Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

I’ve got your back: A boy teaches his friend to stay balanced on a mini bicycle, on the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Join the Dot

When indie musician Aditi Dot released a viral track called Everybody dances to techno in 2017, she created such waves that people couldn't get enough of her. But she vanished from the scene soon after, to pursue academics in Wales. The good news for her fans is that she will now perform a live set tomorrow from her living room in the UK, in order to raise funds for Covid-19 relief work. The proceeds will be donated to an NGO called Digital Empowerment Foundation. "She has her debut EP coming later this year, which was recorded in the UK and has a completely new set of music. She will play some songs from it at the gig," Bann Chakraborty, who manages her, told this diarist. Log on to skillboxes.com, get a ticket, and get ready to be enthralled by this elusive talent.

Applause from LA

A still from Fire in the mountain

Earlier this week, the 19th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, announced their Grand Jury and Audience Award winners in a virtual event. The festival showcased 40 films this year, spanning 17 languages. It also featured 16 female directors. Among the winners was Ajitpal Singh's film Fire in the Mountains, which took home the Audience Awards title. It is a 82-minute drama about a mother who is struggling to save money to build a road in a remote Himalayan village to take her wheelchair-bound son for physiotherapy; her husband, on the other hand, believes that a shamanic ritual is the remedy and steals her savings.

Ajitpal Singh

Better to be weather wise

And a point to ponder just a day before the Mumbai Marathon was supposed to be run this year on May 30. It could not be held in January like it is traditionally because of the pandemic. The revised date in May was also scratched as the second pandemic wave hit us with virulence. Approximately a week ago, we read that 21 ultramarathoners (an ultramarathon is any distance over the 42-km full marathon) died in China while running in very cold conditions. Reports said that runners clad in T-shirts and shorts faced a sudden hailstorm and icy winds. Running in extreme weather, hot or cold, does have its dangers, With unforgivable searing heat in the city right now, Mumbai marathons are best where they belong, the third week of January, when the weather is more benign. Maximum city, minimum risk.

Suburban call for Swati Snacks

After whipping up its magic in SoBo (Tardeo and Nariman Point) for decades, the much-loved Swati Snacks is crossing the Sea Link to bring its panki, handvo, panoli and more to the suburbs. Karan Shah, director, Swati Snacks, shared that their Santacruz-based cloud kitchen opens on May 31. He added that the idea has been on their minds for the past two years, but finally materialised now, as people from the suburbs can't take a trip down to SoBo for a bite anymore. "Being an iconic brand for years, we've had people even from the suburbs visiting us, who kept enquiring about how to order in during the lockdown. So, we decided to launch a cloud kitchen to meet this demand. In Bandra, you can continue to expect the same quality and consistency that has become synonymous with Swati Snacks," he promised.

Will Louvre lead the way?

On September 1, Laurence des Cars will make history by taking up the position of head of the world's largest museum, the Louvre - she will be the first woman in this position in the 228-year-old history of the institution. Puja Vaish, director of the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, is among the many who view this as being indicative of much-needed change in the arts space: "Her appointment is important not only because she is a woman, but also because she is known for her role in introducing greater diversity in her exhibitions and programming at the Musée d'Orsay, where she is currently serving as director. There are women in positions of power who can be patriarchal in their outlook. Heads of institutions who focus on diversity and inclusion in their programming is what will herald positive change," she told this diarist, adding that it's important to understand diversity not just from the perspective of gender identity, but also the representation of marginalised cultures, classes, communities and castes. "That is how we will weave more complete stories in the way we tell history," she said.

Puja Vaish and Laurence des Cars