Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

The backroom champions

Mumbai Police officials gather to take pictures on the main podium after the ICC Men's T20 World Cup victory parade concluded at Wankhede Stadium.

A splash of Independence

Caligrapher Achyut Palav painted phrases from the American Preamble and left messages in Marathi on the Star-Spangled Banner for American Independence Day

For American Independence Day, Mumbai-based National Awardee Achyut Palav (inset) reached Oregon to add calligraphic colours to the celebration. "I wanted to wish Indian Americans in Marathi, as well as in English. So, I painted on the Star-Spangled Banner," the calligrapher told this diarist over a phone call from Portland.

"I wrote phrases from their Preamble like the iconic ‘We the people' and left a message in Marathi on the stripes," he shared, adding that it brings him joy to discover that people in the US are still in touch with their Marathi culture. His workshops and lectures were focused on the Devanagari script. "When I saw kids viewing my artworks, I realised that I am inspiring a new generation to keep in touch with our culture," he beamed.

Let's sketch in the suburbs

Participants sketch at the 50th gathering

Art community, Suburban Sketchers Mumbai, recently celebrated its 50th gathering with nearly 50 sketchers from across the suburbs at Candies in Bandra. Co-founder Anita Alvares Bhatia (below) told this diarist, "We started as a small WhatsApp group of sketching enthusiasts to capture the beauty of suburban Mumbai. Reaching 50 sketching days prompted us to celebrate with four engaging activities - SUB do rang, SUB koshish, SUB ka zine, and SUB muse." Sketching together was daunting for signees but turned into a fun and bonding experience, she said, adding. "The energy by the end was refreshing." The event highlighted creativity, community, and the vibrant spirit of the city's suburbs.

Game on, players

A glimpse of the strategic role play game

Desi Board Games, known for their popular creation Desi Feud, is set to launch a new strategic board game centred on Indian cricket. Anoop Agrawal (inset), the group's chairman, shared their enthusiasm, stating, "We've been working on it for some time now. It's going to be a killer game." The game is scheduled for release in September, and will be available simultaneously in India and the USA via Amazon. Agrawal added, "As an avid cricket fan myself, I got hooked onto it - it's engaging and entertaining that you can't stop playing." For more updates, head to @desiboardgames.

Every Mumbaikar should read

The 58th Library4 All unit is installed at (right) Pandit Deenanath Upadhyay Udyan in Dadar West

Since its inception in 2022, the Library4All initiative by Gabula Foundation has installed 58 public reading units across gardens in the city. The latest one is installed at Pandit Deenanath Upadhyay Udyan in Dadar. "Our aim is to share the joy of reading with all. Reading has become a challenge because of digital media, and the cost and lack of availability of books.

By setting up such units in places visited by people of all age groups and from all stratas of society, we wish to make accessibility easier. The motto of Library4all is ‘Take a book, Read a book, Leave a book', where preloved books are shared with people through free libraries in the gardens of Mumbai," founders (below) Dr Ismat and Abbas Gabula shared. The first unit was set up at Matoshree Ramabai Thackeray Udyan in Lower Parel. "That we have reached the 58th unit, with many more coming up in the near future; it makes 100 seem like an attainable number," the duo told us.