Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Breakthrough momentA man carries a wooden frame through Shivaji Park on WednesdayRakhis for AareyNature enthusiasts and adivasi members of Aarey celebrated Rakshabandhan by tying rakhi around plants in the urban forest Vriksha Bandhan involved tying rakhis made of areca plates painted with Warli motifs said Sushant Bali from the Youth For Aarey group which participated in the celebration He added that they hoped to highlight some pressing issues ldquoThe new state government promised to declare Aarey a protected forest but only 800 acres has been declared Despite the government claiming that the former metro car shed will be dismantled itrsquos not been done yet Wersquove sent them a letter saying wersquore happy to restore the area but havenrsquot heard backrdquo80 Watts of inspirationCharlie Watts passed away yesterday Keith Richards is still alive as is Mick Jagger The sense of loss that they must be feeling about Watts is unimaginable Watts was the drummercumcore member of one of the greatest rock lsquonrsquo roll bands of all time The Rolling Stones of which Jagger is the singer and Richards the guitarist When this diarist called Kahini Panjabi a drummer on the indie music scene she heard the news of Wattsrsquos death for the first time Her sense of loss was also real ldquoThis really feels that the world is coming to an endrdquo were the first words she said ldquoIf Charlie Watts dies anything can happenrdquo she continued Name a Rolling Stones song if you know one Whichever one it is the person behind the drums in that song Watts will never keep the beat again and thatrsquos sad But thatrsquos also how life is Watts was 80 years old He lived life to the fullest So letrsquos not mourn his death letrsquos celebrate his life Play a Rolling Stones song today in his memory and letrsquos make it count foreverRemembering Gailrsquos waysYesterday marked the passing of Americanborn Indian sociologist and human rights activist Gail Omvedt in pic who is remembered for her books on the anticaste movement and womenrsquos struggles in India Omvedt became an Indian citizen in 1983 and lived in rural Maharashtra Sunday midday columnist Sumedha RaikarMhatre who had written about a book named Culturally Correct Why We Chose The Buddha to which Omvedt contributed a seminal chapter spoke of her as being ldquoin a league of her own a scholar who understood India in its entirety like Maxine Berntsen the Americanborn linguist or late Eleanor Zelliot another American writer specialising in Indian historyrdquo She added ldquoIn the rsquo80s I often saw Gail at our womenrsquos rights congregations In addition to her unique perspective she would converse in very cutesounding Marathi which endeared her to usrdquoBoarding the mothershipHaving aced the roles of actor and mother Kalki Koechlin has now trained her sights on writing with her new graphic narrative titled The Elephant in the Womb About the book Koechlin told us ldquoWhile struggling with pregnancy and my new role as a mother it was my friends who helped me by sharing their rough times and dark phaseshellip journaling and doodling through my experience of having a baby I found my own version of unutterable truths unfoldingrdquo The title is pegged to be a funny and relatable account of pregnancy and parenting for mothers and aspiring and expectant mothers It touches upon hot topics such as the social stigma of abortions and unmarried pregnancies the toll that pregnancy takes on a body the unacknowledged domestic labour of women and the emotional rollercoaster of giving birthFur loversquos sakePoet Charles Bukowski may have described love as a dog from hell but as per Indian singles manrsquos best friend can very well help him or her find love Data shared by the dating app OkCupid on International Dog Day August 26 reveals that 67 per cent of users would either love to have a furry friend or already do Daters also have a soft spot for rescued animals with 81 per cent users saying that they would date a person who rescues stray animals and brings them home Confirming this further 66 per cent preferred to adopt a pet rather than purchase one from a breeder