Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Living on a prayerWith places of worship shut in the city a woman seeks divine blessings from outside the closed gate of a temple in Wadala on Ram NavamiMangrove magicArtwork that Nayan Shrimali and Vaishali Chudasama contributed for the initiativeMinistry of Mumbairsquos Magic a platform to unite citizens in protecting the cityrsquos green spaces had recently launched an initiative called MakeArtForMumbaisMangroves as part of its Biodiversity by the Bay festival where they called upon citizens to contribute artworks that highlight the importance of Mumbairsquos wetlands A series of these pieces mdash by artists including Afrah Shafiq and Michelle Poonawalla mdash will be launched today to mark Earth Day ldquoOur ambition is to invigorate a sense of collective ownership among citizens at large to unite to protect these biodiversity hotspotsrdquo shared Arpita Bhagat of Ministry of Mumbairsquos MagicArt despatch from AlleppeyKeen followers of the Kochi Biennale in the city herersquos some interesting news At the ongoing Lokame Tharavadu exhibition artist Anpu Varkeyrsquos 45metre long handpainted mural can be spotted on the compound walls of the William Goodacre and Sons factory in Alleppey ldquoAlleppey is known for its coir industry I was keen on bringing up the aspect of the lives of people there The image depicts two hands in a tug of war Itrsquos a reflection of the labour of the people there that is best symbolised by handsrdquo Varkey told this diaristSounds from OzScores of Mumbaikars this diarist being one of them along with global fans tuned in last afternoon to watch awardwinning band Tame Impala led by musician Kevin Parker perform their seminal debut album Innerspeaker from start to finish as a way of celebrating the albumrsquos 10year anniversary Online tickets to the gig 10 a pop which was livestreamed from Wave House mdash the legendary studio located four hours from the bandrsquos hometown of Perth and perched on the Indian Ocean mdash is where Parker recorded the album a decade ago The band brought their album to life and gave viewers a frontseat ticket to their performance against the backdrop of a deep pink and purple sky This was definitely a memorable afternoon for all those stuck at home due to the pandemic and bore resemblance to this time last year when streaming gigs online became a common phenomenon for artistes worldwideA quarantine tune for kidsFrom Chennaibased musicians Manikandan Chembai and KiAM comes an anthem for children stuck in quarantine Quarantinu released earlier this month is a Tamil track that attempts to capture the shenanigans of children bound at home ldquoThe song was written by artist KiAM and Irsquove put together the production part of it Itrsquos more of a folk song since that would be more relatable to local audiences as well and since we reference things like Spiderman and Hulk in the lyrics wersquove added some electronic elements to it as well The lyrics are jovial and childish and thatrsquos the beauty of itrdquo Chembai in pic told this diarist ldquoWe decided to get two kids to sing a lot of the vocals to retain the innocence of the song It didnrsquot have to be pitchperfect it needed to have that element of fun The kidsrsquo presence made the track perfectrdquo he added You can check it out on spotifyinAnswering the call for helpOn January 23 this year this newspaper had written about Gita Karade a 14yearold girl from Latur whose parents were left without any source of income as farm labourers due to the pandemic Gita had then taken it upon herself to borrow a phone from an NGO worker to learn a new skill to help her family out and started watching YouTube videos on stitching items such as scarves and doormats selling them for about 150 But now she has her own smartphone to conduct her business thanks to Nakshatra Reddy mdash actors Sushama Meghna and Sameera Reddyrsquos mother mdash who donated the gadget to her moved by the article published in this paper by Special Investigations Editor Vinod Kumar Menon ldquoI feel that what I have done is just a drop in the ocean But I am happy to be that droprdquo she told this diarist Thank you Mrs Reddy for being a Midday supporter It gives our newsroom no greater joy than to know wersquove influenced change