29 July,2022 05:04 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Ashish Raje
An artist in Lalbaug gives the final touches to snake idols before the arrival of Nag Panchami next week
Atul Kumar (right) the poster titled âGod Meets Adam Today' by students Sneh Dikshit, Khushi Hathiram, Shlagha Raipure and Manan Seth
Art Deco Mumbai's latest Instagram post about their young students' imagination of Mumbai's art deco in zine will leave you curious. Described as refreshing by Art Deco Mumbai founder Atul Kumar, the artworks are final submissions by students of the Academy of Architecture, Mumbai, after a five-day stint of observing structures in the city. "It is almost as if we are being queried as to what we have done with the planet and specifically, with the urban form," Kumar explained. He further noted, "I love how they set the whole thing in a sunburst and captured rising sea levels as well. It is gratifying that this generation is concerned about the future," he said.
Ustad Zakir Hussain continues to rock the music world. The tabla maestro has been nominated in the World Percussion category by the Modern Drummer Magazine's reader's poll. He is not the only Indian, though. Composer Trilok Gurtu offers him company alongside international names such as former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and Latin jazz percussionists Poncho Sanchez and Giovanni Hidalgo. Voters can pick their favourites at moderndrummers.com.
Writer, comic and disability inclusion-enabler Sweta Mantrii is holding an AMA (Ask Me Anything) series about disability on Instagram Stories. The series will continue till Sunday, the last day of Disability Pride Month. "It's not possible for people to engage with content in under 24 hours, so I made it a week-long series till the end of the month," the comedian said. With a plethora of questions centred around disability, Mantrii has been sharing her experiences and dropping facts. Her series opens the floor for dialogue as long as it's not argumentative, lacking in basic decency or ignorant, because the onus of self-enlightenment will always bear weight. Mantrii told us, "A good question I received is - do I feel guilty for access to facilities that a socially disadvantaged person with disabilities can't access? The answer is no. While I hope to further accessibility to all, it's heartbreaking that persons with disabilities need to have some amount of privilege to access basic facilities and lead a dignified life." This is the second AMA series she is conducting on her profile. Head to @imadmantrii to join the conversation.
In the 75th year of our country's Independence, Goethe Institut has decided to commemorate the occasion with 75 ideators, writers and thinkers from India and Germany to contribute to the online platform on the subject of freedom. These include theatre artiste Sameera Iyengar, journalist Sandip Roy, and writer Annie Zaidi, to name a few. Filmmaker Ronny Sen, one of the contributors invited, said, "Freedom is not a permanent state of being: each generation has had to fight for freedom and our generation is also not any different. It is not what our earlier generations had imagined." Another contributor, poet Meena Kandasamy added that the absence of fear is crucial to freedom. She told us, "Freedom to me is the absence of threats. It is self-determination - the right to choose your religion, your partner, your profession, your future." Sen remarked that Goethe Institut's platform would offer artists with different voices to project their ideas on the digital canvas with a sense of liberty. For Sen, the platform by the institute offers a chance to bring together artists with divergent views. Kandasamy said the opportunity to contribute to the platform comes at a time when the most basic freedoms are under threat. "I think speaking about it offers the chance to initiate and maintain a much-needed dialogue in society today," she concluded.
Jasmine farmers from Mokhada celebrate their harvest
Can hunger be eliminated? The Feed'Em Movement hopes so. The non-profit that was started in 2017 completed a year of its flagship programme, Jasmine Farmer. The 2021 programme began with 40 jasmine farmers earning a revenue of Rs 16 lakh.
Sana Arora
Sana Arora, founder, told us, "The idea is to create sustainable employment for women. Their success encourages others to enter the farming process." The programme is being tested at the Mokhada district in Maharashtra along with the Diganta Swaraj Foundation working on the ground; the project is now looking forward to a new batch of women farmers taking charge. Check out thefeedemmovement.com for more details.
