Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Come rain or shineKoli fisherfolk brace a downpour at Marve Jetty Malad over the weekendFriends of the Nilgiri TahrThe Nilgiri Tahr is a rare species thatrsquos endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and itrsquos soon going to be part of an engaging comic book titled Vallirsquos Nilgiri Adventures thatrsquos presented by World Wide Fund for NatureIndia WWFIndia and penned by Mamta Nainy and Arthy Muthanna Singh Ahead of its launch by chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and Madhura Visweswaran philanthropy ambassador of Tamil Nadu WWFIndia Nainy inset shared that the book follows a schoolgirl called Valli on a trip with her classmates to the NilgirisldquoWe didnrsquot want to make the book too academic so we thought it might be a good idea to do it in a comic book format The real thrust is on observation and discovery mdash to encourage young readers to reinvent the ways of their engagement with the natural world and make them more empatheticrdquo said Nainy Radhika Suri director environment education WWFIndia added that the title was conceptualised out of their belief that books are one of the most effective ways of teaching children to care for the planet ldquoIt will inspire the children of Tamil Nadu to conserve their state animalrdquo she saidClassroom on wheelsThe past year has highlighted a discouraging gap in access to digital classrooms In an attempt to bridge that gap Ashok Kurmi a social worker has turned a 25seater school bus into a mobile classroom for kids from marginalised backgrounds Launched on August 15 the bus has been equipped with books charts tiny blackboards and stationery and is currently stationed at the old Antop Hill Post OfficeldquoThe bus was lying in the parking lot for a year Wersquove been conducting classes on the bus for twothree hours every morning and evening while following socialdistancing While older kids have still managed to study online the fiveto10 age group has suffered This is aimed at themrdquo Kurmi hopes to take the bus across the city on a rotational basisIndie notes of diversitySince its inception in 2004 the Toto Music Award has become one of the most soughtafter platforms for indie Indian music In their second digital avatar they are calling for applications across all genres styles and languages in original music Anurag Shanker from the Toto Music team shared that they are on the lookout for young independent thinkers from the field of music ldquoWersquore trying to showcase all kinds of diversities because we feel that therersquos a lot of music out there thatrsquos yet to be explored We aim to reach people in the deeper trenches of India and its cultural diasporardquo Shanker said Interested folk can head to totomusicindia on Instagram for application detailsPicturing kindnessIn the followup to World Photography Day that was on August 19 Kiran Nadar Museum of Art is conducting an online photography competition based on the theme act of kindness Accordingly young photographers are being encouraged to look at the world around them and capture such acts Therersquos also a cash prize of R50000 for the winner ldquoAs a country we came together to help total strangers during the second wave The stories of kindness have been inspiring We wanted to try and capture this moment in history therefore the idea for the competition was born We hope to inspire young photographers to look deep into their lenses and capture the mood and feeling of kindnessrdquo Kiran Nadar the museumrsquos founder told this diarist To register visit knmainPhotofilled weekTill August 28 check out Mumbaibased arts foundation G5Arsquos series of popup photobook libraries reading rooms and photobook shops across different Indian cities This curation is part of their World Photography Day celebrations and will be held in Ahmedabad Bengaluru Chennai Kalimpong Mumbai New Delhi and PondicherryldquoAfter a long pause that we had to take after the second wave itrsquos great to be back with a collaboration like this I feel such a programme is incredible since it brings together visual artists patrons and the whole community at large Photobooks are not widely available or accessible and to have them here is the best way to kickstart things at the warehouse once againrdquo said Ishan Benegal associate artistic director at G5A