Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Nimesh Dave

Cave in to devotion

On the first Monday of the Hindu month of Shravan, devotees offer their prayers at the Shiv temple in Mandapeshwar Caves, Borivali.

Strained notes for Arivu?

A still from the Enjoy enjaami music video

A year ago, a magazine received backlash for excluding rapper Arivarasu Kalainesan, known as Arivu, from their August 2021 cover celebrating South Indian artistes, and failing to recognise his full contribution to songs Enjoy enjaami and Neeye oli, which they covered. Filmmaker Pa Ranjith called out the magazine for invisibilising the lyricists' work as a casteist move. Yesterday, Arivu took to Instagram, breaking his silence after being excluded from the credits of Enjoy enjaami performed at the 44th Chess Olympiad. He stated that he composed, wrote, sang and performed the song, adding, "Nobody gave me a Tune, Melody or a Single word to write this one (sic)." A few hours later, music producer Santhosh Narayanan, who was credited for the song's composition at the event, shared a two-page response, mentioning that it was a collaborative effort by all involved. As we strive to amplify the voices of the marginalised, we need to ask ourselves whether we are doing so in the correct manner.

Flower power

Mumbai-based Taruna Agarwal was always fond of flowers. Once, when she won a rose show in the flower arrangement category, the judge encouraged her to learn ikebana - the Japanese art of flower arrangement. That was 50 years ago. Recently, the ikebana artist was the recipient of the 2022 Spring Conferment Of Decorations as she was handed the Order Of The Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays by the Japan government for promoting ikebana. "This is the highest award given by the Emperor of Japan and it was my dream, and it has now come true," she exclaimed.

LOL about the American dream

Do your overseas relatives or friends often share their life stories from the new land, or do you have your own story to tell? If so, This is US by Akvarious Productions has three interesting stories that will speak to you; they revolve around the comical misadventures that arise from these intercontinental ties. Writer-actor Dilshad Edibam Khurana from the group shared, "We have colleagues who've lived in the US and have some interesting stories to offer. So, we felt it would be a good idea to bring some of these experiences together and make an evening out of it. I will be performing a piece about the visa interview. It gets scary even before one can go in there, as I've experienced it," she shared. The shows will be staged at Prithvi Theatre from today till August 7.

Class-ic mystery

The Middle Class signage that Munir captured went missing the next day

Bandra almost lost its title of queen of Mumbai's suburbs last week. Author Rehana Munir came across a backlit sign of Middle Class bang on top of the ‘I love Bandra' installation on Bandstand's promenade. "I was in an auto, moving past the promenade when I spotted the installation," she recalled. In the star-studded neighbourhood, a middle-class sign felt out of place. She shared the picture on social media where it caught our attention. But to add to the mystery, she revealed that the sign went missing. "The next morning when I went for my morning walk, it was not there." So far, there have only been questions from other curious citizens on her social media. "People were just curious, but nobody has any clue," she said.

Day at the museum

The Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum had a keen visitor recently, when Saurabh Vijay, Secretary of Culture, Government of Maharashtra, dropped by with his family. Vijay was seen soaking in the historical exhibits within the 150-year-old museum and their ongoing exhibition A Hall of Wonder. Managing trustee and director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta showed him around. "He especially enjoyed the dioramas and the figurines of the People of Mumbai. He also liked the collection of Mumbai's maps and figurines showcasing stories from Indian mythology. He is keen to collaborate with the museum to start many museum initiatives in Mumbai," she told us.