Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Sunny Leone with her son in Juhu

Mommy knows best

Sunny Leone takes the right precautions with her son while out in Juhu on Thursday. Pic/ Satej Shinde

Prajakta Potnis set for Paris sojourn

City-based artist Prajakta Potnis has bagged the Prameya Art Foundation Residency (PRAF) award PAIR (PRAF Artist In Residence) to be held in partnership with Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris and Institut Francais. Talking about the three-month residency that will be held in July, Potnis told this diarist. "During my stay at Cite Internationale des arts, I am keen on exploring a project I initiated in 2012 during my one-month stay in Paris. The act of gazing or looking is something that I intend to further explore within the aforementioned project, taking cues from the figure of a flâneur who emerged from the imagination of Charles Baudelaire, in his 1863 essay, The Painter of Modern Life. I am interested in challenging these notions of privilege that are mostly taken for granted, by taking on the role of a Flaneuse who walks around the city, inviting people to participate in the act of gazing outside from the confines of their private spaces." She added that she intends to spend dedicated time on research and exploration, and revisit unexplored aspects of the earlier project.

Remembering the plague

Theatre practitioner Sheena Khalid and historian Alisha Sadikot are locked up in the same building. And they've posted the first in a series of conversations on the Bombay plague. Talking about it, Khalid told this diarist. "The moment all these things started around us, I couldn't stop thinking about the Bombay plague. I read a story about Shivaji Park, and it got me thinking". The informative conversations, Khalid reveals, are likely to be posted once a week.

It's the time to be aware

Comedian Varun Grover recently posted a series of videos on social distancing on social media. He talks about what to do, how to do it and what it may feel like. "My thought is very simple. These are times to spread awareness, dispel myths, fight fake news, and put scientific temperament and scientists/doctors as our top priority. This is a pandemic and due to the carelessness of some people, huge loss of lives can happen. So I wanted to use my channel, with whatever reach I have, to talk about the basic guidelines as mandated by WHO as well as Indian Government's Union Ministry of Health," he told this diarist.

Become a virtual volunteer

Mumbai-based NGO, Connect For, is urging people around the country to use their social isolation time to become virtual volunteers. "We work with over 300 NGOs across India and we organise their volunteering requirements. It is usually field work but during this time when everybody is working from home, we have designed 20 such opportunities. We could help NGOs with outreach and research and creating social media posts.

They don't have the resources to hire agencies. Also, help create learning aids during this time, ones that can then be shared for awareness and information," suggested Maniti Modi Shah, founder, Connect For. To become a virtual volunteer, log on to connectfor.org.

When Kapoor minted an idea

As Mumbai along with the rest of India finds ways to stay inspired and engaged, two chefs, Sanjeev Kapoor and Kunal Kapur, have come together to spill secrets of their favourite recipes for chai, with the hashtag #chailovers on TikTok. Kapoor shares that while he doesn't restrict himself to one type, he drinks a weak Earl Grey every day. But on special occasions, he treasures sipping on masala chai that includes elaichi, sauf, black pepper, cinnamon, and his secret ingredient, mint. "There are different versions of masala chai all over India - from Punjab to Mumbai. This mint concoction happened by chance. When I came to Bombay 30 years ago, someone gave me a Gujarati tea that had milk and lemongrass. I found this intriguing and weird. And my wife would drink it. We were joking around and I said, 'Okay, you have it with lemongrass, I'll have it with mint.' So, I made it, and quite liked it. In fact, when I made this version for my staff in Dubai, even they started having it and serving it on request. It's a bit unusual but a fun recipe," Kapoor told this diarist.

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