Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

This is not a wig
Bhumi Pednekar stands before mannequins at the launch of a clothing brand in Juhu on Tuesday. Pic/Shadab khan

Freedom from fear
September 5, 2017 was the journalistic world's very own Black Friday because we lost a forthright voice when activist, author and journalist Gauri Lankesh was assassinated. A few days ago shots were fired at Umar Khalid, a student activist who has been vocal against the authorities. He then shared an image of himself and Lankesh. The picture was a preview to a detailed statement Khalid later released on his social media handles in which he touches upon myriad issues plaguing the country and some he has been grappling with himself. "Two days before 15th August, the question also is what does 'freedom' even mean if the citizens of this country have to be ready to die for their 'crime' of just being vocal against injustice?" Khalid wrote. While his post brought back grim memories of losing Lankesh, it also reminded us that martyrs live on as inspiration.

In memory of Ms Dallas
Decades before ballet academies sprang up in the city, there was a pioneer who brought the elegant dance form to Bombay in 1966 and continued to nurture it until her nimble feet supported her. Tushna Dallas, the founder of The School of Classical Ballet and Western Dance and one of India's foremost professional ballet teachers, died at the age 76 on Monday.

The news sent a wave of sadness among her students, many of them influential names in the city's dance fraternity. "Tushna Dallas is a pillar of ballet in India. She taught for 50 years and her contribution has been legendary...One thing I know for certain is that the world will never see a teacher like Tushna. Everything that she has taught sits in their memories of her and she will live on forever through her students," ace choreographer Shaimak Davar, who has been Dallas' student and hosted her classes in his academy, told this diarist.

Dallas is survived by husband Feroze and daughters Mahazeevar, and Khushcheher, who trained under her mother and later, at the Royal Academy of Dance in the UK. She joined her mother in 1993 and continues teaching at the academy.

As one of Dallas' students said in an online tribute, "Hope the Lord pampers you with his choicest dark chocolates, as you'd like!"

The valley remembers
While Anant Bajaj, the 41-year-old MD of Bajaj Electricals, was being laid to rest in Mumbai following a heart attack last week, nostalgia ping-ponged on a WhatsApp group inhabited by his classmates from Rishi Valley School (RVS). A dull sadness that usually accompanies the walking away of an old friend, unhurriedly turned to warmth, as they spoke of a quiet fellow without airs. "His lab record books were always neatly wrapped in that brown paper from the tuck shop"; "I have a picture of him during a race on sports day, with his unique stride that shouldn't have been fast, but somehow was."

Embarrassed at the mention of his illustrious family, including philanthropist and politician Kamalnayan Bajaj, Anant it seems, embraced the legacy without a fuss. He had been placed at the head of the company after 19 years, barely two months ago. A business website speaks of his successor having to fill large shoes. But back in the virtual classroom of RVS '93-95, a seat sits empty where a gentle boy made freshers feel at home in the valley.

Louis Banks helps inaugurate the course

Music for the ears
For a long time, studying music meant getting a certificate at the end of a course, without an actual degree. But a popular school of music and an institution for the performing arts in the city have joined hands to offer what is purportedly the country's first Bachelor's degree course in music. It's a three-year residential programme that allows students to pursue different types of music, be it with traditional instruments or electronic gadgets. And the selection process for it is pretty simple - all you have to do is pass your HSC or any other equivalent examination. The eligibility doesn't involve any cut-off percentage. But all the prospective students will have to undergo an audition, after which the most meritorious ones among them will be selected. All of which sounds like good news to us, since it takes us further away from the dark days when degrees in engineering and medicine were the only respectable options.

Film gets book-ed
Very few films leave you with more questions than answers. Mulk is one such film. After receiving praise from critics, the film's script is all set to be adapted into a book, as announced by writer and director Anubhav Sinha at the success party. The movie starring Taapsee Pannu and Rishi Kapoor is the story of a Muslim joint family caught up in a terror controversy. Although the book is yet to have a release date, it will be published by Raj Kamal Publications and will not stray from the plot of the film.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates