Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Centre of attention

A pet dog basks in the sun as his owner carries him during a walk at Dadar Chowpatty.

An age-old legacy

The revamped auditorium at the school

Yesterday, Dr Antonio da Silva High School and Junior College of Commerce in Dadar inaugurated its newly restored 150-year-old auditorium, retaining the original structure and flourishes. The institute was established in 1871, and the auditorium was designed to carry sound from the stage. Chairman and alumnus Joseph D'Souza (inset, above) recalled, "We never used a microphone during elocution competitions.

The acoustics were clear, and there was no echo." Secretary Renzo Rodrigues (inset, below) added, "We matched the original designs of the wooden members, stained glasses, tiles and roof. Old paint was scraped off to reveal the original wood underneath. And state-of-the-art seating and music systems have been fitted. The auditorium is 100 feet in length and includes 185 seats." The inauguration concluded with dance performances by students.

Sher khul gaye

Let's make a trunk call (right) From A to Z… ebras at the show

Say it with flowers, or in this case, lots of flowers. The Mumbai Flower Show at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan, Byculla zoo is coming up roses. The animal sculptures (flora for fauna) just as one enters the space, are particularly eye-catching. A visitor quipped, "There may not be too many animals inside our zoo, but they are certainly at the flower show outside," as her friends laughed. Well, this one has our roar of approval. The stunning show continues till February 4 if you'd like to catch this floral spectacle.

The EI groove

Members in traditional EI attire

Within the East Indian community, we don't name dance steps, we demonstrate them. You'll see people waving a handkerchief in the air, or swaying in incomplete turns in a step referred to as half-circle. Witness the groove at Mobai Gaothan Panchayat's East Indian Sola in April. Zenobia Gracias, the event's director shared, "We are currently holding a dance competition where winners will perform at the Sola. The rule is to fuse EI culture, music and clothing with any dance style." Members can send entries to mee.eastindian@gmail.com.

Green feather in her cap

Dr V Shubhalaxmi presents at the event

Dr V Shubhalaxmi, founder, iNaturewatch Foundation was one of 300 speakers to deliver a presentation at the 12th World Congress on Environment Education in Abu Dhabi. Her presentation Building Community Partnerships for Ecorestoration Projects in Greater Mumbai through CSR, highlighted her foundation's three transformative projects in Taloja Hill, Ambivli and Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mulund. After the foundation's exit, the projects are carried forward by community members trained by the platform.

She said, "We conducted a survey and found that our main volunteers are within the age group of 30 to 40 years, they are working women and students and the reasons for volunteership range from wanting to give back to nature, learn about the topic, and work as a community. Two projects resulted in a 500 per cent increase in biodiversity. I also presented the educational study material and field guides we created for volunteers." Read more about the projects at inaturewatch.org

Saying it with clay

For Mumbai-based contemporary artist Madhavi Subrahmanian who is co-curating the second edition of the ongoing Indian Ceramics Triennale in New Delhi, the importance of the shared ground that connects the human race despite its differences and diversities is written in stone, and the language of expression, is clay. Aptly titled Common Ground, the show features works by fellow city-based artists such as Dhruvi Acharya, Vinita Mungi, Teja Gavankar and Parag Tandel and will be on display till March 31. "The Triennale provides the participating artists a platform to push boundaries both in their practice and of the material they work with," Subrahmanian told this diarist, adding that Acharya has brought the figures and forms from her paintings to life in 3D while Gavankar has mechanised her forms, making them participatory in nature.