Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

What an idea sirjiNonessential shops are allowed to be open only for a few hours under the existing unlock rules but we wonder if the same applies to this hawker who turned his car into a mobile shop parked on a street in Borivli West on FridayRapper missing after online abuseThis is worrying news We had reported in these pages earlier this week about how MC Kode a 23yearold Delhibased rapper had been receiving online threats which were extended to his family too This was after a video went viral of him using cuss words in relation to the Mahabharata and Bhagwad Gita while taking part in a rap cypher as a teenager Now news emerges that he has gone missing after he wrote what seems like a suicide note on Instagram saying he was standing on a bridge by the Yamuna river In it he said ldquoPlease donrsquot bother the people associated with me give them time to grieve I do not blame anyone for anything but myself A relief from my own existence is going to serve as the punishment that the entire country wantedrdquo We hear that the police is searching various stretches for a clue since there has been no information on his whereabouts sinceA filmy muralThe enduring popularity of Sholay or to be more specific that of Veeru the character Dharmendra portrayed in the iconic film will be captured on the wall of a bungalow in Bandrarsquos Chapel Road Thatrsquos where The Bollywood Art Project BAP is in the process of painting a mural of the popular character BAP founder Ranjit Dahiya shared that he had been keen on commemorating the actor through his art for a long time He added ldquoSo when I saw this apt wall I decided that I have to pay respect to one of the biggest stars that Bollywood has ever seenrdquoLeafing throughThane cartoonist Ravi Rane marked World Environment Day which is today with the power of his sketch pen He drew two illustrations of trees One in pic features a tree taking revenge on those who wield the axe with impunity ldquoThe other cartoon has a felled tree whose lines are exposed The tree tells a palmist lsquoI have lines and just like you read the lines on human hands read these lines that talk about a dark future if people continue chopping us like thisrsquordquo Thatrsquos a hardhitting messageWord playUrdu is a language that is filled with beautiful words and one of them is lsquoraabtarsquo which loosely translates to lsquoan incommunicable bond between two soulsrsquo Thatrsquos the word that is the focus of a new poetry competition that arts collective The Plated Project has organised with online poetry platform The Alipore Project People have to send in an English verse themed on lsquoraabtarsquo though it canrsquot be longer than 25 words When this diarist asked The Alipore Post founder Rohini Kejriwal about that word limit she said ldquoI canrsquot yet disclose the medium that we will be publishing the poems on but itrsquos one that suits smaller pieces of writingrdquo Email your entry to thealiporepostgmailcom by June 11 if you feel that you have what it takes Acquiring a taste for artFood has taken on a new meaning during the pandemic since it has brought solace to many people when the times have been difficult But the folks at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art KNMA feel that people breaking bread with each other despite being in isolation having been brought together digitally is a form of art in itself Thatrsquos the focus of a series they are restarting after a break due to the pandemic Itrsquos called ArtxFood and explores the intersection between art and culinary culture The first episode features chef Tejasvi Chandela in pic founder of confectionery brand All Things Chocolate We asked KNMA founder Kiran Nadar the sort of role that food has played in bringing people together when the going has been tough She replied ldquoWhile many cooked for pleasure during the first lockdown people have been cooking for others during the second one truly coming together for a common cause That in itself is a form of public artrdquo