Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Gully BoysA flock of seagulls and two kids make the most of a clear day at Mahim beachThe mascotrsquos magicThe Air India Maharaja mdash a figure clad in red sporting a striped turban and a giant moustache mdash remains the muchadored mascot for Indians and tourists to this day Conceptualised by the then commercial director of the airline Bobby Kooka this mascot evolved over the years attracting citizens and foreigners alike to fly the lsquopalace in the skyrsquo as they called the airline Tomorrow a session hosted by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS in collaboration with the Museum Society of Mumbai MSM will dive into the history of this iconic figure while also tracing the journey of Air India through the decadesThe Air India mascot Pic Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsThe event titled The Magic of the Maharaja will be helmed by Air India memorabilia collector Piyush Khaitan ldquoAir India used the Maharaja a lot while promoting flights they would have their jumbo jets decorated with him dancing with Gopis Krishna and visuals of Vrindavan These are visuals you couldnrsquot find anywhere else Being aware of this background I approached Khaitan to lead the talkrdquo said Pheroza Godrej chairperson of MSM If yoursquore keen to know more log on to museumsocietyofmumbai on InstagramA roaring successAshutosh Chaturvedi and Pankaj MavchiIn 2017 Mumbaibased directors Ashutosh Chaturvedi and Pankaj Mavchi came across an article about the UP district Pilibhit which houses a tiger reserve What intrigued them was how people in the region were in such dire need of financial support that they would get their parents or the elderly killed by tigers to avail government compensation This prompted them to visit Pilibhit which they found is the flute bowl of India where the instrument is handcrafted by artisans ldquoBut we realised that the industry was dying So we decided to merge these narratives togetherrdquo said Chaturvedi about the duorsquos film Pilibhit which is making waves at film festivals Most recently it was picked as the semifinalist at the Flickersrsquo Rhode Island International Film Festival The film revolves around Siraj a poor flutemaker residing with his family at the edge of the forest he shared ldquoPilibhit refers to the yellow wall that nomads living there would build to protect themselves from tigers Wersquove extended the metaphor of the wall to Sirajrsquos life and the moral line of transgressionrdquo he addedJumping to their rescueA view of the floodhit areas in Raigad Pic CourtesyPTIThe torrential rainfall that the state has been witnessing has led to severe destruction of life and property Mumbaibased travel and adventure design company Jumpstart Outdoors has initiated a fundraiser to extend support to those affected Theyrsquore also collecting ration and other essentials ldquoLast year too we had undertaken a similar initiative We know and work with a lot of people in the RaigadRatnagiri belt whorsquove been affected by the floods this year Wersquore currently looking at sending across the donations to Raigad and Badlapur areasrdquo shared founder Dhiren Talpade To pitch in call 9152735256Empowering young guidesIn a boost for tourism and employment opportunities Maharashtrarsquos Directorate of Tourism along with Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management is carrying out a fiveday guide training programme from today for 31 members of the tribal community at Karnala and Phansad sanctuaries The sessions will cover topics such as introduction to tourism responsibilities of a guide and biodiversity About time we sayOde to BabasahebA sketch of Purandare by ChemburkarOn July 29 Balwant Moreshwar Purandare fondly known as Babasaheb Purandare turned 100 Celebrating the momentous occasion was architect Rahul Chemburkar who shared a sketch of the visionary writer theatre personality and leader online ldquoHis life was dedicated to exploring the legacy of Maharashtra and researching the life and times of Shivaji Maharaj Hersquos been pivotal in bringing Shivaji out from historical archives and into the contemporary zeitgeistrdquo he told us adding how itrsquos incredible for him to be alive in the same era as Purandare who had not only witnessed crucial turning points in our countryrsquos history from the Independence movement and the Emergency to the formation of Maharashtra but had also shaped it with his social and revolutionary movements ldquoI met him in 1998 as a budding architect He told me that he had purchased land from the government to create a theme park dedicated to Shivajirsquos life Since then I have been associated with him on various projects Our shared dream is now inching closer to reality and we are eager to see it come to liferdquo he shared