Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

In its happy cocoon

A child remains engrossed in its virtual world while people find a way past his makeshift hammock on a pavement in Chembur East

Cooking up a whole new dish

Chef Ranveer Brar has swapped his kitchen for a space in front of the camera. Brar will be a part of the upcoming anthology, Modern Love Mumbai. "It was a great combination of timing, the right opportunity and an amazing crew to work with. Every time you play a character it impacts you in some way, shape or form. It makes you better," the chef told us. Having been a chef for 25 years, playing the role on screen came naturally, quipped Brar. The episode, titled Baai, will feature globally across 240 countries, but that does not make him nervous. "It's like travelling or eating, acting too adds to who you are as a person. That's my takeaway from this debut," the chef concluded.

Master in feline art

A cartoon about leopards

Dr Arjun Srivathsa's social media reflects his love for art and nature. A conservationist with the National Centre for Biological Sciences, he has been researching about the leopards across forest fragments in the country. We caught up with him earlier this week on International Leopard Day (May 3) and he shared about them being, perhaps, the most adaptable large cats in India; "They lead fascinating lives, somehow thriving, alongside people. The presence of these big cats keeps the wild herbivore population in check; thereby, protecting farm crops."

Arjun Srivathsa. Pic Courtesy/WCS-India

These cats also feature in Indian folklore making them bonafide ‘desi' cats, he remarked. His love and work with the big felines naturally turned into art , which dominates his social media handles. A skilled cartoonist, he informed us that art was a way to communicate scientific findings in a more relatable manner. His cartoons have since been translated into regional languages for research and nature education in villages surrounding forests. "It is an opportune moment in India's wildlife research history for communicators and storytellers to use art and other interesting media to help bridge the gaps between science and society," he emphasised.

Creating art out of nothing

Not everyone is inspired by the sight of a blue tarpaulin fluttering in the rain. But for artist/designer Satyaraj Vetoskar (in pic), it was the trigger to create an art collection from reused and sustainable materials. A product designer and artist, Vetoskar's show, Future. Isnow, at Gallery 47 in Khotachiwadi, will showcase artwork made from upcycled things - discarded airplane chairs to tarpaulins. "The idea was to make something uncommon out of common materials," he told this diarist. Vetoskar admitted that moving to Goa helped him to understand the need for sustainable living. It translated into this unique expression. "I like the challenge of doing something beyond the possible," he described. As for his artwork, he believes that it has to be efficient. "Product design is a public art," he stated,
with no hesitation.

Vision of youth

A still from Khurana's film, Nauha

The upcoming Cannes film festival will witness a young filmmaker join the prestigious names representing India. Pratham Khurana's thesis film, Nauha, has been picked in the La Cinef section at the festival this year. A graduate of Mumbai's Whistling Woods film school, the filmmaker admitted that he was excited. The film, though, was born of a strange contemplation of death, he revealed. "The concept of death has always fascinated me, but I became conscious about it only because of a friend. He asked why everybody was always dying in my stories?" The question triggered Khurana to explore the reasons further through conversations, and it clearly worked. After two years of the pandemic spent working on the film, he now has a trip to Cannes awaiting.

A celebration of poetry

A week-long poetic affair is currently underway at Samyukta Poetry's Facebook page . The second edition of the Anantha, an international poetry festival, will continue till this Sunday. Curator Sonya J Nair (in pic) said the festival will bring together lovers of poetry and literature. "The idea is that participation is always voluntary," she added. Poets like Arundhati Subramanium, Menaka Shivdasani and Shweta Rao Garg were part of their recent sessions. "We have one-on-one sessions with poets about their subjects, writing and inspirations," Nair said adding that Ari Sitas, Subhro Bandopadhyay's Mapping Gondwana will be launched on May 8. The book has several Bengali poems translated by poet Sampurna Chattarji.