The festive season is here and as the city already started its celebrations with Raksha Bandhan, the preparations for Janmashtami, Parsi New Year and Ganesh Chaturthi are underway. It will also be the first time in two years that many people will go outdoors to celebrate the festival with friends and family. If you are looking to ace your fashion game and even need help with makeup tips, don’t worry. We spoke to experts who share the best way to get your look right for the festive season. There is more because you can get the look right but makeup only elevates the spirit, so experts share a guide to look your best for all those events you are going to attend in time to come.  
 
Along with the festive spirit, the monsoon is here to stay and brings with it all kinds of freshness and colour with different kinds of fruits and vegetables that are popular during this time. We decided to celebrate the bitter gourd, a vegetable that is evergreen but often disliked among many people because of its bitter taste and texture. City chefs who love the vegetable make your life easy as they share innovative recipes that would make people rethink their opinion about the gourd.

We also spoke to members of the Warli tribe living in Aarey Colony and who call Mumbai their home, for International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. They tell us about living in a city that boasts about being cosmopolitan and keeping their identity intact, while also dealing with misconceptions and the hope they have from newly-elected President Droupadi Murmu.  
 
As far as international day celebrations go, this week also had World Elephant Day, which was founded in 2012 with an aim to raise awareness about the animal and the need for its conservation. We reached out to Patricia Sims, co-founder of the day and World Elephant Society. She not only delved into the current issues plaguing the efforts but also shared tips for people to contribute in the best possible way.  

Last but not the least, for Shelf Life, our fortnightly, we travelled to the Colaba Study Centre and Worli’s Abhyas Galli to learn how these spaces are giving a space to students from the economically weaker sections to study.   

Here’s the full list of features from this week: