Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

A purple patch

The Texas-native Leucophyllum frutescens or the Texas barometer bush makes for a pretty frame, near Metro Cinema, attracting this shutterbug.

A friend remembers an artist

(From left) Mehlli Gobhai with Jerry Pinto. Pic Courtesy/Chirodeep Chaudhuri

Author Jerry Pinto has paid a moving tribute to legendary Mumbai-based artist, the late Mehlli Gobhai, in his new title, The Secret World Of Mehlli Gobhai: The Man Who Found Art Everywhere. The book follows the life and artistic journey of Gobhai through conversations between him and Pinto, his dear friend, accompanied by eye-catching illustrations on each page by artist Kripa B. "I met Mehlli Gobhai in 1992 and we became friends over a period of time. He was one of India's greatest painters but he was not the kind of person to promote himself. He was, he said, suspicious of the cult of personality. I wanted to find a way to talk to young people about art and I thought that a good way would be to show them how talking to a painter can fill up the gaps in your education," Pinto told this diarist. The difficult part, Pinto shared, was what not to tell. "There was so much that was fascinating: how he sat in the audience at Shanmukhananda Hall, watching Bharatanatyam dancers perform and sketching them in the darkness; how he was asked to audition for the role of Dr Zhivago; how he could draw equally well with the left hand and so much more," Pinto recalled further. The title can be found online, on Pratham Books' digital repository, Storyweaver.

Chilling with master chefs

Jose Andres. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

Chef Prateek Sadhu of Masque had quite a fanboy moment recently when one of his icons, Spanish-American chef Jose Andres, dropped by his kitchen along with chef Sanjeev Kapoor. The trio did what they do best: had a gala time cooking away.

Sanjeev Kapoor

"We got a call from someone saying that chef Andres wanted to meet us. He's such a legend; we were so overwhelmed. In fact, he loved it so much he visited us twice. We exchanged notes and he tasted our food. He also showed us his mother's recipe with whipped eggs, sugar and mangoes, and left a really sweet note for us," Sadhu shared with this diarist.

The seeds of change

Relish the mangoes, but don't throw away the seeds. That's the not-so-aam message that environmental enthusiast Subhajit Mukherjee, ambassador, Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyaan - an initiative of the state government to mitigate climate change - is trying to spread. Mukherjee is on a pan-India mango seed collection drive and aims to develop them into saplings that can be gifted to farmers. "We'll then use a grafting technique so that farmers can plant the saplings. We have space in Thane to plant around one lakh seeds, and we've also teamed up with non-profits across India so that farmers everywhere can take up mango plantation," he added. The seeds need to be washed properly, dried and then sent to Mukherjee's Charkop office. For details and the address, contact 9323942388.

A DIFF-erent tenth

Dharamshala International Film Festival directors (left) Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam

This year, the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF)completes 10 years. The team had hoped to celebrate it with the local community and their family of filmmakers and film lovers in Dharamshala, said director Ritu Sarin. But due to the current situation, they're going online for the second year in November and are accepting submissions. "We realise our work must respond to this reality, and we plan to continue engaging with the film community through online workshops, talks and screenings through the year."

Lockdown in play

Shernaz Patel

Theatre lovers, there's a new play, virtual of course, on the block. Premiering on June 12, Cross Connection is directed by Shivani Tanksale and is a collaboration between Rage Productions and EnActe. Written by Yogesh Anant Utekar, it follows the story of a migrant worker stuck during the lockdown and a thief planning a heist. "When they reached out to me to direct, I felt the migrant workers' premise was a relevant topic that needed to be addressed. The play is about a daily wage worker who's homeless and waiting at a station to go to his village. His wife's worried.

Shivani Tanksale

He then gets a call from a thief and it follows from there," she explained. At the end of the show, there will also be a live session with Rajit Kapur and Shernaz Patel of Rage Productions, and the cast and crew of the play. "We rehearsed online. It's tough because no matter what you do, it's never going to look like an actual play, but you've got to maintain authenticity. I think we need the support of people now more than ever, since those of us who gave everything to theatre have no option but to go online for the moment," she pointed out.