Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

Cap-tion this

Going by what's written on his cap, the world is a less jealous place as this man sleeps in Vikhroli West on Wednesday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Prog talk

Outside of Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson has also forged a hugely successful solo career. Pic courtesy/Steven Wilson's Afacebook page

There is arguably no bigger name than Steven Wilson in the world of progressive rock music, and the folks behind the online platform The Indian Music Diaries (TIMD) landed a major coup last week when they secured an online Q&A session with the Porcupine Tree frontman. "I was in touch with the organisers who have brought him down to India for shows before, and it took about four months to finalise everything [for the session]," revealed Akshay Kapoor, TIMD founder. Wilson, on his part, revealed that he would love to return to India to tour with his new album, The Future Bites. One can only hope that the plan materialises.

Bapu's Bombay

In 1920, the Non-Cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi was launched in Bombay. This Saturday, to mark its centenary year,, the Bombay Local History Society (BLHS) will hold an online public lecture that will explore a fascinating aspect related to the event - art by artists of the city. It's titled A Brush with Bombay's Bapu and will be conducted by visual historian Dr Sumathi Ramaswamy (inset), a professor of History and International Comparative Studies at Duke University. "Mumbai had a special place in the Mahatma's life. Not surprisingly, several scholars have explored Gandhi's relationship with the city, but none have considered the special attention that artists of Bombay, ranging from the unknown to among the most famous, have lavished upon the Mahatma. In this talk, I plan to take on this topic in order to explore what we might learn about Bombay and Bapu if we move the image to the center of our analysis," Ramaswamy shared. Follow @local_bombay on Instagram for registration details.

A meal with a surprise

There's a rather special dinner lined up at the Masque Lab in Mahalaxmi on December 3. It's being hosted under the auspices of Gelinaz, which is an international collective of over 200 chefs, who would annually host all kinds of dinners across the world with an element of theatre in them. That was before the pandemic. But with restaurants operational in the city again, they have roped in chef Prateek Sadhu of Masque as the curator for the Indian edition. But Shyama Patel, who handles communications for the eatery, told this diarist that there is a twist. This time, with several chefs across the world having had to shut down their eateries or lost their jobs, the folks at Gelinaz invited eight of them to come up with a special recipe each. "These have been sent to various restaurants, but we don't know where the recipes are from or who has made them. We will find that out only on the day of the dinner," Patel informed.

Take a Sippy

The fifth edition of the Lonavala International Film Festival will be held online this year, with a tribute being paid to veteran producer NN Sippy, responsible for classics like Gumnaam (1965) and Chor Machaye Shor (1974). The itinerary includes panel discussions that will feature actor-director Ananth Mahadevan among others. "We have tried our best to put together an interesting selection [of films] for everyone to enjoy with their family from the comfort of their homes," said festival director Madhav Todi.

Sea the light at Juhu beach

The blue light that Modi photographed at Juhu beach

Patches of neon have been lighting up the waters off Mumbai, reminding us of the bioluminescent beaches in Maldives. Co-founder of Coastal Conservation Foundation, Shaunak Modi, who spotted it at Juhu beach on Tuesday, told this diarist that the glow-in-the-dark phenomenon is most commonly caused by an algae called Noctiluca scintillans or Sea sparkle. "We've been noticing its occurrence across the west coast over the past month, from Udupi to Sindhudurg, and now, Mumbai. I wasn't able to confirm whether it was Noctiluca scintillans that caused it here," he said, adding that although it's beautiful to look at, it's not healthy for marine life.

Shaunak Modi

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