Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Hitting caution out of the parkThe pandemic and lockdownlike restrictions fail to deter these maskless boys from playing cricket at Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali EastTherersquos lots to sea in the cityA hermit crab found along the cityrsquos shoreline PicinhabitedseaorgWe might not always realise it but Mumbairsquos coastline is a wondrous place that all sorts of sea creatures inhabit Writerdirector Sejal Mehta and photographer Shaunak Modi followed two groups of such animals mdash crabs and cnidarians mdash for the past two years as part of a global project called Inhabited Sea which was the brainchild of environmental anthropologist Nikhil Anand and architects Anuradha Mathur and Dilip da Cunha The multimedia project that Mehta and Modi submitted is called Intertidal Living Itrsquos now live and offers a fascinating insight into the lives of the cityrsquos marine residents ldquoThese are exciting creatures not just because they are beautiful but also because they live in spaces that we inhabit Itrsquos quite special to be able to walk on a Mumbai shore and see colourful sea anemones open their tentacles or zoanthus sparkle bluegreen under a city skyrdquo Mehta told this diarist Log on to inhabitedseaorg to learn more about our cityrsquos coinhabitants Wall of a timeWe had recently written about Bollywood Art Projectrsquos BAP tussle with Budweiser on this page where the brand had painted its promotional material over Bandrarsquos iconic AnarkaliMadhubala murals The brand had vowed to make amends and we are pleased to report that they have made good on their word mdash Chapel Road is now home to three 1970s icons Asha Parekh Waheeda Rehman and Helen Ranjit Dahiya of BAP who is currently putting the finishing touches on the murals said ldquoWe are working with a minimal team and are adhering to all safety protocols All of us are doublemasked and using copious amounts of hand sanitiserrdquoThe rite thing to doThe alarming number of deaths during the pandemic has led to crematoriums being overwhelmed with the pressure But even those who do manage to get a slot have to bear a hefty cost at times to perform the last rites of their loved ones Saundh a saree brand from Surat has now come forward to provide financial support to families across India who have cremated kin who contracted Covid19 All that a person needs to do is call 9924019434 and seek monetary help after providing a positive report of the deceased person and either a death certificate or a receipt from the crematorium ldquoWe will transfer the amount they ask for directly to the personrsquos bank accountrdquo shared Vishwanath Singh who manages the helpline number for SaundhCause for pawsThe pandemic has been tricky for pet parents especially when their furry friends fall sick and veterinarians arenrsquot freely accessible at this time But pet store Heads Up for Tails HUFT has a solution They have launched purportedly Indiarsquos first 24x7 veterinary service where people can chat online with experts to discuss their issues ldquoWe collaborated with UKbased Vet Connection and plan to introduce a video platform soon But we also say that physically visiting a vet is advisablerdquo shared Arushi Sharma customer manager at HUFTPutting it on the recordPeter Cat Recording Company is a Delhibased band thatrsquos considered somewhat of an enigma within the independent music circuit and with good reason Which other outfit can you think of that pulls back two albums from the market mdash Sinema and Wall of Want mdash after releasing them because as vocalist Suryakant Sawhney told this diarist ldquowe wanted tordquo Well the good news is that about a week ago the band put those two records back on sale to raise money for charities they want to support during the pandemic They have garnered a total of 5 lakh already which is testament to the actrsquos popularity The albums will be on sale till tomorrow after which they will disappear from the market again Sawhney shared ldquoA lot of people had been asking for the albums and we felt that we could do two things at one time by releasing them now We had collaborated with NGO Hemkunt Foundation at first but are now looking at some others including PARI since we have already crossed our targetrdquo Log on to pcrcin to get your own copies but hurry