12 April,2015 08:01 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar, Kareena Gianani and Phorum Dalal
The city -- sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Mahalaxmi Race Course
Calling pint-sized painters
For a while now, the Mahalaxmi Race Course and art have worked in sync - art finds a space in this green lung of SoBo with increasing regularity. Art shows have been held at the Race Course before and this summer, from April 20, the JJ School of Arts, too, will bring its expertise to the Mahalaxmi.
Art and the equine: This month, the Mahalaxmi Race Course will hold a summer art camp for children
The School's faculty in collaboration with the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) will host a summer art camp for children till April 29, and The JJ School of Art teachers will play guide to the kids. The camp, which will be held at the Hooves at the Turf Club, has got a picture-perfect venue, we think. The sun peeking from the Race Course roof, the dew clinging to the blades of grass in the mornings, puffs of dust raised by the horses' hooves... Children cannot have it better! Call 23071407 (ext: 264/265) for details.
Look out for these on Marine Drive
Summer is the season to celebrate colours. We were pleasantly surprised to find vibrant purple and pink flowering plants displayed in pots, hung artistically on a few lampposts along Marine Drive.
Even the divider had new, fresh look. While we spotted them along a short patch, wouldn't it be wonderful if the entire city had these brightly hued petals? It would keep anger in control and traffic seem almost bearable. BMC, take notice!
Books, conversations and a barbet
At the far end of Lower Parel's Raghuvanshi Mills lies Trilogy, the library and bookstore run by Ahalya Naidu and Meethil Momaya.
Trilogy, the library and bookstore at Raghuvanshi Mills
We recently visited the place very close to its closing hours (8 pm), and found Naidu chatting animatedly with a member, and dismissed our mumbled apologies with a wave of her hand. If you visit the library's website, or Facebook page, you will know how deeply passionate the founder couple is. But to discover this bookish space for yourself is a different delight.
Book lovers in the city often bemoan the closure of a bookstore or a library, because some of these places are a space for a like-minded community to mingle and gush about books they love. Trilogy is one such place, we discovered. Naidu and Momaya are the sort of librarians we read about but rarely meet - they suggest that book you must read, help you with wonderful discoveries and debate which book cover is better than the other. Trilogy's collection is well-curated, diverse and edgy; a mix of classics for children and adults, contemporary fiction and travel writing we don't commonly spot at most bookstores.
We also noticed a board with Trilogy's future plans. Their Talking Myths series of talks on mythology are insightful, and we were just as keen to note an upcoming book club (travel and Terry Pratchett-related discussions are on the cards). There are also poetry readings in the pipeline.
All this, dear reader, you can experience, too, along with the amusing antics of a barbet outside the window of the library. This little bird crashes into the library's glass windows hoping to enter. But then, we don't blame its enthusiasm.
