<h2>Face the splash</h2>
<p>Throwing caution to the wind, huge crowds gather near the sea front during high tide at Nariman Point</p>
<h2>Relive Mumbai&rsquo;s monsoon magic</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/jul/Monsoon-couple-a_e.jpg" alt="The photo series depicts the story of a couple arriving to Mumbai for the first time and enjoying the city monsoon near the sea" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>The photo series depicts the story of a couple arriving to Mumbai for the first time and enjoying the city monsoon near the sea</em></strong></p>
<p>With the many Instagram Reels being witness to the romance of Mumbai monsoons, a beautiful photo series attracted this diarist. Clicked by photographer Tarun Chouhan (right), the frames narrate the story of a dhoti-clad man, and woman draped in a simple, yellow saree enjoying the rain at the Apollo Bunder promenade.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/jul/Tarun-Chouhan_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>&ldquo;Through my photos, I try to bring alive the Mumbai that my father saw when he first moved to the city. The idea behind this series was simple: while people express the beauty of monsoon with selfies on their social media, there must be someone from a small village, like my father, who is experiencing the monsoon and Mumbai for the first time. I hope to have stayed true to the emotion,&rdquo; he shared with us.</p>
<h2>Strays of the Mumbai coast seek help</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/jul/Mumbai-coast_e.jpg" alt="Aditya Natrajan feeds strays on Marine Drive. Pic courtesy/Sarika Nerurkar" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Aditya Natrajan feeds strays on Marine Drive. Pic courtesy/Sarika Nerurkar</em></strong></p>
<p>Photographer Sarika Nerurkar&rsquo;s documentation project, Feeders and Rescuers of India, highlights individuals across India, who do their bit to ensure a better life for strays. Among them are the three Gullybois of Mumbai &mdash; Aditya Natrajan, Sai Bharathan and Prashant Pandit &mdash; who have been feeding the stray packs near Dadar, Prabhadevi and Worli Sea Face for the past six years. Nerurkar revealed, &ldquo;The Gullybois project is very interesting. The trio aims to highlight the distress that the Mumbai Coastal Road project is causing to these strays.&rdquo; According to Aditya Natrajan, it is not the coastal construction that poses the problem, but the lack of facilities for the animals. &ldquo;When we first started feeding these dogs in 2016, they had a calm and routine existence. They used to live under the rocks, on Marine Drive, and by the seaside. But with this project taking their homes away from them, many have gone missing, or are on the move constantly. We want to help them find some peace in the chaos,&rdquo; he revealed. Those who wish to help can log on to @gullybois for further details.</p>
<h2>Time for Barbenheimer!</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/jul/T-Shirt-lo_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>The Barbie vs Oppenheimer craze is taking over the world. With people debating on which movie would max out the other at the box office, The Bombay Movie Club&rsquo;s Barbenheimer idea might just make things more interesting.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/jul/Barbie-ol_e.jpg" alt="Stills from Barbie and Oppenheimer. Pics courtesy/Youtube" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Stills from Barbie and Oppenheimer. Pics courtesy/Youtube</em></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;It started as an exclusive uniform for the club members, but with the great response from outside, we decided to put it up on our Instagram page,&rdquo; Roxanne D&rsquo;Souza, creative director behind the T-shirts (above), told this diarist. She added that it was the dressing up as Minions trend that encouraged them to come up with this idea, &ldquo;With the buzz still around, we simply wanted to hop on to the trend.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>From verse to stage</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/jul/Omkar-Bhatkar_e.jpg" alt="A still from the previous performance featuring (right) Omkar Bhatkar" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A still from the previous performance featuring (right) Omkar Bhatkar</em></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Sometimes, you should be open to not understanding, and simply experiencing,&rdquo; Omkar Bhatkar philosophises about Divine Leela, this Sunday&rsquo;s performance of Narayan Guru&rsquo;s verses to the Goddess that will be staged at Nine Fish Art Gallery. &ldquo;A poem always has a lot to say, but it also leaves a lot of gaps for you to fill. At times, you may not need to fill those gaps,&rdquo; he added, explaining that this is the kind of mysticism he wanted to bring out through the performance that he wrote and directed. It will engage all of your senses with music, Sufi whirling, the recital and tiny sections borrowed from the Western theatre, he revealed, adding, &ldquo;A lot is happening in the same space. It&rsquo;s why we call it an experience.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>Now&rsquo;s the season</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2023/jul/Mahindra-Percussion-a_e.jpg" alt="Ranjit Barot plays the drums at a  previous music festival" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Ranjit Barot plays the drums at a previous music festival</em></strong></p>
<p>There&rsquo;s good news for music aficionados in the city. Of the seven major festivals in the Mahindra music season, the city will host the Independence Rock Festival in November, followed by their blues festival in February next year. &ldquo;Cultural outreach is about celebrating our heritage and reaching out to communities with immersive experiences. With seven diverse, expertly curated festivals, there is something for everybody to reflect about and rejoice,&rdquo; said Jay Shah, a senior representative from the group.</p><p>
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