corona warriors to rest, shower and change with arrangements for breakfast and dinner.

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In a first, the Central Railway (CR) seems to have come up with a permanent solution for the falling boulders in the ghat section known for disrupting services during monsoon. Accordingly, CR has recreated steel tunnels which will trap falling boulders and protect the passing trains below.

Last year, CR deployed 60 additional CCTV cameras, posted gangmen, rock-bolting at 750m stretch and drone cameras to alert approaching trains, but all were of limited help.In 2017, three passengers on the Hubli-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Express suffered injuries after a boulder came crashing through the roof while it was passing through Khandala ghat.

After the problem was analysed last year, it was revealed that the increased incidents of boulders falling on tracks along with mud had been due to heavy monsoon.

So, officials started working on the steel tunnel portal extension last year in four tunnels. "The work has been progressing with the lockdown in place and will be completed before the monsoon sets in," CR chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said. "Work of removing loose boulders is still underway and at present, we are running boulder special trains, and patrolling the mountains to scan loose boulders and tunnels," he added.

In the history books
Historically, the Indian Railways has been dealing with the problem of boulders in this stretch since its inception. But they never cancelled these many trains to manage the situation as they have done in recent years. The archival records of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, which is now called Central Railway, on the initiation of passenger rail service on the ghat section in 1864, had issued a notice on the operation of the 'terrain section' by dividing the entire stretch into 13 parts with three watchmen deputed for each.

4
Total no. of tunnels in which steel tunnel work is underway

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With more than a month since the lockdown began, a few students from outstation are still stuck in Mumbai University's (MU) hostels. A majority of them managed to head home, but there still are about 20-23 students in the Churchgate and Kalina hostels.

Though their mess provides them with meals, the students still pay for food and need other daily essential items. None of them have any money left and no assurance from home as many come from farmers' families who are already facing a loss due to lockdown.

So these students have requested the varsity to provide them financial aid. "Money is very important when you are staying away from home. Every day each student ends up paying a little over R120 for all three meals at the mess. The university has issued orders that the mess should not charge us, but we know that if we don't pay, the canteen service provider won't be able to buy items," a student at the Churchgate hostel said.

Another student from the Kalina hostel said, "The university has asked the food contractor to not charge but that is not practically possible until they have been provided with groceries etc. If the varsity provides us financial aid, we will be able to ensure our other needs such as soaps, toothpaste etc. are met."

Rohit Dhale from Chatrabharati, who has written a letter to the varsity over the issue, said, "Most of these students are from families which are not financially stable. The students are few and if the varsity decides to help them it won't be a huge amount." MU registrar Ajay Deshmukh said, "We have already ensured that the mess continues to function so that these students do not have a problem with food. We have asked the mess contractor to not make charges mandatory during such difficult times. We have received the letter and it will be discussed with the Vice-Chancellor to decide what can be done."

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India's cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar made a donation of R59 lakh towards COVID-19 relief funds on April 7. The reason behind 59 was fascinating — the sum total of 34 Test centuries, one ODI hundred and 24 tons for Mumbai in domestic cricket.

Interestingly, the first of those 59 centuries for Mumbai was scored 50 Aprils ago in the 1969-70 Ranji Trophy final against Rajasthan at the Brabourne Stadium.

It was Rajasthan's seventh Ranji Trophy final of the decade against Mumbai, with no victory to show. This, despite roping in some big names as professionals over those years like Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Manjrekar, Subhash Gupte, Rusi Surti and Arvind Apte apart from having charismatic players like Hanumant Singh and Salim Durani.

Mumbai-bred fast bowler Kailash Gattani started playing for Rajasthan as a schoolboy in 1962 and in the 1969-70 Ranji Trophy final, he was trading punches with four of his St Xavier's College teammates — Gavaskar, Milind Rege, Ashok Mankad and Atul Mehta.

Rajasthan won the toss and batted without making full use of the good batting conditions. Before the curtains came down on Day One, Rajasthan had been bowled out for 217 with Gavaskar and Mankad ending the day on 16-0.

Pace bowler Abdul Ismail, who like Gavaskar, was in his first Ranji Trophy season, claimed 4-58 while one-Test man Ajit Pai returned 2-43. It was Ismail who sent back Rajasthan's captain Hanumant Singh for a duck, caught by his opposite number Ajit Wadekar.

Earlier, the loss of Laxman Singh with the scoreboard reading only 16, didn't deter Test all-rounder Salim Durani from playing his aggressive game. He put his punitive blade to good use in an innings which included eight hits to the ropes. In a second wicket stand of 58 with Hanumant's brother Suryaveer, Durani's contribution was 41.

Solkar, who came on first change bore the brunt of Durani's aggression; Ismail too. "I remember one ball sailing towards the East Stand before I had even completed my follow through," Ismail recalled on Tuesday.

Future Test batsman Parthasarathy Sharma top-scored with 67 before putting on 92 with former Test batsman Arvind Apte for the fifth wicket.

Day Two saw Gavaskar (114) and Mankad (171) blossom to a Ranji Trophy record opening stand of 279. Gavaskar's 255-minute knock was embellished with 16 fours.

According to the 1970 edition of Indian Cricket annual, "Both batted extremely well, true to the traditions of the team to which they belonged, grafting the runs with concentration and perseverance. But both had their share of luck, which, however, did not disturb their approach, Gavaskar was missed when he was only 11 by wicketkeeper (Sunil) Benjamin off Gattani, who was troubling the batsmen in the early overs of the morning."

Mehta, who contributed an unbeaten 24 in the total of 531 beefed up by Solkar (82) and an entertaining 58 (7x4, 2x6) at No. 8 by Pai, recalled Gavaskar's friends jokingly telling him to send Rajasthan wicketkeeper Sunil Benjamin a Christmas card every year.

When I spoke to Pune-based Gattani, who was most unfortunate to miss out on an India cap, over the phone on Tuesday, he rued the fact that his side dropped many catches in the match and that Rajasthan's preparation for the season was warped. "And when you drop someone like Sunil, his bat gets bigger and bigger," Gattani exclaimed.

Gavaskar was playing only his third first-class game for Mumbai. His returns from his debut — the 1967-68 Irani Cup against MAK Pataudi's Rest of India — were 5 and 0. When he returned to the XI for the 1969-70 Ranji Trophy semi-final against Mysore (later Karnataka), he got a duck and 27 not out so the hundred in the final, reached through a single off Gattani just before tea on the second day, must have been one of relief.

Gavaskar's childhood friend Rege stressed how pressure-free the Mumbai camp was during that game and in that era in which 15 Ranji Trophy titles were clinched from 1958-59 to 1972-73: "We were never casual, but we were completely relaxed. We did not know what was it to lose and we had the great Wadekar leading us. He was not a demonstrative captain but scored very high on strategy."

Rajasthan could manage only 255 in their second innings with off-spinner Rege accounting for Suryaveer, Sharma, Gattani and Hemendra Surana. Mumbai clinched the game by an innings and 59 runs and Mumbai's next batting star for India had played a significant part in it. That Gavaskar held three catches in Rajasthan's second innings like in the previous game against Mysore, must have contributed to the thrill of his first triumphant Ranji Trophy season. It was Mumbai's 12th Ranji triumph on the trot.

KN Prabhu, the doyen of Indian cricket writers had taken note. In his Ranji Trophy review for The Cricketer International's July 1970 issue, he wrote: "Gavaskar, whose front foot drives are a delight to watch, is expected to maintain Bombay's tradition."

For pacer Raj Singh Dungarpur, the former Cricket Club of India and BCCI president, it was his last first-class game for Rajasthan at the Brabourne Stadium.

The everlasting hurt of seven final losses to Mumbai is evidenced in Raj Singh's decision to skip a reunion of Mumbai players for which he was invited, at the CCI in February 2000. "After ending up on the losing side in seven Ranji Trophy finals against those players, I didn't want to open old wounds for myself," he reasoned.

A certain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar was at that function, enjoying himself in the CK Nayudu Banquet Hall, not far away from the pitch on which he scored his maiden first-class century for his beloved city.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper

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In another incident that underlines the abject plight of migrant labourers, the Mulund police found 19 of them attempting to walk home to UP on foot in a bid to escape hunger and unemployment. The group was spotted sitting on a water pipeline during drone surveillance on Wednesday evening. What surprised the police was that usually, people run away as soon as they notice drones. However, these labourers, trying to escape hunger in the city, did not flinch and stared back at the drone. The group appeared to be headed in the direction of Thane.

The police across the state are using drones to keep an eye on their jurisdiction amid the COVID-19 lockdown. The police spotted this group around 7pm on Wednesday during routine surveillance and went for a closer look.

Vijay Prajapati, a migrant

The police noticed a few people sitting on a pipeline that supplies water. The drone was lowered to get a better look at the people and police counted 19 people sitting, observing the drone.

"People run away after they realise a drone is tracking them. But these people did not. We thought they are resting. All of them had bags hoisted on their backs or lying by their side," said an officer from Mulund police station. "We informed a patrolling van and some local politicians who rushed to the Veena Nagar," the officer added. The 19 people were taken to Mulund police station where cops and MLA Mihir Kotecha spoke to them.

Brahmadatta Tiwari

"Of the 19, 16 reside in Sonapur, Bhandup West and six are from Goregaon East. All are daily wage labourers," said Kotecha.

"They all belong to a village near Balrampur near Lukhnow, Uttar Pradesh. They planned to go to their hometown walking. All of them have been taken to Bhandup Shelter Home, where they will be given food."

A screenshot of the video of the labourers taken during drone surveillance by Mulund police. Pics/Suresh Karkera

Sonapur resident Vijay Kumar Prajapati, 38, said, "We all live in one single room. We don't have a single rupee in our pocket now. We have no option but to walk back to our home where our family is. We haven't had proper food for the past three days. So, instead of starving, we chose this path."

Brahmadatta Tiwari, 40, a Goregaon East resident, said, "We all belong to the same village. We discussed among each other about what to do as money and provisions are ending. With no other option left, we decided to walk back home."

Mulund police informed the labourers that the government has allowed for states to take back their migrants and if they want, they will be taken home.

7g
Time on Wednesday evening that the drone spotted the migrants on the pipeline

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his nomination to the State Legislative Council. According to sources, Thackeray asked for PM Modi's help, saying if it doesn't happen, he will have to resign. The PM said that he would look into the matter and get more details. The Maharashtra Cabinet on April 28 once again asked Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Chief Minister Thackeray to the State Legislative Council.

Earlier on April 9, the state Cabinet had recommended Thackeray's name for one of the two vacant MLC seats that were to be nominated by Koshyari to the Legislative Council to avoid a constitutional crisis. Thackeray was sworn-in as the Maharashtra Chief Minister on November 28, last year. He is currently not a member of either of the House -- Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council.

