Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Sameer Markande

Ruling the roost

A rooster walks past policemen during the guard of honour at the funeral of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Manohar Joshi at the Bhagoji Baluji Keer Hindu Shamshan Bhoomi in Dadar.

Giving folk arts its due

For 35-year-old Chetan Gangavane, taking forward his father's legacy is a matter of immense pride. After all, Parshuram Gangavane (above) was conferred with the Padma Shri in 2021 for preserving the 500-year-old art of chitrakathi storytelling. Using paintings, or shadow or string puppets, this family of storytellers share episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Hailing from Pinguli in Sindhudurg district, Chetan was in the city over the weekend to host a few interactive workshops for young children on this unique art form. In between sessions, he recalled the day when his father was informed about the Padma Shri.

Chetan Gangavane (standing) conducts a workshop with children at Apre Art House in Colaba

"My father collapsed on hearing the news from the Union Home Ministry's office. We were worried because he is a diabetic, and has a problem with his right foot. I was also wary about fake calls; so, I did my own check via the Padma Awards official website. To my delight, the news was absolutely true. We distributed mithai and our home was decorated with flowers. We celebrated as if India had defeated Pakistan in a cricket match!" Chetan recalls, adding that their disbelief was mainly because the family didn't engage in lobbying, nor did they have any contacts in Delhi's power corridors to push for his father's invaluable contribution to Maharashtra's folk arts.

An accordion of marine memories

Sketches from Aparna Rao's mini accordion book

On her recent visit to Mumbai, Bengaluru-based freelance illustrator and nature enthusiast Aparna Rao created an adorable mini accordion book that includes illustrations of the diverse marine life she had spotted at a shore walk at Haji Ali with The Marine Life of Mumbai.

"Bengaluru isn't a sea-facing city. So, this shore walk had been on my list for a while," she told this diarist, "The idea of creating an accordion came from the record books we'd maintain in school where one page would be reserved for sketching the species, while the other would be for written content."

Even though Rao had a good idea about what the walk will include, it took her by surprise. "I didn't imagine I would spot such diverse species right at the shore. These are animals I grew up studying about. It was exciting to see them in real life," she said, adding that her favourite was the decorator crab, "We were told that it decorates itself with algae and sponges."

Lucky alchemy

Lucky Ali poses with the mural painted across Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport

As singer-songwriter Lucky Ali makes a comeback in the music industry with his album Subah Ke Taare, graffiti artist Alchemy painted two walls in Mumbai with larger-than-life portraits of the 65-year-old. "Right before the release of his album, he [Ali] flew down to Mumbai, and came directly to us to see the mural in progress," recalls Alchemy (inset), who brought these artworks to life across Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and at Carter Road.

Sharing insights from the conversation with the singer, he added, "I asked him how he managed to release an album after a 10-year-long hiatus. He smiled and graciously credited his team for it." While Ali was all compliments for Alchemy's work, the artist is still to come to terms with the encounter. "I never imagined that I could work with the legend. It was a dream come true."

Sounds of Nimad

A moment from the premier show (right) Bharat Chandore and Jayesh Malani

After several trips to Nimad in Madhya Pradesh, multi-instrumentalist musicians and producers Bharat Chandore and Jayesh Malani not only birthed an entire album named after the region in the state, featuring their slowly fading-away indigenous folk music, but also produced an audio-visual show with writer and theatre director Warren D'Sylva. "We premiered in Bandra in October of 2023. The team consisted of 23 members, 18 of whom were musicians," Malani told this diarist, adding that they will now roll out a documentary, capturing the making of Nimad. "The documentary will include interviews and visuals from the premier night and the day before, when our far-out vision truly came to life," he revealed.