Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

No Ducking The SmileA young boy gleefully helps his elders with hanging out the dayrsquos catch of Bombay Duck on bamboo racks at Versova beachMore glory for Gamdevirsquos Malabari HallMalabari HallldquoItrsquos the best news for us and the Seva Sadan Any appreciation for a project like this helps them and the society at large for the wonderful work that they are doing to empower women and the girl childrdquo Brinda Somaya principal architect told this diarist while sharing that the Malabari Memorial Hall at Seva Sadan Society in Gamdevi which they restored had earned an Honourable Mention for the 2021 Vassilis Sgoutas Prize for Implemented Architecture Serving the ImpoverishedBrinda Somaya and Nandini SampatSpeaking on behalf of the Parisbased International Union of Architects its president Thomas Vonier said ldquoThe jury appreciated their remarkable work in architecture conservation and restoration exemplified by the guiding philosophy that the architectrsquos role is that of guardianrdquo The icing on the cake Somaya shared was that the Hall was featured in Chaitanya Tamhanersquos new film The DiscipleArt with a heartA 6 Feet Breather by Namrata Vansadia and The Ray of Hope by Nakul TalgeriKulture Shop a Mumbaibased graphic artistsrsquo collective is offering patrons a free artwork for donations of Rs 5000 and above to Give Indiarsquos mission to boost oxygen supply The funds will be used towards setting up oxygen generation plants procuring oxygen concentrators and providing and refilling oxygen cylindersArjun CharanjivaIts founder and CEO Arjun Charanjiva shared ldquoOur artists have offered their entire proceeds towards our Art Fights Covid campaign Further our Indoglobal customers have been asking us for trusted NGO platforms We aim to connect them through our campaignrdquo To do your bit visit kultureshopinThis onersquos for the musical ladiesFrom music composer Thaman S allfemale ensemble Dhruvam and bassist Mohini Dey in pic comes a beautiful rendition of the song Maguva Maguva Originally released as part of the movie Vakeel Saab this reprise version of the song comes with a classical twist ldquoThaman initially played me the song and I really liked it In the version we were going to record I wanted to add some vocals and percussion and he gave me complete freedom to experiment with the sound It was really cool and fun to work with all the women as well Itrsquos good to note that these days female musicians are banding together which is really important in a country such as oursrdquo Dey shared about the experienceSoul foodFilmmaker Shubhra Chatterji historywali on Instagram has announced a fundraiser lecture series with leading food scholars writers and chefs The first session will kick off this weekend and features noted food critic and writer Marryam H Reshii who will talk about Kashmiri food with a focus on saffron ldquoOur goal is to support individuals from marginalised communities who cannot afford COVID19 treatmentrdquo she explained Fifty tickets are being sold per session they are priced at Rs 750 eachCooking up a worthy causeGresham FernandesWhile wersquore all trying to help improve the situation around us a larger impact is only made when a community comes together believes chef Hussain Shahzad The executive chef of Hunger Inc has decided to team up with his ilk from across Mumbai to curate meals under the initiative Cooks For A Cause proceeds of which will go to nonprofits For the first meal box that will go out on Monday hersquos collaborating with chefs Harsh Dixit Gresham Fernandes and Prateek Sadhu and the revenue will be directed to Hemkunt FoundationHussain ShahzadldquoIrsquom so grateful that they decided to lend their time and expertise The idea is to get together on a Monday our day off twice a monthrdquo Shahzad shared Fernandes added that itrsquos fun to be working on the project since theyrsquore doing what they all love the most ldquoFor chefs itrsquos so important to meet other chefs so itrsquos also about learningrdquo Although the need of the hour is COVID19 relief work Shahzad hopes to use the initiative for other causes too and eventually even collaborate with chefs across India We like