According to the Constitution, Thackeray has to be elected to either Assembly or Council within six months in order to continue in his post.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

With the lockdown prompting students and parents in uncertainty, schools in Mumbai have been acting on requests received from parents on rolling back fees and refunding miscellaneous fares.

According to a report in The Times of India, city schools have been rolling back fees for bus and canteen as children are attending classes online and not availing the services.

Parents have been requesting for financial relief from the school as they have been facing pressure in terms of their jobs and businesses due to the lockdown imposed by the government due to the Coronavirus outbreak. A parent was quoted by the newspaper as saying that the requests for carrying forward a portion of tuition fees and/or additional variable costs to the next term were also made, to which schools replied that they are looking for ways to address the concerns in the best possible way.

The Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Bandra Kurla Complex issued a notice to students and parents that states, "During this time, as we offer virtual classes, your child is not availing the school transport service and the canteen snack facility. Taking this into account, the school has decided to refund the charges paid toward these services for the current quarter of 2020."

Addressing the concerns by parents, the management of the Children’s Academy Group of Schools said that they have decided to roll back on the fee hike. The school’s trustee Rohan Bhatt was quoted by the newspaper saying that "We understand that the parents also might be going through a difficult period financially and, hence, have decided to roll back the fee hike for at least six months," adding that they are also allowing parents to pay the fees at their own pace. However, the trustee also mentioned that if the situation persists, the school may face trouble in paying the salaries of teachers and staff.

On the other hand, some parents said that they are willing to pay the schools until they can afford to and as long as children are getting their education from online classes. Lauding the efforts by the teachers, a parent was quoted by the newspaper as saying, "The efforts the teachers and school are putting into teaching the kids is phenomenal. My child is learning everything from football to keyboard through online classes. So as long as we can, we would be willing to support the school."

Meanwhile, on the circular issued by the Maharashtra state education board, asking schools to be considerate while demanding fees for the ongoing and the next academic year, state education minister Varsha Gaikwad said on Friday that the parents can lodge a complain to the district education officers if schools are forcing them to pay during the lockdown period.

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After losing three cops due to the coronavirus epidemic, the Mumbai Police has finally something to cheer about. On Tuesday, the Mumbai Police officials took to Instagram to share a heartwarming video of four police personnel who have overcome coronavirus and they were welcomed with open hearts amid cheer and thunderous applause.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Do you know what gives us the courage to weather the mightiest of storms? It’s you. Your endless love. And your invaluable support. Thank you, Mumbai! #TakingOnCorona #coronawarriors #coronavirus #corona #waragainstvirus

A post shared by Mumbai Police (@mumbaipolice) onApr 28, 2020 at 12:28am PDT

In the 57-seconds video clip, four cops of the Mumbai police can be seen given a standing ovation as they were welcomed back home after their successful triumph over the deadly coronavirus. While sharing the video with their 75,000 followers, Mumbai Police captioned it, "Do you know what gives us the courage to weather the mightiest of storms? It's you. Your endless love. And your invaluable support. Thank you, Mumbai!"

A screengrab of the video shared by Mumbai Police on Instagram

The video , which has gone viral begins with the text, "When four Mumbai Police personnel reached home after beating coronavirus, this is how they were welcomed." As the video moves further, four cops of the Mumbai Police personnel can be seen returning homes as as their colleagues from the department and members of their society welcome them amid cheers and thunderous applause.

Good news for @MumbaiPolice
A police constable attached with Khar Police Station, recovered fully from COVID19, he was released from the hospital today after his report came negative, entire police station staff reached outside hospital to welcome him with claps. @choubeyvk pic.twitter.com/8QwwsmFQ97

— فÛÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂŒضاÙ† خاÙ† FaizanKhan (@journofaizan) April 27, 2020

The heartwarming video ends with the Mumbai Police thanking the citizens of Mumbai for always having their backs. A small short clip of the same video features a constable of the Khar police, who was welcomed by all the members of his police station after he tested negative for COVID-19. The constable, identified as Yogesh Torani, who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus was undergoing treatment at Khar Maternity Hospital.

Since being shared, the video has garnered over 40,000 views with hundreds of netizens lauding the Mumbai police cops for overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and emerging as true heroes. One user said, "Thank you Mumbai police," while another user commented, "You guys are just amazing! Thank you for always being there for us Mumbaikars." A third user thanking Mumbai police for its selfless service said, "It's the other way around Mumbai Police, we're lucky that you have our backs. Thank you for that!"

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At a time when Maharashtra Governor, Bhagat Singh Koshyari is being blamed for delaying granting a legislative council membership to Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, the former has recommended the Election Commission of India (ECI) to schedule elections to the nine vacant seats of the Council as early as possible.

The request made on Thursday is quite significant because Thackeray must get elected to either house before May 27 if he were to continue in office and give Maharashtra a stable government in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents have also asked the governor and ECI to hold elections if nomination under the governor's quota wasn't possible. The nine seats fell vacant on April 24 but the commission postponed the elections because of the pandemic.

In his letter, the governor has said that the lockdown has been relaxed in many ways and hence the elections to the council seats could be held under certain guidelines.

Welcoming the move, Opposition leader, Devendra Fadnavis said, "This would be constitutional because the members would be elected in due process and it would also adhere to a norm that the governor's nominee should be made a CM or minister."

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Four more cases of Coronavirus were reported from the APMC market — three in the vegetable and one in the grain market — on Thursday, increasing the uncertainty about the operation of the wholesale grain and vegetable market.

The infected include three traders and one purchaser. APMC already has 24 traders and 16 staff, including security guards, NMMC doctors and a pharmacist, in home-quarantine after they came in contact with an infected person. Besides, 14 others from the market are infected. The spike also raises concerns about the steps taken by the APMC committee to combat the spread of the virus at the cost of nearly a crore.

Shivaji Daund, commissioner of the Konkan division, said, "We are awaiting the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's (NMMC) report on the latest positive cases. Accordingly, we will decide on whether to continue the operations."

A crore spent on precautions

Shashikant Shinde, APMC elected committee member and Mathadi workers union leader said, "Last week, six positive cases were reported at a hotel within APMC premises. It was decided that the market would shut down but due to government pressure, the decision was changed and only the hotel was sealed. Vegetable trucks are directly entering Mumbai. Very few trucks with vegetables, grains, fruits, spices, visit APMC."

Shinde added that according to the government APMC is an essential service and hence cannot be shut down. "I had recently suggested that we keep the market open for just three days of the week. The suggestion was turned down."

Highly placed APMC officials said the committee has spent nearly R1 crore to set up disinfectant spraying machines, a war room, and to get the market cleaned twice a week. Another nearly R50 lakh was spent to make alternative arrangements for 402 stalls for vegetable and fruit vendors in Kharghar, but that won't be utilised as traders feel the market in Vashi is already set.

Market insiders said, "We are using disinfectants and have thermal scanners at the main entrance but nothing can detect asymptomatic false-positive carriers of COVID-19. People coming in contact with such carriers are testing positive. The number will only increase in the coming days."

Another elected member of the APMC committee said, "Another problem is traders placing orders for multiple trucks full of produce.

"We allow only three hundred trucks to enter APMC per day and 300 are parked at the terminal waiting for entry. This shows that some traders are keen on making money during a pandemic."

Security officer infected

Last week, a 50-year-old security officer attached to the Maharashtra Security Board and deployed at APMC, tested positive. Five security guards, three officers, and two clerks attached to the fruit market had come in contact with him and were sent to home-quarantine.

"We were tested two days ago. The report will come in another two days. We are asymptomatic and are in home quarantine. The security officer used to attend meetings and take rounds of the fruit market," said Ishwar Masram, deputy secretary of the fruit market, who is also in home quarantine.

Sources within the market said, "Though it is not clear how the security officer got infected, the buzz in the market is that he attended a meeting organised by a state minister who is recuperating after getting infected. Our concern is that it is practically difficult to trace whom the concerned person came in contact with unless the person has downloaded the government's Ayush application that maps positive patients and their contacts."

"APMC has a staff of 550 people. The concern is that if one tests positive, 10 to 15 people contacts will have to be traced and tested. This means the number of working men will reduce as everyone will have to be quarantined," said Shirish Badgujar, assistant secretary APMC.

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Ahead of the crucial Legislative Council election in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday paid a courtesy visit to Raj Bhavan here on the occasion of Maharashtra Day and met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Their meeting lasted for around 20 minutes. The move comes at a time when the Election Commission of India (ECI) is scheduled to hold a meeting over elections to the Legislative Council in Maharashtra. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9.30 am today. Every year, Governor and Chief Minister meet on Maharashtra Day in a traditional parade at Shivaji Park but this year the celebrations are curtailed due to COVID-19. So, the Chief Minister went to Raj Bhavan to call on the Governor, a CMO official said.

Earlier, Governor Koshyari had requested the ECI for the election to nine seats of the Legislative Council in the state. The Governor has made the request in a letter to the Election Commission, to fill the 9 seats in the legislative council, that has been lying vacant from April 24, "with a view to ending the current uncertainty in the state." He has stated that the Central government has announced many relaxation measures regarding the enforcement of lockdown in the country. As such the elections to the council seats can be held with certain guidelines, said Koshyari.

"Since Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray is not a member of either house of the State Legislature, he needs to get elected to the Council before May 27," he added. Earlier, Election Commission had withheld the election process for these 9 seats in view of the COVID-19 situation in the country. This came after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his nomination to the State Legislative Council. According to sources, Thackeray sought Prime Minister Modi's help, saying if it doesn't happen, he will have to resign.

Prior to that, the Maharashtra Cabinet had on April 28 once again had asked Governor Koshyari to nominate Chief Minister Thackeray to the State Legislative Council.

Before that on April 9, the state cabinet had recommended Thackeray's name for one of the two vacant MLC seats that were to be nominated by Koshyari to the Legislative Council to avoid a constitutional crisis.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

The financial crisis caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to school fees becoming a major point of discussion. While many schools have introduced novel concepts to ease the burden, parents are also discussing ways with managements to avoid issues with salary to staff.

Despite the constant demand by parents to cancel fees or give concessions, this is not possible for all schools. Principal of Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School in Thane, Revathy Srinivasan said, "Schools cannot do away with fees, after all, salaries need to be paid to staff."

Some relax norms

Many schools have their own model of relaxation in fees. Meera Isaacs, principal of Cathedral and John Connon School, said, "If some parents are facing genuine issues, we consider them. We have also waived off fine on late payment of fees."

Similarly, at the Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir, the late fee is waived. Despite a PTA-approved hike in fees to be implemented this year, the school has decided to continue with the old fee structure for three months. Principal Rekha Kapoor, said, "This decision was taken due to the current situation."

Jamnabai Narsee School has not spoken anything about fees as yet. "Generally parents pay fees in the month of April. But we have not collected fees as we are yet to take a decision. We are not going to push for them so fast," said principal Zeenat Bhojabhoy.

