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Commuters are trapped amidst auto rickshaws while crossing the road at Pandit Nehru Chowk outside Kalyan railway station
Tales from a transit camp
A still from the 1958 film, Abana
As part of their efforts to establish the first Sindhi museum Lost Homeland of Sindh in collaboration with the Dara Shikoh Library in New Delhi, the Sindhi Cultural Foundation has been in search of cultural relics that reflect the history of the community. Among them is the 1958 film, Abana.
A shot of Vithalwadi station in the film. Pics Courtesy/YouTube
The first Sindhi film, it was also shot completely in Ulhasnagar — including a song shot near Vithalwadi station, said founder and trustee, Aruna Madnani. “Back then, the town was a transit military camp for displaced Sindhi refugees of the Partition. Conditions were tough, and yet, out of those difficulties came a film — with its moments of fun,” she recalled. People who might have lived in the region during that period can share their experiences at @sindhi-culturefoundation.
A for access
In order to celebrate Disability Pride Month, Santacruz-based Mariwala Health Initiative is highlighting the works of disability rights activists across India with their series, A–Z of Disability Activism.“It is a movement of multiple people with multiple leaders. These activists do not have to be from what is understood to be mainland India. They can also be from rural areas, different gender identities or could be an activist in policy making for instance [who is not very famous]. The idea is to shed light on the intersectional agencies of disability,” Raj Mariwala, its director, shared with this diarist. They hoped that such information would help the general public engage with the disability activists.
Painting science on paper
Children participate in the session
Children hate being cooped up inside homes during the monsoon, especially if they have to spend the time going through their books. The Govandi-based Next Page Centre has found a solution that ties up learning with some fun exercises this season. Founder Anoop Parik (inset) shared that the centre decided to come up with a fun learning session around the Mumbai rains to keep the children motivated. “They wanted to be part of some science activities. We thought of it, and decided that the rains will be the perfect subject to start with.”
So, out went the books, while the kids picked up crayons, pencils and drawing books to create their own memories of the rain. Parik explained that these lessons were not necessarily part of the students’ school syllabus. “They are subjects that are part of their learning, but not something often elaborated upon. For instance, states of matter or the question of how rainfall occurs,” Parik shared. Throw in colourful crayons and a drawing session, and it is easy to see why the children are eager for more. “Next weekend, we plan to get the kids to track the monsoon across India. We will teach them about the changes in wind and weather, and how the rains travel across the Western Coast,” he revealed.
Cornerstone of Mumbai stories
The Mumbai outlet of the Maktaba Jamia at Masjid Bunder
When city-based Urdu Markaz decided to petition the President of India to honour the independent Urdu publishing house, Maktaba Jamia, few in Mumbai would have been curious. Yet, the pre-Independence publishing house does have a strong Mumbai connection, shared Zubair Azmi (inset), director of Urdu Markaz. “Since their founding, the publishers have taught and spread Urdu literature across the country.
In fact, they also published works of poets like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ghalib in Devnagari to help non-Urdu literature lovers,” he added. The city outlet of the publishing house in Masjid Bunder was once the hub for many writers like Kaifi Azmi, Jaan Nisar Akhtar among others. “There were times when Meena Kumari, a skilled poet herself, would drop by to buy books here,” he shared.
A journey through the water
People crossing the Ganga in Bihar
In 2017, Siddharth Agarwal and Sridhar Sudhir set out on a journey to trace the river Ganga from the sea to its source. “We finished the film by 2020 and travelled across 3,000 kms,” shared Agarwal. The decision to follow the river stemmed from the curiosity to look at it from outside the perspective of experts, and away from city or pilgrimage centres, shared Agarwal.
The river near the Tehri reservoir in Uttarakhand. Pics Courtesy/Siddharth Agarwal, Sridhar Sudhir
The film has now been made accessible to audiences through his foundation, Veditum. The foundation, Agarwal added, has also set up a fellowship in which two major rivers — Betwa and Sindh — will be traversed by 15 individuals. “We will soon be going live with a platform for collaborative action against river sand mining in India,” he remarked.
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