The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Going around in circles: Carrying tyres around his neck, this worker’s predicament is testament to the times we’re living in. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Getting their word’s worth
Pic/Wikimedia Commons
The NIF Fellowship by the New India Foundation is one of the most prestigious grants in the country that supports non-fiction book proposals on post-independence India. The fellowships, awarded for a period of one year, carry a stipend on R18 lakh. And this year, in their 10th edition, the foundation has awarded 11 writers — the highest number so far. The list includes noted Bengaluru-based novelist Anjum Hasan (in pic), Jayaseelan Raj, an academic from Thiruvananthapuram and Jharkhand-based conservationist Raza Kazmi. “The 11 NIF fellows will write books that promise to transform our understanding of contemporary India,” NIF trustee Srinath Raghavan shared. We’re looking forward to reading them.
Love in 13 monologues
Kalki Koechlin and Maanvi Gagroo
This weekend, theatre buffs can get a bite of the Big Apple while being seated in the Maximum City. Dipti Brahamandkar’s Islands of Contentment is a play presented by New York City theatre company The Tank and co-directed by Arpita Mukherjee that attempts to capture the dysfunctional nature of modern romantic relationships through 13 monologues, where the audience is invited to interact through the chatbox.
“Given the unique virtual format that we have taken it to, the content will be easy for the audience to relate to. The pandemic has forced us to be more creative with not just the content but its format and execution as well. It has brought the world closer,” said actor Maanvi Gagroo. This experience urges the audience to choose the flow of the play, with two carefully curated journeys to embark on. The play hopes to offer people a chance to connect despite the isolation of the pandemic, and is guided by a mysterious narrator. It will also feature Kalki Koechlin, Suraj Sharma, Ajay Naidu and Sumeet Vyas, among other big names. For tickets, visit thetanknyc.org/islandsofcontentment.
Virtual masterstrokes
It’s not every day that we get to tune into conversations with veteran artists — especially in the virtual world. So, this Sunday’s free-wheeling discussion between Padma Shri Gulam Mohammed Sheikh and curator Gitanjali Dang promises to be special. It is being hosted by Gujarat-based Gallery Ark, where the 84-year-old painter’s photographs from the ’70s are currently on view, as part of the exhibition In The Light Of. “In the trying times that we find ourselves in, we hope this event allows people to dip into a world of beautiful conversation, even for a few hours,” gallery director Nupur Dalmia told this diarist. To join, check the registration details at inthelightof.com.
Canvas for the children
Artwork based on the book The Miracle on Sunderbaag Street by Lola, a six-year-old from Mumbai
Yesterday was World Art Day, and The Big Little Book Award (BLBA) that honours the best in children’s literature, launched a diversity wall online as part of the Big Little Book Art Exhibition. The wall will include books across categories like mental health, disability, gender and ethnicity.
The aim, Swaha Sahoo, head of the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts that helms it, said was to highlight art and illustration for children within the Indian literature space. “It will display the diverse work of the five winning illustrators through the years, young illustrators, and book-based artworks by children,” she added. Log on to paragreads.in to browse.
Amit’s got a funny remedy
For those who’ve tested positive for the Covid-19 virus and have been forced to retreat into weeks of isolation, some comfort is on the way. Comedian Amit Tandon begins his positive talk sessions from today, for all those stuck indoors with little interaction. “During the lockdown I realised that people with the virus were feeling pretty isolated. I thought I’d start these sessions for around 30 minutes, where we can all talk and laugh. I’ll be doing a few of these every day. They’re not shows, it’s more of a way for people to interact and hopefully feel better through their days in quarantine,” Tandon told this diarist.
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