Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

No swag without safetyA security guard masks up while staying evervigilant in PrabhadeviA Tata tellallOver the years the Tata Grouprsquos influence on the Indian business landscape has been monumental In a new book launching on June 14 titled TataStories its veteran employee Harish Bhatt is sharing 40 stories from the grouprsquos history with the intent to inspire ldquoThis is a storybook with a difference featuring tales of passion purpose courage grit resilience failure and success We hope that these stories can inspire and provoke us even move us to ever more meaningful action in our own livesrdquo he said adding that the stories hold life lessons for readers In the book expect to learn how a diamond twice as large as the famous Kohinoor was pledged to survive a financial crisis about a meeting with a ldquorelatively unknown young monkrdquo who later came to be known as Swami Vivekananda the firstever Indian team at the Olympics and how the words lsquoOK TATArsquo made their way to the backs of millions of trucks on Indian highwaysIn memoriamTo mark World Environment Day the Asiatic Society of Mumbai ASM paid a virtual tribute to noted environmentalist and activist the late Sunderlal Bahuguna inset The tribute titled Naturally Mumbai was an hourlong lecture facilitated by activist and author Bittu SahgalldquoWe have grown up hearing stories of Bahuguna and the Chipko movement I had the opportunity to meet him a few times In fact environmental activism in Mumbai has been greatly influenced by his presencerdquo shared Dr Shehernaz Nalwalla chairperson at ASMrsquos Mumbai Research CentreLetrsquos hear it for the fashionistasShalini and Sushmita PurandareTo aid the fight against Covid19 Sushmita Purandare and Shalini creators of a podcast called Fashionably Awkward have joined hands with the founder of NGO Matr Praveen Chauhan to create an initiative named Ekhada They plan to conduct live sessions virtually with industry experts in fashion and marketing throughout the month of June to help students and beginners while also contributing to a good cause ldquoEkhada is our way of contributing and encouraging people to donaterdquo shared Purandare ldquoWe want people to gain knowledge while supporting a causerdquo added Shalini Log on tofashionablyawkward on Instagram to registerEqual writesThe Bombay Review has announced the longlist of nominees for their CPB Queer Writing Fellowship this year Of the 10 fellowships two are reserved for young SouthAsian queer writers ldquoBeing recognised as a writer during Pride Month is a memory I will cherish Itrsquos important that people from all marginalised communities including queer writers be recognised in literary spaces We have a lot of rich experiences to write aboutrdquo shared Prithvi Vatsalya journalist and nominee25 years of storytellingOn June 27 beloved childrenrsquos publisher Karadi Tales will mark 25 years in the industry Speaking about the landmark milestone cofounder Shobha Viswanath shared ldquoIn June 1996 we started Karadi Tales with the aim of creating a space for Indian culture in mainstream childrenrsquos literature There have been several incredible moments for us since mdash from Naseeruddin Shah immediately agreeing to be the voice of Karadi the bear for our first audiobook to working with the great poet Gulzar who translated and lent his voice to our Hindi audiobooks In 2010 we launched Karadi Path a social innovation enterprise to help children learn the English language through a process of discoveryrdquo The team has also lined up a host of celebratory activities including launching The Little Book Makers podcast and a Zoom birthday party for children Herersquos extending our congratulations