In a video that went viral, MNS Yuva shakha Vice President Akhil Chitre was seen thrashing a taxi driver for allegedly misbehaving with a female passenger.

While speaking to mid-day, Chitre said that the female was plying from Wadala to BKC and she later returned to Dharavi. Though the fare was then Rs 118 the taxi driver was forcing her to pay Rs. 200 saying she had to also pay for the 'luggage' she was carrying.

A man who was the other passengers in the taxi stepped out and paid Rs 118 to the driver. However, shockingly the driver drove the cab without allowing the female passenger to get off. A crowd gathered around the taxi but the driver was still adamant on getting Rs 200.  The male co-passenger called up Chitre who reached the location and thrashed the driver.

Chitre said, "The male passenger located my number via Facebook and called me. Luckily, I was in BKC at the time and reached the spot within a minute. I then caught hold of the taxi driver and taught him a lesson."

In another video that went viral recently, an auto driver was seen hitting a passenger after an argument over auto fare. After watching the footage, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) swung into action and thrashed the auto driver for his behaviour.

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The Feline Foundation, an NGO founded by Cat Cafe Studio, has some good news for Star Wars fans. It is hosting a Star Wars Quiz Night that gives you and your buddies a chance to win prizes.

You can flaunt your cosplaying skills and meet like-minded people. "It's an evening full of mystery in a galaxy far, far away. Better yet, it's also a fundraiser to support our efforts to provide medical treatment for stray cats in need," said an organiser. Additionally, all participants leave with assured gift coupons. Register now, and may the force be with you.

ON February 23, 6 pm to 8 pm
AT Cat Café Studio, Versova, Andheri West 
LOG ON TO catcafestudio.com
COST Rs 199

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The rigours of the fiercely competitive modern education system can often result in a blinkered approach to learning, and a disconnect between students and nature. The Goregaon-based Rishi Valmiki Eco School (RVES), a non-profit organisation that works towards providing quality education to children from lower income groups, however, has been trying to make amends. Along with supplementing the existing state board syllabus with nature education, the school also hosts a biennial wildlife festival.

This year the theme of the festival is Secrets of the Sea, where students from grade three to nine will showcase around 40 species of marine life, and discuss topics like mangroves, marine parenting, and the life of turtles through performances involving dances and skits.

 Nikita Pimple

Participating students include those who come from the slums of Bhagat Singh Nagar, in Goregaon. The school's emphasis on nature-inspired learning has helped many of them become professional guides, who conduct trails at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. "The students enjoy coming to school on Sunday as well, because they love to learn about nature," says Nikita Pimple, principal of RVES. "That is the kind of interest we hope to generate in children," she adds.

ON February 24, 10 am to 1 pm
AT ASPEE Auditorium, Laxminarayan Mandir Complex Marve Road, Malad West
CALL 9664737308
LOG ON TO insider.in
COST Rs 200

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The Nature Club of Wilson College is an active one, with me­m­bers participati­ng in platforms to raise awareness about environment­al issues. And with professor Sudhakar So­l­omon Raj, HOD of the political science depa­r­tment and head of the club, being a music aficionado, the move to celebrate the 40th year of the club's initiation by combining his two pass­ions to organise a nature concert this Monday was only natural. A part of a year-long series, which includes environmental talks, this celebration aims to highlight crucial issues via songs about nature.

The evening will feature collaborations between students of the college. A choir perfo­r­mance by North East Collective comprises 10 students from the re­gion, for examp­le. Then there is the college a cappella gr­oup, which, inter­e­­s­tingly, resulted from a dare issued by St Xavier's College. The college band, led by Sambhav Singh, will also perform, besides alumni Keegan Pereira, Reinhardt Dias and Riya Kartha. Plus, students from Andrew Vi­sion Centre will perform co­vers. "We have been using nature-themed songs as an educational tool since 1983. We wanted to share this by providing a platform for our students to express their talent," says Raj.

Keegan Pereira and Reinhardt Dias

Proceeds will go towards organizing nature trails for underprivileged kids, a tree planting drive and publishing an environmental handbook.

ON Today, 7 pm to 9.30 pm
AT St Andrew's Auditorium, St Dominic Road, Bandra West.
LOG ON TO bookmyshow.com
COST Rs 500 onwards

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Enjoy a vegan gourmet experience this Wednesday where you can tuck into dishes like cauliflower pistachio quinoa with cauliflower cream and roasted garlic panisse; beetroot kibbeh with a beetroot walnut pomegranate cream and salted vegan feta; and cacao olive oil cake with cacao oil and lemon coconut ice cream.

The event is curated by chef Raveena Taurani, who says, "Normally, when we step into a restaurant, the main course always focuses on an animal protein or a carbohydrate-heavy dish, but I was keen to showcase the vegetable as a true hero and show people how even veggies can be wholesome and flavourful in a meal."

ON February 27, 8 pm to 10 pm
AT Yogisattva, Pinnacle House, 15th Road, PD Hinduja Junction, Khar West 
CALL 9867455009
LOG ON TO yogisattva.com
COST Rs 2,700

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The image of a daffodil in a botany textbook can instantly transport you to 1802 — when William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy walked on the shore of Ullswater in the Lake District and spotted the flowers waving in the wind. Two years later, he wrote I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud — one of the most widely-read poems in the English language.

The beauty of poetry lies in this intersectionality; a poem sometimes translates into a tangible memory. And when poems are performed, this memory grows stronger, thus reducing the time it takes to relate to text, because action and emotion matter. But the divide between performance poetry and the written word is evident. The former isn't taken as seriously and the latter seems too overwhelming.That's why a new publishing initiative has promised to tackle that.

Nirav Mehta and Ishmeet Nagpal

Dentist-turned-social activist Ishmeet Nagpal, 30, and tech analyst Nirav Mehta, 28, who also co-founded the popular city-based book club Broke Bibliophiles - Bombay Chapter, conceptualised the idea of Nirvana Publishers this year to give space to diverse voices in poetry. "The bigger publication houses have started publishing fewer books on poetry and short stories. We feel it's absolutely necessary for these voices to be heard and read in the mainstream media. Every novel begins with a short story," Mehta tells us, and Nagpal concurs. "Most young artists find the publication process daunting. We want to curate and handhold such poets and storytellers to bring forward as many perspectives as possible."

A Broke Bibliophiles meetup at Powai Lake

They also aim to blur the divide between various formats of poetry, and the first step in doing so is through a soft launch this weekend at a Bandra venue where city spoken-word poets — many of whom are part of the book club — including Aekta Khubchandani, Amina Arif, Damini Kane, Manisha Lakhe and mid-day journalist Aastha Atray-Banan will perform pieces themed around empathy.

A meet-up involves book discussions and sometimes even features authors

"There is a revolution underway in the spoken word arena, but it is limited to pockets in the metro cities. To increase the reach, it would be great to have some of these voices in a publication that people sitting anywhere in the world can experience," they say, adding that they will initially start with accepting submissions in English and delve into more languages and translations after learning what their audience appreciates.

Their initiative as of now remains self-funded as the two juggle day jobs. But Mehta says that they are open to funding, as and when an angel investor turns up.

Aekta Khubchandani and Amina Arif

Although Nirvana hasn't put out an open call for submissions, as they will formally begin in April, people are free to send pitches. At the end of the day, the goal is to stay approachable. "There are so many rigid rules that dictate what constitutes page literature and what is classified as spoken word or performance-oriented writing. Of course, what may be a great performance piece might not translate just as beautifully on page and vice-versa, but what if it can?" they question. And we wonder if Wordsworth would do a good job.

ON March 3, 6 pm to 9 pm
AT The Pioneer Hall, next to Corona Garden, St John Baptist Road, Mount Mary Steps, Bandra West.
CALL 7021454630
Email nirvana.publishers@gmail.com
FREE

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Most of us youngsters are the poster children for all of the woke world's "isms". So, it may appear that we are championing the cause of environmentalism. While this might be true to some extent, Preeti Patel has a different story to tell.

"The majority of our sustained volunteers are in their 40s and seldom do we have young people attending our workshops," laments Patel, a catering officer with the Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) who founded Urban Leaves in 2009, an initiative that seeks to create awareness on food safety-related issues.

Freshly plucked veggies

Twenty years ago, in order to recycle waste generated at the central kitchen of the MPT, which caters to the organisation's departmental canteens, Patel started a small garden on the cookhouse's rooftop. "When I saw it flourish into a beautiful forest, I thought of taking the initiative outside MPT and to those who wanted to learn," she recalls while speaking about an upcoming workshop titled Vegetable Diversity and Seed-Saving Techniques, which the group will host.

Patel and her team conduct talks and workshops in order to fuel their endeavour of acquainting the uninitiated with the myriad issues the country is facing in the agricultural sector. The loss of homegrown seeds and depletion of desi varieties of veggies, Patel tells us, is a primary concern, aggravated by the supremacy of MNCs. "A local seed reaps the best harvest, in terms of plant health. However, their circulation is less vis-a-vis the supply of genetically modified variants, which is what the government is trying to push into our food systems and the MNCs are controlling," she points out, explaining why seed saving is the need of the hour. "It is our wealth and the traditional knowledge of saving your own seeds can be empowering," she shares.

But what is seed saving? How to save a them? Which seeds to save and what is the best time to do so? These are questions that newbies are likely to struggle with. So, on Sunday, Patel is hoping to assist enthusiasts and encourage them to participate in community farming by having these questions answered. The workshop will be conducted by Deepika Kundaji who has worked in organic farming at the Pebble Garden, a farm in Auroville, for 30 years.

AT St Andrew's College, St Dominic Road, Bandra West
ON March 10, 9 am to 1.30 pm
LOG ON TO urbanleaves.org
COST Rs 1,200

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Breaking a leg to commercial tunes blaring out of speakers at a crowded club might be fun for some. But a cosy setting with a close group of friends huddled around a table, sipping on cold beer, sounds more like the kind of night the time-strapped and hard-working Mumbaikar might opt for when looking to unwind.

A glimpse from a Beer Tales session

It is this milieu that Effingut, which debuted in the city last year, is trying to emulate. "Our outlet in Bandra is more of a sit-down place where there's no loud music, so you can have real conversations. We thought, 'What do people do when they meet up at a friend's place?' They sit and talk, and typically it's about things like Game of Thrones, or the latest Marvel movie. And that's when we decided to launch this programme," says Sanika Kelkar, who helms marketing for the brewery, speaking about Beer Tales, a weekly interactive session.