Bombay Scottish, Mahim has deferred the increase in fees for the forthcoming year. Dhirubhai Ambani International School has decided to waive off transport and canteen fees. At Pawar Public School, one month extension was provided to parents to pay the first instalment.

'Govt must intervene'

Former education minister Ashish Shelar has written a letter to Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, asking her to issue an order to schools to rollback fee hikes. But parents feel that the issue should not be politicised.

President of Parents of Private Schools of Maharashtra (POPSOM), Milind Gangurde said, "Many parents are dependent on jobs. Some are facing huge salary cuts or loss of jobs due to the situation. It is time the government intervenes and takes a strong stand in favour of parents."

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As a student-practitioner of visual arts and a short filmmaker, Sumeet Patil, 30, was always fascinated by pareidolia, the tendency and professional habit to see human faces in inanimate objects. Not that he made a living out of the practice, but it recurred as a theme when he pursued tree photography, or when he spent after hours around his BDD chawl residence or even when he made music out of unconventional objects outside the studio space. He saw thought-provoking human faces in rusted locks, discarded TV sets, bloomed flowers and broken belts. Little did he realise that this preoccupation would be one of the key themes of his posters designed to dissuade people from venturing out during the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak. Patil is one of 700 artists currently sculpting innovative visual messages persuading people to stay at home in Maharashtra.

Patil hasn't been at his home in Naigaon for over one-and-a-half months. He is in scenic Kudal in Konkan—not as a fun-seeking tourist, but a Mumbaikar unable to circle back because of the statewide lockdown. He had come to Kudal for a recce to finalise shoot locations for his upcoming feature film that looks at a blind girl's journey. The full-length feature stems from a 22-minute short, which he had shot in Kudal. In fact, he was walking through possible shoot locations along with the visually challenged protagonist Shabnam Ansari. But, just as he wrapped up the recce, the Janata Curfew was imposed on March 22. Soon followed the nationwide lockdown. Patil, along with his camera and laptop, became a long-standing guest in Kudal. His hosts—percussionist Vivek Kudalkar and singer-paramedic expert Trupti Damle Kudalkar—have extended their mango-cashew laden wadi to Patil, Ansari and the crew, who are now executing multiple awareness initiatives during the extended lockdown. Patil has, in fact, featured Ansari and four other visually challenged artistes (situated in different cities) in a video which underscores the willingness of blind artistes (who depend much on human touch) to embrace social isolation as the need of the moment. Kudal offers restricted mobility for Patil, after due precautions laid down by the local police.

At this point, pareidolia has become a bit of a default setting for Patil. "When one is away from home, the mind starts journeying through objects, which are in your consciousness; they come to life in the form of a thought," says Patil whose 200-odd posters concentrate on the dynamic of objects wedded to or associated with a spot. For instance, shoes that went out every day, now have a still-life; pants that saw the outdoors, are now locked in a shelf; a belt that accessorised a formal uniform, now wonders about its utility in a house where men wander in pyjamas.

Patil has made about 200-odd posters with expert advice from senior adman-artist Bhupal Ramnathkar, who is overseeing ad campaigns on Corona prevention 

Patil toys with the ideas every morning, gets expert advice from senior adman-artist Bhupal Ramnathkar, a senior adman currently overseeing public ad campaigns with regard to the outbreak. He is a JJ School alumnus and a fellow mate of CM Uddhav Thackeray. Patil's Kudal existence doesn't come in the way of the morning exchange over the posters. "I appreciate Ramnathkar's time, efforts and wisdom. People are currently in a frustrated mood; any poster can create a negative impact, especially when 'stay at home' is not something they want to hear," observes Patil who feels pareidolia in a sense minimises the risk of angered public reactions. It evokes laughter more than indignation. Patil has also focused on other themes that drive home the importance of not venturing out. For instance, he shows how home-based celebrations are the need of the hour, be it in the case of festivals—from Easter and Hanuman Jayanti to Ramzan and Akshay Tritiya—or commemorative occasions such as Babasaheb Ambedkar's birth anniversary, Maharashtra Day or Earth Day. It is the thought that counts, not the geographic location of
the celebration.

Patil's posters, often black and white, also dwell on service givers like nurses, policemen, sweepers and traffic police whose duty hours deserve respect from those staying at home. His poster on the relevance of Sankashti Chaturthi touched chords across Maharashtra. Over the image of Lord Ganesh, he superimposed the policeman on duty who is at supreme risk. "Whether at Kudal or Worli or Mahabaleshwar, it's the average guard in uniform whose care and public service touches our lives. People loved the equation between Lord Ganpati and the police on duty," says Patil, a Bal Shree awardee. Patil's affinity for the policeman is natural. His father is a police inspector with the Bhuleshwar police station. He has seen the daily grind of policemen families since childhood, and has witnessed life in the chawls where isolation is a foreign word; what he has not seen is a sealed neighbourhood. His parents and brother currently await his arrival in a tense pandemic environment. "They are at least assured that I am safe in a Konkan village where the infection hasn't spread; and that I can operate on my laptop to create images that contribute to the statewide 'stay-at-home' messaging," Patil says.

Patil has also kept busy with a cap-making initiative. Just as he realised that his stay in Kudal was going to be extraordinarily long, his mind started thinking of the May-June heat that Mumbai city will have to face post lockdown. "Being in a sylvan green Kudal, I was getting increasingly reminded of the heat Mumbaikars and others will have to encounter. So, I started making caps out of old newspapers." Patil started free origami workshops for school going children of the Ambedkar Nagar vicinity in Kudal. Workshops have flexible timings, but viable targets. He introduces variations through the use of earth colours and also moulds made out of dried leaves and fruits, which are available in abundance in the Kudalkar residence. Children are encouraged to stamp natural elements on the paper caps, be it a mango leaf or cashew insides or a dried twig. "I want to carry at least 2,000 caps for Mumbai, which will be a symbolic bond between Kudal's children and Mumbai's working class," says Patil.

Mask disposal is one area, Patil feels that needs advanced public awareness. During his stay in Kudal, he has started an awareness video campaign on ways to discard masks because the junked masks are creating hygiene issues across Maharashtra. "I feel the Coronavirus outbreak should give us long-term takeaways. We can't be littering our surroundings. This is also the right time to attack the Indian habit of spitting. As artists, we are trying to weave as many themes as possible into the Coronavirus bouquet," he adds.

Patil also conducts regular cap-making workshops for local villagers at the home of his hosts, Vivek Kudalkar and singer-paramedic expert Trupti Damle Kudalkar. He hopes the newspaper caps will help Mumbaikars battle the heat

Unlike Mumbai, Kudal has a pace of its own. Patil feels the pandemic has taught him to adapt to a new routine cycle, a slower rhythm, a more reflective ecology-conscious take on the goings on. In a recent visit to the Savita Ashram (a charitable trust sheltering 100-odd visually and mentally challenged), he realised how handicapped the children and adults bound to a remote location were where ration stocks are acutely short. Had it not been for the Kudal stay, the Mumbaikar wouldn't have possibly met the inmates in the far-off care centre. Patil inhabits new homes when his own is unreachable.

Sumedha Raikar-Mhatre is a culture columnist in search of the sub-text. You can reach her at sumedha.raikar@mid-day.com

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Irrfan moves to bandra

Mumbai artist Ranjit Dahiya, founder of the Bollywood Art Project, instructs a worker as he puts final touches on a mural of actor Irrfan Khan at Chapel Road on Friday evening. Khan passed away on Wednesday, after fighting Cancer for two years. Dahiya, who is also behind the murals of Amitabh Bachchan and Anarkali in Bandra, started work on the mural on the day Khan died. He lives near Chapel Road and was hence, able to work on the wall, regardless of the lockdown. He founded The Bollywood Art Project to transform the walls of the city with graffiti art influenced by the design tradition of hand-painted Bollywood posters, as an ode to Indian Cinema. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Combating Corona

Retired Cdr. Rajeshwari Kori, the first Indian woman to have sailed on board a warship, is currently fighting a war against the Coronavirus. Kori, who is now the deputy controller of civil defence in Raigad district of Maharashtra, is making provisions for medical equipment and grains for hospitals.

"We have started this initiative under the guidance of Raigad collector Nidhi Chowdhary. Apart from using government resources, we are receiving funds from donors, NGOs and friends. The whole experience has been satisfying so far.

There are 15 tehsils under Raigad, of which we consolidate a list of demands and try to help them on priority basis. This is just to tell the hospital staff
that they are not in this alone, we are with them," Kori told this diarist.

Chrissie, that enduring darling of world tennis

Chris Evert lifts the 1981 Wimbledon singles trophy in London. Pic/Getty Images

Women tennis players have contributed greatly in popularising the game and the racquet sport has had some enduring darlings over the years.

High on that list is Chris Evert, who through her smart comments on Twitter provides every reason to believe that she is not an "in my time, we did things this way" kind of former player.

If not for the lockdown, Chris Evert would have been preparing to enjoy another commentary stint at Wimbledon. And while she stays home in America, we thought of providing an example of her popularity even in other countries during her playing days. Martina Navratilova, her fiercest rival on court, was being visited in North Dallas by her Czech grandmother in 1981.

Since Chris and Martina were the closest of friends, it was inevitable that Andela Subertova, 84, met Chris. The old lady was over the moon to meet the then 1974 and 1976 Wimbledon champion, which caused Martina to exclaim: "She [Subertova] says she's going to brag when she gets home that she met Chris."

Chris claimed her last Wimbledon crown in 1981 after demolishing Czech Hana Mandlikova, who had overcome Martina in the semis. Considering Subertova's affection for Chris, the grand old lady wouldn't have been too down.

Moms prepare their kids to leave the nest

Anju Kish

The mothers of children studying in Standard 12 at Jamnabai Narsee International School have come together for a thoughtful initiative. The plan was hatched in a WhatsApp group, where the moms decided to equip their children with skills they will need when they step out to pursue higher education. They have been conducting skill-sharing webinars on Zoom and these sessions are facilitated by various moms, who are experts in their own fields. They have conducted four such sessions so far.

Sheila Navlakha

One of them was about communication skills and how to make the most of one's college experience by communicating with ease. It was conducted by Sheila Navlakha, a mom who is also the founder of SNS Trainers. The last one focused on sexual literacy. It was facilitated by Anju Kish, a mom who founded Untaboo, and Apurupa Vatsalya, the director of programs and advoacy at Kish's company. "The session revolved around the top five things every 18-year-old should know when it comes to sex, such as sexual and social consent, resisting the pressure to have sexual intercourse for the first time, safe sex practices, sexual behaviours such as sexting and the possible repercussions of these behaviours, and gender sensitivity," explained Kish. She plans to facilitate a session for the parents in the coming week, talking to them about how they can support their children in exhibiting healthy sexual behaviour.

