<h2>Ticket to heaven</h2>
<p>A bus conductor joins a pedestrian in offering prayers outside the Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi.</p>
<h2>Laddoos for Christmas</h2>
<p><img title="The Christmas tree made with laddoos. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2021/dec/dos-twenty-three-b_e.jpg" alt="The Christmas tree made with laddoos. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>The Christmas tree made with laddoos. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar</em></strong></p>
<p>We have heard of innovative Christmas trees before, but we have never heard of one made with laddoos. That&rsquo;s exactly what the team behind Meetha by Radisson, a boutique sweetshop at a Goregaon hotel, has done. They have built an eight-foot-tall tree made entirely out of laddoos to mark the festive season. Hotel manager Santosh Singh shared, &ldquo;Decor like a gingerbread house or Christmas tree is always there in most hotels around this time. But the core operational team including the chef, marketing associates and I came up with this concept to do something different. The tree was created by our halwai, chef Rajwendar. We will take it down after Christmas and all the laddoos will be recycled into halwa that we will distribute among the underprivileged.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>Merry in Malad</h2>
<p><img title="Merry in Malad" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2021/dec/dos-twenty-three-d_e.jpg" alt="Merry in Malad" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>Orlem is a locality in Malad with a sizable Christmas community, who are soaking in the festive spirit thanks to a large Christmas tree that has been put up there. There is also a donation box under it, in which people can put in gifts that will be distributed to five local orphanages. Two restaurants called The Red Turtle, and Stacks and Racks, sponsored it and the tree is located close to both the joints on Link Road. Gavin Shaw, who owns the eateries, told this diarist that he also ran a separate charity drive where his corporate clients donated 500 gifts including full pencil boxes, books, deodorants and T-shirts, which will be distributed to the orphanages too. &ldquo;They are meant for children between the ages of two and 16,&rdquo; he shared about the good deed.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>An arty end to the year</h2>
<p><img title="MF Husain; (right) Lot no 35 by Tyeb Mehta" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2021/dec/dos-twenty-three-e_e.jpg" alt="MF Husain; (right) Lot no 35 by Tyeb Mehta" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>MF Husain; (right) Lot no 35 by Tyeb Mehta</em></strong></p>
<p>Those with deep pockets can end the year acquiring valuable artworks that will go under the hammer on December 27 and 28. The featured modern Indian artists include MF Husain, Jogen Chowdhury, Ram Kumar and FN Souza. &ldquo;The highlights of our auction among other works are two Tyeb Mehta pieces &mdash; lot no 14 and lot no 35 &mdash; that are appearing in an auction for the first time,&rdquo; shared Sunny Chandiramani, vice-president at Astaguru, the auction house concerned. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Making a human connection</h2>
<p><img title="Members of the Mumbai chapter of The Human Library Organisation" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2021/dec/dos-twenty-three-f_e.jpg" alt="Members of the Mumbai chapter of The Human Library Organisation" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Members of the Mumbai chapter of The Human Library Organisation</em></strong></p>
<p>The Human Library Organisation that&rsquo;s based out of Denmark realises the emptiness our pandemic-ridden world suffers. How do you survive without human connections? To not let our urge of sharing stories go waste, they have put out a call for submissions for being an &lsquo;open book&rsquo;. If you are someone who has stood out and defied stereotypes, someone who has wanted to fight off social and cultural stigma through meaningful dialogue, then the organisation is looking to accept your stories and publish you as an open book for their readers. Interested contributors can send their stories of discrimination or harassment to humanlibrary.org.</p>
<h2>A desi affair</h2>
<p><img title="Nathan Thomas and Dhir Mody; (right) Yung Raja" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2021/dec/dos-twenty-three-c_e.jpg" alt="Nathan Thomas and Dhir Mody; (right) Yung Raja" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Nathan Thomas and Dhir Mody; (right) Yung Raja</em></strong></p>
<p>When OML, the organisers of NH7 Weekender, announced a few weeks ago that the premier festival would return for an on-ground edition in February next year, they added a disclaimer that the line-up would consist predominantly of Indian artistes. Well, they have stayed true to their word, going by the list of performers they revealed this week for the 2022 edition. It&rsquo;s got one musician from abroad, Singapore-based Yung Raja. Otherwise, it&rsquo;s an all-Indian affair with bands like Peter Cat Recording Co and The Yellow Diary. Still, it gives many of these homegrown talents an opportunity to showcase their prowess on a big-stage festival after a while. Nathan Thomas, one half of live electronic act Drum Ani Bass along with Dhir Mody, pointed out how it&rsquo;s the first festival he&rsquo;ll play in after the pandemic. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll mostly play tracks from our album, 1403,&rdquo; he shared. Either way, it seems like we will have to wait for a while longer before noted international bands, and not solitary DJs, start filtering back to the country after the pandemic truly subsides.&nbsp;</p><p>
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Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

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