Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Superwoman over the rainbowCanadian actress comedian and Youtube star Lilly Singh aka Superwoman has a gift mdash she can use comedy to address serious social issues Feminism too has been a constant narrative in all her content So on Monday when the online superstar put up a tweet announcing that she was bisexual support came in from all corners over and above her followers who are often known as the Super TeamThroughout my life these have proven to be obstacles from time to time But now Im fully embracing them as my superpowers she wrote online as the Internet went crazy A few hours later she touched base again to thank her wellwishers and said Words cant describe how much it means I appreciate you all Group hugTurning 50 Bantai styleWhen Jehangir Mistry the dean of Xaviers Institute of Communications XIC inaugurated Istoria the annual festival of the PR batch he ended his speech with Yo mdash setting the mood for what was to follow on a Sunday evening as XIC celebrated 50 years This was the first time the festival hosted Soundscape a concert held in the colleges quadrangle area that was occupied with chairs So the challenge for performers was to literally get people off their seats It didnt take long for Raghav Meattle to invite the crowd near the stage with his soulstirring voice and eyesBut they vanished after his gig It was time for rap crew Bombay Lokal to convince people to get to their feet again And beatboxer Gaurav Gambhir aka Dcypher turned things around questioning if the students get excited only by the acoustic guitar We couldve been DJs but we didnt have money so we used our mouths to make sounds he said as the crew proceeded to deliver a powerpacked performance that this diarist will never forget They set the tone for the last act of the evening mdash Sushant Divgikar and his band Top Storey with Divgikars dad cheering them on All in all it was a night to remember No chairs next time maybeIts better late than neverEarlier this month an Instagram account called Scene and Herd which has been sharing the voices of those who have faced sexual abuse or predatory behaviour in the art scene called out Sumesh Sharma the cofounder of Clark House Initiative which served as the converging point for many artists from Mumbai After weeks of silence CHI finally issued a public statement on Monday afternoon announcing that Sharma would no longer be part of the initiativeWe stand in solidarity with all who have had the courage to speak up against sexual harassment powerplay or any kind of manipulative behaviour in Art the post read Well all we can say is better late than neverNo splitting pleaseManaging a circus called the prepoll alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena has become Chief Minister Devendra Fadnaviss primary task In a bid to maintain the brotherhood with the frenemy Fadnavis invited the Sena president legislators and ministers as well as BJPs legislators and ministers over a sumptuous dinner at his official residence Varsha on Monday When the authority at Varsha connected for assistance to prep for dinner one of the people responsible for it bowled the CM over with a googly when he told him that the seating would be separate for the BJP and SenaHe was even planning to mark the sections with nameplates The suggestion had the CM and his staff in splits Fadnavis coolly explained to the officer that the purpose of the dinner was to not create any further rift between the two parties but to bring them together The officer was instructed to create a freeforall seating where legislators could mingle and bond across party lines With demarcations being phased out it will now be interesting to read how the alliance functions for the overall benefit of both partnersMumbaikar takes centre stageSahitya Rangbhoomi Pratisthans TendulkarDubey fellowship for young theatre artistes was awarded in Pune yesterday and among the five recipients is Mumbaibased artiste Abhinav Grover Grover recently directed a production based on the intertextuality of the Ramayana and the classic Waiting for Godot and was part of Deewar a play by Prithviraj Kapoor which was revisited in November 2018Such appreciation is special It is not easy to be an artiste the support of teachers parents and friends is what keeps one going At the same time you need the drive to carry on even in the absence of such accolades Grover told this diarist The other recipients include Punebased Nachiket Devasthali Sayalee Phatak and Suyog Deshpande and Delhis Neel SenguptaOn the runHardik Pandya rushes out of the airport on Monday before someone catches him for sexist comments again PicDatta KumbharCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates