Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Come rain or shine

Koli fisherfolk brace a downpour at Marve Jetty, Malad, over the weekend.

Friends of the Nilgiri Tahr

The Nilgiri Tahr is a rare species that's endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and it's soon going to be part of an engaging comic book titled Valli's Nilgiri Adventures that's presented by World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India) and penned by Mamta Nainy and Arthy Muthanna Singh. Ahead of its launch by chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and Madhura Visweswaran, philanthropy ambassador of Tamil Nadu WWF-India, Nainy (inset) shared that the book follows a schoolgirl called Valli on a trip with her classmates to the Nilgiris.

"We didn't want to make the book too academic, so we thought it might be a good idea to do it in a comic book format. The real thrust is on observation and discovery - to encourage young readers to reinvent the ways of their engagement with the natural world and make them more empathetic," said Nainy. Radhika Suri, director, environment education, WWF-India, added that the title was conceptualised out of their belief that books are one of the most effective ways of teaching children to care for the planet. "It will inspire the children of Tamil Nadu to cons-erve their state animal," she said.

Classroom on wheels

The past year has highlighted a discouraging gap in access to digital classrooms. In an attempt to bridge that gap, Ashok Kurmi, a social worker, has turned a 25-seater school bus into a mobile classroom for kids from marginalised backgrounds. Launched on August 15, the bus has been equipped with books, charts, tiny blackboards and stationery, and is currently stationed at the old Antop Hill Post Office.

"The bus was lying in the parking lot for a year. We've been conducting classes on the bus for two-three hours every morning and evening, while following social-distancing. While older kids have still managed to study online, the five-to-10 age group has suffered. This is aimed at them." Kurmi hopes to take the bus across the city on a rotational basis.

Indie notes of diversity

Since its inception in 2004, the Toto Music Award has become one of the most sought-after platforms for indie Indian music. In their second digital avatar, they are calling for applications across all genres, styles and languages in original music. Anurag Shanker from the Toto Music team shared that they are on the lookout for young, independent thinkers from the field of music. "We're trying to showcase all kinds of diversities, because we feel that there's a lot of music out there that's yet to be explored. We aim to reach people in the deeper trenches of India and its cultural diaspora," Shanker said. Interested folk can head to @totomusicindia on Instagram for application details.

Picturing kindness

In the follow-up to World Photography Day that was on August 19, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art is conducting an online photography competition based on the theme: act of kindness. Accordingly, young photographers are being encouraged to look at the world around them, and capture such acts. There's also a cash prize of R50,000 for the winner. "As a country, we came together to help total strangers during the second wave. The stories of kindness have been inspiring. We wanted to try and capture this moment in history; therefore, the idea for the competition was born. We hope to inspire young photographers to look deep into their lenses and capture the mood and feeling of kindness," Kiran Nadar, the museum's founder, told this diarist. To register, visit knma.in.

Photo-filled week

Till August 28, check out Mumbai-based arts foundation G5A's series of pop-up photobook libraries, reading rooms and photobook shops across different Indian cities. This curation is part of their World Photography Day celebrations, and will be held in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kalimpong, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pondicherry.

"After a long pause that we had to take after the second wave, it's great to be back with a collaboration like this. I feel such a programme is incredible since it brings together visual artists, patrons, and the whole community at large. Photobooks are not widely available or accessible, and to have them here is the best way to kickstart things at the warehouse once again," said Ishan Benegal, associate artistic director at G5A.