Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Wheels will take me homeDespite her condition an elderly woman aided by a porter readies to board a train to Gujarat from Dadar stationFoodies for a causeDoctors and staff members at Cooper Hospital were treated to cupcakes baked by Annie B through this initiativeAs the second wave of the pandemic continues to ravage the city three friends have come together to extend support to frontline workers who have been working tirelessly on Ground Zero for over 14 months now Named Food For Frontline this initiative is the brainchild of Aavanti Chopra a consultant Dishti Kaji a lawyer and Karishma Gulrajani an MBA student ldquoWe were moved by the plight of doctors nursing staff ambulance drivers and workers at crematorium grounds who lack basic medical equipment and food to keep them going All of us are foodies and when we saw hyperlocal food entrepreneurs taking a hit due to the pandemic we wanted to involve them in some wayrdquo Chopra shared about the conception of the ideaAavanti ChopraThe team collaborates with various food entrepreneurs who donate a part of their proceeds to the cause so far they have raised Rs 100000 while garnering new clients for their partner businesses They have also partnered with Supper to provide healthy and hearty meals to workers ldquoWe plan to send meals for the BEST and ambulance drivers in the next few days We are also joining hands with bakers across the city to send delicious bakes to boost the morale of healthcare workers at hospitals Through Supper we have tapped into a network of volunteers to help with distribitionrdquo added Kaji To do your bit head to foodforfrontline on InstagramPrepping for a new museumOver the weekend the Maharashtra governmentrsquos Directorate of Archaeology and Museums conducted their first consultative seminar in collaboration with India Study Centre INSTUCEN on the settingup of the proposed Maharashtra State Museum ldquoOur goal is to establish a museum in Mumbai that tells the story of Maharashtra through the statersquos geology archaeology history and culturerdquo said Dr Kurush Dalal director of INSTUCEN School of Archaeology ldquoThe whorsquoswho in the field of archaeology are working on this project Our idea was to first create a very strong vision document at the session and then proceed towards identifying the location We realise that a project of this scale will require a sizeable location in Mumbairdquo he addedSaeersquos recipes of hopeFrom My Oven is an ecookbook comprising 30 recipes handpicked by author and culinary consultant Saee KoranneKhandekar It is being offered to donors of a fundraising campaign for Snehalaya an Ahmednagarbased NGO that works with the queer community and those affected by HIV and sexual violence Snehalaya has turned its attention to Covid19 relief for the moment helping set up isolation centres and offer mobile testing In addition to Covid19 support Khandekar who is considered an authority on Maharashtrian cuisine decided to give back to the state that is her home and inspiration Visit skoranne on InstagramEarth songNew Yorkbased musician Priya Darshinirsquos star has been on an upward graph lately The former Mumbaikar was nominated for a Grammy Award last year for her album Periphery Now she will be performing along with global stars such as Dave Matthews Band Patti Smith and Jack Johnson at a virtual concert on June 4 to mark World Environment Day ldquoIt is a reminder that everything we consume including our art comes from naturerdquo she said Tune in to pathway2paris on Facebook to watchArt with a kinder heartAhmedabadbased gallery 079Stories is conducting a fundraiser sale for Covid19 relief All the funds raised from this collection titled Instilling Hope will be donated to Breathe India Fund a campaign aimed at procuring and distributing ventilators oximeters cylinders concentrators and medical kits and to the Jagrut Jan Trust that is working to help Covid19 patients in the city ldquoWe believe that art has the power to healThe art fraternity has also been quite severely impacted by the pandemic and we have been undertaking several initiatives for their benefit Many of the artists were eager to contribute their skill for the greater good which inspired us to ideate this initiativerdquo said founder and director Purvi Damani The collection includes works by several prominent artists including Sujata Bajaj Ami Patel and Brinda Miller Head to 079storiescom to view the ecatalogue and extend your support