Mumbai Diary: Greg Chappell on missing India tours, a live gig, jewellery and Dr Blue's memoir

An enthusiastic Mumbaikar in full traditional attire was caught on camera at Five Gardens in Wadala.

Australian batting great Greg Chappell was India's coach from 2005 to 2007. In the 1970s, many English and Australian players shied away from tours of India because comfort was not to be expected there. Chappell's name was often counted in that company. The writer of this diary has seen him raise the issue with a senior journalist, now no more. Cricket lovers who think Chappell skipped India tours can now read his own piece in Universal's Summer Cricket Tour Guide 2026-27.

Chappell writes: "My relationship with India is the cause of one of the few disappointments of my cricket career, because I never got the chance to tour India as a player. I was not selected, being young, for Bill Lawry's gruelling 1969 tour. Later, because I played in the World Series Cricket revolution of the late 1970s, I was banned from selection for the 1979 tour. When the next big chance came in 1986, I had happily retired and was occasionally playing school matches against my son. The experience of being India's coach from 2005 to 2007 gave me the deep understanding of playing cricket in India that I had been denied as a player."

It reads like a firm, well-timed drive from the bat of Gregory Stephen Chappell. And he must surely be looking forward to next year's five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which the magazine describes as "five Tests in seven weeks".

Now to a live gig. The writer of this diary used to go to music events often, but the habit lapsed with life and work. It was time to return. When Raghav Meattle, founder of First.Wav, a company that supports musicians and artists, sent a message inviting us to a live gig, we took it as a sign from above. Anjana, whose music is released through Meattle's company, was performing at Rasta in Khar West. Her voice was classically trained and honeyed. The music was electronic pop, but in Hindi, and the songs were love songs.

In conversation, Meattle said indie music lacks live gigs. In his words: "These artists make such good music, but spend more time in the studio. If they are not doing as many gigs, how will anyone discover them? They focus on private gigs." The event was meant to promote Anjana, although she did not need it. She can be found on Instagram at @anjanapadmanabhanofficial.

Azaan Ali, son of producer and DJ Aakeel, has chosen the path of his mother, jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali. Azaan has formally launched his first men's jewellery line, "The Miracle Man". He studied marketing and economics, and designing was never in his plans.

Azaan says: "In the beginning I was more interested in business and branding. But having grown up around jewellery and watched Mom make it for years, I feel creativity was always in me. With The Miracle Man I saw a chance to bring my own view to jewellery, something of today, masculine and outspoken." Among his early lessons he counts watching his mother surrounded by gemstones and sketches. Azaan plans to add cufflinks, kurta buttons and brooches to the silver jewellery collection.

This "man in blue" has nothing to do with cricket, but is just as big in Mumbai. Dr P. Jagannath, doctor to people from Amitabh Bachchan to Gulzar, heads the surgical oncology department at Lilavati and S.L. Raheja hospitals. He has written a memoir on his journey to becoming one of the country's best-known cancer surgeons, with "Dr Blue" in its title. Asked about the name, he says: "Gulzar saab saw me in blues [surgical scrubs] and in his own style began calling me Dr J-Blue."

On why he wrote the book, he says: "While caring for my mother, I saw cancer from the patient's side. The disease can be treated, but a person needs a human touch and support. That is the real essence of medicine." The book opens with the story of a patient whose reports were reassuring on paper. Dr Jagannath recalls that he said, "Sir, I know all the reports are fine. Just touch my stomach and check." He says, "He asked for something human that is older than any hospital: a carefully placed hand, a small pause and the silent message that someone is with you."

Finally, an art crawl. Fictionary Books and Art Crawl Mumbai's "Perspectives of the Unseen" promises to go beyond walking while looking at paintings. In this crawl curated by Prachi Gohil, people visited three galleries this Saturday: Mirchandani, Kiniki and Chatterjee & Lal. Works by artists such as Buddhadev Mukherjee and Meenal Singh were viewed there with music.

Gohil says: "Traditional art walks are usually very informative, and we wanted to do this a little differently." Music is special here. According to her, "the playlist became the way to move between galleries." The mix includes Indian-American jazz musician Asha Puthli and Brian Eno.