Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Framed for posterity: A man plays with a young child at a window, in Lalbagh on Friday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Raising a greener generation

Eco-conscious youngsters now have yet another avenue to express their thoughts surrounding compassion for animals and greater sensitivity for the environment - Animals Water Bowl Project (AWBP) Trust, an NGO, is conducting an online creative competition for children aged 8 and above. Titled PAW 2021, the competition has three categories, art, essays and poetry, and participants can choose from eight themes, which include adopting strays and the benefits of veganism, among others. "We started with the vision of ensuring that stray animals have access to drinking water around the year. We wanted to complement our efforts with an education programme to raise awareness. This year, we have chosen themes that encourage children to think about how a more compassionate outlook can benefit both humans and the environment," shared its founder Lakshman Molleti.

This duo is on pointe

Mayra Chatterjee; Anaisha Goenka

The dust has barely settled since Neeraj Chopra made history by bringing home an Olympic gold, but this Mumbai-based duo have their sights trained on bringing home even more international accolades for the country. Eight-year-old dancers Anaisha Goenka and Mayra Chatterjee are representing India at the International Ballet Grand Prix in Singapore and they hold the distinction of being the youngest-ever dancers to represent the country competitively. Dhvani Kothari, artistic director at the National Ballet School of India, who has personally overseen their training shared, "They are the first ballerinas to represent India at a worldwide ballet competition. They will be competing in the Junior 1 category, for eight-nine-year-olds. Both the dancers have been training for two years now and will be performing variations from Sleeping Beauty, one of the biggest ballets." Winning the competition could earn our dancers scholarships from renowned ballet schools globally, including the Royal Opera House, and also give them the opportunity to attend masterclasses in these countries. "Competing on a prestigious international forum could help us change the way ballet is learned and taught in India at present," Kothari added.

Dhvani Kothari

Bridging boundaries for arts' sake

Named for the Delphic Games of ancient Greece, the contemporary Delphic Games claims to be to arts and culture what the Olympics are to sports. Thus far, India has participated in three international editions and bagged gold and silver medals in South Korea and Malaysia. This forum acts as a means of sharing cultures and traditions rather than competing. Today, the Maharashtra chapter is being launched and will focus on six art categories, namely, musical arts and sounds, performing arts, language arts, visual arts, social arts, and ecological arts and architecture. "Maharashtra has a rich heritage of arts and culture and with the Delphic Movement, we intend to create a go-to platform for all artistes to express, showcase, network and evolve. We intend to create festivals and engagements across the six major categories, right from the traditional art forms and practices to contemporary modern-day arts and everything in between," shared Sahil Seth, president of the Maharashtra chapter.

Going the extra mile for Afghanistan

Watching the devastation unfold in Afghanistan can breed feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, but this initiative lets you contribute from the comfort of your own home. Miles4migrants.org is offering to let fliers donate their airline miles to refugees, asylees, asylum-seekers and their immediate family members who have legal approval to travel out of Afghanistan, but cannot do so because of economic considerations. In addition to miles, you can also donate credit card points and travel vouchers to help those impacted by war, persecution, or disaster reunite with their loved ones and start new beginnings in safe homes. All donations will be used to fulfil urgent flight requests as identified by the organisation in association with non-profits working on the ground. To learn more about how you can contribute, head to miles4migrants.org.