The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Usman Khawaja
Racing right to the top
Racing driver Advait Deodhar has been working hard in the UK the past year. The 26-year-old, who is well established in India as a racing driver, went to London with a one-way ticket in January, with one objective – to raise funds for himself.
Advait Deodhar
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"I am prepping for the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain 2017 and the aim is to become the first Indian to compete in the LMP1 category which is the parallel of Formula One and to become the first Indian to win the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans one day," he tells this diarist on a visit to Mumbai. Deodhar who is now working as a yacht charter trader, says even his choice of jobs is aimed at getting him to the LMP. So, as a yacht trader, which he says exposes you to a parallel world — "people spend half a million in a week!" — he is trying to develop his contacts and get the needed sponsorships.
"I went to everyone and anyone in India to raise funds, and it just wasn't happening. People in India need a star [like a Tendulkar for cricket] in the sport to start taking it seriously. And, I will become that!" With that attitude, we think he will, too.
A car named art
French carmaker Renault has, for the first time, commissioned Shombit Sengupta, a French national of Indian origin to paint an art car on their Franco-Indian make, Kwid. "I have always painted on a flat canvas. So, painting on the three-dimensional volume of the Kwid was an exciting and tough challenge.
Shombit Sengupta
So when I am painting the front, I had to think about the left, right, top, back and inside, and vice versa," says Sengupta, who would stay up till four in the morning for several days in Renault's design workshop in Chennai. "I would listen to the soprano voice of Maria Callas to inspire me," he smiles.
Finding new shores in New Delhi
We catch CEO Hugo Weihe right in the midst of the finishing touches of Saffronart's new gallery in Lutyen's Delhi. The new 3,000 sq ft gallery launches on November 3 with an exhibition of 24 new mono-chromatic works by Krishen Khanna and will later host a year-end exhibition of Ram Kumar's works.
Falconer by Krishen Khanna
The gallery is housed tastefully in the old-world charm of The Claridges and Weihe says that it will be shared with the capital's art spaces as well. The new space has come at a handy time to Saffronart; it used to earlier hold its New Delhi auctions at The Oberoi, which closed down temporarily a few months back for a two-year-long renovation.
Hugo Weihe
"The gallery follows the same look and feel as the Mumbai flagship space and is a new keystone for the larger-scale vision of Saffronart, highly versatile and state of the art. Our gallery's location in the heart of the capital makes it easily accessible, allowing us to hold exhibitions, previews, talks and other art initiatives and collaborations with galleries. We hope to take exhibitions from here to London and New York and further enhance the national and international perspective and outreach," says Weihe.
Heard this Marshy yarn, Usman?
It wouldn't have come as a major surprise had Pakistan-born Australian batsman Usman Khawaja not figured in his country's squad for Thursday's opening Test against South Africa. For, Khawaja slammed the selectors for dropping him for the third Test against Sri Lanka after just failing in the first two Tests. He called the Rod Marsh-led panel "fickle" and felt he was made a "scapegoat."
Usman Khawaja
Marsh got asked about Khawaja's outburst on Friday and said, "He probably opened his mouth before his brain had got working. It might have been early in the morning... he loves a sleep-in, Uzzie (Khawaja's nickname). The former Australia wicketkeeper never had to face the selectorial axe when he wore the baggy green, but like Khawaja, he was in a situation to moan about something.
In only his fourth Test, Marsh's captain Bill Lawry declared with Marsh eight runs short of a century. Almost the whole of Australia slammed Lawry for his ruthless declaration, but Marsh didn't display a trace of regret. In fact, he surprised the media when he said that Lawry had allowed him to score 40 more runs than he deserved and the eight did not matter.
Sure, Marsh played in another generation, but Khawaja could learn a thing a two about grinning, bearing it and end up performing like Marsh did throughout his 13-year international cricket career.
It was just for a cuppa!
This diarist was sitting at the Lower Parel outpost of a popular homegrown patisserie and was waiting for her black coffee to arrive, making notes in her diary, when one of the servers approached her. With a small frown creasing his forehead, and a nervous smile, he asked: "are you from the media?" Flustered, she asked why he was asking this.
"You were making notes. So, we thought you are from the media or the management," he said. She admitted, 'Well yes, we are from the media, but the 'notes' are just our TDL." He asked the diarist to contact him if she needed anything. What do we say? Well spotted indeed.
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