Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Making a SplashA few kids make the most of a rainy day at Shivaji ParkMusic to their earsExactly a week ago we had written in this section about how different stakeholders within the independent music industry could step in to help out artistes in their time of need One of the solutions that cropped up was offering them funding platforms Thatrsquos exactly what online platform The Indian Music Diaries TIMD digital distribution company OK Listen and audio production firm Nuke Sound are doing with Udaan a monetary benefit and mentorship programme that will provide one participant selected each month funds worth Rs 70000 till January 2022 to help master market and distribute two tracks ldquoWe wanted to pool in our combined resources to propel the careers of the artistes forwardrdquo TIMD founder Akshay Kapoor told this diaristFarewell Giraben the design visionaryGira Sarabhai Pic CourtesyWikimedia Commons left Radhi ParekhPioneering institution builder and architect Gira Sarabhai who played a foundational role in establishing the National Institute of Design NID and the Calico Museum of Textiles passed away this week in Ahmedabad Radhi Parekh founderdirector of Kala Ghodabased ARTISANSrsquo shared that Giraben as she was fondly known trained at Taliesin West studio in Arizona with architect Frank Lloyd Wright ldquoShe designed not only the culture and curricula at NID but the campus as well which she and her brother Gautam envisaged She established foundational resources for design in India At NID global design thinkers trained the emerging designers of independent India and at Calico Museum academic researchers documented Indiarsquos textiles for publication Her pioneering vision lives on through generations of educators students artisans researchers and collaborators whorsquove come through these doorsrdquo she revealed Parekh reminisced about meeting Giraben at the Calico Museum ldquoWhen I finally met the formidable Giraben she was dressed in her signature mismatch of modest handmade textiles and peered at me from behind a book To me she embodied the eclectic appreciation for art craft and design that I encountered at NIDrdquo she recollected adding that Giraben left us the unique legacy of holding dear the traditions of India while embracing contemporary technologies and addressing the universal concerns of our timeObamarsquos dreams for YA readersThe life of former president of the United States of America Barack Obama has been anything but ordinary In his book Dreams from My Father the politician deepdives into his personal journey beginning with New York where Obama learns of his fatherrsquos death in a car accident then to a small town in Kansas from where he retraces the migration of his motherrsquos family to Hawaii and then to Kenya where he meets the African side of his family and many other emotional pitstops on the way to understanding his identity Now wersquore happy to learn that the memoir is being adapted for young adults and will also be available unabridged as a new audiobook read by the author Thatrsquos a journey to look forward toWildlife lensman turns his focus on kids with cancerSloth bears at Daroji Karnataka PicRamki SreenivasanWhen Bengalurubased entrepreneur conservationist and wildlife photographer Ramki Sreenivasan was recovering from stagefour lung cancer he realised that he had access to valuable support systems He also understood that a large section of the population had little or no access to prohibitively expensive cancer treatment ldquoIrsquove been looking for ways to pay back and figured that I could use two things I know best to try and help the cause mdash wildlife and photographyrdquo shared Sreenivasan about his website Wildlife for Cancer It offers a wide variety of wildlife photographs proceeds from which are sent to Iksha Foundation which helps underprivileged children affected by retinoblastoma a form of eye cancer To lend him a hand log on to wildlifeforcancercomBus ka dumAs part of its campaign to address the importance of urban busbased public transport in protecting the environment Punebased NGO Parisar is inviting artists to create art to help them spread the word They are looking for artworks videos or photographs that underline the issue and selected entries will be shared with the state environment minister said Swati Pathak senior project associate and campaign manager ldquoItrsquos a continuation of our Lakh ko 50 Bus campaign Wersquore working on a report to highlight this link between buses and the environment which is often ignoredrdquo Head to parisar_org on Instagram for more details