Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Picture courtesy/Bipin Kokate

They have goat you covered

Civic officials patrol a market in Dongri on Tuesday as a goat follows them on their route. Pic/Bipin Kokate

The joy of six

Sheldon D'Silva

The lockdown is a time when lots of people are signing up for online sessions to learn new skills, including picking up a musical instrument or polishing their skills on the same. It's for them that a series of workshops called Lowdown in Lockdown has been organised, where six different artistes will elaborate on their individual instruments, starting May 11. These artistes are Gino Banks (drums), Rakesh Chaurasia (flute), Sheldon D'Silva (bass guitar), Ojas Adhiya (tabla), Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar) and Sangeet Haldipur (keyboard). Chatterjee will be talking about how the strains of the sitar fit into different soundscapes, while D'Silva told this diarist, "The topics I will cover include right-hand sound palette, strengthening your fingers, building the bassline, and improvisation."

Helping hand

BMC workers wearing the face masks they received thanks to the effort

Even as the country is applauding frontline workers such as doctors and nurses in the fight against the pandemic, there isn't as much recognition being routed to those doing routine jobs, like say, gas cylinder delivery personnel. That's the thought that an organisation called Me2 Kids Club had when it partnered with Project SKAR, an initiative started by four children, to raise money and buy masks for the latter group of essential workers. Shilpa Jain of Me2 Kids Club told this diarist, "We aim to collect '10 lakh and have already collected '1.5 lakh for the club." Log on to https://bit.ly/354iQND to show your support.

Here's why Sona is going places

The organisers of this year's edition of Hot Docs, the world's largest documentary film festival, were stuck in a conundrum when the global lockdown started. They eventually decided to take the event forward, but as a "festival-at-home" experience this month where the films will be screened online. The only Indian film to be featured on the line-up is Shut Up Sona, an 85-minute documentary directed by Deepti Gupta, featuring singer Sona Mohapatra. It raises a voice against a misogynistic world, and even ventures into mythology, speaking of the legend of Krishna and Meera. Gupta told us about how she expected the unexpected while researching the film, while Mohapatra said, "In telling my story, I hope to connect the disparate dots within my culture to build a narrative that portrays a more nuanced view of the hopes and aspirations of India."

Creating a record

The recently held iForIndia concert featuring stars including Gulzar, Jack Black and Bryan Adams was the country's biggest ever online musical event held to raise funds to fight the pandemic. Now, it's created another record for raising '52 crore and counting, thus becoming the world's biggest fundraiser on Facebook. "As artistes, this was the only way we could pay tribute to those who work on the frontlines while we work for home," Ayaan Ali Bangash, who performed at the event, told this diarist.

Theatre veteran exits the stage of life

Bomi Kapadia (right) acting in a play

Veteran theatre artiste Bomi Kapadia breathed his last at the age of 93 on Monday. Known for both his work and demeanour, city thespians remember him fondly. Adman and theatre director Rahul DaCunha took to social media to share memories of his work and times with Kapadia. "I first worked with him in 1984 in the first play I did, and then in '86 and '88," DaCunha told this diarist. Recalling about a show gone wrong, he added, "The actors walked in embarrassed after the show. As he passed by he said, 'What can I say? You win some, you lose some,' and it cracked me up. He believed in keeping the laughter and humour going during the rehearsals. The process was fun if everyone was having more fun."

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