Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

The young man and the sea: An angler reels in a catch off Juhu Beach over the weekend. Pic/Satej Shinde

Hung over the Bay

Many viewed the lockdown as an opportunity to get the ball rolling. City-based writer Rochelle Potkar was one of them, for she worked on a new book Bombay Hangovers (Vishwakarma Publications) that is scheduled to tentatively release on February 20. About the book, Potkar told us, "These are 16 immersive short stories around characters of Bombay across caste, class, and religion." With the title receiving advanced praise from the likes of Keki Daruwalla, Manohar Shetty and Damodar Mauzo, we're surely looking forward to it.

Producing talent

Here's an opportunity for film producers from India and the South Asian region to widen their horizons across the globe. The Storiculture Company, a ‘native-for-global' network of film and content expertise, has launched the first edition of Producer Land. It's a programme that will allow 15 promising producers from this part of the world to be mentored by 40 international experts for four months, so that they can increase their skill sets and build a contact base across countries. "Global aspiration, cultural rootedness, motivation and past experience are some of the parameters that the applicants will be judged on during the selection process," shared Celine Loop (in pic), co-founder of the organisation. Log on to thestoriculturecompany.com to send in your entries.

Remembering the Mahatma with music

Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary was last weekend, and Mani Bhavan, along with Gandhi Smaran Nishi in Mumbai, organised an online concert that Indian classical music stalwarts Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan (in pic) curated. A group of young musicians including Shantanu Herlekar and Pavithra Chari took part in it. Speaking about the relevance of the Mahatma in today's day and age, Pradhan told this diarist, "We feel that Gandhi's message of non-violence and truth is particularly relevant in present times when violence, hatred, communalism, lack of transparency and dishonesty seem to pervade our society."

Revealing notes on inequality

A new track composed by Indian Ocean bassist Rahul Ram lays bare the stark inequalities that exist between the upper crust of society and those who occupy the lower rungs, even as the pandemic carries on disrupting our lives. Ram composed it as part of a campaign called #FightInequality that activists and frontline workers have launched in association with NGO conglomerate Oxfam, and which is aimed at amassing a recovery package for the worst-affected people during this tough period. Ram shared, "This song was structured in such a way that it would allow people from different groups to sing about the inequalities that affect them the most." Oxfam also revealed the results of a study it carried out, titled The Inequality Virus. It revealed how the wealth of the country's top 100 billionaires increased by '12,97,822 crore since March 2020, even as over 1.7 lakh people lost their jobs every hour in the month of April alone. Now that's some food for thought.

Being brown, and loving it

I am Brown, Ashok Banker, the US-based Indian author's debut picture book, was conceived and written as a series of statements affirming the joy and beauty of being a brown child. "Publishing statistics reveal there are more picture books about animals than about brown or black children of underprivileged and diverse backgrounds. As a child of poor minority parents of mixed race, mixed religions and low caste, I wanted to create a picture book that represented the millions of others like myself," recalled Banker. And now, the critically acclaimed bestseller that earned a Book Trust Great Books 2020 recognition, has just been nominated for the prestigious Derby Children's Picture Book Award. "It's been showered with love from parents, educators, and of course, children all over the world. Its success and popularity is encouraging. Every child should be able to see themselves represented in the books they read, and such inclusive picture books are an important first step in making them feel included, loved, and special."