Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

Darshan on the move

Out for a festive ride on Ganesh Jayanti, a woman riding pillion takes pictures of Siddhivinayak temple at Prabhadevi.

Right playwright

Siraj-Ayesha Sayani

Submissions for the Sultan Padamsee Awards 2022 are open, and director Siraj-Ayesha Sayani, its moderator since 2016, told us, "There is no genre bias; it's open to Indian playwrights - from India or outside - who can create an original English piece that hasn't been produced or published." Entries for the awards are yet to come in, but she added that they flood in later on as, "you want to keep editing the play till the last minute." For details, write to tgsppa2022@gmail.com.

Looming large in the city of Mumbai

A still from the film, Saacha: The Loom

Ever since the pandemic forced people to take the virtual route, screenings that were earlier a common point for passionate discussions shifted online. Vikalp@Prithvi lets audiences post their questions and comments for the filmmakers after every monthly screening; to not let the spirit of a film discussion fizz out. Saacha: The Loom, a film by KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro was screened yesterday, and viewers can send in their questions by Sunday. Saacha chronicles the changing life and times of a city that was once the hub of the working class movement in India. Jayasankar told this diarist, "The film has somehow become more relevant today, as it talks about the fault lines in the city and how the working class has been a focal point in Mumbai's history with regard to its wealth and approach to culture. Saacha looks at the secular utopian energy that the city held, and how artists look at that energy decreasing over a period of time." Film lovers, who wish to watch this documentary film that was made some 22 years ago, can find it on YouTube.

KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro

According to Lilly Singh

We know actor, comic and content creator Lilly Singh for her wry sarcasm on all things desi, and that she's an entertainer with nearly 38 million followers across social media platforms. She's back with another book, Be A Triangle (Pan Macmillan India) that releases in early April. Sharing about it, she said, "It captures my personal journey that I took to dive deeper into my life and understand what I want from it. The result has been something I think everyone can learn and benefit from. Here, in this book, I write about growth, pain, healing and understanding peace in a vulnerable yet straightforward way. I have used the guidelines I wrote about in my own life." Singh hopes the book will be a gift for everyone as it has been for her.

Join the club of happy readers

The Indie Bookstore Festival, organised by The Sunflower Seeds, goes live with its first virtual session from February 18. Sonali Bendre-Behl will be the chief speaker. The actor and author told this diarist that she is looking forward to being part of a fest that aims to preserve local bookstores. Her session will focus on book clubs: "Apart from providing a platform to discuss books and making you accountable, they ensure you finish the book in the stipulated time frame. They increase the motivation to read, especially today with countless digital distractions. Before the pandemic, bookstores hosted the reading community. Book clubs and independent stores have an interdependent relationship."

Celebrating Ganpati the green way

As the city celebrated Ganesh Jayanti yesterday, a pandal in Goregaon - the Goregaoncha Omkareshwar by Om Sai Datta Mitra Mandal - is observing the festival with a difference. They have a paper idol and are giving away saplings to all devotees. "These paper idols dissolve in water much faster than clay. The idol has been made by Ashish Patkar, who also paints the idol at Siddhivinayak temple," shared Sanket Jalgaonkar, one of the organisers. They are also conducting a seminar on rainwater harvesting and going plastic-free, and are solely using cloth bags for prasad distribution. The festivities are on till February 8, so you should give it a dekko.