Midnight musings with Raman Iyer

One is never too old for bedtime stories, especially if it's accompanied by soulful music. It's why we are loving Raman Iyer's daily midnight Instagram Live audio podcast on his handle @ramaniyer. Iyer, who is the co-founder of Mumbai-based folk fusion band Kabir Cafe, can be heard narrating ancient folk tales, and stories from Indian history and mythology, all while playing the mandolin, where he switches from Hindustani to Carnatic, and Western Classical.

"My idea of getaways is to disappear into libraries. I make notes and don't always agree with what's written in books. So, I decided to share whatever little I've gathered, along with my reflections, in an intimate setting at a quiet hour. It's kind of like a terrace/campsite feeling, where this old uncle tells stories and takes a break to strum an instrument," he shares, adding, "Also, it's fun to bring back the charm of the radio, on Instagram, a highly visual space."

Hair I come

Bollywood's well-known hair and make-up artiste, Florian Hurel, has put in long hours at work. But, participating in a 24-hour livestream hair event will be a first. On May 5, 36 different hair and beauty care professionals from 19 countries will come under one digital roof.

The initiative titled @Hairdressers United will see experts curate new styles, showcase tutorials and analyse the evolution of the hair industry. "I think hair will be a great medium of expression. People will want to speak through their hair, tell stories and make the world a better place," said Hurel.

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Two middle-aged men were sitting at a bench in Shivaji Park, six feet apart.

"Do you have any underlying conditions?" asked the first one.

The second one thought for a while before answering. "I'm generally fit. I work out daily and I eat paleo. But I have blood pressure. Is that an underlying condition?"

"I have blood pressure too!" said the first. "Hot damn. Blood pressure is an underlying condition." The two moved apart from each other another foot.

I'd have told them to be grateful they had any blood pressure at all. Only dead people have no blood pressure. In 2005, at age 53, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, or hypertension, as many are as they age and their blood vessels get less flexible. Since then, I have been on one cocktail of blood pressure pills or another.

A quick Hypertension 101 here for those who don't have a clue. The heart moves blood through your body by a pumping action that consists of a squeeze and a relax. Each squeeze pushes up the pressure (called the systole) that the blood exerts within the blood vessels, while each relax lowers it (called the diastole). It's like squeezing a tennis ball: think of the maximum pressure you exert as the systole, and the pressure when you release the squeeze as the diastole.

Blood pressure is always represented as two numbers — like 149/83 — indicating the systole and the diastole, and representing the number of millimetres the level of mercury rises to in a machine called a sphygmomanometer. I was told that anything under 120/80 was healthy and optimal.

Being naturally subversive and resistant to authority, I wanted to know who had decided that 120 and 80 were 'normal'. In 2017, the new normal had been declared to be 130/80, down from 140/90. Pharmaceutical companies know that each time the definition of normal blood pressure is lowered, they get millions of new customers, people who had been 'healthy' till then but were instantly redefined as having 'blood pressure' under the new normal — and will require their medication. The 2017 change apparently brought in over 50 million new customers into the blood pressure pills market. It's a billion-dollar industry.

The 2020 normal is 120/80.

Nine of the 11 co-authors of the 2003 blood pressure guidelines had ties to pharmaceutical companies in the form of shares, consulting fees or research funding. One member declared ties to 21 pharmaceuticals. Newer panels are required to disclose conflicts of interest with drug manufacturers who would gain from lowered definitions of normal BP. It seems they stay on the panels nonetheless, having honestly declared their corporate allegiances.

So now you're at a clinic, getting your blood pressure taken. The doctor or nurse may chat with you meanwhile, asking about your family and the next vacation.

There are two reasons why this reading will always be wrong. It is now known that the very sight of a man in a white coat or a nurse walking purposefully towards you creates an immediate spike in your blood pressure. It's called white coat hypertension and is a classic example of the measurer changing the measurement by his very presence.

Other things change the reading too.

Putting the cuff over clothing, rather than a bare arm can add 10-40 mm of mercury (Hg) to a measurement.

Needing to pee can add 10-15 mm Hg.

Having a conversation: an additional 10-15 mm Hg
Dangle your feet or leave your back unsupported — another 5-10 mm Hg.
Even the short walk to the curtained room where they measure your vital statistics will boost your pressure.

There's more — if you'd come at noon, your pressure would have been higher. It starts dropping from late afternoon — unless you go to a rock concert in the evening.
Why am I telling you all this? Because it's very easy for your pressure to show as higher than normal, especially in a medical setting. This makes it easy for the doctor to look grim and shake his head and start you off on some hypertension pill or the other for the rest of your life.

I used to be on Pfizer's Norvasc. In 2003 alone, that drug notched up sales of over $5 billion and was the world's best-selling blood pressure drug. Someone even suggested that children over three should be started on preventive BP medication.

The next time you have your BP read, insist that it be done the right way —
1 Sit still and relax for five minutes.
2 Do not speak to anyone.
3 Calm your mind, don't think of office or home problems.
4 Take two readings, a minute apart.
5 Make sure the nurse records the second reading.
6 Send me a letter of thanks.

Here, viewed from there. C Y Gopinath, in Bangkok, throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai, the city that raised him. You can reach him at cygopi@gmail.com
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Mulund's T ward saw the biggest spike in COVID-19 positive cases since March 2020 on Monday. There were 52 cases reported in 24 hours taking the number to 123. The number of containment zones has reached 33.

But, a major cause for concern is that the cases reported are from the slum pockets of Mulund West.

Mulund had comparatively kept the infection down till date.

There were 71 patients reported in Mulund till date, of which 52 are under treatment. There were 28 containment zones declared till now, of which 18 are active.

Authorities are on alert as Indira Nagar (19 cases), Ramgadh (15 cases) have slums. Rigorous testing and screening camps have been held in these areas.

"We had conducted camps to trace more patients, we have now received positive reports of 52 people in one day," said Assistant Municipal Commissioner (T ward) Kishor Gandhi.

According to T ward data, Amar Nagar found three new cases, Indira Nagar, 31 more cases and Ramgadh, 8 new cases in the last 24 hours. "The rising number in slum pockets is definitely worrisome, as they have narrow lanes and common toilets," said a health official on condition anonymity.

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The nationwide lockdown imposed by the government due to the coronavirus outbreak has improved the air quality of some cities in the country. Days after a picture of the Dhauladhar Range in Himachal Pradesh being visible from Jalandhar in Punjab created a buzz, another similar picture has been doing rounds on the internet recently.

Residents of Singhwahini village in Sitamarhi district woke up to a stunning view of the Himalayan Range from their houses. The picture that went viral was posted by Twitter user Ritu Jaiswal, the Mukhya of Singhwahini Gram Panchayat who claimed that the picture was of Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world in Nepal, which was visible from the village.

In the caption, Jaiswal said that she saw Mount Everest from the rooftop of her home in the village for the first time, even though the other ranges in Nepal are usually visible in clear weather.

She tweeted in Hindi, saying that Mount Everest is visible from the roofs of the houses in Singhwahini village in Sitamarhi district, adding that nature was balancing itself, and she attributed the improvement in air quality due to the lockdown.

Ritu Jaiswal's post

हम सà¥Â€à¤¤à¤¾à¤®à¤¢à¤¼à¥Â€ à¤Âœà¤¿à¤²à¥Â‡ à¤Â•à¥Â‡ à¤Â…पनà¥Â‡ à¤Â—ाà¤Âà¤µ #सिà¤Â‚हवाहिनà¥Â€ मà¥Â‡à¤Â‚ à¤Â…पनà¥Â‡ à¤Â›à¤¤ सà¥Â‡ #MtEverest दà¥Â‡à¤Â– सà¤Â•à¤¤à¥Â‡ हà¥Âˆà¤Â‚ à¤Â†à¤Âœà¥¤ पà¥Âà¤°à¤Â•à¥Âƒà¤¤à¤¿ à¤Â–à¥Âà¤¦ à¤Â•à¥Â‹ सà¤Â‚तà¥Âà¤²à¤¿à¤¤ à¤Â•à¤° रहà¥Â€ हà¥Âˆà¥¤ नà¥Â‡à¤ªà¤¾à¤² à¤Â•à¥Â‡ नà¤Âœà¤¼à¤¦à¥Â€à¤Â• वालà¥Â‡ पहाड़ तà¥Â‹ बारिश à¤Â•à¥Â‡ बाद साफ मà¥ÂŒà¤¸à¤® मà¥Â‡à¤Â‚ à¤Â•à¤­à¥Â€ à¤Â•à¤­à¥Â€ दिà¤Â– à¤Âœà¤¾à¤¤à¥Â‡ थà¥Â‡à¥¤ à¤Â…सल हिमालय à¤Â•à¥Â‡ दरà¥Âà¤¶à¤¨ à¤Â…पनà¥Â‡ à¤Â—ाà¤Âà¤µ सà¥Â‡ à¤Â†à¤Âœ पहलà¥Â€ बार हà¥Âà¤Âà¥¤#NatureisBalancing@KashishBihar pic.twitter.com/Ss3UHAzxWN

— Ritu Jaiswal (@activistritu) May 4, 2020

When Jaiswal was questioned by a user about how she could be certain that the peak seen in the picture was of Mount Everest, she said that her husband could see the peak from the village when he was a child back in the 1980’s. She went on to explain that highest snowy peak of the Himalayas can only be seen and Everest is in the north east of our village and this pic is of the north east (sic)," she said in the comment.

Becasue definitely when we can see snowy peak of the Himalayas, the highest ones can only be scene and everest is in the north east of our village and this pic is of north east. And my husband in their childhood used to see everest in 80s. So we are sure that its the same.

— Ritu Jaiswal (@activistritu) May 5, 2020

The post, shared on May 4, garnered more than 4,500 likes and was retweeted 947 times. The picture was also shared by forest officer Parveen Kaswan who wrote that Mount Everest was seen from Bihar after decades.

When people of Singhwahini village, Bihar saw Everest from their own houses. They say this happened after decades. Courtesy @activistritu. pic.twitter.com/X0SQtZe22T

— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) May 5, 2020

Here’s how the Twitterati reacted on the picture:

I am just waiting for the day when I will be able to see Himalayas from Mumbai😜

— Hemant Jain🇮🇳 (@hemant6479) May 5, 2020

If we really belonged to the planet and the way we lived was natural to this planet then our locking ourselves up shld have upset the balance not repaired it. However superficial or temporary the effect.

— Anku Pande Chibb (@ankupande) May 5, 2020

Guess they must have experienced change in temperature also .☺ï¸Â

— Thakur ji (@Thethakurji) May 5, 2020

Wow... !
What a view sir.. 😊🙌

— Sravani (@sravani950570) May 5, 2020

What do you think about the picture?

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Unable to bear the separation from his live-in partner who was stuck in Sindhudurg for the entire period of the the lockdown till date, a Turbhe-based youth walked and hitch-hiked to the district and tried to bring her back with him. Their journey back was interrupted when they were stopped by the police and sent to a quarantine centre, as Thane district in which Turbhe comes, is a red zone.