Sanika Kelkar

At these events, Kelkar explains, what transpires is a casual chat with attendees discussing everything ranging from contorted Game of Thrones theories to the best songs by Coldplay. "We have got a great response. In fact, the idea to host a meet-up themed around Friends came from our patrons," Kelkar shares, adding, "To keep the enthusiasm going we have giveaways, like beer, DVDs and cool merchandise. We are hoping to organise larger events and meet and greet sessions, too, but we want to keep the essence of these get-togethers casual."

At: Effingut, Linking Road, Bandra West.
On: Every Tuesday, 8 pm to 11 pm
Call: 8657449223

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Aamir Khan had a customary cake-cutting ceremony with the media at his Bandra home, holding a press conference. On his birthday, the actor, who turned 54 today, made an announcement of his next film titled Laal Singh Chadda. Aamir's next release is a remake of Hollywood film Forest Gump (1994). The film starred Tom Hanks and Robin Wright and was based on a novel of the same name.

Following this, Aamir Khan will take off for North Ireland to attend the ongoing Belfast Film Festival. He will be in conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir on 16th to discuss his body of work.

Check out the pictures of Aamir Khan's 54th birthday celebrations here. (All pictures/Shadab Khan, Yogen Shah)

Aamir Khan's 54th birthday celebration

Aamir Khan was accompanied by his wife Kiran Rao.

Aamir Khan cuts his birthday cake

Fans across the nation have been pouring in wishes for Aamir by posting the actor's pictures, which also saw a strong social trend with the #HappyBirthdayAamirKhan.

Aamir Khan and wife Kiran Rao at his 54th birthday celebrations with media persons

Kiran Rao clicked while feeding the birthday cake to Aamir Khan

Known as Mr Perfectionist of the industry, Aamir Khan for Bollywood has over the years created an image that many look up to. From making films that address the pertinent issues of the society, to speaking his mind on raging issues even off camera, Aamir Khan has always been the one with a calculative brain and has used his position to impart a change in the society.

On the professional front, Aamir Khan likes to explore with the character he plays and the actor likes to surprise his fans with new characters. To experiment with roles, Aamir grows his hair and beard before every film. This also gives him the flexibility to play with multiple looks in one film. We wonder, what Aamir Khan's look would be in Laal Singh Chadda!

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Aamir Khan!

Also Read: Aamir Khan is a family man, these picture-perfect frames are proof!

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In what it termed a 'surgical closure' on trespassing and track crossing, Western Railway authorities on Thursday morning permanently shut the age-old Jogeshwari railway track crossing, inviting both bouquets and brickbats. With an average of 35 to 38 deaths from crossing tracks here every year, the station authorities were forced to make this move. The railways also posted teams of policemen between the tracks and the fencing on Thursday to avoid any chaos. The first day of this closure saw many angry locals along with commuters who welcomed the move.

"This is julum. How will we cross now? The government should not do this. They should have built escalators for people like us and then shut down the crossing," Mohammad Ansar, a senior citizen arguing with an RPF constable said. "Yeh accha kiya [good job]," was another reaction. "They should have done this earlier. But it is better late than never. The public here used to jump the tracks very often," another commuter Ramesh Narayan said.

Abundance of FOBs
On visiting the station, mid-day found that there are three big foot-over bridges here, one at the Churchgate end connecting east to west, the other one is in the middle connecting the station to the west side and the third one is at the Virar-end, again connecting east to west and the Harbour line station through a walkway. However, the only one at the Churchgate end sees heavy traffic during rush hours. The bridge is connected to a wide elevated deck. The only problem is with the narrow staircase landing on platforms one and two. The WR intends to widen platforms and extend them towards Churchgate for 15-car trains.

"We are saving lives. Closing the open holes in the walls was a priority to stop people from crossing tracks. The bridge access is being improved but things do not happen overnight. There is a short-term and a long-term plan in place which the Western Railway is working on," Western Railway Mumbai Divisional Railway Manager Sunil Kumar told mid-day.

"The Western Railway has elaborate plans to widen the existing platform one and two soon," Western Railway's chief public relations officer Ravinder Bhakar said. Bhakar said that the widening (by two metres) of platform one and two is planned by reducing the width of platform three and four. This will be done under platform extension work in connection with the 15-coach work. A total of four escalators, one in the first phase and three in the second phase are planned too.

"At present the width of the platform is only 7.5 metres, which will be increased to 9.5 metres by realigning tracks. The staircases will be widened to six metres and the station manager's room will be shifted to the elevated deck. There is also a plan to build one foot-over bridge to connect the Harbour line platform with the east side of the station," he added. The WR also plans to have a long-distance train terminal at Jogeshwari towards the Borivali end of the station later.

Also Read: Mumbai bridge collapse: CST foot overbridge was audited after 2017 stampede

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The ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's biopic has faced several hiccups ever since the makers announced the film in 2017. Shraddha Kapoor, who was the first choice, has now backed out from the project due to her hectic schedule. Parineeti Chopra has been already approached to replace the Baaghi actress, and she has given it a nod.

On playing Saina Nehwal, Parineeti Chopra says, "I was dying to do a sports-based film. Its a part of my personality as an actor that I have never explored, and I am so happy that I get to portray a strong and powerful girl like Saina! She has put our country on the world map and I excited to put in all the training and hard work that comes with learning the game of Badminton and portraying Saina on screen."

"We want to wrap Saina by this year end for an early 2020 release, so going ahead with the project is a decision made by mutual consent. We are glad Parineeti has come on board for the film. Saina has made every Indian proud and we can't wait to take her story to the world in the year of the Olympics," says producer Bhushan Kumar.

Shraddha Kapoor, who had even started shooting for the biopic, had earlier said that she had been practising for the role for many months and during the process, she realised how hard it was for Saina to achieve the success. "I clocked 40 classes of badminton in preparation for this biopic. It's a really tough sport, but I am enjoying myself. To get an insight into the life of a sportsperson is fascinating. Saina's journey itself is so interesting right from her misses to her injuries and victories," Shraddha said in an old statement. Unfortunately, Kapoor is no more part of the film.

Bhushan Kumar also made an official announcement through Twitter.

Delighted to welcome @ParineetiChopra on board for the Saina Nehwal biopic!

#AmoleGupte @NSaina @deepabhatia11 @sujay_jairaj @TSeries pic.twitter.com/dl7MP820Ov

— Bhushan Kumar (@itsBhushanKumar) March 15, 2019

Finally, the film, which has not yet seen the light of the day has landed in the Kesari actress' kitty.

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"Empowerment is such a frequently used term. Sab bolte hai. But what it really implies is to just be yourself," Avantika Mathur asserts. The 30-year-old artist from Navi Mumbai has been making graffiti on the city's walls for years — and in some cases, the street lamp got there after the artwork did. "Art is a powerful medium, but street art is the best form to explain an ideology. It's an open gallery," she adds. And next week, Mathur along with six female artists will transform the neighbourhood of Marol into a gallery through Ladies First, India's first women-only street art festival.

Walls spanning over 10,000 sq ft will be painted on in Marol Village

The week-long event organised by Marol-based graffiti agency Wicked Broz in collaboration with the Military Road Residents Welfare Association, will see artists paint on multi-storied buildings and running walls spanning over 10,000 sq ft. Although talks about putting together a street art festival were in the works for a year, the idea of turning it into a women's-only event culminated from a Rajasthan trip in January that the organisers were part of. Rikis D Santander, a street artist from Chile, had mentioned that not only were India's gullies overcrowded, but very few women were part of that crowd.

Avantika Mathur

"Even globally there are very few female-centric events. Someone even asked us why women need a separate festival. I said that if I count the number of women who paint on the streets, that number will still be miniscule. Until we don't celebrate these artists, people won't be motivated to come out and paint," Zain Siddiqui of Wicked Broz explains, adding that they initially conceptualised a grander event with more artists. "But a lot of festivals happen as a one-time thing and then disappear. We didn't want that," he says, while proceeding to talk about the line-up that includes Abigail Aroha Jensen from New Zealand, Delhi-based Anpu Varkey and Ratna Singh, a Warli artist.

Zain Siddiqui

"The styles are diverse and we haven't only restricted ourselves to graffiti because we don't want to go around painting something ambiguous. It should mean something," Siddiqui tells us, while Mathur adds, "While Anpu paints large animals, I follow a bohemian surrealist style, which is all about finding yourself."

MC Manmeet Kaur

In addition to wall painting, Ladies First will also feature workshops, exhibitions of canvas work by participating artists, talks and film screenings. Hip-hop cyphers by female artistes such as Goa-based rapper MC Manmeet Kaur is also scheduled to take place. And on the last day, the public (including men) will be free to create artwork on a large wall. As Mathur says, education is key. "For people to appreciate street art, it is necessary that they understand it first. So, each piece we create will have a narrative."

ON March 25 to 31, 9 am to 6 pm
AT Bharat Van, Military Road, Marol Art Village, Andheri East.
CALL 8887795823
Email ladiesfirststreetart@gmail.com

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An engineering graduate, Navin Noronha is also an openly gay stand-up comedian, who uses his humour to acquaint people with the struggles of the LGBTQ community. Watch him at his comedy special, The Good Child, which covers humorous takes on what it's like to grow up queer in India. From stories about coming out and online dating, to tackling family and gay relationships, Noronha will cover it all.

ON March 22, 8.30 pm
AT The Habitat, Khar West 
LOG ON TO bookmyshow.com
ENTRY Rs 250

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It is the festival of colours and most of the people are celebrating their day of happiness with family and friends. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor's son, Taimur Ali Khan, who is already a social media sensation, was spotted celebrating Holi with the paparazzi, whom time and again, he is seen waving and smiling at! 

A video shared by one of Taimur's fan club, where the tiny tot is seen playing with the water gun at his Bandra residence, has become a wave on the net. Take a look!

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Tim is playing with pichkaris 😂😍❤ðŸÂÂ’™ðŸÂÂ’šðŸÂÂ’›ðŸÂÂÂ’ÂÂÂœ 📹- @viralbhayani #taimuralikhan

A post shared by Taimur Ali Khan (@taimuralikhanworld) onMar 20, 2019 at 11:05pm PDT

Taimur, in his house, is seen in a playful mode while spreading joy with his smile and spraying water from the balcony.

