27 November,2022 09:10 AM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
Representation pic
Known for their jewellery with each piece crafted by hand, Thailand-based Lotus Arts de Vivre, that enjoys a clientele ranging from Indian royals to industrialists for years, recently opened a store in Colaba. Their newly launched collection has a range of bamboo handbags, made from bamboo sourced from Indonesia. We were especially curious about a stylish bamboo clutch featuring a stunning tiger in its natural habitat in deep red, blue and yellow colours. Called Preying Tiger & Tsavorite Bamboo Clutch, the hand-painted clutch took about 45 days to be completed, we later learnt. What better way than to carry our national animal that's in urgent need of protection, we thought to ourselves. Agree?
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The Bombay novel is a genre that has just begun to unravel the different ways in which you can tell the story of a people and the city they inhabit. Pronoti Dutta's Half-Blood (Speaking Tiger Books) is another such gem, we believe. The book that released earlier this year has Maya as its protagonist, a 34-something journalist, dealing with insufferable bosses and living with the truth of being adopted. Her complex, half-blood Parsi parentage sends her on a unique quest, where she finds herself on the intersection of a past and present, both of which involve Bombay and a community whose orthodoxy has led an enterprising genius to breakout and consolidate power. As she explores the Parsi baugs, the bylanes of the Goan pocket of Dhobi Talao and the bustling Byculla, Dutta's Maya finds a new story about Bombay, that many still don't know.
Available at all bookstores
COURTESY/VINTAGE PAKISTAN
For most Indians, Pakistan is a myth, a rival, and a past steeped in Partition. We might struggle to accept this conjoined twin but an Instagram page draws us into this world, through its people and built heritage. As described in the bio, "this page is dedicated to the side of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan that many of us are oblivious to now". It's true, especially when you learn that it was a Parsi gent, Feroze Cowasji, who designed the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) uniforms. Or how liberal Peshawar was back in the 1960s - "We lived right beside a golf course, where many women would also go and play golf. Our house didn't even have a gate or any fencing. We would regularly sleep outside at night on charpoys - me, my parents, two sisters and two brothers." - until General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and the Soviet-Afghan war, changed everything. With black and white, and sepia photographs, captioned with history and trivia, this page, curated in collaboration with Vintage Pakistan, creates a portrait of a country that is so close, and yet so far.
@purana_pakistan, Instagram
Italian journalist and podcaster Pablo Trincia has come out with a new podcast, and with Mumbai at the centre of it, we are engaged already. For Megalopolis: Mumbai 2050, Trincia takes inspiration from the legend of Manu, who, in Hindu mythology, was the first man, and the person who braved a flood and saved humanity after listening to a fish. With varying sounds that pull you right in, Trincia has juxtaposed Manu's myth to a study that claims Mumbai will be submerged under water in 2050 due to climate change. The podcast is a treat for people who know Italian as it is in this language that Trincia has captured the city. Travelling through Mumbai in 2022, the Italian blends facts and fiction talking to people in Mumbai today and visiting places existing in 2022, while simultaneously imagining their condition in 2050. He questions what will happen to the city in the future.
Available on Spotify
Sourav Ray aka GRAVERO decided to make mashups after his song, Main Dhundne ko Zamane me x Let me down slowly, went viral during COVID-19. It currently has 6.1 million views on YouTube. With 2,30,000 followers on Instagram and 9,13,000 subscribers on YouTube, Ray, 20, started off by posting lo-fi versions of popular songs such as O Re Piya, Jhoom, Kabhi Jo Badal Barse, among others which we personally loved. These lo-fi versions of his songs are paired with visuals from movies where he takes clips from Bollywood and Hollywood movies and TV shows.
Sourav Ray aka GRAVERO
His mashups on his Instagram are in the reels format and the entire version is available on his YouTube channel. We personally loved the mashup of Dholida x Industry Baby, Kesariya x Laare Choote, Hotline Bling x Jiya Jalen and Jhoom x Kabira on his Instagram page. He seamlessly merges Hindi and English songs (in most cases), giving the audience the best of both worlds. We also liked his choice of visuals. He picks the ones which pair well with the song and the emotion behind it. He also sings in some of his mashup versions. Even though we enjoyed his work, we can't help but find similar sounding ones all over YouTube and Instagram.
@iamgravero, Instagram
@gravero, Youtube
Curated by Jane Borges, Yusra Husain, and Nidhi Lodaya
