Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Hear hear to make a positive changeIn order to leverage the popularity of podcasts to amplify change podcasting platform Hubhopper Studio has started an initiative Power of Podcasts inviting NGOs activists educators mental health advocates and creators to share their vision through the audio medium Hubhopper will support them with tutorial videos and selfhelp decks Founder and CEO Gautam Raj Anand shared that the initiative has been launched in the run up to International Podcast Day on September 30 ldquoPodcasts have one of the most engaged audiences Itrsquos important that we support people who want to create positive changerdquoBreak the silence around suicideWith the pandemic bringing on different kinds of uncertainties experts have time and again flagged how mental health emergencies including suicide are on the rise ldquoOne in 20 people have thoughts of suicide From a limited number of psychologists to the lack of knowledge resources regarding suicide prevention in India arenrsquot enoughrdquo pointed out suicidologist Nyana Sabharwal founder of Mumbaibased Safe Space a mental health service which trains people in first response To help increase awareness and build advocacy the Indian Association of Private Psychiatry along with Safe Space is conducting TASPC 2021 or Trauma Addiction and Suicide Prevention Conference The virtual event on September 25 and 26 will feature 12 speakers from across the world and open up a conversation about this oftenoverlooked reality ldquoWersquoll look at the latest evidencebased research tools and methodologies on suicide prevention with a focus on trauma and addictionrdquo she shared The larger aim is to get people to recognise that those around them might have thoughts of suicide ldquoFive out of six people will not die by suicide if they get the help they needrdquo To be part of this conversation head to safespaceintaspc to registerA poetic tributeDeepankar Khiwani was a Mumbaibased poet who passed away last year and to honour his legacy poetry collective The Quarantine Train TQT instituted the Deepankar Khiwani Memorial Prize Now in its second edition the prize aims to recognise three Indian poets writing in English Poet and TQT founder Arjun Rajendran told this diarist that the platform is accepting submissions till December 15 and Kinjal Sethia is the prize chair ldquoDeepankar was a close friend who left a significant impression on me I looked up to him He was welltravelled had wonderful memory and was very humble His passing was a shock He had always wanted to do something for literature and poetry in India I started TQT in April and it felt only natural to institute a prize as a tribute to himrdquo he saidHitting new milestonesInteractive childrenrsquos activities organised by MSM in the 1970sEarlier this week the Museum Society of Mumbai MSM a cultural organisation thatrsquos part of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS celebrated their 58th anniversary Spanning nearly six decades the society handinhand with the museum has dedicatedly carried out activities in fields of Indian art and culture Formed under the vision and directorship of Dr Moti Chandra the first director of CSMVS and Surovi Bhattacharjee the first chairperson of MSM the society saw people from all walks of life including expats still residing in Mumbai postIndependence who brought the culture of museums with them ldquoThere were activities for all I joined the society in the mid1970s I had just finished university thenrdquo recalls current chairperson Pheroza Godrej ldquoThe museum and the society have always been considered as one we are one happy family The whole purpose of the museum when it was created was to bring people to the museum and interact In the last 20 years that has really developedrdquo she addedParrots on winged patrolBirds on a wire or more aptly parrots on a string This is a recent evening scene at Tagore Road Santacruz West where the parrots blend in with the green beyond Above one could also see planes taking off from the airport and flying over these birds Wings everywhere and in a world where pandemicinduced restrictions curb mobility we envy these avian lovelies and their freedom