Meanwhile, Soha Ali Khan, sister of Saif Ali Khan, also shared a colourful pretty picture of Inaaya Naumi Kemmu on Instagram. Soha captioned the image: "Happy holi!!! [sic]"

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Happy holi!!! ❣

A post shared by Soha (@sakpataudi) onMar 20, 2019 at 11:25pm PDT

Isn't she looking adorably cute? 

Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is married to actor Saif Ali Khan, has time and again expressed concern over the growing paparazzi culture in India. She wondered how people could be so interested in her two-year-old son Taimur's life.

Also Read: Taimur Ali Khan is also a bookworm just like papa Saif Ali Khan; see photos

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Varun Dhawan, who is currently promoting his upcoming movie Kalank, was spotted at a popular studio in Juhu, Mumbai. While on his way, the actor bumped into Sunny Deol, and he couldn't stop fanboying after meeting the Gadar actor.

Sunny Deol with Varun Dhawan/picture courtesy: Satej Shinde

Varun Dhawan was elated on meeting Sunny. The actor greeted Sunny Deol and was pleased to share this moment when they bumped into each other.

Sunny Deol, who is currently shooting for Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, which is his son, Karan's, Bollywood debut, also had a small conversation with his fan. 

On the professional front, Varun Dhawan will be next seen in Karan Johar's multi-starrer period drama, Kalank and Remo D'Souza's Street Dancer 3D.

Talking about Kalank, the film has a star-studded cast comprising Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Sanjay Dutt, this period drama set in 1940s India, is definitely going to take you on an unforgettable journey.

The first look posters of the three men of Kalank came out on March 7 and the leading ladies' first looks were revealed on International Women's Day (March 8). The film was originally conceptualised about 15 years ago by the late Yash Johar and his son Karan Johar, who has bankrolled the film. Abhishek Varman has helmed the period drama that releases on April 17 this year.

Also Read: Kalank is the highest viewed teaser in Bollywood in 24hrs!

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Mumbai-based Prajakta Koli may be one of the country's most popular digital personalities, with over three million subscribers to her YouTube channel MostlySane, but she has still not forgotten the very first YouTube FanFest that was held in 2014.

"It was an intimate amphitheatre [at Bandra fort] with around 300 to 500 people. And now we're expecting a crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 coming this weekend," she tells us, referring to the upcoming edition of the festival that bridges the gap between video personalities and their fans — getting both parties at one venue. The Mumbai edition will be held at JioGarden.

Creators walk the red carpet, there's a meet-and-greet for fans who have managed to grab the limited tickets, but most importantly, the event is live-streamed for fans across the globe. This year's line-up features Koli along with Internet personalities Lilly Singh, Amanda Cerny, Gaurav Chaudhary aka Technical Guruji and Bhuvan Bam.

Lilly Singh and Prajakta Koli 

"It's crazy. More than the festival, I've seen creators evolve with every fest... it's like you can't map where this is going to get in the next few years," Koli says. After winning multiple awards in the past three months, she will now collaborate with Singh for the fest. "When I started doing videos four years ago, I wished that I could meet her, and I did twice. Luckily, she doesn't remember the first time, when I was working as a radio intern and I had gone to interview her," she recalls, proceeding to talk about Singh's upcoming late-night show, which will make her the only woman and LGBTQ person to host such a show on a major network. "It's setting the bar high for creators; imagine if a Superwoman vlog can have such an impact all over the world,
what will a late-night show do?"

Koli maintains that the festival will bring in lots of surprises, and popular vlogger Nikunj Lotia aka Be YouNick concurs.

Amanda Cerny does comedy sketches

"The biggest takeaway is going to be the great experience. This shall be my third appearance at the YTFF, but nothing can be compared to the feeling I had the first time, when I hadn't even performed," he says, stressing on three key points that added to the success of his channel — a great script, perseverance and copious amounts of chai. "If I were to start afresh today, I'd spend less time worrying about technical nuances and focus on producing better scripts," he shares.

So, if you're a budding creator, you can forget about the pressure of having to go out this weekend and tune into your screen instead.

ON March 30, 6.45 pm to 9.15 pm
LOG ON TO www.youtubefanfest.com

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She's a Kapoor. And she's not a part of Bollywood. But since her return from a music school in LA last year, Tulsi Kapoor is making all the right noises with her bluesy-rock compositions, unfiltered lyrics and raw, intimate vocals.

She picked up the keys at the age of four, and moved on to formal piano classes at 15, before picking up the guitar, African percussion instruments and the harmonica. She's now learning the flute from her mother. And contrary to popular belief, she didn't grow up listening to just Bollywood, a genre she appreciates. "My grandfather, Shammi Kapoor, was trained in Hindustani classical and used to sing as hobby. So, I was exposed to a lot of jazz and blues as a kid thanks to him, and my father [Aditya Raj Kapoor] who loves The Beatles and mom [Priti Kapoor]who played a lot of ABBA," says Kapoor. Her travels to the Middle East and the US also introduced her to Portuguese music and Bossa Nova, which find their way in her compositions.

"My music has been influenced by blues and rock, and instrumental music. It's an extension of my personality, emotions and straightforwardness. My lyrics are simple and relatable, and I always appreciate a good hook," she explains.

Shammi Kapoor and Tulsi Kapoor

The centrepiece of her gig will be the track Bloom, which she will perform tonight for the first time. The lyrics talk about rape and abuse, and chart the story of a young girl who falls into wrong hands, only to further fall into the trap of the temporary comforter, who further abuses the trust she places. "We need to understand that rape is about power not sex. It's about dominance of something people can't handle. Some are vindictive cases by those who were abused when they were young, and carry their injuries. It's a pattern that society needs to recognise," she shares.

Adding that she believes that it's an artiste's responsibility to cause social change for the better, she will be using the influence that her last name provides her with, to talk about things that are taboo. "It's crucial that we power through that discomfort about such topics if we want things to change," she concludes.

This gig will be a tribute to her grandfather, who encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming a musician and was her pillar of strength. She is currently teaching music in the city and working on releasing her debut album Bloom at the end of the year.

ON March 29, 7.30 pm onwards
AT The Integral Space, 14, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel.
LOG ON TO insider.in
Cost Rs 400

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In what can be termed as an important discovery from Mumbai, a new jumping spider species has been discovered from Aarey Milk Colony once again highlighting the fact that the area has a rich biodiversity and the need of the hour is to protect the forested patch in the area. The species has been named after Senior IFS officer Sunil Limaye the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest APCCF; Wildlife who during his tenure as the Chief Conservator of Forest of SGNP had started the Mumbaikars for SGNP project.

Senior IFS Officer Sunil Limaye

The study was carried out by a team of arachnologists including Rajesh Sanap, Archaeologist Dr. John Caleb T.D and Biologist Anuradha Joagalekar. With the new discovery of jumping spider from Aarey, Wildlife Lovers and green activists have once again demanded that the Aarey Milk Colony forest needs to be protected from unplanned development and illegal encroachments that are eating into the green space of the one the most important green space of Mumbai.

According to Sanap who has discovered several species from Aarey, the jumping spider family (Salticidae) is the most diverse spider family, with their world fauna consisting of 6126 described species. These tiny creatures can be easily recognised by their lager anterior median eyes. They are diurnal hunters and possess brilliant vision and swift reflexes. In India, there are about 256 species of jumping spiders known till date. In fact, the total diversity of jumping spiders represented from India is greatly understated compared with that from other regions. For example, countries like Australia, Brazil, and China are represented by a diversity of more than 450 species each. There is, therefore, a great diversity in India still waiting to be uncovered, which needs to be discovered and conserved before it is lost forever.

Rajesh Sanap

"The new species belongs to the hisponine jumping spider genus Jerzego, which was established by Maddison in 2014. The genus currently comprises three described species in the world. Of these, only one species is known from the Indian subcontinent (India and Sri Lanka). Two other species are known from Southeast Asia from Sumatra and Borneo. All three species were described based either on immature females or both males and females, but no details of their natural history were reported. Jerzego sunillimaye is the first ever species of this genus whose taxonomic details, mating behavior and egg development have been documented. The observations are supported by excellent digital images of the spider in life," said Archaeologist Sanap.

Species: 'Jerzego sunillimaye'

The researcher, after carefully studying its feature form photographs and published papers and discussing with experts, arrived to a conclusion that this is the new species. :

"Initially, species identification was challenging since we had data on females only. So we planned another survey and found two males. After a comprehensive examination, we notice that the morphology of this species closely resembled that of a Southeast Asian species, J. corticicola, which was described from Borneo in 2014. Hence, we placed this species tentatively under the same genus. Jerzego sunillimaye can be easily distinguished from other known species by the larger body size (Females, 10.30 mm) and a different colour pattern on the abdomen. A transverse crescent-shaped golden–yellow stripe is present in the posterior half of the abdomen. The males (5.52 mm) can be readily distinguished by their unique genitalia (palps) with a flattened and twisted embolus. " added Sanap.

Archaeologist Dr. John Caleb T.D

"It should be noted that the new species Jerzego sunillimaye was found for the first time in 2016 during a survey in the unique, eco-sensitive, dry-deciduous habitat of Aarey Milk Colony in Mumbai. The research was carried out for almost 3 years to understand the natural history of this species. Within this period, we reported some interesting observations, which have never been documented before."

In this research, the researchers explored different habitats such as grasslands and rocky and forested patches to find out the habitat these tiny spiders preferred. These spiders were found in areas covered with a thick canopy, largely dominated by trees, such as Mangifera indica, Adenanthera sp., Acacia auriculiformis, and Anacardium occidentale. The forest floor was covered with dry leaf litter, and the habitat was shared by other jumping spiders such as Hasarius sp., Stenaelurillus sp., Langelurillus sp., and Langona sp. Several males and females of various life stages were observed throughout the years. Specifically, in monsoon, females were observed guarding their egg sacs, while males were observed wandering under the rocks. There were variations in vegetation cover in the landscape during summer and monsoon. In winter and summer, spiders were mostly found on the underside of rocks, in dry leaf litter, or sometimes under tree barks close to the ground; most sub-adults were ground dwelling. The sub-adults of the species appeared like ants. Interestingly, four to five sub-adults were observed in close proximity with small brown ants of the genus Crematogaster. Two to three adult females with egg sacs were observed under rock surfaces and were surrounded by small black ants of the genus Paratrechina. However, there is no evidence to suggest a mimetic relationship with these ants and further behavioral studies are warranted.

