Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Aiming for the skiesA couple of youngsters watch a flock of pigeons take flight at Girgaum Chowpatty on TuesdayThe female voiceBritish radio pioneer Annie Mac recently lamented the lack of female representation in global music while retiring from the BBC The issue is prevalent in the music business in India as well feels industry body Indian Performing Rights Society IPRS Thatrsquos why they have launched a campaign called EmpowerHerMusic to give a legup to women who aspire towards a career in music It will kick off on July 8 with a onehour session titled Education in Music which will involve Sonali and Ashish Mehra founders of Gurgaonbased music school Music Meleti talking about how female artistes can apply for 25000 courses across 400plus universities across the world ldquoEven though the number is still very less we have started to witness female creators making their mark in the industryrdquo shared IPRS CEO Rakesh Nigam in pic adding that this campaign seeks to improve the situationStriving for an equal worldThink about it When we come across LGBTQiA characters in mainstream films or shows they are often presented as caricatures with comedic traits Or in the case of the trans community as beggars on the streets This needs to change feels activistperformer Sushant Divgikar who is part of a discussion titled Queering Art Advocating Space as part of the yearlong series of events called Culture Connects that begins today Divigikar along with fellow activists Rudrani Chettri Anwesh Sahoo and Sharif Rangnekar will talk about how homophobia plays out in the creative arts and how queer artistes are seen with a heteronormative lens ldquoWhen mainstream media and pop culture represents LGBTQiA characters we are always considered as lsquothe otherrsquo Films are a huge platform but when you have that power and send out the wrong message it does more harm than good Even though you have changed laws how are you taking equal rights forward on humanitarian grounds when you do thatrdquo Divgikar in pic asked Good questionWhy itrsquos important to be vulnerableThe essays consist of slides with infographic panels that explain the subjectAgents of Ishq AOI is a platform that promotes progressive conversations around sex and relationships It has now launched a monthly series called Bole Toh AOI ka Chhotu Essay which explains a subject with eight to 10 infographic panels that dissect it The first edition is themed on lsquoWithout vulnerability there is no revolutionrsquo and shows what vulnerability feels like and what happens when we share the emotion ldquoWe will explore the theme of friendship in Augustrdquo shared AOI founder Paromita Vohra Log on to agentsofishq on Instagram to follow the seriesThe heat is onThe ongoing tussle between the National Restaurants Association of India NRAI and food aggregator apps Zomato and Swiggy has now taken an official turn NRAI has filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India about alleged malpractices of these platforms including charging arbitrary commissions NRAI president Anurag Katriar said that they have been in talks with Zomato and Swiggy for about a year now ldquoBut we decided to seek regulatory intervention when nothing seemed to be getting resolvedrdquo he addedBake it or break it at this contestFor culinary enthusiasts the online platform Cook A Dream has launched the second virtual edition of the Bakerrsquos Arena contest open to bakers across the board mdash young cooks aged between 12 and 18 years home bakers or culinary students and professionals The competition has gone virtual Its founder Deepa Iyer in pic shared how they will judge the contestants in such a scenario ldquoWe work with only the best chefs who are used to judging and evaluating recipes based on the look and feel of it and proportions of the recipesrdquo she shared Along with a cash award of 10000 winners can look forward to other prizes too ldquoWe are offering a 21day curated baking course hampers and a bumper prize for the best contestantrdquo says cofounder Sumit Jha To take part visit cookadreamchallengecom and send in your entry by July 8