13 November,2023 03:49 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Satej Shinde
A labourer demolishes a section of the wall that features an eye-catching mural on Advocate Prabhakar Hegde Road in Thane.
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While the festival of lights is being celebrated across the city with a lot of excitement, a group of enthusiastic cyclists decided to ring in the festive season with cycles that were lit, literally. Last week, nearly 100 cyclists who were part of the three-year-old CycloFunatics, a cycling community, set out on an arduous 65-km night ride from Andheri to the Gateway of India and back. Equipped with LED fairy lights on their tyres, the Diwali night ride 2023 saw them ride past market areas, parks, busy intersections as well as iconic landmarks like the Gateway of India and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). "We started at 8.30 pm and took the route via Western Express Highway. Later, we ventured on the lesser crowded, inner roads from Mahim towards Marine Drive, Churchgate and CSMT. We ended the ride at Gateway of India via The Asiatic Society. The idea was to bring together individuals across ages in a celebration of lights, happiness, and camaraderie. It was an amazing journey," shared Vipin Arumugham, co-founder of CycloFunatics, who is also a digital strategist and consultant.
It's always heartening to see theatrewallahs head to the Prithvi Festival from across the city and the suburbs. Of the many premieres at this celebration of the arts, we spotted one by Prithvi supporter - Makarand Deshpande. Manushya, a play that he wrote and directed and also acted in, is about the protagonist Phadke who believes everyone has a clown within. "I was thinking about what I could write in today's times when one is trolled on social media, risks arrest for speeches or is limited from speaking on anything not in the interest of the majority and staying quiet also earns you rebuke," Deshpande told this diarist. He adds that for over 30 years, he has been writing and performing almost every year for the fest that has allowed him to write and experiment. "It has been a place of worship, and has allowed me to live art through my life. What I want the audience to take away is to feel it and see where we have lost that sense of wonder,"
he revealed.
Also read: Maharashtra: 150 bonded labourers identified as being in slavery, as state mum
Come Sunday, Versova's Cat CafeÃÂ Studio will host an amazing evening where six talented queer artistes will perform for a cat-loving audience. The space, in collaboration with Smalltown Dreams Entertainment, a company that represents artistes from the LGBTQiA+ community, will present #withpride open mic. "The idea for the company and this event is to create a safe space for queer artistes to express their creativity freely," shared Neyha Sharma, founder of Smalltown Dreams Entertainment. "We are all about inclusivity, and so when Nehya dropped by the cafeÃÂ as a customer, the collaboration was a serendipitous one," shared Lamya Kapadia, executive director, Cat CafeÃÂ Studio.
As nearly 2,200 people gathered at a Bengaluru venue to witness five-time Grammy Award-winning Jacob Collier in a solo performance last week, Mumbai's Aditi Ramesh still finds it difficult to process that she opened for him. "It was raining on the day; yet, everyone showed up in ponchos for the show," she recalled. "His hands were like [keys of] the piano. He conducted thousands in the audience through a set where he connected himself to every individual, and every individual to each other. It was unreal." The artiste performed acoustic sets with her band. "The audience was amazing!" she signed off.
How much does Japan love Bollywood? Quite a lot, if you take producer Devika Shahani's word. Her team will stage the dance musical, Mumbai Star on a month-long tour across 20 cities in Japan, starting November 16. "It is a fun Bollywood-meets-kathak dance drama," shared Shahani, adding that they hope to replicate the success in Mumbai post the tour of Japan.
