Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

Beat the blues

These skateboarders make the most of a rainy evening at Carter Road, Bandra West, on Wednesday. Pic/Shadab Khan

Now's the time for change

Nearly two years since the reading down of Section 377 by the Supreme Court, the LGBTQIA+ community continues to grapple with basic civic liberties. To demand for equal rights in every sphere of life, Mumbai-based The Humsafar Trust recently launched an online petition on change.org.

Their demands include recognition of same-sex marriage, adoption rights for community members, inheritance rights for LGBTQIA+ people who are cohabiting with their same-sex partners but cannot inherit their property, right to jointly own property, take housing loans, insurance, and employment benefits for same-sex spouses, among other things.

"The petition was an outcome of the International Pride Month celebrations. We wanted to start a dialogue with this petition because social acceptance is still a big challenge for us," said advocacy manager Tinesh Chopade.

Throwback Thursday

A still from the Liril ad that Goretti framed

Who doesn't like a good throwback? And, anchor, model and chef Maria Goretti took us on a nostalgia trip yesterday, when she posted a video from a Liril advertisement she shot in the early '90s. Remembering the good old days, she told us how she took to advertising and dancing while studying economics at St Andrew's College in Bandra and funding her own fashion design course.

"Arshad [Warsi] kind of introduced me to dancing, and then shoots came along; first with Titan because they needed a background dancer, and then the Liril ad. I had never thought I would get into modelling. For me, it was all about having fun at that time," she reminisced.

People were kinder, and the competition wasn't as cut-throat back then, she said, adding, "I remember one of the reigning supermodels at that time saw me, and one day sat me down to check if I was getting paid and treated well. I've worked with the best in the industry, and they used to be all so encouraging. It used to be a different world." Indeed.

There's hope for Madh Islanders

Actor, activist and Madh Island resident Neha Singh was out distributing free sanitary napkins with the Pad Squad to lesser- privileged women in neighbouring bastis, when community workers informed her of the abject need for ration kits for survival among 60 families. Singh took to Facebook to highlight the issue and raised R50,000 in 12 hours. At the distribution, requests from 200 more families poured in.

After verification, Singh and her friends, Shruti Sharma and Dhruv Lohumi, set up the Madh Island Relief Fund on a crowdfunding platform. "Most of these families don't even know where their next meal is coming from. A few NGOs are donating food and essentials. But the number of families in need is so huge; their requirements are never fully met. This is our effort to support them. In the first round, we want to raise R3,64,800 to support 200 families with a one-month ration kit," shared Singh. Do your bit on Ketto/Madh Island Relief Fund.

Farewell, Batch of 2020

It's an odd year by all measures, but for those graduating from college, it's quite a bummer. And so, Anto Philip, co-founder of Under 25, a Bengaluru-based initiative that works to build a better environment for youngsters, decided to bid them adieu in a special way.

From Deepika Padukone to Roshan Abbas and Tanmay Bhat, Philip got entertainers, educators and leaders from different fields to share their messages for the youngsters, in a video titled Batch of 2020 about what education is and what it should be. "This batch finds itself in a position that no generation has faced since our last pandemic, almost a century ago. This was the time to step in and reassure them."

Click to save the mangroves

As a build-up to World Mangrove Day that falls on July 26, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has announced a photography contest, inviting photographers to capture the beauty of mangrove ecosystems.

"In India, mangrove ecosystems are perceived as wastelands. But while, like most coastal areas, mangroves in Mumbai, too, are under threat, the Maharashtra forest department and eco-conscious corporates have taken up conservation efforts. It has a dedicated mangrove cell. In many ways, the city is a torchbearer in mangrove conservation," shared Sajan John, Head-Policy & Marine Projects, WTI.

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