Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Won't moo-ve while she sleeps

A cow stays put as its caretaker catches forty winks on a pavement in Ghatkopar.

Kalaghoda's landmark turns 12

Illustration/Sameer Kulavoor

Mumbai's popular art gallery ARTISANS' Centre has completed 12 years, and congratulations are in order for Radhi Parekh (below) founder-director. When this diarist asked how she plans to celebrate, she said, "We would like to celebrate the artists, artisans and designers who had their first launches at the gallery and who have gone on to great success.

Pic Courtesy/Robert Stephens

We'd like to celebrate that as well as showcase new emerging talent in 2024." To commemorate the occasion, contemporary artist Sameer Kulavoor has created an illustration (left) on a photo of the original of the space, before it got transformed into this art centre. She added that it has been quite a journey, and is grateful for all the love.

Love thy neighbourhood, say Marolkars

School children participate in a cleanliness drive organised in Marol

Dream Marol, a citizen initiative, has been for a year, conducting events to not only bring the community together, but also to ensure the surroundings are well maintained. They conducted marathons and social fests; and distributed cloth bags. "We recently arranged a cleanliness drive on Sag Baug Road with children," says Suresh Nair of the initiative, who aims for a better Marol by next year.

Art meets tech on Powai campus

Wall paintings at the IIT Bombay campus designed as part of last year's Mood Indigo

Indigo Art Project, which is part of the IIT Bombay's Mood Indigo Festival, is calling for entries from students with artistic streaks. They can be from any degree college across India. "This is a chance for students to showcase their talents, as the fest sees a footfall of over 1,50,000. There are three categories for the entries - wall painting, art installations and project motion," shares Nikhil Thakre, ambience head, Mood Indigo.

Explaining the new project motion category, he says as it's a tech institution, they are trying to fuse art with technology. The selected students will have to create artworks at the IIT campus, and will be provided with all the necessary amenities across categories. The final work will be exhibited at Mood Indigo, which is scheduled for December 2023. He adds, "Indigo Art Project's goal is to create a community of art people. Students will also get a chance to network with international and national artists, and be able to learn about a lot of unconventional art forms." For more details, check my.moodi.org/iap.

A cup to cheer

A still from the anthem Bolo Bharat Mata Ki Jai

Inspirational? India hopes it is more like win-spirational. The sweet sound of a ball hitting the middle of the bat is echoing through the country as the cricket World Cup has taken off. For those who like to say it with a song: Bolo Bharat Mata Ki Jai, a recently released Hindi audio visual anthem in both video and audio formats is all about a cricket-mad nation revving it up for the Cup. The music video is streamed on YouTube and music streaming platforms. We say that the world is changing fast. At one time, you sat in the stadium and cheered, sang songs and slogans. Then, you sat in front of your TV and cheered; you missed the heady excitement of watching a match live in a stadium but you could sit on the sofa and cheer, even hurl home popped popcorn or wafers at your TV screen. The big plus of course, were the replays you could watch on screen, and savour the flavour of the big moments in matches. Now, you can watch, hear and cheer on your phone. The way we consume sport has changed. So has the way we cheer.