Want to know more about Mumbai? Attend these online lectures to learn about its evolution

The Maritime Herostone of Mahim; (right) The Pink Necked Duck of Bombay — an old resident of the city that is now extinct. Pics Courtesy/Kurush Dalal

The city of Mumbai is growing and ever evolving and no matter how much we claim to know about this island, there's more to it. The Mumbai Research Centre of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai is conducting a series of online sessions for six days on the history of the city titled The Logy Of Mumbai. The lecture will be conducted by Dr Kurush Dalal who is an archaeologist, historian and culinary anthropologist.

He explains why the session is called the Logy of Mumbai, "When we have a name for any subject we have the word ‘logy' at the end - Geology, Biology. So, what does it mean? The word comes from the ancient Greek word ‘Logos', which means study. The word ‘logy' has been taken with a hyphen before it, and Logy of Mumbai are ways we can look at the city through the lens of different sciences and subjects."

Kurush Dalal. Pic Courtesy/Riddhi Joshi

The key topics of the session are Archaeology, Iconography, Biology, History, Geography and Geology of Mumbai. He adds, "The online session is going to look at all these factors pertaining to Mumbai's signature whereabouts and history."

The talk is open for people keen to know more about the history of Mumbai. "This is not an advanced level course where you won't be able to keep up unless you've pursued three PhDs. We are trying to reach out to the lowest common denominator, which is everybody, and still bring facts that are unique, new, interesting and fun." At the end of the course, the participants will be given a certificate by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.

The changing landscape of the city also makes us curious about what this city once looked like. Dalal points out what makes this series different, "Typically, when we look at the history, we look at who did what to whom. Here, we are looking at the fish around

Mumbai, the plants, which animals have become extinct, which are still there, what is the story of the geology of Mumbai, where has it come up from, and how did Mumbai form when there was no life on our planet."

He adds, "This will also be about how Mumbai has evolved, especially in the short couple of hundred years when humans are very active, we have changed completely." The session will include subjects like the Geology and Geography of Mumbai, the Anthropology of Mumbai, the History
of Mumbai and the Foodology of Mumbai.

ON April 7 to 12, 7 pm to 8.30 pm (all days)
LOG ON TO @asiaticsocietymumbai (for registion)
COST Rs 1,500 (members); Rs 2,000 (non-members)