Anuradha Joglekar

Speaking to mid-day Biologist Anuradha Joglekar said, "Aarey Milk Colony has constantly been in the limelight for the discovery of several new species of spiders and scorpions. The vegetation structure is particularly undisturbed and is home to several interesting species. Aarey Milk Colony is also home to other enigmatic jumping spiders such as Langelurillus onyx and Langelurillus lacteus, both described in 2017. Piranthus decoruswas also recorded for the first time in 122 years from the same location. More studies pertaining to their complete biology, habits, and interactions with other species are yet to be carried out. Moreover, their conservation status has not been assessed yet because of lack of information on their population status, distribution, ecology, and biology."

Spiders are microhabitat specialists and are highly sensitive to minuscule changes in their immediate environment. Habitat loss due to anthropogenic activities (encroachment and degradation of forests) is the main concern. The recent discovery of several new species from this region adds to the pressing need for conservation of this particular region, which may harbor much more undiscovered life.

Jumping spider. Pic/Rajesh Sanap

About IFS Officer Sunil Limaye:

Senior IFS Officer Sunil Limaye was a former Director and Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) of Sanjay Gandhi National Park(SGNP) and has been involved in the conservation of urban biodiversity in Mumbai and the neighboring areas. He is also the same officer who started the Mumbaikars for SGNP project in SGNP along with Biologist and Leopard Expert Dr. Vidya Athreya. The MfSGNP project which has seen involvement and participation of various stakeholders like people staying on the periphery of the park, BMC officers/Police officers /Schools has been a successful model which is being replicated in other states including Uttarakhand /UP too. As a part of the project, awareness sessions among various stakeholders related to Human-Leopard interactions are being done on the periphery of the park and people are being taught the measures that they should take to prevent man-animal conflicts.

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Here's an awareness session that seems like the best fit for those of you who are spontaneous shoppers, ever-keen to go on sprees. Donate your old jeans to Dwij that has partnered with a co-working space in the city and see your discarded clothes turn into functional and spunky bags, mats and jewellery.

Founded a year ago with the sole aim of taking care of textile waste, they work with all kinds of fabric that's beyond use. "This workshop will focus on denim, because it's sturdy and discarded frequently when styles change, and not because of wear and tear," says Soumya Kalluri, founder of Dwij.

The products are made at the workshop in Bhandup

After the denim is washed, it will be taken to the workshop where it will be customised according to the 10 to 15 templates they have. Their trained team of six workers, including two women from MHADA colony in Kanjurmarg, bring the product together, instead of it being used to clean up industrial waste and then burnt or buried.

Soumya Kalluri

"There is so much textile waste, along with labour abuse. The fashion industry is glamorous, so people tend to look only at the pretty side, not what happens behind the scene. With this talk, we hope to spread awareness about how we are indirectly polluting the environment because until everyone around knows what the problem is, they can't be part of the solution. We want people to think about why they are buying a product the next time they step out to shop," explains Kalluri, a resident of Vikhroli. They will also be giving tips on how you
can make simple products using clothes you want to get rid of at home.

ON April 2, 11 am to 3 pm
AT 603 The Co-Working Space, 603 Makhija Arcade, 35th Road, Bandra West.
CALL 9920207026
LOG ON TO eventbrite.com
FREE

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A leopard entered a society in Marol, Andheri. He was caught after almost two hours.

There was a big crowd at Vijay Nagar near Marol Marushi. People were waiting with sticks in their hands.

CCTV footage of the leopard

In the CCTV footage, the wild animal was seen running around the premises of Woodland Apartment near Police camp.

The SGNP leopard rescue team and Thane team reached the spot immediately while Dr Shailesh Pethe, Deputy Conservator of Forest Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Range Forest Officer Santosh Kank were preparing the strategy.

Also read: Decomposed body of leopard found at Sanjay Gandhi National Park

The forest officers were able to nab the leopard after two hours. He was taken away in a van. The Powai team, MIDC police and fire brigade were also involved in the rescue operation.

In February this year, a leopard was spotted in the basement of Korum Mall in Thane.

Also read: Mumbai: Leopard numbers increase in Sanjay Gandhi National Park

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Bandra got its first outlet of The Wine Table in May last year. What does it offer? MRP Wine bar by glass & bottle and Wine education/training/food pairing with wines, etc. From imported - Ren, Beaujolais villages, Peppoli, Cono Sur, Torres, Salbach, Masi masianco, Robert Mondavi to domestic - Amaris reserve, Fratelli MS red, Fratelli Sangiovese, Moksh sauvignon blanc, M reserve, Raaya rose, the outlets offer all things wine.

Tignanello Italian, priced at Rs 20,000, is the most expensive buy. We walk in at 6 pm to douse our red craving, and a bite but the kitchen opens only at 7 pm. We order a Sileni pinot noir (Rs 630) and a Mokksh ren (Rs 396), a flagship brand of the store. The Sileni from New Zealand is light and perfumed and perfect for the rather early indulgence. The ren merlot is medium bodied, woody and deeper on the palate.

While our server gives us back stories of wines and vineyards, we’ll surely go back to try some whites next.

AT: Darvesh Royale Building, Perry Road, Pali Hill, Bandra West
CALL: +91 9167007667
TIMINGS: 10 am to 12.30 am
NOTE: The Wine Table didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for its meals

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Yami Gautam moved to Mumbai a few years ago to pursue her dream career to be an actor. She has achieved that dream of hers in a fast-paced city of Mumbai finding many successes to her credit. The year 2019 has begun on a high for the actress who's January release, Uri became a blockbuster success. The actress is soon going to be seen in various projects, announcements of which are soon to happen.

It's been said Mumbai is a city of dreams, also it is famously known it's a city that never sleeps. After having lived in suburbs of Mumbai these years, Yami Gautam took to the not so easy task to find herself her dream home in Mumbai. The URI actress has just moved into her new house from western suburbs to Bandra.

Yami Gautam hails from Chandigarh where she lived during her education and growing up years and originally was born in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh. Whenever she is not shooting she packs her bag to live with her family in Chandigarh and Himachal. But she always dreamt of a good spacious home of her choice in Mumbai. Due to her busy work schedule and constantly travelling across the world for work she was unable to find the home sooner. She will be now he spending time to design the interiors on her new cosy abode.

Speaking about it, the source said, "Yami was in a hunt for a new house for some time now. She was peculiarly looking for something specific. Having lived for a considerable time in western suburbs, she was looking at several options and finally narrowed down at a house in Bandra. She's just moved into the apartment and will be working to putting the house together for the next few weeks as per her likes. Her sister Surilie too would be moving in with her. The house suits the likes of Yami's sensibilities of a pretty but operational functional house and that's how she plans to do it up too."

Also read: Yami Gautam visits her hometown in Himachal

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If you are in the mood for some jokes or just want to take a break from mundane life, then this stand-up comedy act is for you. Featuring two boys and girls Shaad Shafi and Joel D'souza, and Sumaira Shaikh and Urooj Ashfaq respectively, the evening will see the four crack some of their favourite jokes and also try out new material.

ON April 27, 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm
AT The Habitat, 1st and 4th, Hotel Unicontinental, road number 3, Khar West
CALL 9833358490
LOG ON TO insider.in
Cost Rs 200

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It is easy to feel like a tourist in your own city. We know we feel that way when we reach Ranwar village on Bandra's Chapel Road — because we're wandering around staring at house numbers, until we finally find number 43. The space is called Cohostel — a hostel for backpackers that's around six months old.

The managers Ashu and Shekhar welcome us in, through a passage where doors on either side are named after Bandra's villages — Malla, Waroda, Ranwar, Boran, Pali, and others. "Our visitors are always curious when they observe the name plate, and ask us about Bandra's history. Some of the villages aren't even seen anymore but we thought it was important to at least put it out there," Ashu tells us. But there's a space beyond the standard dorm rooms, too. A rooftop area that plays host to comedy gigs by new collectives such as The Squibhouse Comedy that will host one called Knocktale Night tonight.

Managers Ashu (extreme left) and Shekhar (extreme right) interact with tourists

"Other venues tend to be more professional so they charge for the entry, equipment, etc. Our events are complimentary for the guests and for outsiders, we have a small cover fee for pizza and soft drinks. The comedians are also from small groups and we give an opportunity to anyone who wants to showcase their talents. It's an intimate setting," he says, while a backpacker from Iceland enters the room to check out.
Prashant Nihalani, who helms the hostel with his father and partner, tells us that the idea was to create a social space with cheap accommodation. "The rooftop setting is so fluid that when we host a movie screening, we just move the chairs by the kitchen to create a theatre setting. We wanted this to feel like home and not intimidate anyone as even travellers want to make friends." In addition to stand-up and screenings, the venue will continue to host storytelling and poetry performances.

The doors of each room are named after Bandra's villages — Malla, Pali and Boran among others. Pics/Atul Kamble

For comedians like Prasad Mathkar, who will perform tonight along with nine others, the hostel provides a diverse audience that you wouldn't get to meet at other mainstream venues. "It is fun to perform for an international audience. You have to try to get where they are from and tailor your set accordingly. This is the fourth time that I'm performing here and the audience has always been very receptive because they treat this like their own homes," he shares.

Prasad Mathkar

For Rs 800 a night, visitors get stay and breakfast, but they are free to order what they like or cook in the kitchen on the rooftop. Books and magazines are also stacked in a shelf and the managers, who have moved to the city from Varanasi, interact with guests as if they've known them for a long time — and that's perhaps what it means to be home away from home.

ON Tonight, 7.30 pm to 10 pm
AT Cohostel, 43, Chapel Road, Ranwar village, Bandra West.
CALL 9856564545
LOG ON TO www.eventshigh.com
Cost Rs 200

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Summers is here and its to get your summer body to flaunt it! Janhvi Kapoor was clicked at the gym in Bandra, Mumbai. Janhvi Kapoor opted for an all-grey gym outfit, and her latest gym look is doing rounds on the internet. 

