Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Freewheeling funA few children play around with a parked bike at DadarOde to a Koli folk singerFrom left Shahir Damodar Shibu Koli Parag TandelThe Son Kolis of Mumbai have a jargon which is intrinsically connected to the sea they reside beside The rhythm pitch and huffs and puffs of the way they talk have found themselves manifested in folk songs traditionally sung by Son Koli women and dhavlarines songstresses who perform during weddings and other ceremonies And 87yearold Shahir Damodar Shibu Koli from Vitawa Koliwada in Thane is a Son Koli lyricist and music and drama director who has created several such folk songs He has performed for All India Radio and Doordarshan Mumbai and his journey took him to HMV Music as well Aai Majhi Konala Pawli Oh mother Whomsoever have you blessed is a book that comprises 40 of his important folk songs from Vitawa Koliwada that is being published by artist Parag Tandelrsquos Tandel Fund of Archives TFA The artist added that TFA is in the process of publishing books on the history of several fishing villages and archiving evidence on the seven islands of Mumbai as part of their project Estuaries of Waning Sounds ldquoKoli is a very important and one of the oldest folk singers from our community These songs in the book are about themes such as marriage festivities seafaring and fishing His lyrics are mostly inspired by the dhavlarinesrsquo he has maintained that feminine stylerdquo Tandel shared with this diaristHusain and Bawarsquos bestLady with Bird by Bawa PicPrinsepsAuction house Prinseps has curated a set of artworks by popular Indian artists that will go under the hammer on July 6 Among them are creations by MF Husain Manjit Bawa and Bhupen Khakar ldquoOur auction focuses on four artworks the spotlight being a Manjit Bawa creation from 1999 titled Lady with Bird We also have one by Prabhakar Barwe Whispering Green and an MF Husain work King Of Heartsrdquo curator Indrajit Chatterjee saidCoping with the lockdownDifferent age groups dealt with last yearrsquos national lockdown differently a study by Godrej Group titled Little Things We Do has revealed A majority 59 per cent of Gen X aged 45 and above and Gen Z 53 per cent aged between 18 and 24 turned to altruism handing out sanitisers food medical supplies and clothes to those in need while 54 per cent millennials in the 24 to 40 group made environmentallyconscious actions their top priority The study was conducted among 2768 respondents between September and December 2020It reflected that around three out of five millennials took to a physical or mental fitness activity to stay healthy and happy while only 36 per cent respondents admitted that they quit unhealthy habits with Gen Z and Gen X faring the worst ldquoWe initiated a comprehensive research across 13 key cities to understand the little things people did during the lockdown to boost their wellbeing It revealed how the behavioural pattern across age groups has shifted while also focusing on how the pandemic has unleashed Indiarsquos creative and altruistic side It is also a reminder that our citizens can adapt to challenging circumstancesrdquo shared Sujit Patil vice president and group head mdash corporate brand and communi cationsItrsquos green itrsquos litWith climate change becoming one of the most pressing issues of humankind wersquore happy to hear about the Green Literature Festival GLF initiated by Benedict Paramanand founder of SustainabilityNext magazine and cofounder of Bangalore Business Literature Festival Paramanand shared that GLF aims to shed light on green literature ldquoThe idea was in my mind for a while I met author Meghaa Gupta part of the core team and the thought resonated with her When WWF was keen to partner we got the confidence to launchrdquo he said adding that theyrsquoll host a fest in December and sessions throughout the yearThe long of itChinmay Tumbe for The Age of Pandemics Paro Anand in pic for A Quiet Girl and Alka Saraogi for Kulbhushan Ka Naam Darj Kijiye Those are some of the names that appear on the longlists across categories announced for the PFCValley of Words Book Awards 2021 There are eight categories including childrenrsquos literature English nonfiction Hindi fiction and Hindi translations from Indian languages Past winners include Supriya Sehgal for A Tigress Called Machhli and Other True Animal Stories from India and Hridaynarayan Dikshit for Gyan Ka Gyan Our best wishes to all the nominees for this yearrsquos edition