13 April,2025 07:25 AM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
Pic/Satej Shinde
Salt pan workers at Jai Ambe Nagar, Bhayandar West.
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Last week, the Museum of Solutions hosted an insightful panel discussion titled Real World and Experiential Learning - The Evolving Role of Educators in a Dynamic Learning Environment as part of the ImaginED Educators' Summit 2025.
We attended this session that examined the importance of integrating real-world challenges into curricula and the growing relevance of experiential learning in preparing students for a rapidly evolving world.
Moderated by Sudarshan Rodriguez, CEO of RTLWorks, the panel featured prominent voices in education, including Dr Swati Popat, President, ECA; Howard Gee, Principal, DSB, PriyaAnand, Principal, Mount Litera; education consultant Mona Seervai, Todd Bazley, Principal, JBCN International, and Ujjwal Anu Chowdhury, Director General of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Mumbai.
The summit highlighted the need to move beyond traditional teaching models, advocating for hands-on, real-world learning that builds curiosity, creativity, and resilience.
Let us begin with an alliteration that we will try to stretch as much as possible. Match. Madrid. Mumbai. Memories. Malido. All that came together a week ago, when footballers Real Madrid Legends took on Barcelona Legends at Navi Mumbai in a match that sent football fans into a frenzy. While in the city, far, far away from Navi Mumbai, Real Madrid players visited Malido Café at Kala Ghoda for coffee, and afforded the Kodak moment of their life to the staff and owners, mother-son duo Kermeen and Neville Bose. Malido is born out of their love for the Parsi food they grew up eating at home, and Kermeen said, "Next time, maybe a Parsi meal instead of only coffee." Real Madrid - jamva chaalo ji!
Nearly eight months after we wrote about a documentary on legendary Parsi cricketers, this diarist was glad to hear back from the filmmaker, Shrikaran Beecharaju, with some good news. The film, Four on Eleven: The Fading Glory of Parsi Cricket, has been picked up by Book My Show's streaming service and will be available to watch from April 18!
"When Sunday mid-day published the article [August 25 report, titled When will a Parsi play cricket for India again?], I started getting calls from interested institutes the same day⦠It's surreal; our work is finally being showcased to Indian audiences after being screened at festivals around the world," he says.
The film covers the little known contribution of the community, which once put India on the cricketing map, but is now disappearing from the field as fewer youngsters step up to the crease. "When I started this project, we couldn't find a single article about the subject. Now Google has two pages of information on Parsi cricket - that's the difference we created," he says, "I hope seeing players like Arzan Nagwaswalla and legends such as Diana Edulji, Nari Contractor and Farokh Engineer inspires the next generation of Parsi players."
Remember the red chair that went viral after Rihanna sat on it in December 2024? Mumbai was buzzing too, because the chair was sculpted by the city's own Sudheer Rajbhar. This diarist jumped at the chance to try out the Dalit designer's other chairs at Juhu's Soho House recently. The verdict? Comfy and avant garde! Rihanna's photo op catapulted Rajbhar's Chamar Studio to international fame, giving him and his fellow Dalit craftsmen a seat at the table in the elite art world. He hopes this gives wings to his dream to "set up a contemporary crafts school, to bring visibility to the Chamar community, which has been doing this for generations but never got recognition".
In the wee hours of Friday, South Africa's all-time great fast bowler Dale Steyn, 41, decided to express his anguish at non-performers in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The incisive pundit said on X (formerly known as Twitter): "There's some guys that really shouldn't be at this league."
Users wondered who Steyn was talking about and some urged him to name the players. A few sports enthusiasts wondered whether he was referring to the UEFA Champions League. Steyn did not elaborate on his thought, but the comments flew thick and fast. Amidst them was one cricket fan asking the pace great to wish his girlfriend on her birthday because, "she and I are big fan [sic] of yours".
Past and present cricketers have big responsibilities. Perform, open up to satisfy curiosity and also wish fans on their birthdays. But then, as one of the responses to Steyn's post said while referring to the IPL, "that's the beauty of the league".
