Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Fish out of water
A fisherman collects dry fish at Madh beach, Malad.

Art minus boundaries

Bhuri Bai is the perfect example of an Indian woman who rises above her circumstances to achieve dizzying heights, which, in her case, is no less than the Padma Shri. That's the honour that the artist received on Republic Day, for being one of the most prominent painters from Madhya Pradesh's Bhil community (and to think that she started off by painting on the mud walls of her home). An online exhibition of her works, titled My Life as an Artist, is now on display at The Museum of Art & Photography in Bengaluru, and Kamini Sawhney, the museum's director, told us, "Bhuri Bai's contribution to the genre is significant. She is the first in her community to have reinvented her practice by transferring her painting skills from the mud house in her village to modern materials such as paper and canvas, making her art accessible to audiences and collectors around the world." Inspiring indeed.

To beary good beginnings

Karadi Tales founders with Karadi, the bear

The affable voice of Karadi, the bear, might have become a favourite in the world of kids' audio books in India, but we recently discovered that the first person to lend his voice to the character was Naseeruddin Shah, almost 25 years ago. When Karadi Tales posted a social media throwback to that moment, this diarist reached out to publishing director Shobha Viswanath, who revealed that it all started with a cold call - a fax, rather - that her brother-in-law and co-founder, Narayan Parasuram, sent to the actor's office.

Naseeruddin Shah

"We didn't even have a letterhead then, but his assistant replied and we met Naseer at his house. Although Narayan and I were the official directors of the first audio book, it was Naseer who guided us," she shared, reminiscing their recording days near Flora Fountain, in the analogue era. The co-founder added that it was Shah who set the tone for Karadi. She recollected sending him their first cassette and book: "One day, he rang me up on my landline and I almost fell off my chair! He said, ‘I did this project as I'm interested in telling stories to children, but what you've done with it is fabulous and we must do many more of these'." The rest, as they say, is history.

Game for rap?

(Left) KR$NA and Badshah

Delhi-based rap artiste KR$NA has tied up with Badshah for the first time, and their new track, Roll Up, drops today. Produced by Kalamkaar, which nurtures local talent, the track reflects the duo's signature style and underlines the hip-hop-influenced lifestyle of the millennial generation. While Badshah shared that it's an exciting collaboration for him as "KR$NA is one of the most prolific writers we have right now", what's also interesting is that Believe, a Paris-based independent digital music distribution and artist services company that recently extended its services to Kalamkaar, has also devised a racing game to market the song. "It's exciting to be one of the first rappers in India to be utilising a game to promote a track. Gaming is a huge industry in India, like music, and I wanted to intertwine the two as most Indian youth are heavily invested in both," noted KR$NA.

When the newsman is the newsmaker

While the farmers' protest at the Capital is still stirring heated debates, a prime time TV anchor ended up making headlines yesterday. Senior anchor at India Today, Rajdeep Sardesai, has allegedly been taken off air for two weeks for reportedly claiming that the farmer's death near Red Fort on January 26, was due to police firing. According to media outlets, the channel has also deducted his one-month salary. Sardesai had tweeted that the farmer was allegedly killed during police firing, and also made the same claim on air. Both statements were later retracted after the Delhi Police released a video, reportedly of the same farmer, showing how he fell victim to his tractor that had overturned. With citizens already divided over the protests, one can only hope that those in the newsroom don't complicate things further for the farmers fighting for their rights.