Janhvi Kapoor/picture courtesy: Yogen Shah

Black and grey sports bra: Buy Enamor Padded Wirefree Medium Impact Sports Bra at the discounted price of Rs 389 only. Shop here.

Grey top: Zesteez Women Grey and Black Sports Tshirts Activewear at the discounted price of Rs 499 only. Shop here.

Grey yoga shorts: Get Avaatar Women's Cotton Yoga Shorts at the discounted price of Rs 250 only. Show here.

Filmmaker Boney Kapoor and late actress Sridevi's daughter Janhvi's debut film, Dhadak with Ishaan Khatter was appreciated by critics and audience alike. The film was a remake of a blockbuster Marathi film titled, Sairat. Janhvi Kapoor is currently shooting on the biopic of Indian Air Force combat pilot Gunjan Saxena. The film has been titled Kargil 83.

Apart from this, she will be seen in a double role in Dinesh Vijan's Rooh-Afza with Rajkummar Rao and Karan Johar's directorial, Takht. This film comprises an ensemble cast of Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bhumi Pednekar, Anil Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal.

Also Read: This gym look of Janhvi Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra is pocket-friendly

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Gauri Khan was spotted at Mumbai airport by the paparazzi, and once again, the interior designer has proved that she's got all the right fashion moves.

Gauri opted for a casual look - a black blazer, paired with a white top, basic blue denims, and thigh-high black boots for the outing. Doesn't she look gorgeous? If you're planning to upgrade your wardrobe with something similar, take a cue from Gauri to wear it in the best way possible and ace the airport look, or even a casual one, like a fashionista. 

Gauri Khan/picture courtesy: Yogen Shah

Black blazer: You can buy Ambrosial women single breasted formal blazer at the discounted price of Rs 649 only. Get Gauri Khan's airport look without burning a hole in your pocket. Shop here.

White top: Buy Acanthus Women's V Notch Front Scallop Trim Top at the discounted price of Rs 399 only. Shop here.

Blue denim: Raiter Super Skinny Jeans for Women and Girls Size will help you flaunt your legs! Get your pair at the discounted price of Rs 499 only. Shop here.

Black boots: Buy Kotak Sales Stylish Knee Length Boots at the discounted price of Rs 795 only. Shop here.

Tote bag: Get Kanvas Katha Women's Handbag at the discounted price of Rs 531 only. Shop here.

Also Read: Here's how you can get Malaika Arora's monochrome gym look right

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Shuffling Suitcases, a shopping festival that champions slow fashion, is back in Mumbai a second time, with its eighth edition scheduled for this weekend. Attend it to explore a collection of ethical and sustainable fashion. Also watch out for lifestyle brands that you won't find in malls and ones that aren't available in the city. And complete the experience with interesting drinks.

ON March 2 and 3, 12 pm
AT Pioneer Hall, Pioneer House, St John Baptist Road, Mount Mary Steps, Bandra West.
CALL 9820545480

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Coolpad 'Note 6'. Pic courtesy/Twitter

Chinese handset maker Coolpad launched 'Note 6', an offline exclusive product in India on Tuesday. Two of the most notable features of Note 6 are 5.5-inch HD display and 8MP+5MP dual front cameras. The company in a statement said that smartphone will be available from Tuesday in 32GB and 64GB internal storage variants with 4GB RAM for Rs 8,999 and Rs 9,999 respectively.

Note 6 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset, backed by 4,070 mAh battery and runs on Android 7.1 Nougat Operating System (OS). "Coolpad 'Note 6' will offer a great value for money smartphone for Indian customers," said Syed Tajuddin, CEO, Coolpad India.

"We are also planning to introduce more aggressive offline devices in the next few months to expand in the offline market through our retails partners and multi-brand outlets," Tajuddin added.

Coolpad "Note 6" will be available at over 300 multi-brand stores across eight states including Delhi-NCR, Telangana and Maharashtra.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

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San Francisco: Facebook-owned WhatsApp is rolling out its "Restrict Group" for all iOS, Android and Windows Phone users -- a feature that gives the group administrator powers to restrict other members from sending text messages, photographs, videos, GIFs, documents or voice messages in case the admin thinks so.

According to WABetaInfo, a popular fan site that tests new WhatsApp features early, you need to update your WhatsApp version to the 2.18.132 Android update in order to remotely receive the activation of the feature.

The "Restrict Group" feature, first spotted in last December, adds "Privacy settings" in the group.

"All participants can normally edit the group description, icon and subject, but finally the administrator can restrict this feature today, preventing no-administrators to modify the group description," the website said.

This action can be managed in the Admin Settings, a new option located in Group Info that's visible to the administrator only.

In Admin Settings, the administrator can restrict who can change the group info.

Administrators can keep sharing media and chatting as normal as they restrict other members.

Once restricted, other members will simply have to read their messages and will not be able to respond.

They will have to use the "Message Admin" button to post a message or share media to the group. The message will need to be approved by the administrator before going through to the rest of the group.

In October, reports said administrators on WhatsApp groups will soon be able to choose if other participants can modify the subject of the group, its icon and its description.

With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is available in more than 50 different languages around the world and in 10 Indian languages.

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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

Representational picture

San Francisco: Facebook has announced a new tool for website owners and developers that will alert them about phishing attacks on their platforms. "We are extending the capabilities of our 'Certificate Transparency Monitoring' tool to make it easier for developers to learn about new domains that are maliciously created to implement phishing attacks," security engineer David Huang and software engineers Bartosz Niemczura and Amy Xu said in a blog post late on Wednesday.

Phishing websites try to trick people into revealing their passwords, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information.

The tool, announced during the F8 annual developer conference in San Jose, alerts website owners of these scams so that they can take action to protect their domain and the people who use their websites.

"Certificate Transparency Logs" are designed to keep a record of all valid security certificates issued by publicly-trusted Certificate Authorities.

"We have been using these logs to monitor certificates issued for domains owned by Facebook and have created tools to help developers take advantage of the same approach," the post said.

Using these tools, developers can learn about certificates that are mis-issued for the domains they control.

"We are extending the capabilities of our tool to send alerts when certificates are issued for potential phishing domains," the post added.

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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

Popular image and video-sharing platform, Instagram, on Thursday, announced new ways to share content on 'Stories', connect with friends over videos, and discover new interests on 'Explore'. The platform also announced measures to protect Instagrammers from bullies.

Here are the changes:

Sharing to Stories

From a sticker of one's new favourite song on Spotify to action shots from GoPro, it's now easy to share what one is up to or how they are feeling by posting directly to Instagram Stories from other apps. More apps will be adding the sharing to Stories feature soon.

Just tap the share button in the Spotify or GoPro app and the content is pulled directly into the Instagram camera. From there one can edit and add to their story or send it via Direct. One does not need to connect their Instagram account to other apps in order to share to Stories.

Camera effects platform for Instagram

Face filters, text styles and stickers help turn casual moments into experiences one can't wait to share. Instagram is now unlocking the ability for third parties to design unique, interactive camera experiences for their followers.

That means that one can turn any video into an NBA dunkcam or add a cloud of hearts and Pomeranians to fluff up their photo.

Further, more fun creative effects from one's favourite accounts are coming soon, including Ariana Grande, Baby Ariel, Liza Koshy, Vogue, and Buzzfeed.

Video Chat

More than 100 million Instagrammers watch or share on Live every day. But the community sometimes also wants to experience real-time video in a smaller group.

In the coming weeks, Instagram will bring video chat to its platform and give friends a new way to spend time together - even when they aren't actually together.

To start a video chat, simply tap the new camera icon at the top of a Direct thread.

One can chat one-on-one or with a small group ¿ and they can keep the conversation going for as long as they like. Further, one can also minimise the video and continue the chat while doing other things on Instagram.

Video chat is testing now and will roll out globally soon.

The New Explore

People come to Explore every day to discover new ideas, people, and experiences. And now the redesigned Explore makes discovery even easier.

It will still be personalised, but the content will now be organised into topic channels so that one can browse across their interests and go deeper into any area they like.

The new Explore will be rolling out over the coming weeks.

Further, Instagram will filter bullying comments intended to harass or upset people on the platform.

In 2017, Instagram had announced an offensive comment filter, which would automatically hide toxic and divisive comments, particularly those aimed at at-risk groups.

This new filter hides comments containing attacks on a person's appearance or character, as well as threats to a person's well-being or health.

The bullying filter is on for the global community and can be disabled in the Comment Controls center in the app.

The new filter will also alert Instagram to repeated problems so that the company can take action.

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Instagram has introduced a feature that allows users to make payments. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing app will now allow users to add their credit or debit card with their profile and set up a security pin. They can make purchases within the photo-sharing service and make payments without having to leave the site, Cnet reported.

Payments is the next big thing for tech giants who are looking at retaining users in the form of customers by offering them a one-stop destination for all their needs, including social, photos, and now e-commerce. The new native payments feature is currently available through limited partners and businesses on Instagram.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from ANI)

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New Delhi: Fasten your seat-belts - and log on. You may soon be able to call people up, send office emails, check Facebook as well as watch instant videos while air-borne, according to a proposal approved by the Telecom Commission allowing air travellers in India to access in-flight mobile and internet services.

Passengers, used to being told by the crew to switch of all electronic devices, have been wondering how the system would work. PTI answers some frequently asked questions.

What is in-flight internet technology?
In-flight connectivity systems primarily use two kinds of technology. In the first, an onboard antenna picks up signals from the nearest tower on the ground. The connection will remain seamless up to a certain altitude unless the plane passes over an area without ground towers.

In the second scenario, satellites beam signals directly to antennas installed on the airline. This is more effective when the airline is passing over a water body compared with ATG (air-to-ground)-based networks which use satellites to beam the signal first to a transmitter on the ground and then to the antennas on the airline.

What happens next?
The data is transmitted to a personal electronic device such as a smartphone or a laptop through an onboard router, which is connected to the plane's antenna. The antenna transmits the signals, through satellites, to a ground station, which redirects the traffic to a billing server that calculates the data consumption.

In case the internet services through onboard WiFi are permitted to be used only in flight/airplane mode, the plane's antenna will link to terrestrial Internet services provided by telecom service providers. When the aircraft has climbed to 3,000 metres, normally five minutes after take-off, the antenna will switch to satellite-based services. This will ensure continuity in the Internet services to passengers and prevent cross-interference between terrestrial and satellite networks. The airlines may depend on the services of either foreign satellites or ISRO's indigenous GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation system (GAGAN) for the purpose.