As a result of the lovesick man's determination, 34 other people who interacted with him, including the girl's family, have also been quarantined.

The 24-year-old, a resident of Turbhe, works as a delivery boy. In March, his 24-year-old partner, a nurse in a private hospital, went to her home town in Kasal village in Sindhudurg district. But, after a few days, the Maharashtra government barred inter-district travel to try and curb the spread of COVID-19 resulting in her getting stuck there.

A file picture of a doctor at the quarantine centre at NSCI DOME, Worli. The man and his girlfriend are in quarantine at Lanja.

Journey for love
The youth who was missing her, became restless when April neared end and there were no signs of the lockdown being lifted. So he decided to travel to Sindhudurg, which is almost 500 km from Turbhe, to bring his girlfriend back home. Fortunately for him he didn't have too much work either. So he started on April 27 from Turbhe and asked vehicle drivers for a lift whenever he could.

"By walking and hitch-hiking, he managed to reach the village of Kasal on May 3. He stayed in a mandir for the night and then went to her house on May 4," said Assistant Police Inspector Sanjay Chaudhary from Lanja police station in Ratnagiri district.

The man convinced her family that the lockdown would be on for some time and he wanted to take her back with him to Turbhe. "The girl also told her family that she was consistently getting calls from the hospital to rejoin work. So on the morning of May 4, the couple began their journey towards Navi Mumbai," said another police officer.

Spotted by locals
The couple walked and hitch-hiked and managed to cross Ratnagiri district. But then their luck ran out when some alert locals spotted them and informed the police, "On May 5, they were spotted at a Shiv Bhojan centre having lunch. Some residents informed Lanja police. We rushed to the centre and took the couple with us," said the police officer.

"Without hesitation the boy revealed the reason behind the journey. We took him and the girl to a quarantine centre as he had come from a Red Zone, i.e. Thane district. He also came in contact with several people. They will be kept in isolation for 14 days then we will take a call on whether they should be released or sent to Sindhudurg," added API Choudhary.

34 quarantined
After the Lanja police informed the Sindhudurg police about the youth and his stay in the temple in Kasal village, 34 persons were quarantined as they had interacted with him. These include his girlfriend's family as well.

27
Day in April that the man began his journey

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An under-trial inmate and two staff at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai have tested positive for Coronavirus. The inmate has been admitted for treatment at JJ Hospital. The jail administration, looking at the seriousness of the matter, got 150 people, including staff and inmates tested, of which results are awaited.

According to information received from prison sources on May 2, the inmate, who was accused of murder, collapsed in the jail after which he was admitted to JJ Hospital, Meanwhile, he underwent the Coronavirus test and he was found positive on May 4 as per his reports. The jail administration then got into action and tested 150 people in the jail for the virus, and their reports are awaited.

An official of Arthur Road Jail told mid-day, "We had taken measures to prevent coronavirus. After one of the inmates and two jail staff tested positive, we got 150 people in Arthur Jail tested. The report is yet to come."

Two jail staff who tested positive have been kept under quarantine. They were earlier sent out for fieldwork. According to the jail sources, if an employee has been sent outside the jail after lockdown, he would not be given in-prison duty again and would be sent on quarantine for 14 days.

The jail has been closed down because of the coronavirus outbreak, due to which no new inmates are being accepted in the jail. At such a time, only essentials services workers are allowed inside the jail.

As the number of cases in the state is on a surge, the prison department planned some important measures. As the inmates in the prison were prone to get infected, some of the prisoners were temporarily sent out on bail. Also, five prisons in Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, and Pune have been closed down due to the pandemic.

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With over a 100 people testing positive for COVID-19 at the APMC market in Vashi, Navi Mumbai Mayor Jayawant Sutar has demanded that it be locked down. He has threatened to write to the Maharashtra Governor and to the Central Health Committee Task Force.

Speaking to mid-day, Sutar, the mayor from BJP, said, "As per my information, the APMC already has over 100 cases of Coronavirus. When a positive case was detected on April 28, NMMC Commissioner Annasaheb Misal had ordered to shut the market for 14 days, but had to withdraw the order, after the Konkan Commissioner refused to do so."

"I spoke to Misal again during a conversation with bureaucrats and he has expressed concern over the increasing number of positive cases in the market. But so far, no decision has been taken on shutting it down," said Sutar. "Our job is to bring the matter to the notice of the government and ministers, with whom lies the final decision. If they do not heed our request, we will bring the issue to the notice of the Maharashtra Governor and the Central Health Committee Task Force monitoring the outbreak," Sutar added.

APMC Administrator and Secretary Anil Chavan, said, "As per our record, only 25 staff, including traders, have tested positive. We have been asking for swab test reports from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), but for reasons best known to them, they have not shared the reports with us." Chavan added, "We have come to know that in case a trader tests positive, the NMMC will take into account all his family members which will show a higher count."

There has been no decision on closing the market yet. File pic

When asked if they are still contemplating shutting APMC, as suggested by some traders, Chavan said, "We have learnt that government officials are still discussing this and in the next few days, the matter would be clear. Meanwhile, APMC market is functioning with restrictions and if a trader gets infected, we ensure that his galla and the two adjacent gallas are closed and sanitised."

mid-day asked Sutar about NMMC not sharing the test reports with APMC, to which he replied, "There is no reason to not share the information. All COVID-19 cases are told about to the health department and the government daily. So there is no question about APMC claiming lack of information."

A trader who did not wish to be identified, said, "It is unfortunate that the APMC market is becoming a hotspot for COVID-19. Right from the beginning, we have been alerting the APMC committee about an outbreak possibility and that they should shut the market for a few days, but our plea fell on deaf ears."

Blame game over outbreak

Sources in the APMC committee said that as opposed to the 300 trucks allowed in the market per day, traders continue to over-order stock, which is leading to several extra trucks waiting at the truck terminal. This, sources say, is exacerbating the outbreak in the market.

The market also does not have any way to prevent asymptomatic infected people from entering the premises.

Traders, on the other hand, say that the market generates a business of several crores per day and that the committee and the government do not want to interrupt that cash flow. "If someone gets infected in one stall (galla), several other workers working for the particular trader automatically run the risk of getting infected and so do their families. We have suggested that the market be completely shut for one full week with a few days' notice so people can stock up. But even that suggestion is not being taken as it will interrupt the cash flow," another trader who did not wish to be named said.

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Encouraging everyone around him to stay indoors, Mayur Jadhav himself has been visiting various containment zones in Lokhandwala and Oshiwara wearing a PPE suit for three to four hours daily. A frontline worker, Jadhav does the risky job of collecting bio-medical waste from residential buildings and COVID-19 quarantines.

Amid the Coronavirus-caused lockdown, people are asked to put household waste in black bags and bio-medical waste — gloves, masks and items touched by COVID-19 patients, staffers at a quarantine facility — in yellow bags.

Like Jadhav, conservancy workers dealing with bio-medical waste are trained for the task. Jadhav, 30, resides at Durgadevi Chawl, Vakola and after weeks of practice, he is comfortable with the job. "Initially, I was worried as I had heard many were getting sick. But once we get the hang of it, we do the work without problems. Every day, we put sanitiser and spray disinfectant on the yellow bag and wait for five minutes before loading it on the vehicle meant only for yellow bags," he said. In K West ward, there are over 650 COVID-19 cases and over 300 containment zones.

'Made wife understand'

Rishikesh Dhotre, 43, is among the workers residing far from his workplace and spends over 10 hours outdoors. He leaves his Nalasopara residence 4:45 am for Worli and returns home around 3:30 pm. "I was nervous as we were visiting places everyone was asked to avoid. My wife would fight and ask why I am the one to go. But gradually, I understood the precautions we have to take and explained them to my wife. She is worried but understands the importance of the job," Dhotre said.

While Dhotre is glad to have access to fresh PPE kits every day, he also has to contend with how hot it gets during the three-hour collection.

Worried about family

Conservancy workers constantly worry about their family members, especially senior citizens at a higher risk of infection. Sarthak Chandramani, 29, works in G North ward comprising Dharavi. He takes extra precautions once he reaches home as he has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and 63-year-old father.

"I don't touch my phone after wearing the PPE and I call my family before I reach home. They have strict instructions to leave the house and keep a bucket of hot water and soap near the door. They are only allowed to enter after I have soaked my clothes in the bucket and gone for a bath," he said.

Chandramani often picks up medical waste falling out of the garbage bags with his hands. "People often overstuff garbage bags and then they can't be tied. Waste falls out from overflowing bags and we have to disinfect it, put back in the bag and disinfect the bag again," he said. Chandramani lives in BDD chawl, another high-risk area.

After the recent death of a civic official on food-distribution duty in Dharavi due to COVID-19, the BMC is screening all staffers. Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, G North ward, said, "We have around 900 labourers collecting waste and there are 200 containment zones in this ward. We conduct screening once a week and check for fever with infrared thermometers. We have also counselled staffers to immediately report symptoms," he said.

Where is biomedical waste taken?

Medical waste is taken to a biomedical facility managed by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board at Deonar. Amar Supate, principal scientific officer with MPCB said that since March 29, the facility has processed 11 tonnes of COVID-19 waste from Containment Zones and other biomedical waste.
"The yellow bags are directly put into the incinerator. Other kinds of plastic waste, glass vials, injections or syringes and scalpels are sterilised with sodium hypochlorite and then shredded for recycling," Supate said.

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Former don Arun Gawli's daughter Yogita married Marathi actor Akshay Waghmare in a simple traditional ceremony at their Dagadi Chawl residence in central Mumbai on Friday amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

The bride and the groom, along with their families were seen wearing masks during the wedding ceremony. Due to the lockdown in place, they restricted their guest list to only three-four people from both families.

Arun Gawli

The family had informed the Agripada police about the ceremony and only three to four guests each from both families who were attending the wedding, an official told PTI. The families had also assured the police that they will follow the lockdown rules while conducting the wedding rituals, he said.

The wedding was reportedly scheduled to take place on March 29, but was postponed due to the lockdown, a source from the family told PTI.

Gawli, who is serving a life sentence in the 2007 Kamlakar Jamsandekar murder case, has been out on parole.

(With inputs from PTI)

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India didn't exactly deal with COVID-19 the way most of the world did. Sure, there were the right noises made at regular intervals, the inane PR-exercises that are now a given from a government that picks up tips from reality television rather than qualified professionals, and some genuine, good work in states like Kerala. For millions of us, unfortunately, this was another excuse to do what we do best: pick on those who cannot fight back.

Thousands of words were expended at every stage of the outbreak on blame games that had no reason to exist. We could have used that airtime and column space to ask those elected to govern us why they had done very little. Instead, many of us chose to vilify Indians for doing what we would all have done, had we been compelled to live under the circumstances they had no choice but to accept.

