Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Lending his ear

A man gets his ear cleaned by a professional near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus

She said, she said

Sneha Khanwalkar and Kiss Nuka. PICS COURTESY/INSTAGRAM

From Shubha Mudgal to Parvathy Baul, women musicians have created ripples in the Indian music industry. But what is a woman's experience of being in the business? A project called Let Women Do The Talking (LWDTT) will bring together women music professionals from India, Germany and the US to discuss their challenges, best practices and the way ahead. Initiated by The Wacken Foundation, the series is travelling to Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. It is being executed by Bangalore Open Air in association with the US Embassy in Delhi. LWDTT in Mumbai will unfold on June 28 and 29 at antiSocial, where there'll be a line-up of talks, workshops, and gigs featuring Kiss Nuka, Sneha Khanwalkar and Nush Lewis, among others. Salman U Syed, founder, Bangalore Open Air, shared, "This is an important subject to deal with in India considering the music industry is male-dominated. We want to encourage young women to pursue careers in music."

Walking to a new beat

(From left) Encore, Sez and Calm. PICS/ARCHIT REGE AND ANURAG SHARMA

Sez On The Beat and Seedhe Maut's Teen Dost Tour in the city in July has got a special connection to NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). The group has put out NFTs to mark their first major tour since 2019. Mo Joshi (inset), co-founder of organising platform Azadi Records, told us, "What we're doing is an NFT coach and gated tour."

They offer fans a chance to meet their idols, a free drink, and an Air Force One custom trainer among other offers. No wonder, 14,000 fans crashed the website within minutes of the launch. With four real world shows, the group is set to perform in the metaverse, too. Joshi said, "We expect to sell out the show. For the first time they are performing the whole album together."

On the same page

The club will seek like-minded people

For readers who feel uniquely welcome in a cafe where patrons can browse through books, PaIi Hill's The Village Shop has some good news. They are set to launch a book club on July 2. Javed Mallick, its owner, told us, "Just One More Page is a means to seek an adventure in literature, food and dialogue. We plan to meet once every month. In the upcoming session, people will gather, interact and share their reading preferences. We might discuss a text or reserve the opportunity for our next meeting." Check out @thevillageshop to join this club.

An equal sky by all measures

A campaign is trying to disrupt the prevalent tokenism associated with Pride Month celebrations. Super 15, an initiative by transgender community-led organisation Tweet Foundation, aims to place 15 capable trans individuals in workplaces that promote diversity. Pushing our focus beyond rainbow colours in social media bios, Abheena, activist and founder of Tweet, shared, "It will enable members of the LGBTQiA+ community to build an independent life based on their skill sets. We choose this month as a focal point to sensitise firms about competent trans people in search of jobs." The foundation has already put out these 15 profiles on @tweet_foundation.

Ray time in London

A still from Pather Panchali (right) Satyajit Ray. Pics courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

If you are a confirmed Satyajit Ray fan, this diarist has good news to share. In a first, the British Film Institute will host the biggest-ever show on the virtuoso - a screening of all of his 38 films. It will be held under interesting categories that spur a talking point for film and literature discussions. While the theme, The Woman Question, will include films such as Devi, Pikoo, Teen Kanya, Charulata and Ghare Baire, Histories of the Land will include Sadgati, Shatranj Ke Khiladi and Jalsaghar. The Big City, Travel Stories, Fantasies and Detectives are some of the other categories. The event will also showcase Ray's works moving away from the black-and-white grid, as organisers are bringing out colour pop posters.