The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Uday Devrukhkar
Water babies
Students practise footwork under the vigilant eye of their swimming trainer in Vile Parle’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Smarak Samiti Jaltaran Talav.
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Blooming good news
Nestled in the plateaus of Satara, is a wild flower that’s got naturalists all excited. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) assisted in the discovery of a species of flowering plant, Lepidagathis mahakassapae. The study was undertaken in 2019, when experts found an interesting plant belonging to the Genus Lepidagathis. In two years, the plant was compared with other species of Lepidagathis in India, and was traced to similar habitats in south-western states. The species is new to science, and found only in Satara. The plant boasts a peculiarity; it does not grow upright, but spreads like a matted bed. About the discovery, Dr Bivash Pandav, director at BNHS, noted, “The presence of new endemic species enhances the significance of conservation of these plateau habitats.”
How to brew a classical note
Here’s some good news for tea drinkers and musicians. The Taj Mahal Tea House will organise a music performance over tea at their Bandra venue. The stage will be open to any interested performer, and will offer a chance to showcase their skills. “We have been conducting these musical evenings for years,” shared Javed Badsha Mulla, the tea house’s manager. “Through this concert, we hope to promote two of our passions — tea and Indian classical music.” Scheduled for June 19, interested artistes can log on to @TajMahalTeaHouse on Facebook to register for the event.
Literary highs in Old Blighty
Speakers at a previous edition of JLF London
Book fairs were one of the many casualties that bore the brunt of the pandemic. Now, fans who missed Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) London can cheer with its return in a physical avatar later this week (June 10 to 12). Sanjoy K Roy, managing director of Teamwork Arts, the organiser, told this diarist, “This year will see an array of themes and sessions covering some of the most relevant topics from the contemporary world. The programming will see International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree, Booker Prize-winning author Howard Jacobson, historian Yasmin Khan and novelist Colin Thubron, among other noteworthy names.” Shrabani Basu, who has written the titles Spy Princess and For King And Another Country, is delighted that the event is back at the British Library in full form after two years. “It is a chance to meet with old friends, make some new ones, and enjoy a variety of sessions,” she shared with us.
Shrabani Basu; Sanjoy K Roy
Radio ga-ga from another era
The Radio Club of Bombay. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons
Listening to music on the radio has been pushed to the back burner, thanks to cooler devices and options. Sepia-tinted frames of Indian families seated around Murphy radios to tune into All India Radio are now the stuff of nostalgic IG posts. Over the weekend, our in-house city chronicler stumbled upon a few milestones that happened in June and went on to revolutionise Indian radio. Broadcasting began 13 years before All India Radio was set up; this was in June 1923 when the Radio Club of Bombay made the first-ever broadcast in India. Back then, radio clubs came under the Indian Broadcasting Corporation that was inaugurated by Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, but it wound up three years later. Finally, in June, 1936, All India Radio was started and the rest is history.
For an inclusive flight
A moment from a POV session on the basics of social media
Point of View, Mumbai, a non-profit organisation aimed at building marginalised voices, is set to see its advocacy school programme for young girls and women in Jharkhand take flight. Udaan teaches women the difference between fighting and advocating for causes. The project continued for six months through 12 sessions and intensive workshops. “We have worked with 240 participants, and they were asked to choose gender norms that they want to change. Advocacy trains you in expecting real reforms within realistic time-frames. For instance, if a young girl wants to work on the gender norm that she can’t wear what she wants or she can’t study the subject of her choice, we teach her how to go about advocating for it,” Swarali Marathe, project co-lead for Udaan, told this diarist. The project will now be implemented by women in their communities.
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