06 January,2018 09:09 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
News on art
A world without imagination is like a pub on a dry day - there really isn't much to it. But some people use theirs more than others, even if it's just to kill time and not necessarily make money. Delhi-based journalist Judhajit Basu (in pic) is one of them. We came across his cute-as-a-button Instagram page, where he takes everyday objects and breathes life into them with elementary artwork and out-of-the-box thinking. For instance, a wrapped toffee becomes a little girl's head with ponytails and an apple becomes Santa's ample belly. "I had always been a reporter.
But then I almost stopped writing and started getting into the creative side of things for my organisation. And the newsroom always has a clutter of junk. So I started this to keep the creative juices flowing. The initial artwork was quite mundane. But then, I gradually started getting better at it," Basu tells us with undue modesty in his voice, because if you point to the clutter in our newsroom, we'll point you to the garbage bin.
When India welcomed The Beatles
That The Beatles came to Rishikesh in 1968, learnt how to meditate at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram, and produced some of their best music during the period is the stuff of legend. But what remains unknown are the finer details of what transpired during the trip, which led the band's members to give up drugs and write over 20 songs, because no photographers or press were allowed. Fellow visitor to the ashram and award-winning film director Paul Saltzman, however, was an exception.
Graffiti of the band members painted on the walls of a hall at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh. Pic/AFP
He captured those moments, glimpses of which have surfaced over the years. Now, fans can read about this critical episode in the book The Beatles in India (Insight Editions/Simon & Schuster), by Saltzman, set to release to release next month on the 50th anniversary of the visit. With rare photographs and a narrative - the story behind Dear Prudence, what Harrison felt when he picked up the sitar for the first time - this one's for keeps.
Pic/Suresh Karkera
What's on your mind, Ms Fadnavis?
Wife of Maharashtra's Chief Minister, (right) Amruta Fadnavis, joins in an awareness programme on positivity along with former actor Anu Agarwal and Dr Hozaifa Khorakiwala at a hospital in Bombay Central yesterday.
Pound advice?
One of the reasons why we skip exercising is boredom. Hence, we are constantly on the lookout for motivational routines. The new year has thrown up a cool idea: Pound, a high-intensity workout meant for all ages.
Ekta Gulechha
A music-based workout, it involves the beating of specifically designed, lightweight drumsticks that are said to help in slimming, strengthening, sculpting and improving your co-ordination.
Believed to burn up to 900 calories in an hour, interested folk can sign up for a session by expert Ekta Gulechha, scheduled for next weekend at Lower Parel's Café Zoe. Expect a beer and healthy appetisers post the session. A win-win workout, this.
Shop, and then laugh
In the early days of the shopping mall in Mumbai, visitors would drop by purely to shop (till they dropped). Slowly, with the burgeoning of the food and drink industry, eating out became an added obsession for mall rats, and with it, entertainment also crept into the scheme of things.
So, when funnyman Atul Khatri (in pic) posted this photo of his recent stand up gig inside a mall in Kurla, we weren't surprised. We are still chuckling over these fast-moving times where you shop, eat, and then well, chuckle.
A vintage chic retake on Bhendi Bazaar
The folks at Busride are on a roll. The Basrai brothers, Ayaz and Zameer, known to design some of the trendiest F&B spaces in India with their eclectic ideas, have added one more impressive feather to their hat. The brothers are thrilled with their latest project, that of a restaurant in a Kurla mall, which in their words is an "ode to the old markets of Bombay."
The space is bound to strike a chord with anyone who's scoured the chaotic markets of Bhendi Bazaar. From metal ironwork to the tiled floors and seating, it's an instant throwback to the sights, smells and sounds of a sepia-tinted Mumbai when it was still Bombay, and where market-hopping was a different experience altogether.
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