Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Line pe aajaThatrsquos what a boy might be telling fish at a rivulet in Sanjay Gandhi National in Borivali EastA fitting tributeThe Indian animation and cartooning industry lost one of its leading lights over the weekend when Gautam Benegal passed away Benegal who was also a filmmaker and social commentator was known for the A1 Chicken Sope series in which he took satirical potshots at the countryrsquos political situation Tributes poured in for him from various quarters including popular illustrator Orijit Sen who revealed that he had been working on a project with Benegal to get the A1 Chicken Sope series published Meanwhile filmmaker Rakesh Sharma shared memories of how he became one of Benegalrsquos first friends in Mumbai when the latter first arrived here 30 years ago ldquoI can still remember his excitement at landing his first job with Rammohan veteran animation filmmaker as also his later frustrations about outdated styles and outmoded templates that were the industry norm at the timerdquo Sharma recalledAll for DanishThe reverberations of the tragic death of celebrated photojournalist Danish Siddiqui who was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan were felt across the country from Mumbai to Kolkata and elsewhere Photojournalists in the eastern city paid a candlelight tribute to their departed colleague while in Mumbai teachers of SoBorsquos Gurukool School of Art painted Siddiquirsquos portraits to honour his memory ldquoDanish came to us at different points when we did paintings on events like when Prince Harry married Meghan Markle and the shootings in Orlando US in 2016 We paid tribute to him because he fought for the countryrdquo Prithviraj Kambli the schoolrsquos founder told this diaristGandhirsquos take on Indiarsquos historySome rare books that were printed between the 1920s and rsquo60s went under the hammer recently fetching almost Rs 15 lakh in total They included Young India by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi a collection of Gandhirsquos writings on the Independence movement sold for Rs 12 lakh But the book that commanded the highest price of Rs 264 lakh was a copy of Jawaharlal Nehrursquos Discovery of India in pic with the same authorrsquos Glimpses of World History selling for Rs 66000ldquoWe put this auction together after facing numerous hurdles given the challenges in researching such rare books and antique collectiblesrdquo shared Indrajeet Chatterjee curator of the event organised by Prinseps Auction HouseInclusive artWith the intent to promote projects associated with disadvantaged Indian communities art collective Artreach India has put out an open call inviting applications from artists and artist collectives for their Community Arts Grant of 2021 ldquoThis particular project is to support artists who are involved in ongoing communityled initiatives This year wersquove expanded our scope to multiple grants that will support them for up to six months at leastrdquo said director Ita Mehrotra To apply send in your applications to itaartreachgmailcomRelief for theatre artistesTheatre venues might have been shut for most part of the past year but theatre artistes were busy donning various roles mdash witnesses defenders and relief volunteers A HowlRound for India is a 24hour marathon conversation on July 20 and 21 where 100 theatrewallahs from over 30 countries will highlight the effect of COVID19 on the community Itrsquos organised by Frank Hentschker director of CUNYrsquos Segal Center Bengaluru playwright Abhishek Majumdar and Mumbaibased directorproducer Tanvi Shah ldquoArtistes will reflect on their personal and political experiences of the pandemic and offer their artistic responses They will pay tribute to the tragic losses borne by the communityrdquo said Shah Speakers from India include Sunil Shanbag Puja Sarup Anurupa Roy and the daughter and nephew of Varavara Rao among others Director Savitri Medhatul whorsquoll translate Sangeet Bari artiste Shakuntala Nagarkarrsquos in pic session shared ldquoShersquoll be speaking about how in her lifetime this is the first time that Sangeet Bari theatres have been shut for so long how thatrsquos affected the art and livelihood and the social and emotional isolation of artistesrdquo