Mumbai Masala: The Sweet Prince Of Princess Street

One of the best things to have happened in recent times is the reopening of a lovingly refurbished Parsi Dairy Farm (PDF). Indeed, it is a sweet prince on Princess Street. Started in 1916, it has continued to maintain the purity of its products, beginning with milk. Early in the morning, one can see scores of their employees in khaki shorts and dark blue bush shirts with metal handis on their sturdy shoulders delivering pure milk door to door. Other old favourites like ghee, yoghurt and malai kulfi have stood the test of time. The malai kulfi is certainly worth dying for. You get to eat a piece of heaven in every scoop.

The shop has sections serving Bengali sweets, other mithais like rabdi, sutarfeni, Mahim halwa, thick lassi etc. There is a toffee dispenser. But to be honest, the kheer kadom is no patch on the ones you get at Sweet Bengal outlets and, of course, the rasgullas are nowhere near the ones made by KC Das of Kolkata. Never make the mistake of driving down to PDF because you get no parking at any time of day or night.

Keeping Journalists At Arm’s Length

Journalists were shabbily treated at the recent meeting of the INDIA alliance at the Grand Hyatt. On day one, only photographers were allowed to click a few shots and then asked to go out. One the main day of the confabulations, the press conference turned out to be a damp squib. Scores of journalists and photographers who had descended at the fivestar hotel were rudely asked to stay out in the compound. The press meet was scheduled for 3.30pm and journos were first informed that they would be let in at 2pm and later at 2.30pm and yet again at 3pm. Anxious scribes literally had do gatecrash since they needed time to set up their cameras, etc. The anti-climax was when no questions were allowed. Obviously leaders of 28 parties who had deliberated in air-conditioned comfort did not want their sharp differences to be exposed. But the early departure of Mamata Banerjee was a giveaway of the failure of the conclave.

PLANE-SPOTTING

The Queen Of Indipop Turns 90

Asha Bhosle will be turning 90 on September 8. In a career spanning several decades, she sang several thousand songs.

But despite all the glamour and success, she bears in her heart the pain caused by the suicide of her extremely talented daughter Varsha, who shot herself with a licensed revolver at their Prabhu Kunj residence on Peddar Road on October 8, 2012. Varsha was a hardcore Hindutva ideologue who minced no words while writing her column for a portal. She propounded the cause of Hindutva at a time when it was far from politically correct. Many criticised her, but Varsha stood her ground. A free soul, she loved her Old Monk, her books and long rides at night on the streets of Mumbai.

Asha’s relationship with OP Nayyar was a tumultuous one. She eventually found emotional stability in the company of RD Burman. That too did not last long because of the sudden demise of Pancham.

Tailpiece

Hindenburg 2.0 report has been summed up by Swami Nithyananda as: “The money that Adani had given to Adani was used to subscribe to Adani but now it has been returned by Adani to Adani so that it can be used by Adani.”

(Compiled by S Balakrishnan)

Published on: Monday, September 04, 2023, 12:03 PM IST