Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Kirti Surve Parade

Queue up for the Lord

A flower seller weaves floral kanthi to be offered at the Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi

Taking Marathi for a Spinnin'

Shreyas Sagvekar and Manish Shetye jam in the music video. Pic Courtesy/YouTube

DJ Krunal Ghorpade AKA Kratex (inset) and Shreyas Sagvekar's creation, Taambdi Chaamdi, has transformed from an indie experiment to a viral earworm. This page had covered the song on its release in June, and Ghorpade noted, "It didn't garner a lot of attention back then, but recently, the song made its way into DJ circles in India and overseas.

DJ Krunal Ghorpade

A Dutch DJ from Spinnin' Records who had used it in his set was amused by the unique language, and reached out to us," the Vasai-based Ghorpade shared. While the label offered to shoot a video, the duo chose to team up with creator Tejas Shetye and Manish Shetye for a more ‘Mumbai Marathi' vibe that is now on the international platform. "Because we put the spotlight on Manish, a lot of people now think he is Kratex. I don't mind, honestly. Our goal was to make it as humorous as possible, and not follow the same template. The message is that there's no age limit to having fun," he shared.

A home for Bappa

This small idol will be among the ones to be given away as part of the charity

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi often brings out the best in Mumbaikars. For murtikar Jigar Vyas, this year marks a special moment. With his daughter, Vrunda, helping him out, the sculptor plans to donate some of the Bappas from his Ganesh Arts mandap to the poor and needy devotees. "Many Mumbaikars are unable to host the festival this year, mostly because they have fallen on bad times. For such individuals and households, we are offering our smaller idols to take home for free. On September 5, from 1 pm to 9 pm, they can visit our workshop on LT Road in Borivali West, and take their pick," shared Vyas. The sculptor remarked that this is only for the financially poor. For more details, readers can dial 9987047395.

All eyes on the dabbawala

A moment from behind the scenes of the shoot with the dabbawalas

TiltShift, the annual BMM Fest of Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College held a discussion with the dabbawalas of Mumbai last week. The collaboration focused on capturing the essence of this community, channelling and relaying their work, stories and messages to the people through the festival's Instagram page. In the fourth edition of People stories, the organisation has focused on the dabbawalas. "The crux of the collaboration with the dabbawalas is to capture humans being humans," explains Shravani Shriyan (below), the festival head. As part of their ongoing project, the students have been reaching out to individuals and organisations of the city to record their journeys and stories. "We plan on putting up more stories throughout the year" she told the diarist.

Ready to rock the city again

A moment from a previous edition of the Mahindra Blues Festival

The dates for the city's annual rock celebration is finally out. The Mahindra Independence Rock Festival will kick off in the city in November. While the line-up is yet to be announced, Jay Shah, VP, cultural outreach shared, "Cultural outreach is all about celebrating the arts and creating an eco-system that enables artists to enrich the lives of our communities." For details on the dates for the other festivals, readers can check out @mahindrarise.

Real-time writing

Mumbai-based author Amrita Mahale (inset) is finally going to see the fruition of her six-year-project. "Real Life is set in a fictional Himalayan geography, the Mahamaya Valley. A young wildlife biologist studying dholes in the Himalayas mysteriously disappears. The novel is about women's lives, about nature and ecology, about AI and surveillance." Mahale, a trained aerospace engineer, recalls beginning work on it shortly before her first novel, the critically-acclaimed, Milk Teeth, was released. "Along the way, I had to deal with a pandemic, the birth of my child, an eye surgery and three moves. The story has changed its form and shape many times in these years, and I can't wait for it to be in the hands of readers."