<h2>Push and pull</h2>
<p>A man wheels two handcarts past a waiting train on a platform at Mumbai Central railway station</p>
<h2>New-school ideas</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2025/feb/Outdoor-school_e.jpg" alt="An outdoor class in session " width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>An outdoor class in session</em></strong></p>
<p>A new open university has been unveiled in Lokhandwala, and it&rsquo;s not the kind you&rsquo;d imagine. Beyond the walls of a traditional school, Angel Xpress, an open-air after-school at the Walawalkar Garden is helping underserved children brush up their basics in Mathematics and English. &ldquo;The idea is for volunteers, both young students and retired professionals, to come together and contribute a few hours every week to help children catch up with their courses in school,&rdquo; shared centre manager Maya Rohera. The Lokhandwala space is the latest venture by the organisation among many other initiatives across Mumbai. Those keen on lending a helping hand can reach out to them at 9920347057.</p>
<h2>Mumbai through a new lens</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2025/feb/Photo-exhibitin_e.jpg" alt="Photographs captured by participants (from left) Firoz Shaikh and Nasim Shaikh" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Photographs captured by participants (from left) Firoz Shaikh and Nasim Shaikh</em></strong></p>
<p>Beauty, they say, lies in the eyes of the beholder. Opening today, MyMumbai 2025 Photo Exhibition, a one-day photo exhibition at the Mumbai Press Club by city-based NGO Pehchan will highlight photographs taken by members of the city&rsquo;s economically deprived sections. &ldquo;We distributed disposable film cameras among 50 young Mumbaikars in neighbourhoods such as Mahim, Parel and Tardeo.</p>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2025/feb/Brijesh-Arya_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>We received over 1,100 images by the end of the project. The idea was to give a section of society that is often stereotyped as troublemakers, a chance to shine. The exhibition will showcase 40 photographs from these works,&rdquo; Brijesh Arya (left), founder of the NGO, told us.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Sheeran&rsquo;s strings in the city</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2025/feb/Ed-Sitar_e.jpg" alt="Megha Rawoot (left) guides Ed Sheeran through a tune. PIC COURTESY/INSTAGRAM" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Megha Rawoot (left) guides Ed Sheeran through a tune. PIC COURTESY/INSTAGRAM</em></strong></p>
<p>If you have come across the video of Ed Sheeran jamming on the sitar, you&rsquo;d be surprised to know that it was Mumbaikar Megha Rawoot who guided him through the strings. Though his ongoing India tour has no Mumbai stops, Sheeran dropped by the city on February 7 to join Hindustani classical musicians for a jamming session. &ldquo;Ed visited us to catch a glimpse of the art form. I was jamming with a ghatam player when he asked me if he could try his hand at the sitar. It took him merely two minutes to learn a tune,&rdquo; shared Rawoot. Was the Mumbai session a part of something larger? Or are we just &lsquo;thinking out loud&rsquo;? Rawoot suggests we keep guessing until the pop star announces &ldquo;something exciting&rdquo; soon.</p>
<h2>Wheely good tunes in Andheri</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2025/feb/Auto-Karaoke_e.jpg" alt="Satyawan Gite sings a tune at a traffic signal. PIC COURTESY/INSTAGRAM" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Satyawan Gite sings a tune at a traffic signal. PIC COURTESY/INSTAGRAM</em></strong></p>
<p>Can a good old classic Bollywood tune make Mumbai&rsquo;s unforgiving traffic bearable? You&rsquo;re most likely to find out if you frequent Andheri, where autorickshaw driver Satyawan Gite belts out classics at traffic signals and stops. In conversation with this diarist following his viral fame on social media, Gite shared, &ldquo;I have been singing for the past 15 years. It&rsquo;s a hobby that I didn&rsquo;t want to leave behind while working.&rdquo; A native of Junnar district in Pune, he has also garnered attention in the past for his quirky additions to the interiors of his vehicle. &ldquo;I keep changing the theme with time. For now, I&rsquo;m going green with potted plants and artificial grass seats,&rdquo; he signed off. Now that&rsquo;s one auto-tune we don&rsquo;t mind getting behind.</p>
<h2>A tale of two cities</h2>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2025/feb/Chess-board_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Arzan Khambatta&rsquo;s reimagined chess pieces</em></strong></p>
<p>Artist and sculptor Arzan Khambatta has put a playful spin on the Mumbai versus Delhi debate with his latest creation &mdash; a chess set featuring 3D print sculptures of iconic structures of the two cities. Displayed alongside his exhibition, Suspended Animation, that opened last weekend, the artworks depict a juxtaposition between the heritage structures of both metropolises &mdash; from the Gateway of India and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai to the Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple in Delhi.</p>
<p><img src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2025/feb/Chess-white_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>&ldquo;I came across a London vs New York chess set about three years ago and thought why not do something similar in the Indian context,&rdquo; Khambatta revealed. Made over a period of one and half years, the sculptures are a labour of love for him. &ldquo;Usually, I sculpt using manual techniques, but this time we were experimental and decided to use 3D printing technology to get the features and intricate details of these monuments as close to the original ones as possible,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>
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Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

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