Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Sukoon ka cocoonA priest is lost in his mobile phone outside a temple at Banganga Tank WalkeshwarTwo Mohans in South AfricaFor years all author Amrita Shah knew of her greatgrandfather Mohanlal Parmanandas Killavala was thatmdashhe had travelled to South Africa as a young man before returning to settle in suburban Mumbai ldquoWhy had he gone there Why did he leave behind no letters photos or anecdotes from his time thererdquo the author recalls wonderingThe author investigates the connection between Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi third from left pictured at his legal practice office in Johannesburg in 1905 and her ancestor the ldquoOther Mohanrdquo PicGetty ImagesThen one day an aunt revealed ldquoMohanlal dada was with Gandhiji in South Africardquo For the former journalist this was irresistible Two Mohans together right when the more famous onemdashMohandas Karamchand Gandhimdashwas leading the South African Satyagraha There was a story here A decade of travels and research across South Africa Mauritius the UK and India culminated in Shahrsquos latest book The Other Mohan HarperCollinsAmrita Shah PicKetaki ShethldquoThe book is structured like a detective thrillerrdquo says Shah who lays out startling discoveries not just about her greatgrandfather an educated suitedbooted interpreter but also about Gandhirsquos famous 1908 passburning campaign to protest discriminatory entry laws in the Transvaal province Stitching her personal family history together with the wider political history Shah turns our understanding of the Satyagraha on its headldquoThe story that we know of the Gandhiled Satyagraha is so wellestablished that to add a new dimension to it is very hard But what I found were original archival findings that do add that twisthellip Itrsquos another way to understand our history because the story I tell is of enterprise not of struggle which is what we are familiar withrdquo she says ldquoI think the biggest surprise for readers will be the way the two stories connect And as it happens the connector is my greatgrandfatherrdquoPot shots and slingshotsNiranjan ShettyAll the sideshow going on even as the victorious Mahayuti has yet to announce a Chief Minister has people chortling Now the Bharatiya Janata Partyrsquos BJP chief spokesperson Niranjan Shetty has pointed out ldquoAccording to the Shiv Sena UBT and Sharad PawarNCP Electronic Voting Machines EVM worked well in the States where nonBJP governments were elected and are faulty where the BJP Government has been elected by the overwhelming support of the people The mental balance of these UBT Shiv Sena and NCP Sharad Pawar leaders is disturbed because of the grand BJP win The people of Maharashtra have given their mandate to themmdashsit at home and retirerdquo Of these slingshots borne out of ire and fire we never tireAussies wonrsquot like to remember this December 1The Australian Cricket magazine which covered the 1978 Australia v England Brisbane TestThere was a time when cricket teams used to be involved in sixmatch Test series And India in 197980 played two of them hosting Australia and Pakistan On this day in 1978 another sixmatch series beganmdashin Brisbanemdashwhere Mike Brearleyrsquos England faced Graham Yalloprsquos Australian third string side amidst the Kerry Packer World Series Cricket circus The hosts found themselves in major batting strife getting bowled out for 116 with Bob Willis 444 Ian Botham 340 and Chris Old 224 playing contributory roles for England The topscorers for Australia Wicketkeeper John MacLean 33 not out and fellow debutant Rodney Hogg 36 Australia fared better in the second innings with 339 thanks to centuries from captain Yallop and future skipper Kim Hughes But a sevenwicket loss couldnrsquot be avoided Australia went on to lose the Ashes 15 The Brisbane loss was ominous just like the recent Perth defeat Are Australia doomedThis diarist says yesRunning for heritageHeritage tours in the city usually involve walking But on Saturday Mumbairsquos running enthusiasts ran almost six kilometres across South Mumbai stopping only to admire historic structures and hear their stories Bombay Running the cityrsquos first community of runners organised The Bombay Heritage Run Series in collaboration with the Kala Ghoda Arts Foundation KGAF and RPG Foundation The route began at Asiatic Library ran along the Oval Maidan to stop and marvel at art deco buildings headed to Eros Theatre Soona Mahal and ended with breakfast at Bombay Sweet Shoprsquos latest outpost in Kala GhodaPriyanca and DeepakldquoWe are one of the original run crews in the country and started in 2016 On Sundays we usually run in South Mumbai as Ballard Estate Fort and other areas are shut We usually cover every bylanerdquo says Priyanca Walanju who cofounded Bombay Running with Deepak Oberoi ldquoMost who are part of our crew are extremely knowledgeable and they know about the history So when we ran we would share stories or listen We were already in collaboration with KGAF and proceeds from our running events are contributed to restore heritage structures So we decided to host a series of heritage runsrdquo says Walanju It prompted Bombay Running to collaborate with the RPG Foundation who lent an expert who would narrate the history and stories throughout the runAs the event saw a lot of signups The Bombay Heritage Run Series will see two runs in December and more in January The next run is on Saturday December 14th and you can sign up via their website wwwbombayrunningco