The animals of India have a big friend in advocate Siddh Vidya. She is committed to the welfare of stray dogs, cats, cows, etc, and does everything that she can to uphold the rights of these creatures. Whether it is a Navi Mumbai housing society opposing the feeding of strays or mass slaughter of buffaloes in West Bengal, she is ready to move the police and courts to ensure justice for animals. A soft-spoken woman with a pleasant demeanour, she fights uncompromisingly for those who cannot speak.
An affable top cop
Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar is easily one of the more affable top cops Mumbai has had. A very knowledgeable IPS officer with a keen sense of observation, he can easily pass off for a professor. He was the chief guest at The Free Press Journal’s 2023 School Survey Awards function at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel at Worli and he charmed the audience, comprising about a hundred principals and directors, with his wit and candour. So it was not surprising that everyone wanted to take a selfie with him. He obliged all – but not with a selfie, but with regular photo shots. He rightly observed that selfies often distort the faces of people!
New kid on the block
It requires guts to enter the hub of south Indian filter coffee and offer stuff like pumpkin spice latte, mint mocha, etc. But that is precisely what AbCoffee has done. It has set up shop at King's Circle where you have Ramashray, Cafe Mysore, Cafe Madras, Amba Bhavan, Sharda Bhavan, Anand Bhavan and Arya Bhavan serving good filter ‘kaapi’. The tiny joint is located cheek by jowl with the famed Koolar Irani restaurant. AbCoffee offers some excellent espresso, Americano, cappuccino, latte and mocha at a fraction of Starbucks. It also serves butter croissant, banana bread, cinnamon roll, tiramisu delight and blueberry muffin. Check it out today.
Celebrating India’s Handloom Culture
Thousands of women participated in the ‘One Bharat Sari Walkathon’ organised by The Ministry of Textiles at BKC on Sunday. | VGP
More power to the chief minister
It’s nice to see Chief Minister Eknath Shinde evincing keen interest in the problems of Mumbai. His hands-on approach is commendable. He spends enormous amounts of time on the streets of Mumbai getting the BMC to get its act together. It was his suggestion to deep clean the streets where dirt has been accumulating for years. Again it was his decision to revive the system of Clean Up Marshals whose job is to inculcate much-needed civic sense in Mumbaikars who, have an idontcareadamn attitude and litter / spit wherever they want. More power to Mr Shinde.
Tailpiece
The place in front of ‘Mannat’ at Bandra Bandstand is so crowded with fans wanting a ‘dekho’ of SRK that the cops are forced to ensure round-the-clock bandobast.
Compiled by: S Balakrishnan
