Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Art is also on the streets

A child looks on as a woman crafts the base of a bamboo basket at Senapati Bapat Marg in Mahim.

Take a leaf out of his book

A digital card showcasing the different types of simple leaves found in Mumbai's neighbourhoods (right) Abhishek Khan

Nature enthusiast and designer Abhishek Khan has made identifying leaves easier with his observer cards. These cards feature digital drawings of commonly found leaves in Mumbai's biodiversity. "I made these cards to tackle tree blindness and increase our power of observation," he shared. He started with mushroom caps identification cards last November and the latest card showcases eight types of simple leaves. The cards can be used around one's neighbourhood to identify leaves; however, they don't contain detailed information. "I wanted to familiarise people with the anatomy and vocabulary of the leaf without overwhelming them," he explained. The research, and drawing for each card takes about 12 hours. "I plan to create complex leaves and paw print cards next," he concluded.

Deco, yeh hai Bombay!

If there was one evening where most of the city's custodians managed to come together in one room, Monday's gathering for the release of Bombay Deco by the late Sharada Dwivedi and Rahul Mehrotra, would come close. Published by Pictor Publishing, and organised by NCPA Library and Literature Live! the session at The Experimental Theatre was a celebration of one of the world's largest collections of Art Deco structures that grace Mumbai.

Rahul Mehrotra (on dais) addresses the audience at the venue

Invoking the invaluable contribution of Dwivedi to make this spectacular documentation possible, co-author, Mehrotra recalled his mentor's vision and passion fondly, as he took the audience through a slick presentation (one that left everyone "breathless" as Cyrus Guzder would remark later during the discussion with Mehrotra and Abha Narain Lambah) about the city's tryst with this architectural style that bridged the gap between the old and new schools of thoughts.

A dip-stick of stunning aerial images, single-screen cinema façades and artful motifs that often miss the eye drew ‘oohs' and ‘aahs' from the audience. Later, Narain Lambah - who wrote a chapter in this new version - recounted fascinating anecdotes on the Herculean challenge faced by citizen groups and her team to earn the UNESCO World Heritage Site tag for the Art Deco assemblage (along with the Victorian Gothic buildings) around Oval Maidan and its surroundings.

Apart from benefactors Pheroza Godrej, Guzder and Padmini Mirchandani, publisher of Pictor, it was a packed house that included famous Bombaywallahs across culture and the arts, like Dolly Thakore, Amy Fernandes, Quasar Thakore Padamsee, Atul Kumar, Mustansir Dalvi, Vispi Balaporia, Anahita Pundole and Jerry Pinto, all of who raised a toast to this chronicle, and of course, Bombay!

Let's link art with literature

A moment from a previous community event

City-based reading community Read A Kitaab is collaborating with Apre Art House, Colaba, for Art-LIT-stic Strokes, a venture that brings together art and literature. The theme, Alternate Gaze, will present artworks and discussions on diverse themes such as the male gaze and perceptions of feminism as well as highlighting alternative perspectives in art.

Ekta Bhandari

Curated by founders, Ekta Bhandari and Anurag Kothari, along with reviewer and co-curator Abhishek Subhash, the session will also feature a walkthrough of the exhibition at the gallery, followed by an interactive session, where participants can suggest and discuss books representing the themes of the event. "The term ‘Alternate Gaze' comes from a feminist theory referring to the gaze of the female spectator, character, artist, of an artistic work," Bhandari told this diarist.

Recycle, refresh and go green

A woman hands over e-waste to a student (right) a pile of e-waste

Are you still holding on to that 25-year-old landline phone? Students from St Xavier's, JBCN Borivali and PPSIJC colleges teamed up with the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA) to launch Project E-cleanse. The initiative aims to collect and safely dispose of approximately 600 kg of e-waste in the area.

"We collaborated with students to spread awareness through social media and Hulladek Recycling, an authorised e-waste management firm, to refurbish and recycle waste," said Karan Jotwani (inset), LOCA's co-founder. Targeting 25 societies over five weeks, the collection boxes are placed in the society premises on Mondays, and collected on Sundays.