GAGAN was jointly developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) with a view to assisting aircraft in accurate landing. The GAGAN signal is being broadcast through two Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites - GSAT8 and GSAT10.

What are the challenges?
For the technology to function, airlines and service providers will have to put a server on the flight along with the equipment to convert satellite signals into data packets. They will also have to add the equipment to re-orient the antenna to face the satellite so the reception quality is not affected.

Interruptions, when the airline moves from the range of one satellite to another, are bound to happen. In general, in-flight WiFi is expected to be slower than on the ground. However, latest technologies may change that scenario.

Will users have to pay more?
Airline passengers may have to bear the initial cost of installing antennae on aircraft. It would be easier for airlines to have the equipment installed on the new aircraft rather than taking planes out of service for retrofitting. The additional costs could find a way into ticket fares, unless the airlines, despite rising jet fuel prices, decide to bear the costs themselves.The high cost of installing equipment for full-service carriers could discourage low-cost carriers.  Foreign airlines that service Indian airports or use Indian airspace may offer in-flight connectivity much before domestic carriers do so because some of them are already providing such services globally.

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As data security concerns on Facebook and WhatsApp loom large, Twitter is reportedly working on a 'Secret' encrypted messages feature which could make the microblogging platform safer for sensitive communications.

With this feature, Twitter is expected to roll out options about encrypted messaging like starting a secret conversation and viewing both sides of the conversation for encryption keys to verify a secure connection, TechCrunch reported on Monday.

The encrypted Direct Message (DM) option was first spotted inside Twitter for APK that contains codes for unreleased features that companies are testing.

Instant messaging app WhatsApp uses "end-to-end encryption" in all conversations. This can be opted into Messenger.

End-to-end encrypted messages are secured with a lock and only the sender and recipient have the special key needed to unlock and read them.

For added protection, every message sent has its own unique lock and key. No one can intercept the communications.

Last week, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum quit reportedly "after clashing with its parent, Facebook, over the popular messaging service's strategy and Facebook's attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption".

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Washington: Twitter is reportedly testing a new feature on its Android app that makes messaging secure with end-to-end encryption.

Called 'Secret Conversation', the feature is expected to be available in the conversation info section in direct messaging of the Twitter app on Android, Mashable reports.

As users seek more security, end-to-end encryption has become a new mandate for messaging apps. The technology makes it difficult for snoopers to access or intercept messages which are exchanged between two parties.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for such a feature on the platform a year ago. It remains to be seen when the end-to-end encryption is officially rolled out.

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Popular instant messaging platform, WhatsApp, has rolled out a new feature that allows users to view content from Facebook and Instagram within the app. The update is expected to increase user engagement in the messaging platform.

The latest update has been rolled out for select iOs users. WhatsApp support will allow users to play Instagram and Facebook videos within the app, without exiting the chat. Presently, a user who receives videos or images from Facebook, Instagram or any such app would be redirected to these apps to view the content. However, this is set to change with the new update, reports The Verge.

The latest update also introduced the ability to add and revoke admin privileges from users in a group chat. It empowers admins to edit the subject, description, and icon of a chat that is already underway. In November 2017, WhatsApp rolled out an update through which one can view YouTube videos directly inside the messaging app, in picture-in-picture mode.

If a YouTube link has been sent on a conversation, then users can directly view the video through the link on WhatsApp itself, as it will no longer be re-directed to YouTube. Instead, the YouTube clip will appear within a small floating window on your screen, thus implying that you can watch YouTube videos and message at the same time.

On a related note, the update is also expected to be rolled out to Android users in the coming weeks.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from ANI)

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Popular photo and video sharing app, Instagram, rolled out an interesting "call-to-action buttons" for businesses on Wednesday. With the help of this feature, Instagram users can now book tickets, order food, make appointments and reservations from the app itself. 

With "Instagram Direct" and by adding these buttons to their profile, businesses would help customers connect with the third-party partners from the platform.

"Starting today, businesses will have a better way to manage their messages. Users will be able to see important new customer messages in the main 'Direct' inbox, instead of in the pending folder," the company said in a blog post.

"Users will also be able to star and filter conversations to come back to messages they would want to follow up on. Additionally, in the coming weeks we'll begin testing quick replies so that you can easily respond to common questions," the company said.

According to Instagram, over 200 million users visit a business profile every day and over 150 million people have conversations with businesses through Instagram's "Direct" every month. The Facebook-owned app plans to expand this list to cover partners across all countries aiming to help businesses have more opportunities to connect and communicate with their customers.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

Telecommunications service provider Ericsson on Thursday introduced a new category of radio products called Street Macro in India to enable a smooth evolution from 4G to 5G.

Street Macro is a new site type that addresses the need for operators to grow in cities with limited available radio locations.

The company also launched new radio products that support "Massive MIMO" technology to simplify use for wider 5G adoption.

"Operators today are looking at ways and means to increase network capacity, especially in urban areas. Ericsson's Street Macro adds a new layer in the network layer to boost capacity enabling service providers to cater to the growing demands of data users," Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India, told reporters here.

According to Ericsson's new economic study of enhanced mobile broadband, evolution to 5G will enable 10 times lower cost per gigabyte than current 4G networks.

To help operators capture growth opportunities presented by new 5G use cases, Ericsson has expanded its 5G Core System offering with new capabilities to support 5G New Radio (NR) standard and also enhanced its Distributed Cloud solution.

The announcement came on the sidelines of Ericsson's annual technology roadshow in India, where the company recreated a "Do Zone" to showcase the highlights from Mobile World Congress 2018.

To date Ericsson has signed 39 memorandums of understanding with service providers for trials, the company said.

In a bid to deliver transparency in technology and stay ahead of ethical pitfalls, Google has said that its Artificial Intelligence (AI) calling system "Duplex" would now identify itself while making appointments.

Following the launch of the "Duplex" system, which lets AI mimic a human voice to make appointments and book tables, among other functions, a widespread outcry over the ethical dilemmas were raised by tech critics.

Google clarified to The Verge that the experimental system would have a "disclosure built-in" that means that whenever Duplex gets involved in some type of verbal communication with a human at the other end, it would identify that the human is talking to an AI.

"We understand and value the discussion around Google Duplex, as we have said from the beginning, transparency in the technology is important," a Google spokesperson was quoted as saying.

"We are designing this feature with disclosure built-in, and we will make sure the system is appropriately identified. What we showed at I/O was an early technology demo, and we look forward to incorporating feedback as we develop this into a product," the spokesperson added.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai introduced Duplex earlier this week in the company's annual developer's conference Google I/O and demonstrated how the AI system could book an appointment at a salon and a table at a restaurant.

In the demo, the Google Assistant sounded like a human. It used Google DeepMind's new WaveNet audio-generation technique and other advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to replicate human speech patterns.

However, tech critics raised questions on the morality of the technology saying it was developed without proper oversight or regulation.

According to tech critic Zeynep Tufekci, the demo was "horrifying" and the initial positive audience reaction at I/O was evidence that "Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless and has not learned a thing".

Google had originally said in a blog post written by engineers Yaniv Leviathan and Yossi Matias that "it's important to us that users and businesses have a good experience with this service and transparency is a key part of that".

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After drawing criticism from users worldwide about its controversial redesign, audio-video sharing platform Snapchat has rolled out another app redesign for iOS users.

In the new design, snaps and chats are aligned chronologically and "Stories" from friends have been moved back to the right-hand side of the camera screen.

Snapchat has added a separate "Subscriptions" feature to keep "Stories" from popular creators and publishers in the loop while letting the other "Stories" be separated, The Verge reported late on Thursday.

"We are currently rolling out an update to address this by sorting communication by recency and moving 'Stories' from friends to the right side of the application, while maintaining the structural changes we have made around separating friends from creators and sorting friends' 'Stories' by relationships," Evan Spiegel, CEO, Snapchat had said earlier this month, in the company's first quarter earnings call.

Snapchat was testing a new design in April that would move the user's "friends' stories" alongside the "celebrity content" in the "Discover" section again to ensure that the user's feed would not be dominated by the "celebrity content".

There is no word yet on when the update would be available on Android.

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Microsoft Surface Pro 4

After receiving complaints regarding a screen flicker defect in some Surface Pro 4 devices, Microsoft has offered to replace the eligible devices free of charge.

The faulty devices qualified for replacement should be up to three years from the time of original purchase, Microsoft Support said in a blog post late Friday.

"We will ship you a replacement device as soon as you return your existing device. Typically, it will take 5-8 business days for you to receive an exchange device from the date that you ship your current device back to us," the post added.

Users that have already paid for a screen-replacement will get a refund.

In February, Microsoft had said that it was monitoring the situation.

The tech giant has clarified that the replaced devices will be refurbished.

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Baidu Facemoji Keyboard. Pic courtesy/YouTube

Chinese tech company Baidu, populary known as China's Google, on Monday said that its third party app "Facemoji Keyboard," has reached over 30 million downloads since its launch.

The keyboard, that is slowly gaining popularity in India, comes with emojis, GIFs, stickers and emoticons, and supports over 100 languages, out of which 22 are Indian dialects, Baidu said in a statement.

The "customisable" keyboard features voice-recognition for easy speech-to-text functionalities and themes designed for special occasions.

With "Facemoji Keyboard," Baidu expects to achieve a three times growth by the end of this year.

"Facemoji Keyboard" was first launched in Japan under the name "Simeji" in 2008.

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While digital technology often receives brickbats from the health-conscious, a 76-year-old man in Hong Kong now wants anyone with a heart problem to wear an Apple Watch after it helped him get a new lease of life by sending an alert about his elevated heart rate.

Gaston D'Aquino, a semi-retired diamond trader, was sitting in a church in April when he spotted an alarm on his timepiece telling him that his heart rate was too high, tech website Phone Arena reported on Sunday.

Although D'Aquino was feeling fine, he skipped Easter lunch with his family to go to the hospital.

That decision proved to be life-saving as a battery of tests performed on him later revealed that two of his three main coronary arteries were completely blocked, and the other was 90 per cent blocked, according to the report originally published by the South China Morning Post on Friday.

The doctors at the hospital lauded the Apple Watch for its accurate readings.

