10 February,2022 06:31 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Bipin Kokate
A man and his best friend watch the world go by from their home in Churchgate on Wednesday.
Feminism and poetry will meet at the Feminist Poetry Festival, hosted by SheThePeople on February 12. The virtual festival will feature speakers such as Rochelle Potkar, Pervin Saket, Archana Pai Kulkarni, Saumya Kulshreshtha and Kausar Munir, among others. Potkar reflected that it's important to have such safe forums. The Mumbai-based poet is part of a session titled The Poet's Starter Kit with Pai Kulkarni and Saket. "Both Pervin and I conduct many poetry workshops for beginners. This discussion is interesting because there are so many closet writers and poets who don't know where to begin. It will entail an elaborate discussion on the processes around writing poetry, discussing our arrival into poetry, the first poems we wrote, our early influences, workshops and residencies, and the art, craft, rhythms, and registers of being a poet," Potkar (below) told us.
Valentine's Day is around the corner, even as the government has started lifting restrictions imposed during the third wave of the pandemic. How does this affect plans that couples have made for the occasion? That's what a dating app tried to find out with a survey it conducted among its users in major Indian metros like Delhi and Mumbai, and in smaller towns. A total of 69 per cent of the users who stay in the same city as their partner said that they are planning to head out of home to celebrate the day. But 58 per cent of the women surveyed said that they prefer to stay at home to ensure safety, while only 34 per cent of men felt the same way. "Omicron might have cancelled many plans, but couples are getting creative and will use the best of technology to make their day worthy," said Ravi Mittal, CEO of QuackQuack, the dating app concerned.
The British Council has joined hands with the Art X Company to find out ways in which literature in different Indian languages can be made more widely available to an international audience. They have released the India Literature and Publishing Sector Study, which examines the role of literary festivals and events, and trends in digitisation, among other factors, to identify opportunities to collaborate more globally to promote translated Indian literature. "Some Indian languages are more represented in translation than others. Hence, through this report, the idea is to also help Indian literature in more languages reach foreign shores," shared Jonathan Kennedy, director of arts India, British Council.
Here's a lit list that encourages children to read
It's important to nurture a habit of reading in children, which is exactly what Parag Reads - an initiative of Tata Trusts - does with its annual honours list of books meant for kids. Now in its third edition, there were two lists of titles that were revealed this week - one in English and the other in Hindi. A total of 23 publishers sent in over 200 books as entries, of which nine were included for the Hindi list and 38 for the English one. These include Sunaina Coehlo's Ikru's First Day at School (Pratham Books), Priti David's Coming Home (Karadi Tales), Sagar Kolwankar's My Name is Gulab (Tulika Publishers) and Jerry Pinto's The Secret World of Mehlli Gobhai: The Man Who Found Art Everywhere (Pratham Books). "With the number of books being published for children on the rise, it is important to help leaders, including librarians and parents, with recommendations of good books," shared Amrita Patwardhan (above), head of education at Tata Trusts, adding that an independent jury reviews the entries and curates the list, which you can find at paragreads.in.
The World's 50 Best Restaurants is an acclaimed ranking list for the F&B industry, and they have introduced a spin-off this year - Mena's 50 Best Restaurants - meant specifically for eateries in the Middle East and North Africa regions. While 3 Fils in Dubai claimed the top spot, Tresind Studio - a restaurant in the same city that specialises in Indian molecular gastronomy, and is the brainchild of prodigious chef Himanshu Saini - ranked fourth, apart from winning the Art of Hospitality Award. It was the only Indian eatery on the list, and our congratulations to the team.
