Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

No Ducking The Smile

A young boy gleefully helps his elders with hanging out the day's catch of Bombay Duck on bamboo racks at Versova beach.

More glory for Gamdevi's Malabari Hall

Malabari Hall

"It's the best news for us and the Seva Sadan. Any appreciation for a project like this helps them and the society at large for the wonderful work that they are doing to empower women and the girl child," Brinda Somaya, principal architect, told this diarist, while sharing that the Malabari Memorial Hall at Seva Sadan Society in Gamdevi, which they restored, had earned an Honourable Mention for the 2021 Vassilis Sgoutas Prize for Implemented Architecture Serving the Impoverished.

Brinda Somaya and Nandini Sampat

Speaking on behalf of the Paris-based International Union of Architects, its president, Thomas Vonier, said, "The jury appreciated their remarkable work in architecture, conservation and restoration exemplified by the guiding philosophy that the architect's role is that of guardian." The icing on the cake, Somaya shared, was that the Hall was featured in Chaitanya Tamhane's new film, The Disciple.

Art with a heart

A 6 Feet Breather by Namrata Vansadia and The Ray of Hope by Nakul Talgeri

Kulture Shop, a Mumbai-based graphic artists' collective, is offering patrons a free artwork for donations of Rs 5,000 and above to Give India's mission to boost oxygen supply. The funds will be used towards setting up oxygen generation plants, procuring oxygen concentrators, and providing and refilling oxygen cylinders.

Arjun Charanjiva

Its founder and CEO Arjun Charanjiva shared, "Our artists have offered their entire proceeds towards our Art Fights Covid campaign. Further, our Indo-global customers have been asking us for trusted NGO platforms. We aim to connect them through our campaign." To do your bit, visit kultureshop.in.

This one's for the musical ladies

From music composer Thaman S, all-female ensemble Dhruvam and bassist Mohini Dey (in pic) comes a beautiful rendition of the song Maguva Maguva. Originally released as part of the movie Vakeel Saab, this reprise version of the song comes with a classical twist. "Thaman initially played me the song and I really liked it. In the version we were going to record, I wanted to add some vocals and percussion and he gave me complete freedom to experiment with the sound. It was really cool and fun to work with all the women as well. It's good to note that these days, female musicians are banding together, which is really important in a country such as ours," Dey shared about the experience.

Soul food

Filmmaker Shubhra Chatterji (@historywali on Instagram) has announced a fundraiser lecture series with leading food scholars, writers and chefs. The first session will kick off this weekend, and features noted food critic and writer Marryam H Reshii who will talk about Kashmiri food, with a focus on saffron. "Our goal is to support individuals from marginalised communities who cannot afford COVID-19 treatment," she explained. Fifty tickets are being sold per session; they are priced at Rs 750 each.

Cooking up a worthy cause

Gresham Fernandes

While we're all trying to help improve the situation around us, a larger impact is only made when a community comes together, believes chef Hussain Shahzad. The executive chef of Hunger Inc has decided to team up with his ilk from across Mumbai to curate meals under the initiative Cooks For A Cause, proceeds of which will go to non-profits. For the first meal box that will go out on Monday, he's collaborating with chefs Harsh Dixit, Gresham Fernandes and Prateek Sadhu, and the revenue will be directed to Hemkunt Foundation.

Hussain Shahzad

"I'm so grateful that they decided to lend their time and expertise. The idea is to get together on a Monday [our day off] twice a month," Shahzad shared. Fernandes added that it's fun to be working on the project, since they're doing what they all love the most, "For chefs, it's so important to meet other chefs; so it's also about learning." Although the need of the hour is COVID-19 relief work, Shahzad hopes to use the initiative for other causes too and eventually even collaborate with chefs across India. We like.