Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Immersed in faithTwo devotees bid goodbye to Lord Ganesha while his idol is carried for immersion past Lalbaug over the weekendBound for BaselArt Basel is a globally recognised event thatrsquos held every year in Switzerland Hong Kong and the US connecting artists with prospective buyers Two Indian galleries mdash Chemould Prescott Road from Mumbai and Exprimenter from Kolkata mdash are part of the roster this year when the event returns in a physical format after a yearrsquos gap Chemould is exhibiting artworks born out of the pandemic thanks to the likes of Atul Dodiya in pic Mithu Sen and Jitish Kallat Speaking about how this tumultuous period has had an effect on artists Chemould founder Shireen Gandhy said ldquoWhile some went silent and some were unable to access their studios others sat by a desk and drew every day and some were productive like never before Each artist was at their own rhythmrdquoWalk the talkFrom left Mumbaikars Giriraj Prasad Meena KK Madhoosudan Nair and Gajanan Hedaoo and Lt Col Sandesh Agarwal took part in the walkathonThe Oxfam Trailwalker Challenge that took place last week had four Mumbaikars contributing towards a good cause mdash raising money for people affected by the pandemic Gajanan Hedaoo Lt Col Sandesh Agarwal KK Madhoosudan Nair and Giriraj Prasad Meena covered over 17 hours each virtually having physically participated in the same event earlierldquoMy son is my motivation as he is the one whorsquos always encouraging me to stay fit I have participated in 15 full marathons and 60 half marathonsrdquo shared Nair Kudos to the quartetNirav Modi makes it to a bookThe twists and turns of the Nirav Modi case will soon find its way to the screen with a series being produced on a book that journalist Pavan C Lall has written titled Flawed The Rise and Fall of Indiarsquos Diamond Mogul Nirav Modi Hachette Itrsquos a dramatised take on the reallife story that unravels the persona of the man behind one of Indiarsquos biggest financial scandal and Lall in pic shared ldquoIt is an extremely exciting opportunity and I am thrilled to be a part of this booktoscreen adaptation journey This title is my effort to bring to the audience the tale of a largerthanlife entrepreneur mdash his spectacular rise and equally dramatic fall which brought an entire industry to its kneesrdquoJolly good fellowsThe Sahitya Akademi has announced the list of writers for its fellowship this year the highest honour it accords It features Ruskin Bond in pic whorsquos written over 300 stories essays and novels There is also Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay a Bengali novelist who began his professional career as a teacher before turning to journalism Malayalam writer literary critic and educationist M Leelavathy and Marathi author Dr Bhalchandra Nemade among others including Tamil writer Indira ParthasarthyKorea calling for IndiaThe Korean Tourism Organisation KTO in India is spreading its home countryrsquos culture virtually this year It launched KExperience last week a roughly twomonth long celebration of all things Korean from food to music to films Those involved include artistes Alexa and Shraey Khanna inset and an asyetunannounced film star who will whip up Korean grub on a televised show Skincare masterclasses and Kdrama screenings are also on the lineup There is also a social media challenge that entries are being called for where users need to create videos of the Korean experience based on food music beauty and film log on to kxperiencebookmyshowcom to find out more ldquoAs a Korean artiste I am pleased to collaborate with KTO to bring me closer to my fans in India I love dancing and partnering with Shraey Khanna for a danceoff was an absolute pleasure I have been observing the fondness for Korean culture in India and cannot wait to virtually connectrdquo Alexa below shared