Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Mumbai’s Eternal Sheriff

Civic minded and socially committed to a plethora of good causes, Chudasama embodied a face of Mumbai that was primarily old school.

There are some Mumbaiites whose lives are inextricably linked with the city’s cherished institutions. Nana Chudasama, who passed away yesterday after a brief illness, is one such. There have been at least a hundred sheriffs who have served the city, including such high-profile ones as Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Sunil Gavaskar; but it is Chudasama — who held the apolitical titular position of authority in 1989-1990 who since then has inhabited the public‘s imagination as ‘The Sheriff.’ And that’s because the son of a powerful Police Commissioner with his bristly moustache and stylish cigars, and his outspoken and often controversial banner comments on current affairs on Marine Drive, was as feisty and straight-talking as the legendary sheriffs of the Wild West in popular culture. Civic minded and socially committed to a plethora of good causes, Chudasama embodied a face of Mumbai that was primarily old school. His sparkling soirees at his cozy Shanti Cottage on the lip of the Arabian Sea at Napean Sea Road presided over by artistic wife Munirra, had featured the city’s best and brightest — its intelligentsia and business and art communities for decades and were as intrinsic a facet of his personality as his many social initiatives such as ‘I Love Mumbai’ and Giants international, that reflected his deep engagement and love for Mumbai. And, as if this were not enough, his pithy one-liners afforded Mumbai‘s movers and shakers their morning chuckle on their commute to town, carving for him a unique place in the city’s psyche.

Nana Chudasama with his daughter Shaina NC (HT File)

We had heard about Nana and his dynamism almost since our own childhood as he’d been a friend of our parents; later in our twenties, we’d had an opportunity to witness it first hand, when as part of barrister and BRCC chief Rajni Patel‘s inner circle, we‘d spent many pleasant evenings with other members of that circle like the Chudasamas, the late Vipula and IM Kadri, MF Hussain, Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar. Nana’s wit and his warmth had made him stand out even then. When we had visited him a few months ago, on the invitation of his doting daughter, the BJP spokesperson Shaina NC, who has inherited his commitment to public engagement, incapacitated and in considerable pain though he was, we were happy to see that he had not lost his fighting spirit; his handshake had been strong and the fire had not left his eye. It had occurred to us that Mumbai’s feisty sheriff was not going to give in to the battle that easily or soon. Which is why yesterday, as we left the Banganga crematorium after bidding him goodbye in the presence of members of his family and a phalanx of his friends and admirers, we realised that Mumbai’s favourite and eternal sheriff, had won his battle in the end: his spirit could now ride out triumphantly across the sky unfettered and adventurous. Goodbye sheriff, may you clean and green and carry out your many worthy initiatives up there now. As for your iconic banner, for once, words will not be enough…

TRUE LIES

So, now that the age of the mega celeb wedding is upon us and we have witnessed some of the biggest and fattest of them in the past year, we might as well evaluate some of the more interesting traits of star behaviour. For instance, how do stars respond to queuing up like ordinary mortals to greet the wedded couple when the occasion demands? A recent wedding where a winding and slow moving queue had assembled was witness to an award-winning and holier than thou actress, happily jumping the queue, regardless of the mutterings of those who’d been waiting in it for hours for their turn. This, when the likes of Lara Dutta, Mahesh Bhupathi, Jacqueline Fernandes, Anil Kapoor and Suniel Shetty have been known to gracefully wait their turn. What’s more, this was not the first time this odious behaviour had been observed of the actress. “She’s a habitual queue jumper” a member of the queue was overheard saying. “I saw her doing this at a security check at the airport too…”

Oh dear.

Overheard:

Number of flops this year:

Salman Khan: 1

Aamir Khan: 1

Shah Rukh Khan: 1

Taimur Ali Khan: 0

-Who’s the real Khan now?

Meme going around currently

Vada Pao loving Chef

Chang with Aziz Ansari

As is known, celebrity chef David Chang was in Mumbai last week to shoot for the second season of his popular Netflix TV show ‘Ugly Delicious’. Chang, who runs the popular chain of Asian influenced restaurants under his company Momofuku in America, was accompanied by Indian-American actor and comedian Aziz Ansari, who is said to have been his guide while discovering India’s culinary rich cuisine. The duo shot in two of Mumbai’s oldest culinary institutions, Shree Thaker Bhojanalay in Chowpatty and Swati Snacks in Tardeo, where Chang is said to have been fascinated with the restaurants’ rendition of vada pav. “I’ve fallen in love with vada pav...I can’t stop eating these, they seem to be on every corner and each spot makes them different. Even the bad ones are great. So much to learn about India,” shared the chef on social media, before leaving for Kochi, where shoot continued.

Chang with Floyd Cardoz

But, besides hitting the streets, chef Chang did manage to make time to meet up with his more celebrated culinary peers in Mumbai, like New York-based chef Floyd Cardoz to sample the food at both of Cardoz’s Mumbai establishments, The Bombay Canteen and O Pedro. “Can’t wait to have you back for a vada pao and more street food,” shared Cardoz along with this photo. Will vada pao show up on one of Chang’s restaurant menus in New York?