Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

Birds of a feather

Two girls stop to catch a glimpse of a swarm of seagulls at Mahim Beach.

Art in solidarity

The artwork featuring Radhika Vemula

City-based illustrator Shrujana Niranjani Shridhar's latest work is a poignant piece that commemorates the eighth anniversary of student Dalit activist Rohith Vemula's death by suicide; an event that became a turning point for Dalit voices across the nation. The artwork, placed on the background of Vemula's famous last letter, depicts the moment Radhika Amma, Vemula's mother, kissed a bust of her son at a memorial in Hyderabad. "Amma is a symbol of resilience. Rohith's works continue to live through her. The letter in the background is a reminder of how much work remains unfinished for the betterment of Dalit lives," Shridhar told this diarist.

We're all eyes

Raised Eyebrow by Anant Joshi

Mumbai-based artist and sculptor Anant Joshi's latest exhibition at Chemould Prescott Road promises an eye-opening experience for visitors. Titled Raised Eyebrow, the series is brought to life using Klecksography - the art of making images from inkblots.

Explaining his inspirations, Joshi revealed, "Every day, we see stories of resilience tucked away in a corner of some newspaper. The characters change, but the stories are static to its core and they become testimonies of our times. In this sense, these works represent a form of silent dissent or a call for deeper scrutiny, power and freedom of every individual to ask questions."

On your mark, get set, shoot

Participants at a previous edition. Pic Courtesy/Nature Wanderers

Wild Clicks, a live wildlife photography competition, has opened registration for its ninth edition at Panna National Park on May 17 to 21. Launched in 2010, the competition calls photographers from across India to shoot according to a theme where jury members will guide and judge participants. "We had multiple themes earlier but this year, we have kept only one theme so that photographers have a chance to inculcate the skill of storytelling through a series of images, and the jury can judge a portfolio instead of a single image," Shivang Mehta, associate fellow, International League of Conservation Photographers and managing director, Nature Wanderers, told this diarist.

On the road

Rahul Gandhi at the Bharat Jodo Yatra 2023 in Nanded. File pic

Mumbai-based writer and journalist Dilip D'Souza's (below) latest book, Roadwalker: A Few Miles on the Bharat Jodo Yatra reveals his experience on the campaign by Rahul Gandhi in 2023. D'Souza joined the yatra in four cities, observing and photographing the journey. The writer said, "What made it so interesting from an everyman's point of view is precisely that it was so accessible to every man - and woman and child. Few took it seriously at the start; by the end, it was part of daily conversations."

Weapons of destruction

The sculpture by Karmarkar (right) the silver khubyacha kada that belonged to Koli's great-grandmother

Pepper spray might be easy to carry, but leave it to the Koli women of old to truly show you how to fight. At a recent visit to the Karmarkar Museum of Sculpture at Sasawane in Alibaug, resident Siddharaj Thale (inset) was intrigued by one particular sculpture of a fisherwoman. While it captured the delicate realism by the late sculptor VP Karmarkar, Thale's eyes were drawn to the unique shape of the bangles on the fisherwoman's hand.

"I had not seen anyone wearing these around me," he shared. A few inquiries led him to Anjali Koli, a resident of Dadar Parsi Colony who once lived in Thal, Alibaug. "It was only when Anjali [Koli] shared that her great-grandmother had left a similar silver kada that I discovered it is called the khubyacha kada. Koli's great-grandmother was a patlin [chief] of the village, and owned it. The kada weighs almost half a kilo, and was used as a self-defence weapon. It also has a screw that can unlock it. These women would travel to different villages alone to sell their wares, so this came handy. It was a weapon as well as an accessory. If you know Koli women, you know how fierce they can be," he told this diarist.