Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Tales

Shall we cosplay?
Do you want to be adept at dressing up as your favourite comic hero before the Mumbai Comic Con kicks off in December this year?

Then, it is for you that a special Cosplay Workshop is being held by Comic Con India on October 11, as a precursor to the main event scheduled for December 19-20. Cosplay is a portmanteau for costume play and involves dressing up as characters. This workshop, where expert cosplayers will train others, kickstarts the Mumbai Film & Comic Con celebration.

Mumbai minds the gap
Apart from the red double decker bus, Mumbai's transport doesn't sport many connections with London. Which is why this diarist was pleasantly surprised when she heard the words, ‘Mind the gap' by a woman announcer during her daily commute, a few days ago.

Now, anyone who's travelled on London's famous tube will swear by the term's near-iconic status, relaying caution to lakhs of commuters to watch their step while boarding or alighting from the tube.

While the gap between the train's footboard and the railway platform edge in aamchi Mumbai is far wider than what exists in London, this diarist wasn't sure if it resonated among the preoccupied junta in the ladies dabba. "Kindly mind the gap when you get off the train," she said, and we did. Now, if only our rail authorities did something concrete about it.

Literally speaking
Vikram Seth will be here. So will Germaine Greer and Guillermo Martinez. Another edition of Tata Literature Live will see the likes of a slew of authors in Mumbai, starting October 31. Founded and directed by Anil Dharker, the two-day fest, hopes to rope in younger audiences for this fiesta of all things literature.

Vikram Seth; (right) Anil Dharker

Going by the line-up, we're keen to see if this ploy works. With black comic plays, off-beat music and dance acts, and interactive sessions, it should be a packed house. Incidentally, a few days earlier, on October 23, literary buffs can head to the virtual world, to be part of India's first web literature festival. Turn to page 29 for more.

In a sound space
The True School of Music is back with the second edition of True Showcase. This time, the students will have the opportunity to pick the brain of veteran keyboardist and Indus Creed co-founder Zubin Balaporia. Discussing the True Showcase edition II, Balaporia says, "I have very high expectations.

Keyboardist and founder member of erstwhile rock outfit, Indus Creed, Zubin Balaporia

I have been associated with True School for two years and I know the quality of students they produce. In the past, Uday (Benegal), Mahesh (Tinaikar) and I have jammed with some students on stage. We did it without practice just some interaction at sound check. They're talented and very professional. So I'm looking forward to seeing what they're going to put up on stage."

He believes that forums like these make for a great opportunity to perform or showcase sound engineering talent at a coveted venue, while industry seniors oversee your performance and progress. "So, you prepare as best as you can, knowing fully well that mistakes are part of the process and you can only learn from them.

That is the best lesson you can learn from the True Showcase," he tells us, before heading back to preparing for what promises to be a heady sound-jam.