29 August,2026 07:03 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Shadab Khan
Afghan Church comes alive with projection-mapped visuals as part of the ongoing Mumbai Light Festival
Aarey residents tie rakhis to trees. PICS COURTESY/PRAKASH BHOIR
The trees of Aarey Forest are flaunting bright handmade rakhis this week, thanks to a small group of residents who celebrate âVrukshabandhan' every year. "These trees have given us fruits, flowers, and shade for decades. They make life in our padas (neighbourhoods) beautiful," said local community leader Prakash Bhoir. Sounds like a good time to return the favour and turn protectors for our forests.
Musicians Aywy and LFresh from the BROWNS collective perform at the Bandra venue. PIC/DEVASHISH KAMBLE
Last Thursday, this diarist made a beeline to a Bandra venue to hear what Aussie hip-hop sounds like. BROWNS, a hip-hop collective of Australians of Indian origin, had drawn in a crowd of international listeners into the compact café-bar, The Den. Luckily, we caught up with rapper LFresh right before the high-energy gig.
"We are unabashedly brown, and proud. We make raw hip-hop that talks about how it is being of Indian origin in Sydney. We've only released demos yet, but we can see this blowing up both here, and back home," he shared.
Hosted as part of the Sounds of Australia initiative, the Aussies got a glimpse of desi hip-hop later in the night when rappers from Nagpur, Kerala, and beyond took the mic. "There's so much energy, hunger, and excitement. We're going to take it back and be inspired by it," the rapper bid us adieu. He had an old tradition to attend, after all: A group photo with the delegation, followed by a roaring "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!"
Participants build Thai lanterns during the workshop. PIC COURTESY/Tourism Authority of Thailand
This diarist spent a delightful afternoon immersed in Thailand's vibrant festive culture at Fireback, Mumbai, where the Tourism Authority of Thailand hosted a Thai lantern-making session. Over drinks and Thai fare, a paper artist guided us through a world of colour, tradition and creativity as we learnt the craft and made our own by hand. The experience drew from Yi Peng and Loy Krathong, two of Thailand's most beautiful festivals, centred on light, water and renewal.
While Yi Peng is known for lanterns floating into the sky, Loy Krathong sees decorated offerings floated on water. Like our own Diwali, light symbolises hope, celebration and togetherness. We even wrote down our wishes before taking our lantern home to hang on our walls.
Wipada Noipanich, deputy director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai, elaborated, "Thailand's festivals are a beautiful reflection of our culture, traditions and communities, and experiences like these allow us to share that connection with Indian audiences. We hope it inspires travellers to experience these celebrations in Thailand, and discover the many other cultural experiences that make every visit meaningful."
Ashish Vidyarthi tries his hands at the repurposed drums with musicians of Dharavi Rocks. PIC COURTESY/@ashishvidyarthi
We're convinced that veteran actor Ashish Vidyarthi is a true, lifelong âvidyarthi'. At a recent private event in the city, the actor-foodie-vlogger found his newest interest - drumming. We learnt that Vidyarthi was playing host for the event, which concluded with a performance by Dharavi Rocks, a young group that turns upcycled buckets and water drums into instruments. "We usually end our performances by inviting everyone to the stage. It is our way of introducing people to the world of rhythm. Ashish sir was a great sport and did quite well matching our tempo," said member Sairaj Methari. Vidyarthi later took to social media, and wrote with his signature optimism, "This is what being in the moment feels like."