Millions of us had the luxury of staying home without worrying about where our next meals would come from. The lockdown didn't prevent us from hoarding vegetables and fruit, medicine, or even alcohol, because we could worry about mundane things like running out of vodka. Yes, there were many of us who had to deal with unemployment and the inability to pay rent, but I kept thinking of those without a safety net — the men, women, and children forced to walk hundreds of kilometres without food or water, whose lives made our crises pale in comparison.

When hundreds of migrant workers gathered at Bandra in a desperate attempt to get home, anchors on television railed against their insensitivity and complained about the government of Maharashtra. None stopped to evaluate why those workers were on the street in the first place, putting their lives and those of their families at risk simply because they were in a place none of them could call home. As someone born and raised in Bombay, I struggled to get a sense of what that must feel like, to be in another city when the rug is pulled from under one's feet. None of us has lived through a pandemic before, but I was forced to think about young people who come here right after college in an attempt to make a living, and how they must cope with the closure of an office even when there isn't a global catastrophe to contend with.

There were videos of residents walking dogs and shouting at watchmen, policemen assaulted for simply trying to implement a life-saving lockdown, and arguments made by talking heads about why India's poor should stay where they are for the country's benefit. The hypocrisy of it ought to have shamed us all, but probably didn't penetrate our thick third-world skin.

It's impossible to predict what our lives will look like a year from now, when this has hopefully been put behind us and a vaccine is within reach. What I hope it will change is how we look at the faceless millions who toil for a pittance to do what the rest of us refuse to. The people who cook for us, stand guard outside our buildings and offices, ferry files between departments, wash our vehicles, and sell us fruit and vegetables when our venture capitalist-funded mobile apps fail to do the job.

Those who have left will return, because we live in a country that has failed to provide for them, forcing them to leave parents and relatives behind again. I hope we start to look at them a little more and try and implement measures to change the way they are compensated for jobs that have proven to be a lot more important than we have traditionally acknowledged them to be.

I think of celebrities, cricketers, bankers, and lawyers who routinely walk away with the largest percentage of what we collectively work to create for our country. None of them managed to do anything of any significance to alleviate our situation. Everything we thought was important was revealed to be hollow within weeks, while all the people we look down upon were revealed to have been performing life-changing roles all along.

It is naïve to assume that nurses, teachers, healthcare and sanitation workers, cooks, and vegetable vendors will suddenly start earning more than we have been trained to pay them. I like to think this pandemic will change us in subtle ways though, forcing us to recognise our inadequacies, our pompous designations and titles that we use to accomplish almost nothing.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper

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Forced to agree to discounts due to the aggressive policies of delivery platforms, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and its member had started the #Logout campaign last August in protest. While the campaign turned out to be successful to an extent with aggregator platforms forced to change their predatory pricing policies, the NRAI decided to put a definitive plan into action to find a way out. The association has now announced plans to launch an alternative discovery and delivery platform, which will come into force by August-September.

"We realised that this is the new way of doing business [online aggregators] and we cannot ignore it, so let's make it better for us. With this platform, the customer data will be ours, discounts will be decided by the restaurants, and services will be unbundled. Every individual restaurant that gets the order will own the data; NRAI is not the owner of the data. Existing aggregators had become digital landlords. We are not saying that the app will replace the current players overnight, it's just another choice which will be available," says Anurag Katriar, president of NRAI; CEO and executive director of deGustibus Hospitality Pvt Ltd.

The project had been in the works months before COVID-19 hit the industry and all members were of the opinion that a marketplace cannot decide what the buyer and seller should do about the price. The high rate of commission is another concern. Restaurants are also forced to compulsorily buy the full bouquet of services by the platform, for example restaurants cannot use their own delivery fleet despite having one. One of the biggest issues for restaurateurs is that the customer and transaction data is the sole property of the aggregator, something that platforms started utilising to launch and promote their own properties.

Gauri Devidayal, restaurateur

Members of the F&B industry feel positive about the move. "These aggregators have used every situation to their advantage. Even now these guys are trying to raise the commission at a very high percentage. We are more than happy that the organisation is launching this platform which will help us work on a lower commission and reduce our expenses, especially now," said Ryan Tham, owner, The Good Wife, Koko, Foo.

Gauri Devidayal, Co-founder The Table, Magzine Street Kitchen, Iktara, Mei13, Mag St. Bread Co, saod , "The commissions and discounts offered by them were not at all viable for restaurants. This platform will also smoothen the ordering process and remove the need for us to organise a rider when delivering out of our radius."

Meanwhile, NRAI has already collaborated with a tech company to work on this platform, and the money for the platform is also being pumped in by the company; Katriar is tightlipped about the name for now.

Ryan Tham and Avik Chatterjee

Avik Chaterjee, founder, Hoppipola, Episode One, admits that everyone in the industry is in survival mode during lockdown: "Anything that will make us bear lower expenditure will be the best service for us. NRAI is not putting in money in this; this may change in the future. This hasn't been done to spite anyone, it is to protect what's best for our trade and take control of our own business decisions," he says.

Smaller restaurants will benefit the most from this as the platform will allow the owners to accept orders as small as R20 and use their salaried employee for delivery. NRAI is also working on two other tech projects, a loyalty programme, and a platform for transactions which might run parallel to the aggregator platform.

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Around 16 migrant workers sleeping on rail tracks were crushed to death by a goods train at Satana village in the limits of Karmad police station near Aurangabad district at around 05.30 am on Friday. Of the total 16 deceased, 14 died on the spot while two others died on their way to the hospital.

According to the local police, a group of around 20 migrants started walking from Jalna district to Bhusawal in Madhya Pradesh which is around 170 Kms.

"They were exhausted due to the walk and decided to take rest, but soon they dozed off with 16 of them sleeping on the tracks while the other four slept adjacent to it. Of the four who survived, one has suffered injuries while the other three are in a state of shock. We are speaking to them to verify other details," Mokshada Patil, SP, Aurangabad said.

"During early hours today (Friday) after seeing some labourers on track, loco pilot of goods train tried to stop the train but eventually hit them between Badnapur and Karmad stations in Parbhani-Manmad section. Injured have been taken to Aurangabad civil hospital and an inquiry has been ordered," the Railway Ministry tweeted.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Railway, the survivors left Jalna at 07.00 pm on Thursday. They walked till Badnapore by road and then went onto the track towards Aurangabad. After walking for about 36 km, they decided to take rest in which 14 sat on the tracks, while the rest sat adjacent to it.

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Dear Diana,
I am 33 and single. Six years ago, I was in a relationship with a guy in the neighbourhood. We had got engaged too, but later we broke off. His family felt I was not suitable for their son and they then relocated to Surat. Ever since my engagement broke off, I have not had any guy on the scene. My parents have now registered me on a marriage website. They feel I should settle down. But I believe that I will never get married due to my broken engagement. Will I ever find someone who will love me? Someone who will not ask unwanted questions about my past? I have become a recluse after the break up. My parents are worried about me.
— Rasika

Dear Rasika,
A broken engagement does not mean that you will not find love again. So do not lose heart. You could be second time lucky. Just think that this guy was not meant for you. You needed someone better. Let the engagement break up remain where it is — in the distant past. There is no point brooding about it and crying over it. After the break up, you have cut yourself from the social scene. There is no reason to do so. Hang out with your pals, you never know when and where you will meet Mr Right. Your parents are concerned about you and want you to be happy. Let them register you on a matrimonial website. I am sure they will find the best for you. At the same time, do not put pressure on yourself to get hitched. You cannot go looking for love, it just comes your way.

Dear Diana,
I had lied to my mother that I was going overnight with my pals to Lonavla. The fact was that I was spending time with my girlfriend at a common pal's house whose flat is vacant. The next day while unpacking my bag, my mother found my girlfriend's T-shirt in the bag. She wondered how a female pair of clothing was among my clothes. It was a girlie T-shirt and not one of those unisex T-shirts which I could pass off as one of my friends. I then cooked up a story saying that one of my pal's girlfriends had tagged along. But she still wondered how it reached my bag. The fact was that my girlfriend was carrying a lot of stuff and while packing, it slipped in with a large bath towel. I had just stuffed my towel in the bag and did not realise that her top went in with it. I told my mom to discard it, but she has washed it and kept it in my cupboard. I am embarrassed and do not know what to say. My mother has not broached the subject again. What should I do? I feel guilty. Should I tell her the truth?
— Nayan

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Dear Nayan,
First, learn to handle your own stuff — you are making your mom do things for you still! Instead of stuffing your bag with bundles of clothes, if you had neatly folded the clothes and kept it, this problem would not have arisen. Also, when you were back home, you dumped your bag and made your mother do the unpacking. It is time you learn to do your own stuff. You seem to have your mother doing all your work. If you had unpacked your bag and separated the clothes that needed to be washed, you would have found your girlfriend's top rolled in the towel. So you alone are to blame for the predicament that you find yourself in. If you are riddled with guilt, tell your mom the truth who by now already knows what you are trying to hide.

Dear Diana,
My guy has this peculiar habit of poking fun at me. Whatever I do, he has a problem. He does not like the way I dress, the way I eat and the way I talk. Recently, I enrolled in a gym and he finds it amusing. He has been asking me daily how many inches I have lost. He has been sarcastic and instead of goading me to lose weight and motivate me, he is going on a different tangent. I try hard to please him, but he always takes offence. We have been together for eight years. He says he is afraid to commit, so even though we are in our early 30s, a wedding is not on the horizon for now. I usually do not react to whatever he says, so after a while he has to keep quiet. When we are with friends, he behaves loving and caring, but when we are alone, he shows his true colours. I am fed up of him and his recent behaviour has been obnoxious. He even lands up at the gym to watch me work out and questions the instructor whether I am serious about it. What should I do?
— Sandy

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Dear Sandy,
Why are you still sticking around with a guy who leaves no opportunity to demean you? Why have you been taking all his nonsense all these years? You seem to have developed low self-esteem because of this man. He needs to accept you, the way you are – just the way you have accepted him. He does not ridicule you in front of his pals because they will chide him. He knows that you are submissive and meek, so he can get away by telling you anything. It is time you stopped being the doormat. More importantly, you need to sit down and take a decision. Do you want to be with a man who ridicules you or respects you? The choice is yours. If you want to stick around, stop complaining. But if you want a man who respects you, walk out on him.

I am 19 years old and have been dating someone for 2 years now. We love each other very much but there is one thing I don’t like about him, which disturbs me a lot. He thinks I am fat, which is not right. I agree I don’t have a flat tummy, which is what he wants, but I am not fat. We have heated arguments about this. He also thinks crop tops don’t suit me. I have started dieting and going to the gym, working hard on my body even though my own parents don’t think it necessary. He still taunts me when he sees a girl with a perfect body, and this hurts me a lot. He should be with me and support me, but taunts me instead. I have spoken to him, but it doesn't seem to work. Please help. I can’t take more taunts.