On the advice of the doctors, D'Aquino later had an angioplasty, in which tiny balloons are temporarily inserted into clogged arteries and inflated to open them.

He was sent home the following day. "It went well and I'm feeling much, much better," he told South China Morning Post.

D'Aquino, who is a self-professed Apple fan, then wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook informing him how the Apple Watch helped save his life.

In his email to Cook, D'Aquino recounted his story, noting that "this was the first time that my watch alert had ever gone off, but I was not feeling anything, no dizziness or pain" and "in short, I was a walking time bomb".

He told Cook how he got "a new lease on life" after the operation and also requested him to keep "promoting the use of the Apple Watch for anyone with cardiac problems".

Cook wrote back to D'Aquino saying how happy he was to learn about his story.

"Gaston, I'm so glad you sought medical attention and you're fine now. I appreciate you taking the time to share your story. It inspires us to keep pushing. Best, Tim," Cook was quoted as saying.

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Do you also start watching a video on YouTube and lose track of time following the recommended/autoplay list? Google wants to tell you that it is concerned over this habit of yours and has inserted a nifty new feature to its video service.

As part of its focus on digital well-being, Google has added a feature to YouTube called 'take a break' which notifies you when you have exceeded a specific amount of consecutive viewing time, The Verge reports.

The feature is optional, and just like how you might scold a little one for exceeding their television viewing time, the feature will show you a prompt when you lose track of time.

You can enable it through the Settings menu and selecting 'Remind me to take a break'. You can choose from options ranging from 15 minutes to 180 minutes.

Whether or not it really contributes to a healthy digital well-being is something we are yet to see, but it surely gives an easy way of timing the consumption of the addictive video service.

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New Delhi: Instant messaging platform WhatsApp announced the rollout of a number of new features for group chats, in a bid to make the platform more interactive and engaging. Among the new features is group descriptions, wherein a short blurb will appear under the group info tab that allows users to set the purpose, guidelines, or topics for the group.

Furthermore, when a new member joins a group, the description will show up at the top of the chat.

In a move to give group administrators more authority, WhatsApp introduced a new control that will allow the former to restrict who can change the group's subject, icon, and description. Admins can also remove admin permissions of other group participants, while group creators can no longer be removed from the group they started.

Among other features, WhatsApp also introduced a 'group catch up' option, whereby a user, who has been away from a group chat, can quickly catch up on messages that mention or reply to them by tapping on a new @ button that appears at the bottom right corner of the chat.

Group participants can now search for anyone in a group by using the search option on the group info page. WhatsApp also introduced protection controls so users can't be repeatedly added to groups they've left. The new features are being rolled out for Android and iPhone users globally.

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In India, gaming is considered as a hobby and was less than inclined towards gaming from the get- go. But the scenario is slowling changing. Looking at the growth of the industry over the years, we have finally come to a point where families have started being supportive of this career choice. Rather than opting for a 9-to-5 job, more and more gamers have started taking their careers seriously and are transitioning into professional esports athletes and streamers.

So what is gaming? Gaming is a form of entertainment which is consumed via interaction, participation and viewership. It encompasses PC gaming, mobile gaming and console gaming and is multi-billion dollar industry globally. This industry comprises of gamers who can be a casual or an enthusiast, an amateur or a professional, a player or a viewer. Gaming can be as simple as picking up your mobile and launching some birds at hostile pigs in a castle, or as complex as dedicating years to learning and mastering a game and competing against other similarly dedicated players globally with millions of dollars at stake.

The term 'esports' seem new but the concept isn't. Esports is the part of gaming that’s competitive, where various genres of games are played competitively against other players, on different platforms. From fighting against your friend at the local arcade with a barrage of virtual punches and kicks to being seated together and connected to 100s of other gamers and being the last person alive in a perilous deserted island. Esports is as old as gaming is. The only difference we see nowadays, is the higher stakes and the dedication gamers put in to reach the top. With prize pools running in the millions and a loyal audience who travel halfway across the globe to watch their teams play, esports has become a global phenomenon with major brands investing heavily in the industry and corporations building stadiums larger than conventional sports stadiums.

Professional athletes train their body and mind, regularly to stay at the best of conditions and are supported with the state-of-the-art facilities and a salary for playing their game. Another term people might be unfamiliar with is "video game live streaming”. Streaming is a form of online video broadcast on specialised platforms where you play games and entertain your viewers. A viewer might be engrossed by your playstyle or your witty humour. There can be thousands of players watching you at a point of time and cheering for you. Streaming has become a full-time job for a lot of people with them earning a comfortable six-figure income monthly by just regularly entertaining their viewers. Brands sponsor these streamers to advertise and endorse their products on their stream.

The global gaming industry is still growing at a rapid pace with a valuation of $108.9 billion and a YoY growth of 7.8% in 2017. The Asia Pacific region contributes to 47% of this with India ranked 17 th globally valued at $818 million with an 11.14% CAGR. Gaming in India is still nascent with a lot of scope for growth and recognition. Esports plays a huge part in gaming with $696 million market and whopping 385.5 million viewers watching their favourite teams and players fight for glory. That’s thrice as many subscribers Netflix has.

So how far has India come? India is slowly catching up with the rest of the world. We have 253.2 million gamers in India with 81% of them in the age group of 16 – 30. We have professional teams in India who compete globally against other teams. We have people who have taken up streaming as their jobs. Rather than pursuing a regular career like your average John and Jane, we have emerging brave souls who want to stand out and make their dreams come true. And the space is filled with brands who want to work hand in hand with these people, empowering and enabling such a career into reality.

Insight of target audience by COBX games

Gaming in India has been given a boost in the recent years with the advent of 4G and FTTH. Prices have grown more competitive which has helped not only companies but also gamers across India. We have seen a spike in mobile gaming with 4G being introduced in India and will play a major role in the industry. FTTH, which is already being deployed in tier-1 cities, provides high-speed internet connection over optical fibre directly to your home from the ISP which has increased the quality of service. In tier-2 cities, gaming cafés and colleges act as hotspots for gamers and most tournaments are hosted in these colleges, due to the presence of stable infrastructure which, in turn, promotes the growth of gaming.

Esports is on the rise in India with multiple tournaments being announced with unprecedented prize pools. Esports is dynamically changing the industry with numerous brands joining in and helping the space flourish. Monthly tournaments provide a scope for professional gamers to sustain a living and also provides growth to multiple domains attached to esports like cosplayers, shoutcasters, and analysts and so on. From small tournaments in cafés and college labs to huge events filled with gamers, esports has come a long way in India. 2018 saw numerous companies invest heavily in esports by announcing multiple tournaments with prize pools of over Rs 1 crore.

Mujahid Rupani, Co-founder & C.E.O of COBX Gaming says, "We are also expecting an increase in VR and AR gaming in India. VR gears are being readily accessible to people and families are opting in for the virtual reality experience. Mobile phones are growing powerful every day and proving to be effective AR devices. New games are being launched every day which take advantage of augmented reality and taking use experience to a whole new level. Mobile gaming is also on the rise in India due to the ease of entry and affordable and stable internet connection. With the amount of time people invest on mobiles, a lot of developers are shifting their focus to mobile games and catering to a big chunk of gamers who prefer mobiles over expensive PCs and consoles as their gaming gear. With the number of game development studies in our country, the next big title might be from India."

With the ecosystem growing and evolving every year, the future for gaming in India is bright. Gaming in India is an incipient industry and has a long way to go. We hope to see more professional players, more streamers and more parents supporting their kid’s dream. There was a time when you would idolise a sportsperson, the day is here when kids idolise their favourite professional gamer or streamer. We have a generation of parents who are gamers too and encourage their kids and help them balance gaming along with other life priorities. We hope to see more companies and brands invest their time and resource in the gaming industry and maybe one day, a kid who wants to grow up and be a professional gamer.

Also Read: Hrithik Roshan: Gaming In India Gaining Exponential Popularity

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Facebook has rolled out new updates in its Stories feature that are available for the users in India first and will reach the global users later.

One such update is "Voice Posts" that will let users share their thoughts via audio to their friends and families.

"Voice posts lets you share in the moment without having to share a photo or video. This could also help people who can't necessarily write in the language they want to share in," Connor Hayes, Director of Product Management, Facebook Stories, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.

People will now be able to save the photos and videos they capture through the Facebook camera, where only they can see them when they log into their Facebook account.

"This allows people to save the photos and videos they capture without taking up space on their phone," the post read.

It can also be used to save photos you might want to share later, so you don't have to edit or post them while you're out with your friends and instead enjoy the moment and share them later.

"In the coming weeks we're rolling out an archive for people to save the stories most important to them. After a photo disappears from your story, you can find it in your story archive - a place only you can see. You can always choose to not save them," said the post.

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Keeping up with the promise made at its I/O Developer Conference last week, Google has now officially rolled out its "Google News" for iOS, the media reported.

The new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered app is designed with machine-learning technology to make news finding, analysing and fact-checking, crisp and to-the-point, Engadget reported on Wednesday.

"Google News" comes with three options, "For You, "Full Coverage" and "Newsstand," to help users find news of relevance based on their reading habits, let them have an in-depth read of a topic and give access to users to subscribe to a publication and view its content.

Additionally, the app comes with a "favorites section" for users to star topics across entertainment, news and academia and save stories for pocket-style reading later.

The newly launched "Google News" has replaced the previous "Google Play Newsstand" launched on iOS in 2014 as a news and magazine subscription hub.

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Surgeons are developing a new smartphone-based tool that can detect urethral or urine blockage, potentially making it easier for patients to test themselves for the condition from the comfort of their own homes.

The novel technique could take high-speed photography which could capture subtle differences between a normal steady stream of liquid and a stream of liquid with an obstruction.

Urethral strictures are a slowing or blocking of the natural flow of urine due to an injury or infection. It is normally diagnosed by uroflowmetry, a test administered at a physician's office.

"The problem is that patient follow-up after we treat this condition is very poor," said Matthew Gretzer, Associate Professor at the University of Arizona in the US.

"But we need patients to come back to our clinic for a uroflow test to determine if the obstruction is still present," he added.

In order to test Gretzer's hypothesis on high-speed photography, the team created a model of a urethral structure using tubing hooked to a saline bag that could drain through.

