05 June,2021 03:47 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Nimesh Dave
Non-essential shops are allowed to be open only for a few hours under the existing unlock rules, but we wonder if the same applies to this hawker who turned his car into a mobile shop parked on a street in Borivli West on Friday.
This is worrying news. We had reported in these pages earlier this week about how MC Kode, a 23-year-old Delhi-based rapper, had been receiving online threats, which were extended to his family too. This was after a video went viral of him using cuss words in relation to the Mahabharata and Bhagwad Gita while taking part in a rap cypher as a teenager. Now, news emerges that he has gone missing after he wrote what seems like a suicide note on Instagram, saying he was standing on a bridge by the Yamuna river. In it, he said, "Please don't bother the people associated with me, give them time to grieve. I do not blame anyone for anything but myself. A relief from my own existence is going to serve as the punishment that the entire country wanted." We hear that the police is searching various stretches for a clue since there has been no information on his whereabouts since.
The enduring popularity of Sholay, or to be more specific, that of Veeru, the character Dharmendra portrayed in the iconic film, will be captured on the wall of a bungalow in Bandra's Chapel Road. That's where The Bollywood Art Project (BAP) is in the process of painting a mural of the popular character. BAP founder Ranjit Dahiya shared that he had been keen on commemorating the actor through his art for a long time. He added, "So, when I saw this apt wall, I decided that I have to pay respect to one of the biggest stars that Bollywood has ever seen."
Thane cartoonist Ravi Rane marked World Environment Day, which is today, with the power of his sketch pen. He drew two illustrations of trees. One (in pic) features a tree taking revenge on those who wield the axe with impunity. "The other cartoon has a felled tree whose lines are exposed. The tree tells a palmist, âI have lines and just like you read the lines on human hands, read these lines that talk about a dark future if people continue chopping us like this.'" That's a hard-hitting message.
Urdu is a language that is filled with beautiful words, and one of them is âraabta', which loosely translates to âan incommunicable bond between two souls'. That's the word that is the focus of a new poetry competition that arts collective The Plated Project has organised with online poetry platform The Alipore Project. People have to send in an English verse themed on âraabta', though it can't be longer than 25 words. When this diarist asked The Alipore Post founder Rohini Kejriwal about that word limit, she said, "I can't yet disclose the medium that we will be publishing the poems on, but it's one that suits smaller pieces of writing." Email your entry to thealiporepost@gmail.com by June 11 if you feel that you have what it takes.
Food has taken on a new meaning during the pandemic, since it has brought solace to many people when the times have been difficult. But the folks at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) feel that people breaking bread with each other despite being in isolation, having been brought together digitally, is a form of art in itself. That's the focus of a series they are restarting after a break due to the pandemic. It's called ArtxFood and explores the intersection between art and culinary culture. The first episode features chef Tejasvi Chandela (in pic), founder of confectionery brand All Things Chocolate. We asked KNMA founder Kiran Nadar the sort of role that food has played in bringing people together when the going has been tough. She replied, "While many cooked for pleasure during the first lockdown, people have been cooking for others during the second one, truly coming together for a common cause. That in itself is a form of public art."
