15 June,2020 06:23 AM IST | | Team mid-day
Pic/Suresh Karkera
The city could use some help from a superhero right now. A model of The Hulk stands outside a shuttered eatery in Matunga on Sunday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Rakesh Nigam
While listening to songs, we often rave about the singers, but rarely go the extra mile to find out who the composer is. Every song has a story behind it. However, these stories and their creators are often hidden from the public gaze. For instance, did you know that Nargis Dutt-s mother, Jaddanbai, was India-s first female music composer? In the run up to World Music Day on June 21, the Mumbai-based Indian Performing Right Society Ltd is launching a campaign called CreditTheCreators to honour composers and lyricists.
"Our endeavour has always been to provide a platform that encourages creativity and fair value for music and its creators. The way music is consumed has changed significantly over the years. While avenues of distribution and consumption of music have grown manifolds, limited efforts have been made to encourage and acclaim the creators of music. We hope to initiate a positive change in this direction," CEO Rakesh Nigam told this diarist.
A post on The Beakly page
For freelance creative director and writer Ajoy Advani, the window of his Colaba residence has been the only outlet to the world. After watching the birds outside for days, Advani started taking their pictures and posting them on his social media handle with funny dialogues, depicting conversations between these avian creatures. And now, he has a page dedicated to them, where they express opinions on everything from Dalgona coffee to humans hitting the streets post the lockdown.
Speaking about @the_beakly on Instagram, Advani said, "I haven-t stepped out for a while, so this was my past-time. I kept looking at the birds and thinking how they are free and I-m not. I started out by posting on my stories, which got friends chuckling and eventually it turned into a page. This has become a way to channel my creativity now."
This pandemic has put the spotlight on mental health like never before, especially the emotional well-being of children who, often, do not have the means of comprehending their feelings. In line with this thought, Aditya Birla World Academy has launched an initiative called Mental Health Champion, through which they will train students from classes eight to 12 in providing pastoral care so that they can act as peer mentors, activists and influencers, and normalise conversations around mental health.
Speaking to this diarist, Aachal Jain, pastoral care coordinator at the school, said, "Across the world, people are talking about the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of adolescents. Students will be guided in providing mental health first aid - they will be empowered to support their peers, understand different conditions, look out for symptoms, and encourage them to seek professional help."
After hundreds of Mumbaikars turned up for a tree plantation drive that lasted nearly two months in Aarey and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park last year, the organisers are planning a similar movement this year, subject to the social distancing norms. On Saturday, photographer and travel writer Sanjiv Valsan took to Facebook to share the idea of restarting the Ped lagao ped bachao drive.
"It was a feeler to see if people are interested. Last year, we had more than 500 people turn up to plant 300 trees. It eventually grew into a larger movement to save Aarey. Of course, large numbers cannot gather this time. There are a number of citizens and organisations involved in doing this. So, we-ll probably put a cap on how many people can gather for a drive at a time and follow all rules," he told this diarist, adding, "Anybody can take the initiative and lead a plantation drive." Valsan also said that apart from volunteers, they will need help with getting permissions from the authorities, identifying safe places to plant trees, contribution of saplings and transportation of the same. Drop an email at aareyforestmumbai@gmail.com to lend your support.
It was about a month ago when Delhi-based musician Rohan Solomon had released a song called Keep holding on that stressed on the importance of keeping your chin up during the pandemic.
Now, Solomon has launched a follow-up song, Victoria-s secret, where the fears and anxieties of the lockdown are turned into a mode of introspection. "At the end of the day, all that the protagonist in the song really wants is to be left alone so that she can just be herself. The message is to not take certain liberties for granted, and to accept yourself for who you are and embrace it," Solomon told this diarist.
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel @middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news
