The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
PIC/ATUL KAMBLE
Borivli’s canvas for Bappa
(From left) A sketcher at work; a finished sketch by Deepika Ramshetty. PICS COURTESY/SUBURBAN SKETCHERS; Deepika Ramshetty
As Mumbai begins preparations for Bappa’s arrival, Suburban Sketchers, an art community, recently visited a Ganpati workshop in Borivli to witness the beloved deity being sculpted to life in various shapes and forms. The group documented the artistic process in various stages of completion for three hours. “We went to see the process of how the idols are made, what goes on behind the scenes, the working conditions and how different parts are cast and put together,” revealed Deepika Ramshetty, co-founder, Suburban Sketchers. The group also plans to visit a Ganpati pandal in the suburbs to document the festivities through their sketches.
Bird’s AI view
Cinnamon Bittern. PIC COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
An old birdie told us about a new initiative that is rewinding time for nature enthusiasts. Before phones became the norm, naturalists often jotted down their notes from the field the old-school way. These seemingly valueless records of bird sightings will help experts at the State of India’s Birds (SoIB) get a new perspective. “Any data, even as old as the 1970s, will help us determine long-term trends. We’ll be using AI to read and classify handwritten notes and upload the data to ebird.org, the open-to-all repository of birds worldwide. After careful manual analysis, we can draw inferences on population trends,” Sanjeev Menon, project manager, SoIB. Submissions have started pouring in, including data on species like the Cinnamon Bittern, Little Swift and River Tern, from as long back as 1987. Those keen to share their own notes, can log on to stateofindiasbirds.in.
Man of the hour
Subhajit Mukherjee at a rainwater harvesting site in Malad. PIC COURTESY/MISSION GREEN MUMBAI
Subhajit Mukherjee, an environmentalist working closely with the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, an initiative of the Government of India, recently gained unexpected global recognition after getting featured on SVT1, a Swedish television channel. A short clip explored Mukherjee’s efforts in efficient rainwater management in the country. “This international recognition is not just for me, but for the nation,” Mukherjee told us, adding that it is great to see that the world is recognising the effort that began in India almost five years ago. His future goals involve training individuals and NGOs, including schools and colleges on conservation of water, implying a need to implement rainwater harvesting techniques at the grassroots level, to save the valuable resource.
Park and read
Readers at a recent session by the lake in SGNP. PIC COURTESY/SGNP READS
Borivali’s silent reading club, SGNP Reads, smashed a hundred out of the park with their 100th meeting yesterday. “Reading amidst the green cover in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) is a whole different experience in itself. It is possibly why park-goers, friends and strangers have joined us in great numbers over these meets,” founder Amanda D’Souza told this diarist. The National Park has grown equally fond of the group, we learn. “Sundays can get crowded at the park. But in recent times, ticketing personnel spot us standing in the queue from afar, and hand us our tickets before we even ask for it,” the founder told this diarist.
Sing in the train
(From left) Krutika Borkar, Aarti Satyapal, Rasika Borkar, Nikita Ghate and Sakshi Marathe perform inside a ladies’ compartment. PIC COURTESY/KONKAN COLLECTIVE
The girls of the Konkan Collective from Bandra got a taste of the King Khan experience when they jammed to Chaiyya Chaiyya on a Mumbai local on July 15. “We had initially planned to record it at home. But it just felt right to record it on the train,” shared member Nikita Ghate. Spurred by a last-minute decision, the quintet decided to catch a late-night train to Churchgate and record the song on the way. “We did not even have someone to help. We just used a selfie stick and a tripod. I was shy initially, but the vibe was so fun, and no one bothered us. We chose this take because even the train passing in the background was in perfect sync,” she revealed.
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