Saline fluid was passed through the tubing with and without blockages, created using 3D printed strictures,placed within the tubing. High-speed photography captured both the regular and blocked stream of liquid exiting the tube.

Gretzer contended that photos can be a medium to diagnose blockages and he hopes that patients could send him these images to analyse and make the diagnosis. He plans to create a mobile app which can be downloaded by the patients.

"All patients would need to do is take high-speed images of their urine flow using a strobe light," Gretzer said.

"Strobe light apps are readily available right now for people to use on their phones".

According to the researchers, as fluid exits an opening, a natural breakpoint occurs where the liquid stream forms droplets, but with obstructions in place, it changes.

The results showed that by analysing photos, they could measure the length to this point of droplet formation. This length then directly related to the presence of an obstruction in the tube.

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Shrikant Karani takes an early morning walk on the Siri Road steps with his dog Mischief. Pics/Sayed Sameer Abedi

The peace is palpable, the serenity a shock to the system. I'm on Siri Road, the misty-twisty path languidly climbing from Chowpatty to Kamala Nehru Park. Obscure and often missed in a blink by those not knowing it, this thin lane links Walkeshwar to Ridge Road. Every runner's dream, every walker's mini Mahableshwar in Mumbai, the country road you can drive on only till a point is summer-pretty. Heavy with fresh yellow and red flowers, its glowing greens slope up and up to an idyllic city panorama.

This is among the last havens of virgin verdure, affording spectacular sky and sea views at various heights Malabar Hill has hewn since the time it was fully forested. "Around 1534, Siri Road led from Gamdevi village up jungle-covered slopes of Malabar Hill through babul plantations to the banyan-girt temple of Walkeshwar," writes Pheroza Godrej in Bombay to Mumbai: Changing Perspectives. "The stream of worshippers from the west coast followed this path up the hill and, as it was narrow, called it 'Siri' or 'Ladder'."

Nonagenarian Nirmala Kotak in the living room of her home at the Dadyseth bungalow, where she has lived for 70 years since her marriage in 1948

I track down Rajkumar Loyalka, after whose father the road is renamed Chiranjilal Loyalka Marg. "My grandfather Ramchandra from Pilani belonged to the East India Cotton Association. His son, my father Chiranjilal, was a stockbroker and freedom fighter," he says.

Siri Road made news three years back when civic authorities wanted to widen and extend its 300 motorable metres by another 300, for traffic to reach Hanging Gardens via Ridge Road. That environmental disaster was averted by vigilant residents mounting a sharp campaign, my friend Kekoo Colah who walks here daily tells me. They painted "Mala kapu naka – Don't axe me" and "Save us from BMC" on the barks of beloved trees. Tipped at both ends by rowed barbers, bus conductors, paanwalas and ragpickers, Siri Road slumbers amid a jumble of shuttered coal and ration shops turned garages and go-downs. But there's trouble in paradise. Sudden bends and secluded niches swerve into kuchcha mud off-paths, whose messily overgrown carpets of dry leaves and dirt piles are hideouts for hardened bootleggers and junkies.

Named for the shape of its fruit

Near enough, city Zoroastrians got the first open-to-sky dakhma, or Tower of Silence, to dispose their dead in 1672. On the sylvan acres of Doongerwadi, prayers for the deceased are liltingly recited in roofed halls called bunglis. The Dadyseth family built one such in the area. The bungli's barest remnants are skirted by Hibiscus bushes with red blooms brighter than the ancient maroon wall ruins they cling to. Banker Dady Nasarwanji amassed vast land tracts in trust to maintain Dadyseth Agiary at Kalbadevi. He acquired the Chowpatty Band Stand property around 1783 from a Portuguese named Barretto.

Nonagenarian Nirmala Kotak has lived from 1948 in the whispering shadows cast by atmospheric Dadyseth bungalow, which is well over a century old. With daughter-in-law Durrat, she pieces memories of 70 years after her marriage. "Our family planted kesar kairi trees in the compound when my three sons were young," she recollects. "We wake to the shrieking of koels and parrots eating mangoes. Peacocks still fly in to drink water from a dripping tap and cobras coil on tree trunks in the heat."

The Stocking Tree grows uniquely on Siri Road alone in Mumbai. Pic courtesy: Shubhada Nikharge

I discover an interesting former Siri Road tenant thanks to Vinayak Talwar of Khaki Tours nudging me to check Volume III of The Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island. The Duke of Wellington indeed lived here when he was Colonel Arthur Wellesley, in a house Seth Cursetjee Manockjee — of the Khada Parsi statue fame — owned, between road and sea at the curve of the bay. (The landlord became such a great friend that his son Manockjee devotedly retained a hair of the Duke in his locket!). The student Eton described as "not at all a book boy and rather dull" went on to vanquish Napoleon at Waterloo and lead England as Prime Minister twice over, in 1828 and again in 1834.

His Bombay home in 1801-02, was "on your right opposite the wood-wharf as you ascend steep Siri road... The house, Surrey Cottage, stood halfway up the now non-existent eastern brow of Malabar Hill. It comprised a lofty hall, with long verandahs at the sides. In front was a porch, to which led two carriage-ways from different directions. One passed the horse stable near the Siri. The hall commanded a view of Back Bay and Girgaum, also the Esplanade and Fort. The Duke, with his eagle eye, must have scanned a glorious scene from Malabar Hill minus steamers and mills."

A second generation hornbill hops to the Karani family kitchen window to be fed - at one time two older birds would show up with a pair of their babies, of whom this is one. Pic courtesy: Utpal Tijoriwala

Wellesley had company round the corner in George Bellasis at Randall Lodge. The soldier and amateur artist was the son of Major General John Bellasis, whose 1790s orders constructed Nagpada's kilometre-long Bellasis Road, to relieve the poor displaced from famine-struck Surat. George met his neighbour when the future Duke of Wellington was recouping from an attack of ringworm, more colourfully referred to as the Malabar Itch. While the infection stopped him sail for an Egypt expedition, that ill-fated ship sank in the Gulf of Aden.

George Bellasis admiringly dedicated his 1815 book, Views of St Helena, to His Grace Field-Marshall the Duke of Wellington who exiled the French emperor to that island. A watercolour of Randall Lodge paints a two-storey structure with a rectangular lawn edged by cypresses.

What other breeze-kissed trees rustle secrets along this sequestered stretch? Colonial chronicles mention sandalwood, mistletoe, star apple, ivy fig and Christmas trees, with rose bushes, celery and cabbage patches around Surrey Cottage. Usha Desai and Renee Vyas, of Tree Appreciation Walks, detail a wealth of local flora: banyan, frangipani, asopalav, sitaphal, parijat, coconut, mango, jungli badam, putranjiva, jackfruit and aritha.

Flowering in the rain and fruiting in winter, the Stocking Tree is unique to Siri Road, according to Sharadini Dahanukar's book, Green Solace. "We haven't seen it elsewhere in the city," says Desai. "When we saw this one December, its stocking-shaped fruits had fallen. From a seed sprouted in the stocking, Renee grew a sapling on her farm." The originally South American tree leans against a chawl wall here.

"Trees like neem, peepul and kamrak were believed holy for harbouring the souls of rishis like Valmiki," says Rajesh Joshi, introduced to me by Ridge Road resident Jaidev Mehta who has walked the length of Siri Road thrice a day for 60 years. Rajesh's grandfather Hansraj Sawairam, from Sirohi in Rajasthan, heralded a line of four generations of Joshis tending the "swayambhu" — Sanskrit for "self-manifested" — Hanuman temple. It is supposed to have spontaneously risen on soil imprinted sacred by Ram, Sita and Lakshman in the Banganga vicinity. "Ram chose this quiet spot to meditate because of its solitude," Joshi says.

This is temple turf, proffering a trio of 150-year-old examples. Of these, two survive — Hanuman and Shiva mandir, nestled close-necked towards the top of the road. Descending nearer Walkeshwar, devotees thronged, too, to the Ram mandir from the 1880s, till at least a hundred years after. Motor sports entrepreneur Shrikant Karani and his wife Feruza recollect its beautiful idols left abandoned. We tiptoe through filthy, forgotten tracks in thickets below their building, Chitrakut, which faces the Ram temple site (Sita awaited Ram's return from Lanka in Chitrakut). Birdsong spikes the soporific afternoon air. Shrikant remembers dozens of Parsi Dairy bhaiyyas form inky blue clusters in trademark uniform shirts, Siri Road being their shortcut for deliveries from Walkeshwar to Ridge Road.

A tilt across, where Loyalka Estate later rose, was the home of the seven talented Pooviah sisters from Coorg. Their portico, sunken eight or nine feet beneath road height, was designed as an oasis of cool, not letting warm winds waft within on the hottest day. The three youngest sisters, Sita, Chitra and Lata, were renowned Kathak exponents. Sita also worked at Handloom House in the 1960s with Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.

Their contemporary, Shirin Vajifdar narrates how she and her classical dancer sisters Khurshid and Roshan bonded with the Pooviahs. In a journal her family shares, Shirin has written: "We started weekly lessons at the Pooviah sisters' house. The three charming sisters were the greatest devotees of Kathak dance, the most promising pupils of Jaipur gharana maestro Sunder Prasad. They gave all help to learn at their residence."

The Pooviahs possessed the sole telephone on the road. "They would offer me biscuits when I went across as a boy to make calls," says Shrikant Karani. "I played Chor Police with kids of maalis who clipped the Hanging Gardens' hedges. We knocked dangling drumsticks with catapults, and shook pink and white champas to string garlands from fallen petals."

Old-timers mention a stone Vishnu once reclined under a gulmohur grove in the wilderness (Anantashayana — literally, "sleeping on the serpent Ananta"). Wondering where the divine Preserver must have basked benignly in the crisp sunshine, I pass Gagangiri Maharaj Ashram. A hum of discourses and yoga sessions mesh mellifluous with birds rapping tender-to-throaty tango tunes. Which could these be from Siri Road's trio of feathered regulars — oriole, barbet or hornbill — I try to guess, twigs snap-snapping underfoot every minute.

"We have a hill station in our backyard," declares filmmaker Vivek Kumar, treading this path as part of his exercise workout. "A little landscaping might even make this Bombay's answer to Crookedest Street of San Francisco."

Author-publisher Meher Marfatia writes monthly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay. You can reach her at mehermarfatia@gmail.com

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