The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Lilly Singh
Superwoman over the rainbow
Canadian actress, comedian and Youtube star, Lilly Singh aka Superwoman has a gift — she can use comedy to address serious social issues. Feminism, too, has been a constant narrative in all her content. So, on Monday, when the online superstar put up a tweet announcing that she was bisexual, support came in from all corners over and above her followers, who are often known as the "Super Team".
"Throughout my life these have proven to be obstacles from time to time. But now I'm fully embracing them as my superpowers," she wrote online as the Internet went crazy. A few hours later, she touched base again to thank her well-wishers, and said, "Words can't describe how much it means. I appreciate you all. Group hug."
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Turning 50, Bantai style
When Jehangir Mistry, the dean of Xavier's Institute of Communications (XIC) inaugurated Istoria, the annual festival of the PR batch, he ended his speech with "Yo!" — setting the mood for what was to follow on a Sunday evening as XIC celebrated 50 years. This was the first time the festival hosted Soundscape, a concert held in the college's quadrangle area that was occupied with chairs. So, the challenge for performers was to literally get people off their seats. It didn't take long for Raghav Meattle to invite the crowd near the stage with his soul-stirring voice (and eyes).
But they vanished after his gig. It was time for rap crew Bombay Lokal to convince people to get to their feet again. And beatboxer Gaurav Gambhir aka Dcypher turned things around, questioning if the students get excited only by the acoustic guitar. "We could've been DJs but we didn't have money so we used our mouths to make sounds," he said, as the crew proceeded to deliver a power-packed performance that this diarist will never forget. They set the tone for the last act of the evening — Sushant Divgikar and his band Top Storey with Divgikar's dad cheering them on. All in all, it was a night to remember. No chairs next time, maybe?
It's better late than never
Earlier this month, an Instagram account called Scene and Herd, which has been sharing the voices of those who have faced sexual abuse or predatory behaviour in the art scene, called out Sumesh Sharma, the co-founder of Clark House Initiative, which served as the converging point for many artists from Mumbai. After weeks of silence, CHI finally issued a public statement on Monday afternoon announcing that Sharma would no longer be part of the initiative.
"We stand in solidarity with all who have had the courage to speak up against sexual harassment, power-play, or any kind of manipulative behaviour in Art," the post read. Well, all we can say is, better late than never.
No splitting, please
Managing a circus called the pre-poll alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena has become Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's primary task. In a bid to maintain the brotherhood with the frenemy, Fadnavis invited the Sena president, legislators and ministers, as well as BJP's legislators and ministers over a sumptuous dinner at his official residence, Varsha, on Monday. When the authority at Varsha connected for assistance to prep for dinner, one of the people responsible for it bowled the CM over with a googly when he told him that the seating would be separate for the BJP and Sena.
He was even planning to mark the sections with nameplates. The suggestion had the CM and his staff in splits. Fadnavis coolly explained to the officer that the purpose of the dinner was to not create any further rift between the two parties, but to bring them together. The officer was instructed to create a free-for-all seating where legislators could mingle and bond across party lines. With demarcations being phased out, it will now be interesting to read how the alliance functions for the overall benefit of both partners.
Mumbaikar takes centre stage
Sahitya Rangbhoomi Pratisthan's Tendulkar-Dubey fellowship for young theatre artistes was awarded in Pune yesterday, and among the five recipients is Mumbai-based artiste Abhinav Grover. Grover recently directed a production based on the intertextuality of the Ramayana and the classic, Waiting for Godot, and was part of Deewar, a play by Prithviraj Kapoor, which was revisited in November 2018.
"Such appreciation is special. It is not easy to be an artiste; the support of teachers, parents and friends is what keeps one going. At the same time, you need the drive to carry on, even in the absence of such accolades," Grover told this diarist. The other recipients include Pune-based Nachiket Devasthali, Sayalee Phatak and Suyog Deshpande, and Delhi's Neel Sengupta.
On the run
Hardik Pandya rushes out of the airport on Monday before someone catches him for sexist comments again. Pic/Datta Kumbhar
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