08 October,2022 07:02 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Shadab Khan
Two black-headed gulls perch themselves near the railway track at Bandra station.
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For those who believe in second chances, Ananda Yaan is proof. The social project will open its third centre at the community hall opposite Mazgaon court on October 10. The brainchild of Ramesh Narayan, the project was started in collaboration with the Dignity Foundation and Rotary Club of Bombay in 2017. "It is not a charity or a medical service, but a setting where they can come and have fun," Narayan told us. From zumba classes to sing-alongs and birthday celebrations, the centre will be a hub of activity, Madhusudan Daga, chairman of Ananda Yaan committee, shared. "It is a setting for fun and friendship, but we also offer help when needed," he added.
In a country as vast and diverse as ours, even the arts can appear separated. Having worked on different stages in Jodhpur, Delhi and Mumbai, Sikandar Khan discovered that this separation was costing theatre artistes. "I thought we needed to fix certain things to help Indian theatre step in line with the Internet," he described, adding that the website will help to compile new works and connect stage performers across the country. "If you are a playwright in Mumbai, and I am hosting a festival in Assam, I can reach out and offer you a chance to come perform," Khan said. "It will also open up access to so many new works from across the country," he noted. Those interested can access information at theatremanagementcompany.com.
The East Indian community is preparing for its own international singing competition this week. Over the last three years, Nelson Patel has organised the East Indian International Online Singing Competition. "The contest is for traditional but new East Indian songs composed by new singers and composers," he told this diarist. Since April, the community has been sending in new compositions and songs that cater to traditional East Indian celebrations. These are then choreographed and videos are shot for them. "We share a rough cut with the singer/creator, who then has to perform on the day of the competition," Patel pointed out. While the pandemic is over, Patel remarked that the event remains online for its international access, with participants from as far as Qatar chiming in. The competition will be streamed live on Elvis Multimedia's Youtube channel today at 7.30 pm.
We were delighted to learn that two big book festivals have teamed up this year. The Binod Kanoria (BK) Children Books awards will sign on with Mumbai's own Tata Lit Live to showcase children's literature in a big way. Nirbhay Kanoria, founder of BK awards, said, "Tata Lit Live serves a wide audience across the country. The overall idea of the BK awards is to promote Indian authors and Indian Hindi authors to a larger audience. By partnering with this festival, we will target that audience."
The season of rock is upon us with Mood-Indigo, IIT-Bombay's premier festival scheduled for December 27 to 30 this year. The festival has brought back its semi-professional band competition - Livewire. "The indie cultural landscape in India really took a hit during COVID-19. Our focus is to revive it and also to give a stage to numerous indie bands," Aman Sathe, overall coordinator for the festival explained. The preliminary rounds have already begun in Shillong and Bengaluru today with Delhi, Pune and Mumbai to follow. "Each city will have a different set of judges; Richard Dudley from Moksha and Subir Malik from Parikrama among them," Sathe added. As for the grand prizes, Sathe remarked that it is the highest ever at R1.8 lakh and a chance to headline on the Mood Indigo stage. There is also unlimited studio time to record their own album and performance slots at OpenJamm and Nrtya Showcase on offer.
