Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

As Mumbai steps into Unlock 1.0, two Mumbaikars practise Pranayam in the outdoors by the lakeside in Powai

Learning to exhale

As Mumbai steps into Unlock 1.0, two Mumbaikars practise Pranayam in the outdoors by the lakeside in Powai on Friday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Look who-s giving Kaneez a lesson in Hindi

Recently, comedian Cyrus Broacha released a hilarious video where he is in conversation with fellow comic Kaneez Surka in an attempt to make her talk in Hindi. What ensues, is an eight-minute long conversation where Surka flexes her pronunciation with some prodding from Broacha. They talk about the lockdown, Coronavirus and everything that is happening around us with humour.

Surka also tries to name things around her in Hindi. "She is a South African Indian; quite a unique combination. She is also the person who first introduced me to social media and made me create a Twitter account. So, it was time to have a fun conversation with her," Broacha told this diarist adding, "Kaneez hasn-t spent too much time here so her elementary Hindi is acceptable. It-s people like me who need to work on their Hindi and Marathi."

One for the artistes

It was earlier this month that The Stayin Alive Artist Emergency Fund SAAEF was created in partnership with Give India, to help those in the industry with grants to tide over the difficult financial situation during the COVID-19 crisis. SAEEF has now collected R3.2 lakh through donations and is inviting more. "The pandemic has put a stop to several major projects and cultural events, leading to a total paralysis of the industry. Artistes are among the most vulnerable and affected. The type of grants will range from small cash ones, reimbursement for a certain class of urgent expenses such as rent, important bills and utility payments to third parties," Megha H Desai, core member, Stayin Alive, told this diarist. To contribute log on to stayinalive.giveindia.org.

A funny battle

Some of the biggest names in Indian comedy will take each other head-on in an improv battle this weekend. They include Biswa Kalyan Rath, Radhika Vaz, Saurav Mehta and Abish Mathew among others. This diarist asked Vaz what the show is going to be like, and she said, "Hopefully very funny." Vaz added, "Nothing is planned and we will have to do everything based on the audience-s suggestions. It will be a competition where the winner gets nothing and has to just carry on with life."

It-s time to speak up

We had reported in these pages in May that comic Nitinn Miranni had taken to social media to call out harassers who trolled panelists in a session on domestic violence by entrepreneur and influencer Malini Agarwal that he was a part of. He has now released clips from a TedX conversation where he spoke on the subject, tagged ignorenomore from Agarwal-s campaign by the same name, to highlight the need to speak up against sexual harassment. "All these harassers are empowered at the moment. I-ve seen women being harassed on the streets even at a time like this. It-s time to call these things out; whether it is the inappropriate uncle in the family or the online troll," Miranni told this diarist. "I want to be able to use my social media clout to send a message. Instagram is filled with stupid comments directed against women. I have zero tolerance for harassment of any kind," he added.

When help makes a virtual entry

It can be a trying time for students on the threshold of their school or college lives, to decide what comes next amid the uncertainty. In order to assuage their concerns, Event Capital, an intellectual property firm, has taken its education exhibition, The Edutainment Show, online. The sessions, which will continue till June 20, will see insiders from the worlds of media, design, event production and content creation share their gyaan with students. This includes domain experts such as choreographer Terrence Lewis, actor Kubbra Sait, film critic Anupama Chopra and photographer Atul Kasbekar, among 150 others. "We have also built a virtual expo comprising universities. Students can take a virtual walkthrough and interact with university representatives. Experts will guide students on careers in the creative arts," said Deepak Choudhary, the firm's founder and director.

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