<h2>A new desert storm</h2>
<p>Mirroring the backdrop of swirling dust against which Sachin Tendulkar crafted his iconic innings in Sharjah on April 22, 1998, youngsters play cricket at Shivaji Park in Dadar</p>
<h2>Dilli daawat with RaGa</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/apr/Rahul-Kunal-2_e.jpg" alt="Rahul Gandhi and Kunal Vijayakar at dinner" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>(Right) Rahul Gandhi and Kunal Vijayakar at dinner</em></strong></p>
<p>A politician and a drink for love? A wish in these inexplicable times. But that is precisely what happened when Rahul Gandhi met Kunal Vijayakar for a taste of Delhi&rsquo;s street food. The Mumbai-based food chronicler had a chance to test the literal appetite of the politician for an upcoming episode of his video show. The conversation was all about food, Vijayakar revealed, adding, &ldquo;He spoke about his mother and sister&rsquo;s cooking. He also shared how he cooks for himself.&rdquo; But the most surprising part for the host was the politician&rsquo;s appetite.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/apr/Rahul-Kunal-sharbat_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Having mohabbat ka sharbat. Pics Courtesy/Instagram</em></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I was quite surprised that he was such a good eater, especially since he is into fitness. But that is a good thing since I always get along with people who eat well,&rdquo; he shared. So what was on the menu? &ldquo;Oh, everything from chhole bhature to kebabs! The idea was to cover Delhi street food. It happened to be the Eid weekend, so we savoured the delights from Bengali Bazaar and down to Jama Masjid where we tasted the mohabbat ka sharbat,&rdquo; said Vijayakar. Dinner wrapped up at Al Jawahar restaurant, once inaugurated by Gandhi&rsquo;s great-grandfather, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.</p>
<h2>The Maharajah&rsquo;s treasures</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/apr/Salvador-Dali-Ash-a_e.jpg" alt="The ashtray by Salvador Dali. Pic Courtesy/NGMA" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>The ashtray by Salvador Dali. Pic Courtesy/NGMA</em></strong></p>
<p>The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Mumbai will open its doors to an exhibit that is a literal king&rsquo;s treasure on April 27. Select works from the Air India collection will be on display at the first exhibit until July 2. &ldquo;Air India played a pivotal role in supporting artists by commissioning, purchases and at times, bartering air tickets in lieu of art works,&rdquo; said Nazneen Banu, director, NGMA. Banu added that the range of the works extends from Mughal miniatures to Pichwai folk art and the modern masters like MF Husain, VS Gaitonde and others. The highlight among them is an iconic ash tray designed by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, in lieu of a literal elephant. The Maharajah would approve.</p>
<h2>Cooking up the sci-fi</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/apr/Arati-Kadav-a_e.jpg" alt="Tim Cook (left) interacts with filmmaker Arati Kadav (right). Pic courtesy/Instagram" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Tim Cook (left) interacts with filmmaker Arati Kadav (right). Pic courtesy/Instagram</em></strong></p>
<p>Apple CEO Tim Cook&rsquo;s recent trip to Mumbai was eventful, to say the least. While many people cooked up (pardon the pun!) excuses to seek an audience with the billionaire, Mumbai filmmaker Arati Kadav had a special reason to do so. The filmmaker managed to sit down with Cook and show him the process of her short film, The Astronaut And His Parrot &mdash; that was shot entirely on iPhone and edited on a MacBook Pro. &ldquo;He was surprised and delighted. There is one shot in the feature that could only work because of the way we used the iPhone. I was surprised that he noticed it,&rdquo; shared Kadav. The film, a poignant short that captures the last moments of an astronaut&rsquo;s life, was also emotionally moving for Cook, she said. In a way, the Apple CEO was the right audience for a test screening. The director shared, &ldquo;He is a sci-fi fan and was curious about our take on the genre. He spoke about wanting to learn more about sci-fi from the East. That was nice to know,&rdquo; she told this diarist.</p>
<h2>Backing rainbow enterprises</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/apr/The-Trans-Cafe_e.jpg" alt="The team at The Trans Cafe.  Pic Courtesy/Instagram" /><strong><em>The team at The Trans Cafe. &nbsp;Pic Courtesy/Instagram</em></strong></p>
<p>In difficult times, the LGBTQiA+ community needs more allies in every field. The Samavesh Chamber of Commerce is working towards helping entrepreneurs from the community establish stable businesses with logistical and financial advice. Their recent incubation programme saw the team work with The Trans Cafe in Andheri West for a session.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/apr/Kanishka-Chaudhry_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>Co-founder Kanishka Chaudhary told this diarist, &ldquo;From registering a business, finding funding, operational support, the programme offers an end-to-end learning for entrepreneurs. The Trans Cafe is among 40 such enterprises across India in the programme. We need more such businesses out there, and more allies to support them.&rdquo;</p>

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