Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Geared to be atma nirbharCycles both electric and classic have been gaining popularity as a viable mode of transport amid the pandemic as seen here in SionCelebrating MarathiA still from Tamhanersquos The DiscipleHere are not one but two excuses to celebrate all things Marathi this week As part of their Marathi programming series Museum Katta an adda that celebrates creative minds who highlight various aspects of contemporary Maharashtrian culture Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum is organising a discussion with Chaitanya Tamhane about his awardwinning film The Disciple today Director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta shared that the conversation will be facilitated by editor of Art India Abhay Sardesai ldquoThe session will explore the theme and nuances of the film set against the cultural backdrop of Mumbai and the niche world of classical musicrdquo she added And for young minds out there the museum will host a Marathi storytelling session in collaboration with Goshtarang a project by NGO QUEST on Saturday ldquoThe Zoom session will include an illustrated narration of Chhatri or Umbrella by Mahendra Walunj itrsquos written by Nilesh Nimkar and illustrated by Shubhangi Chetan This is part of our larger public engagement programme that encourages familiarity with folktales literature and focuses on learning via storytellingrdquo the director revealed To register for both email educationbdlmuseumorgDelivering hope for dabbawalasWe have previously reported on this page about how the community of over 5000 dabbawalas had just begun to find a footing post the pandemic when the second wave dealt them another cruel blow The community has now found an ally in Riyaaz Amlanirsquos Impresario Handmade Restaurants which is employing them as delivery partners for direct orders received on their techenabled platforms Orders from their brands including SOCIAL Smoke House Deli and Salt Water Cafe in Lower Parel Bandra West and BKC areas will be fulfilled by the dabbawalas starting this week Amlani shared that he hopes to extend the project to not just all his restaurants but also the rest of the industryldquoRestaurants have been trying to figure out means of direct delivery and ordering minus aggregator apps While doing so we realised that another group of people whorsquove been hit badly are dabbawalas who embody the spirit of Mumbai Whether itrsquos rain or shine dabbawalas ensure your food reaches you safely So for us this was the perfect collaborationrdquo explained Amlani They will also launch a subscriptionbased meal service in Mumbai called Ghar Ka Khana which will be delivered by dabbawalas Now thatrsquos a winwinDocs how about some LOLComedian Papa CJrsquos friend recently recounted a conversation she had with a doctor who has been working in a Covid19 ward in Gurugram ldquoShe told me that after the doctor gave her his counsel he broke down telling her about all the physical mental and emotional pressure he had facedrdquo Papa told this diarist That prompted him to offer Naked his hit comedy routine that will be streamed online this weekend for free to doctors as a mark of gratitude Log on to papacjcom if you are a doctor too and could do with some laughsA cup of positiviteaEver since chai enthusiast Viji Venkatesh who has a threedecadelong experience in cancer patient care kicked off the Chai for Cancer addas the hopefilled evenings have been bringing together supporters of the cause This time her friend and Thanebased home chef Rohini Bhowmick in pic decided to add another element of fun to the fundraising initiative ldquoThis time the theme is Ek Chai Zindagi Ke Naam When I was going to join in I thought that amid all the anguish and despair around us I want to imbibe an approach of cheer and encouragement We decided to reach out to people and have them interpret the theme in their own way to bring out the spirit of life Of course the end goal is fundraising but I wanted supporters of the cause to forget all the dreariness for a whilerdquo Bhowmick shared The result is a cheerful series of videos of people singing sketching talking and well celebrating zindagi Check them out rohinibhowmick on Instagram and help them take care of cancer patients at chaiforcancerorgAntwerp callingIn some good news for the cityrsquos art community Shilpa Gupta is having her first midcareer survey exhibition at M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp The fourmonth long exhibit titled Today Will End will see 25 of her artworks go on display curated by Nav Haq associate director at M HKA ldquoItrsquos an honour to have this survey show at such a major museum in Europe which brings together key works from the mid1990s onwards The works deal with human relations subjectivity and perception through themes such as desire boundaries and orchestrated exclusions There are several interactive works which delve into the liminal zone that hover between art and object perspective and experience and renewability and repetitionrdquo she told this diarist