Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

The weight is overAn elderly man checks a womans weight for her at the foot overbridge in Santacruz West on TuesdayBack in timeThe building on Sir Pherozeshah Mehta Road with a statue of Goddess LakshmiMany Mumbaikars use Sir Pherozeshah Mehta Road every day not realising its historical significance but a virtual walk of this stretch hopes to share these gems with participants The road played a significant role in the development of Bombay as it was the first EastWest corridor and it became the most important commercial and financial centre It is also the earliest expression of a distinctly Indian identity as expressed in its Art Deco architecture embellished with Indian symbols including agricultural motifs and etchings of the Goddess Lakshmi shared Atul Kumar foundertrustee of Art Deco Mumbai To sign up check out facebookcomartdecomumbaiKidding with booksIts a good time for children to be exposed to the best of writers apart from the ones featured in their school curriculum And Storytrails that offers storybased learning programmes for kids has a new initiative in that direction As part of their book club theyve put out a host of online workshops for children aged between eight and 13 years centred on the works of wellknown authors such as Ruskin Bond and Roald Dahl and one on RK Narayan in pic that will be held this afternoon Each hourlong session will be conducted by expert storytellers After each story we pause for interaction with the children and share interesting trivia about the author In todays times we find that parents are very keen to introduce children to Indian writers like Bond and Narayan who write about a different time shared Lakshmi Shankar who manages operations at StorytrailsLeaving for a great gig in the skyNot many people in India might have heard of Alexi Laiho But the frontman of Finnish band Children of Bodom was a behemoth in the global metal scene with his music appearing on charts in both the UK and US Laiho passed way after prolonged illness on Tuesday and its a testament to the 41yearolds popularity that there was an outpouring of grief even among people in the Indian music circuit Uddipan Sarmah of indie act Aswekeepsearching is one of the people who paid tribute to him on social media Sarmah told this diarist When I picked up the guitar back in college one of the first songs I played was Every time I die by Children of Bodom I was really into Scandinavian melodic death metal and was a fan of his melodies and signature guitar It was the right time for me to start following him and I also watched him perform live when he came to BangaloreAn artistic eye on the futureWe are staring at an uncertain digital future with rapid technological advancements being made across disciplines But what role does art have to play in making sense of it all That is what the Delhibased Khoj International Artists Association seeks to explore with an open call for artists to submit projects that think through possible digital futures be it deep fakes invading social media timelines or art in the age of posttruth Indranjan Banerjee programme manager at Khoj shared with us We are looking at a vast range of creative practitioners and are open to entries that lie at the intersection of art design and technology Visit khojworkshoporg to apply by February 28Musical inroadsAspiring musicians take note Trinity Laban of Music and Dance a premier music school in the UK is collaborating with Mumbais Furtados School of Music to offer three online courses to students in India They include piano and strings masterclasses and one on music theory Leena Mistry who manages the international programmes for Trinity Laban told this diarist Participants will develop new techniques and explore music interpretation Log on to trinitylabanacuk to register