Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Hop on to this reel trainRafique Baghdadi righ CostaGavras Pic courtesyWikimedia CommonsYears ago when CostaGavras a noted GreekFrench film director screenwriter and producer flew down to Mumbai for a film festival film journalist and city chronicler Rafique Baghdadi took on the task of showing him around Ahead of the Mumbai Press Club Film Study Grouprsquos screening of the directorrsquos film The Sleeping Car Murders 1965 at the club on Saturday Baghdadi recalled that at the time Gavras was 80 and keen on capturing the city through his lens ldquoThe film that will be screened is a French mystery movie thatrsquos beautifully shot in black and white on a train compartmentrdquo he told this diaristNature meets sustainability at SGNP bazaarldquoFor a long time some of us who visit the Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP regularly had been discussing how to attract attention to the plastic nuisance inside the parkrdquo shared Shaheen Desai cofounder Street Konnect a community of women who organise a street festival and events in Thakur Village Kandivli To spread the word and promote ideas of sustainability among visitors and tourists they have teamed up with the Nature Information Centre SGNP to host a festival called Upcycle Bazaar on November 13 ldquoThe fest will feature sale of upcycled and recycled products along with workshops Therersquoll also be a plastic collection driverdquo she addedA lit ideaVaccination has managed to offer a ray of hope in our dark and distressful battle against COVID19 However despite the efforts of the government and citizensrsquo groups there are thousands who harbour misconceptions about vaccination and have stayed away from getting the jab To dispel these myths with the light of knowledge social worker Ashok Kurmi has fashioned a fivefoot vaccinethemed kandil in Sanjay Gandhi Nagar LPC Colony near SionTrombay Road ldquoI made it with a few bamboo tokris and then wrapped it with paper On it I pasted a printout of the vaccine text The kandil is the focus of Diwali people scout around to check out attractive kandils So I felt we could make a vaccinethemed kandil since in this neighbourhood therersquos limited awarenessrdquo he addedGo with the flowPaddling Foundation a Mumbaibased NGO that helps create awareness regarding menstrual health recently conducted a campaign among ragpickers in Kalyan village ldquoThe idea was to engage with the community about menstrual health and introduce them to sustainable alternatives to menstrual hygienerdquo volunteer Sameedha Bhat told us They provided reusable sanitary pads and other products to 269 women ldquoOur foundation is built to create an impactful presence in the community about menstrual hygienerdquo said cofounder Saloni BhutraItaly callingMasked Reality by AgrawalArtissima Italyrsquos contemporary art fair provides a platform for emerging artists And Bengalurubased artist Harshit Agrawal who as made a mark for himself in combining the technical complexities of Artificial Intelligence AI with artistic expression will showcase his works at Artissima in Torino from today till November 7 ldquoThe idea is to remove the Orwellian notions associated with AI and explore the artistic possibilities of such advanced technologyrdquo shared Agrawal His works Masked Reality and Strange Genders will be featured at the fair Strange Genders combines AI with human perception of gender through drawings conclusively exploring the idea of gender fluidity while Masked Reality explores artistic liberties through AI The traditional Kerala art forms of Theyyam and Kathakali that have caste and class connotations are broken down in this piece