Your boyfriend sounds like a moron, to be honest. I understand that you love him, but I can’t figure out why his idea of what you should look like and what you should wear should be accepted as a norm by you. It’s your life, your body and your decision to wear what you feel like. If you decide to accept his bizarre demands, you are setting a precedent for what the future of your relationship will be like. It’s not okay for someone to tell you how you should look. It’s not okay for someone to comment on what you wear. The only people who do that are ministers in our country, because they don’t really know better and because most of them haven’t been to school. Your love for your boyfriend should never be more than your love for yourself. If he doesn’t get that, he’s not worth being with. The sooner you understand that, the better your life will be, and the higher your chances of finding happiness with someone who accepts you unconditionally at some point in your future.

Kunal Kapoor in Indian terrain collection

Indian Terrain, India's leading menswear brand, signed up actor Kunal Kapoor for 2 years. The actor is a perfect mix of elegance and intensity, which truly resonates with the brand’s philosophy of 'Real Mature Manly'.

Kunal Kapoor is by far the most recalled Brand Ambassador for Indian Terrain. He was the brand’s first Brand Ambassador in 2006 soon after the release of one his most successful movie – Rang De Basanti. The association was quite successful and was rightfully bagged up with significant investments in the media from the brand’s side which lead to substantial improvement in the brand's awareness levels.

"He is known for his incredible talent and is celebrated by young fashion followers across India for his cool and sophisticated style. He truly is a reflection of today’s Indian Terrain man. Today, when we are both much evolved and richer in our individual experiences, we wanted to partner with Kunal Kapoor again and take the brand to the next level," says Venky Rajagopal, CMD, Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd.

"I have always loved the attitude of Indian Terrain. The brand is authentic, and they understand the culture of the everyday Indian man. The new range in store inspires passion, commitment and is very much testament to the great potential the brand has Kunal Kapoor commented.

Kunal Kapoor in Indian terrain collection

Recently, Indian Terrain partnered with Prashanth Shah, Senior Consultant Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgeon, who has saved numerous lives of children with congenital heart defects, for its property “Indian Terrain Champion Sportive Series”. The series is billed as the biggest pan India cycling event for amateurs. It is also called #theheartride, where the total amount raised by registration at the events, will be matched by the brand to contribute towards surgeries. We saw Kunal Kapoor supporting the cause at the Champion Sportive Grand Delhi which happened on 3rd Sept 2017.

The total turnover of the brand is over Rs 600 crores and the distribution width expands over 250 cities in the country with 1000+ touch points. IT is also known as the No. 1 brand across Central & Lifestyle stores FY 16-17.

Pooja Sudhir's search for a signature scent ended after graduation. She moved from deodorants to body mists and was finally looking to mature into a perfume user, when she found a scent with musky notes that she instantly liked. "The counter manager rushed to me, saying, 'But, ma'am, this is for men.' I think that's where it all started," she says about her fascination for unisex perfumes. Sudhir, an educator with DSB International School, now oscillates between the male fragrances put out by Body Shop, M&S and Titan Skinn.

Pic/Getty Images

A scent is considered unisex when it uses traditionally masculine notes like leather, smoke and wood, but is meant to be worn by both men and women. Historically, women's fragrances have carried floral or fruity notes. "I have often wondered why female perfumes are gentle and mellow, and almost always with a floral base," Sudhir, 32, says.
The gender stereotyping of scents she is alluding to could in fact, be a product of marketing and not so much about preference.

Educator Pooja Sudhir wonders why female scents are distinguished by floral notes only

The head of communications for Forest Essentials', an indigenous beauty brand with foundations in Ayurveda, says it has little to do with nature telling us what we should or shouldn't wear. "Fragrances are best chosen depending on mood, occasion, seasonality, and your personality rather than gender." Their best-selling body mists are proof. They tend to include oud, Kerala lime or vetiver. "For us, choosing the oud and green tea combination was less about gender and more about picking ingredients that are inherently Indian. That these fragrances have male and female appeal is an added advantage."

Gaurav and Jahnvi

Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan heads The Perfume Library, a four-year-old boutique label that operates from New Delhi and Paris. She speaks of the 30 gender-fluid scents that both, men and women have been seen to pick up. "For instance, the Aphtoori perfume combines notes of jasmine and cigar, and it is our fastest selling among women," she says. Nandan's friendship with designer Gaurav Gupta has propelled a collaboration that's now sealed in a bottle. Gupta launched AGAIN, his debut unisex scent last week, one with zero floral tones. "It [decision to launch a unisex scent] was a no brainer. I am gender-fluid by personality, and I don't see the world in slots. Gender divides are more to do with social conditioning."

The just-launched fragrance, AGAIN

Manan Gandhi, the head of Bombay Perfumery, a-young-but-talked-about fragrance house from the city, would agree. Musk is not only for men, he asserts. Chai Musk, one of his best performing perfumes, blends sandalwood, ginger, lemongrass and musk. Of the eight fragrances he currently offers, two are unisex. "Women are not particularly concerned about female-specific infusions. They look for natural ingredients, intensity and retention. They prefer a scent that lasts," Gandhi explains. Internationally, the unisex beauty concept raged in the 1990s when Calvin Klein launched CK One and Comme des Garçons introduced its eponymous fragrance. It was the big, disruptive idea from 27-years ago.

1020 is one of two unisex scents by Bombay Perfumery

In 2017, fashion continues to champion the genderless idea, whether in clothes or fragrance, and the user is more keen to find an intimate perfume story to participate in than be slotted in grooves. Tom Ford, Chanel, Kiehl's, L'Occitane and the homebred Kama are all part of the gender-neutral narrative in India.

Ahsan Hami doesn't quite get the debate over male and female in the world of scents. "It may be a talking point internationally, but in India, we have always patronised unisex scents. All attars are unisex, and India is one of its earliest manufacturers," he says of a tradition that dates back to the Mughal times. His store, A Hami Bros, on the chaotic Mohammad Ali Road, was established in 1939.

The shelves don't hold "for men" and "for women" labelled bottles. Vetiver, an earthy scent, is usually associated with masculine fragrances, but Hami says his experience has proven that its deep notes and instant cooling effects make it a favourite with his women customers, along with smoky oud. He says, "We don't need international trends telling us unisex perfumes are cool. We've known it for 500 years."

Men can try it, by wearing a chequered suit, like this Gucci creation. Go bold by opting for large checks. Pic/AFP

Match your accessories like actor Priyanka Chopra, who looks like a rockstar in a Fausto Puglisi dress with matching boots. Pic/Getty Images

Motif repeat is another option to match, as seen at Dolce & Gabbana's Spring/Summer 2018 show. PiC/AFP

Match the fabric finish like tennis ace Sania Mirza who elevates a simple jacket-trouser combo by going metallic for both. Pic/Sameer Markande

Play with the placement of your pattern like Athiya Shetty in this striped number. Pic/Shadab Khan

For a simple yet bold statement, pick a strong colour for your separates, like designer Victoria Beckham. Pic/Getty Images

Style book

The sheer dresses and skirt trend is still going strong and if you wish to go a little edgy, try a sheer skirt or trousers over a bodysuit or shorts like Balmain

In a world of oversharing, you can show off the stylish contents of your bag with clear pieces like Chanel’s. Pair a formal trouser suit with the playful bag or plastic shoes

Dia Mirza in an Amit Aggarwal dress made using recycled plastic

Wear clear heels (by Prabal Gurung) or clear-strapped footwear that will help make your legs look longer

Be the fun person in your workroom by carrying a clear briefcase. pic courtesy/ instagram. com/helmut lang

MIU MIU does girly chic with this edgy winter plastic coat over a paillete dress

Common cold is pretty much around in winter, but it can be countered easily. Simple steps such as getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water or a mug of lemon tea with a teaspoon of honey can help you keep cold at bay, suggest experts.

Amarjeet Bhatia, Chief Medical Officer at Doctor Insta, Prashant Bhatt, Consultant Internal Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, Patiala, and Mehar Rajput, Nutritionist and Dietician at Fitpass, have listed down some tips:

>> Gloomy weather can induce your sugary and stodgy food intake, but try to balance it by including seasonal fruits and green vegetables in the diet. Also, do not overlook the benefits of adding jaggery in your daily meal as it makes your immunity stronger to fight daily health issues during winter.

>> Vitamin D ingestion is vital in winter to feel energised. Soaking in the sun for half an hour daily can solve your purpose, but those who don't have time for this can add eggs and fish in their meal to consume their dosage of Vitamin D.

>> To beat winter blues, exercising is really important. It will not only help you stay active, but will also keep a check on your weight gain during winter.

>> It is important to cover up. Go for multiple layers instead of one heavy jacket; synthetic fabrics and wool are better insulators. Take special care of areas like hands and feet, and head and neck.

>> Add some spices to your daily diet. Spices tend to make a person feel warm and also provide strength to the immune system to fight against bacteria. You can add different spices like cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf and turmeric in teas, soups and hot chocolate.

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Trending videos

Alexandre Vauthier Spring Summer 2018

Bella Hadid seen sporting the shades at public dos 

Actor Jennifer Aniston at an event in 1998 

Rihanna. Pics/Getty Images

Kangana Ranaut

Ginni Negi, 30 HR professional
"I am very sure they will not suit the shape of my face. I don't prefer tiny sunglasses nor do I like oversized ones. I actually find them funny. For me, the size and fit have to be just right."

Shreya Goenka, 29 brand and product consultant
"They don't serve a purpose, so why wear them? For me, sunglasses are first, a funct­ional thing, and then comes their glam quotient. If the des­ign does not protect the eyes, I will not wear them on a regu­lar basis. The tiny ones do look cool, but so do regular ones.

Pratiksha Phale, 21 student
"I will first see if they suit my face, and if they do, I will go for them. I think the '90s shades look cool. I don't mind experimenting, although usually, I don't go with very edgy frames."

Sakshi Shetty, 22 event manager
"I have seen a lot of bloggers wear these. But I wouldn't as I don't experiment much and prefer classics such as aviators. [The tinies] look cool, but Bella Hadid can pull off anything. Also, the slim frames don't protect your eyes."

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Most athletes in India are looking at Olympic postponement as more time in hand for training but not race walker Bhawana Jat, who isn't quite sure about the Games going ahead even in 2021 after the mayhem unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. Bhawana, who qualified for the Olympics in 20km race walk after pulling off a shock win at the National Championships in February, feels that the athletes are staring at an uncertain future due to the pandemic, which has caused over 100,000 deaths globally.

"I was disappointed at Olympics being postponed because I was in a very good shape and I was hoping to do well. The Asian Championships (to be held in March in Japan) was an ideal platform to test myself at the international level. That also got postponed due to COVID-19," she told PTI. "It's uncertain now when the competitions will restart, the season for this year is over in this situation. It is a relief that I have already qualified for the Olympics.

