Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Sameer Markande

Va va vroom

Students look on as a miniature car takes centrestage during a competition at the recently concluded Techfest 2023 by IIT Bombay.

Moving Mumbai

A piece from the series by artist Seema Lisa Pandya

The new year will welcome Seema Lisa Pandya, a South Asian-American artist based in Brooklyn, to Mumbai. Pandya showcases her first solo exhibition in India, Spanda: Reverberations of the Cosmos at Nariman Point's Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, curated by Dr Arshiya Lokhandwala and presented by Sunaina Kejriwal. "The show, which begins on January 11, draws on the term Spanda, etymologically derived from the root, spadi, which means movement, motion, or vibration. It presents an expansion of her tabla sculpture series and draws inspiration from cymatics, the study of sound and vibration made visible by applying vibration to a plate holding sand or water to reveal natural patterns formed," Dr Lokhandwala told this diarist.

Plastic makes perfect

Rajiben Vankar with her upcycled plastic products. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

The first time this diarist saw the magic that Rajiben Vankar can spin was when she touched the serrated outside of a wine bottle bag in rainbow stripes complete with silver lining, at Artisans', Kala Ghoda. The famed artisan from Kutch, who was skilled by non-profit Khamir, is an eco-warrior of sorts, working with ‘garbage' to weave discarded plastic bags into sheets and fashion utilitarian accessories including grocery bags, purses, baskets and yoga mats. While cotton is used for the warp, plastic replaces the weft. Close to 70 single-use plastic bags make a one-metre sheet. This weekend will see her add another honour to her kitty as she receives the prestigious 30th IMC Ladies' Wing Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar 2023 for Rural Entrepreneurship. Instituted to encourage business entrepreneurship in rural India, the award celebrates the stellar contribution of women in economic development. Vankar works with over 70 women and a battery of modified pit-and frame looms, and sewing machines to run a business that's start-to-finish handmade. The trailblazer has a string of achievements to her name, including environment protection. But most precious among them, by her own admission, is the financial independence of marginalised women. That's a feat for someone who found nothing going in her favour: A widow with three children, unschooled, and trained in weaving by a cousin in secrecy.

BTS bash in Ambernath

Jim and V. PIC COURTESY/YOUTUBE

Wishing Jim and V from Korean boyband BTS a very happy birthday tomorrow will be city-based ARMY (Adorable Representative MC for Youth) AKA BTS fans at a newly opened K-pop-themed cafe in Ambernath. Named Annis K-pub, this will be the venue's second-ever themed event managed by the Mumbai BTS community. "We opened this restaurant here for our daughter," shared Milind Chakre, who launched the restaurant a few months back with his wife Caroline Chakre.

Fans play BTS-themed games at the venue

"There aren't a lot of spaces in the Central [railway] suburbs for K-pop fans. Our daughter felt as if she was missing out on all the fun in town. Hence, we decided to cater to the many like her in this part of the [extented] city," he added. While their first gathering, also BTS-themed, was a hit, the second one promises to bring in fans from the Western suburbs as well. "There are nearly eight emerging talents from the city who will perform to BTS songs. We'll play games and there'll be stalls selling merchandise; freebies, food and mocktails at a heavily discounted price; and of course, cake," he revealed.

Inked in blue

A photograph by Arun Vijai Mathavan from his work Millennia of Oppression that will feature in the magazine

In April earlier this year, this page brought to the fore a new art magazine in the making that would give a platform to the artists who express their support towards the anti-caste movement. In a conversation with founder and artist Siddhesh Gautam (below), this diarist recently learned that the magazine All That Blue has now reached the final stages of editing, and is scheduled to be out in print by April, 2024.

"I come across several artists who are doing brilliant work but are unable to get featured in other magazines because their art doesn't sync with news. Hence, I wanted to create a blue community that represents the majority of India. One such tale is of photographer Arun Vijai Mathavan who has been documenting the post-mortem stories through his camera for years now," he said, adding that the magazine comprises of 120 pages, and will include stories of poets, photographers, filmmakers and artists who strive to make a change through their work.

Stars on the move

While many of us gaze at the stars to foresee our fortunes for the coming year, Arvind Paranjpye, director of the city's Nehru Planetarium, does it for another reason. The veteran's latest edition of Sky News - a monthly almanac of astronomical events - captured some key moments that might mark a shift from December 31, 2023. "The Earth is moving into its perihelion phase [closest distance to the Sun] and the Sun will shift into the constellation Capricornus. There is also the beautiful Quadrantids Meteor shower that will peak on January 4," he remarked. As for what the stars hold for us in the future, he said, "They always have something interesting if you look carefully."