"I don't know what will happen next year. I will have to start from scratch. I don't know whether the Olympics will even be held next year," she added. The 24-year-old is currently based at the Sports Authority of India Centre in Bengaluru where there is no outdoor training due to the lockdown. She is the only woman race walker at the centre which also has eight other male athletes of the same event. "We do weight training, core strength training or skipping or work with the medicine ball. I walk inside the hall for 15 or 20 minutes," she said.

"Our coach (Alexander Artsybashev) has told us not to rest too much and be active all the time unless we are sleeping at night. So, I play carrom for one hour and then dance to Hindi songs with other athletes from other sports. That is how we keep moving," she added. Hockey players are also currently staying at the SAI Centre Bengaluru. Bhawana had clocked a national record 1:29.54, well inside the Olympic qualification time of 1:31:00, to win the gold in the National Championships held in Ranchi in February.

"Since the time I took up this sport, I have been dreaming of an Olympic medal. That is my ultimate aim. But as of now I am not thinking about Olympics, I am thinking about when this pandemic will end," she said. She said the athletes follow strict social distancing rules at the SAI Centre. "Nobody can go outside and nobody is coming in the centre from outside. While standing in queue for food at the mess, we have to be two metre apart. To get own stuff like shampoo or toothpaste, we have to tell the hostel people who bring them for us.

"Earlier, at least four trainees coud sit at the mess table but now only two can sit there." Bhawana comes from a poor farmer's family at Kabra village in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district, which is adjacent to Bhilwara, considered a model district in the country's fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Asked if she feels anxious about her parents' well being in Rajasthan, she said, "I will not exactly say that but of course I am concerned about them but I can't do anything. I cannot go there unless the lockdown is lifted.

"I talk to them on phone everyday. Our village is not affected but they will have to go out for farming. My parents will not tell me anything about small matters in the family. They will think that it will affect me."

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His wife and one-year-old daughter are not living too far from the training centre where Indian hockey team forward SV Sunil is currently based but he is resisting the urge to make a dash for home given the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sunil's wife Nisha and their one-year old daughter Shanvita are staying just 20km away from the SAI Centre in Bengaluru, where the Indian hockey team is training amid the nationwide lockdown to combat the virus. "Most of the players here in camp would have loved to be with their families, and even though my family doesn't stay very far from here. My wife and I decided that it was in the best interest of our family that we stay put where we are, and follow the guidelines strictly," said Sunil.

"I do miss my wife and daughter, but these are trying circumstances and we just have to take the positives out of it, and continue adjusting to it." Sunil also feels that the extended lockdown period is actually helping the side forge a stronger bond. "We were all expecting the lock-down period to be extended, and it is justified given the extent of the damage that the pandemic has been causing not just in India, but around the world," he said.

"We have been staying here at the SAI Centre Bengaluru for the past month and a half, and I think spending more time with our teammates and coaching staff has really brought the group together. "We have also been working on analyzing our performances from the past couple of seasons, and we have been doing a lot of self-analysis as well, which I'm sure will help us in improving a lot before we set foot on the pitch again," he added.

Reflecting on the current pandemic and the health hazards that it is posing to people around the world, Sunil said these are the times which test resolves. "I remember when I've had the two injuries before, one in 2010 and another in 2018, it was always really tough for me because I had missed the World Cups on both the occasions and that long journey back from injury was really depressing at times. "But when you compare that to the circumstances that so many people around the world are facing now, you realise how lucky you are to only have injured your left fibula or had a LCL Grade 3 tear, and not had a life-threatening experience.

Sunil, who turns 31 early next month, also spoke about his thoughts on the Olympic Games being postponed to 2021 "We have spent these four years building up to the Olympics, and working hard to peak at that time, but obviously now we all have to make adjustments, for which we are ready. "It has been a few days since I've made that run on the flanks and put a ball into the striking circle, so I really hope that things can go back to normal very quickly for everyone to do what they love doing, which includes me stepping foot on the pitch again soon," he said.

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Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel on Friday cautioned against the temptation to shoehorn too many Formula One races into a revised calendar, describing the move as "not realistic". The 22-event F1 season has been decimated by the Coronavirus with nine races either cancelled or postponed. The French Grand Prix scheduled for June 28 is also in doubt as is the Belgian Grand Prix, set for August 30.

F1 chiefs have floated the idea of making up for lost time by staging races on successive weekends or even having two races on the same weekend.

Staff burnout issue

However, Ferrari star Vettel fears such a move could lead to burnout for team staff. "We drivers are a little privileged," Vettel told reporters by teleconference from his home in Switzerland. "Of course, the races are tiring but there have to be limits for the staff. They must rest. "We must also see if it is easy to reschedule races, if the circuits are not already taken. Many questions remain. I think the schedule will be busier, but 10 consecutive weekends is not realistic."

Vettel suggested that he would favour staging races without fans if it allowed a quick resumption as long as it did not become a common feature. Other sports have already toyed with the idea of staging events behind closed doors. For example, the US PGA Tour on Thursday announced plans to resume in June, with the first four tournaments being closed to spectators.

"It's complicated," admitted Vettel. "On the one hand, there is the health of the sport, on the other, that of the people who work in the paddock and especially the fans. "There are several options. No one likes to run in front of empty stands, but we will have to see if it will not allow us to resume much sooner. The first races will probably be a little different, but not too much, I hope, because we want to run in front of the fans."

Vettel insists that for him even a 10-race season is just as valuable as a 22-race campaign. However, he admits that the damage to the sport caused by the pandemic could be fatal for the smaller teams on the grid.

'Small teams in danger'

Without racing, the massive TV and sponsorship revenues have dried up. Half of the teams have already started furloughing staff. Teams have agreed to lower the spending cap from $175 million to $150m. "Some small teams are in danger and, as a family, F1 has to take care of its own."

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India wrestler Pooja Dhanda, 26, has battled quite a few injuries in her career so far and knows how tough it is, especially for young wrestlers, to cope with the financial strain. That's the reason she wants the government to take care of budding grapplers during their injury phase.

"If a top-level athlete gets injured, he or she has sponsors to help in the comeback. However, it is very difficult for junior wrestlers to manage injuries without the support of sponsors. I feel the government should step in to help such youngsters needing treatment and rehab facilities. After all, these are your potential medal-winners in the future," says Dhanda, who won a bronze medal [57kg freestyle] at the prestigious World Championships in Budapest in 2018.

Tough times

Dhanda recalled suffering a knee ligament injury during training in Lucknow in 2015 and struggling with treatment for the next two years. "Currently I'm sponsored by JSW, but back then I had no financial support whatsoever. Those two years were tough. I got the knee surgery [by Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala] and subsequent rehabilitation [under physiotherapist Dr Ashish [Kaushik] done in Mumbai and it was difficult for my family to manage the frequent to and fro travel costs," revealed Dhanda, a silver medallist (60kg freestyle) at the Youth Olympics Games in Singapore in 2010.

"Generally, it's the middle-class or lower middle-class kids, who take to sports like wrestling, kabaddi and boxing. They are not financially well off, so any injury needing expensive treatment can end promising careers. I feel, at least cadet or junior level medal-winners should get government support in these situations," added Dhanda, who was again laid low by injury in 2019 and had given up on the 2020 Tokyo Games before it got postponed to 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Online learning

In lockdown at home in Hisar, Haryana she is currently taking online lessons from women's national coach Andrew Cook of USA. "He [Cook] shares videos of the top wrestlers and we discuss technique and strategy accordingly. My aim is to not just qualify for Tokyo 2021 but to also win a medal there," said Dhanda, who bagged silver at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.

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American reality TV star Khloe Kardashian, who has daughter True, two, with basketball player ex-partner Tristan Thompson wants to have more kids. But she is unsure if she wants Tristan to be her sperm donor.

Speaking in a preview of the E! reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Khloe said: "I've been taking hormone injections for about five days and the injection process has been fine. Dr Huang was saying the bonus of doing embryos is you get to see what are your stronger embryos, which are healthy, you get to already know all that by mixing them with sperm. Which I do have a sperm donor."
But Khloe is worried about the future and said there is a possibility of her changing her mind and wants to have a baby with her new partner rather than go for Tristan.

Tristan and True Thompson

"You never know like if in three years I get married to someone and I'm like, 'You know what? I don't want that.' It's weird, because Tristan and I, we're not together. I don't know which way to go," she added.

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A new Michael Jordan television documentary has become a smash hit for NBA fans whose hope of watching the playoffs these days was scuttled by the coronavirus pandemic. "The Last Dance" details the career of the NBA legend who led the Chicago Bulls to six titles in the 1990s, with editions three and four of the 10-part saga telecast on Sunday. It was the top ESPN telecast in the advertiser-prized 18-to-34 demographic since the shut down of sport due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In all, 6.1 million people watched the opening episodes in the United States, making the documentary Twitter's top trending topic and ESPN's most watched original program since the network began producing such shows 16 years ago. An average of 5.9 million viewers watched the latest episodes aired in the US on Sunday. "The Last Dance" mixes previously unaired behind-the-scenes footage taken by a special camera crew with the Bulls during their 1997-98 NBA championship run with the retelling of Jordan's amazing story from his youthful days to Chicago's amazing dynasty run of six 1990s NBA titles.

The project was set to be broadcast in June when the NBA Finals were scheduled, but when sports programs were wiped out due to the global virus pandemic, ESPN advanced the release date. The Jordan documentary's blockbuster success looks likely to spark similar projects. Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar who died in a January helicopter crash, had a personal camera crew follow him around during his final NBA season, ESPN reported last week, hinting that behind-the-scenes footage could become part of a Bryant documentary.

Bryant, a five-time NBA champion, scored 60 points in his final NBA game in 2016, which capped the worst season in Lakers history at 17-65. Dwyane Wade, a member of the 2008 US Olympic "Redeem Team" that won Beijing gold after a 2004 bronze at Athens, says he is already executive producing a documentary about that collection of NBA talent.

A lingering hatred

ESPN has aired discussion shows about the documentary after telecasts, with Sunday's episodes about Jordan's lingering hatred of the Detroit Pistons leading to Monday interviews with former Detroit star Isiah Thomas, notably about the Pistons snubbing the Bulls for post-game handshakes when Chicago swept the defending champions out of the 1991 playoffs.

"I hated them," Jordan said in the fourth chapter of the documentary. "And that hate carries even to this day." Thomas was not selected as a member of the 1992 Barcelona US Olympic gold medal "Dream Team" -- an NBA all-star lineup that featured Jordan -- and Thomas said Monday on ESPN that he hoped the handshake snub wasn't the reason why he didn't make the historic lineup.

"If I'm not part of the Dream Team for that lapse of emotion, for not shaking somebody's hand, then I'm more disappointed today than I was back then when I wasn't selected," Thomas said. "I paid a heavy price. If that moment meant I'm not selected to be on the Dream Team because of that moment, that's hurtful. That cuts deep."

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