20 September,2024 04:34 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Ashish Raje
Aspiring dentists pose for a convocation ceremony picture on the steps of the Town Hall, Asiatic Library of Mumbai.
Come mid-October, and 10 entomology enthusiasts will release the first edition of free newsletters by the community, Entomologia. "Insects of India are understudied and undiscovered," shared founder Trupaank Guatum. "The idea is to bring the citizens of India closer to nature, and remove the fear and disgust common people feel when they spot bugs," added team member Yashraj Thakare. The newsletter will cover all insect-related updates like new species, book launches, events, or artworks.
Maestro Purbayan Chatterjee's new album, Sitar Stories, will launch tomorrow at Ajivasan hall in Juhu, in the presence of renowned artistes Shankar Mahadevan, Suresh Wadkar, Pandit Rakesh Chaurasia and Ustad Taufiq Qureshi. "This album will feature seven songs where sitar becomes the centrepiece," Chatterjee revealed. "Sitar put Indian music on the world map. It was also through Ravi Shankar and his sitar that we caught the attention of the world-famous band, The Beatles. The instrument continues to play a significant role in Indian history. I will explore its many avatars in different genres through the album," he added.
The students of Wilson College will take another step in their HOPE initiative. "It refers to Help Our People Elevate.
It is our college's social initiative by the department for the Bachelor of Management Studies that began in 2008," shared principal, in-charge Jamson Masih. Every year, students work to contribute socially to the underprivileged, he added. HOPE convenor and department in-charge, Nilofer Sarang, shared, "Before the pandemic, we had adopted a village in Asangaon and worked to help them acquire and generate electricity. Since the theme for this year was Pixels of Promise, we set out to create a computer lab for the students of the Zilla Parishad of the village, Vehalonde in Thane district." The village had been part of their cause last year as well. Sarang revealed that the students had helped create a solar panel-powered 5,000 litre water tank to help reduce the water scarcity in the village in 2023. The computer lab, inaugurated today, will also be part of the celebratory human mosaic on Girgaon Chowpatty on September 23. "It will feature almost 2,000 students from the college, and neighbouring schools coming together to create a mosaic," Masih told this diarist.
As the country rages against the death of a 26-year-old chartered accountant allegedly due to the toll her workload took on her health, artist Prasad Bhat offers his take on the hustle culture through a comic strip. "In times of social media, there is a lot of pressure to over-perform. On one side, on LinkedIn, people are continually posting their professional milestones, while on the other side, on Instagram, they are posting about their luxury vacations," he shared, pointing out how the current generation feels torn between two extremes, and ends up hustling trying to make the money to afford the Instagram-mable life. "The same thing happens with a young, enthusiastic boy in my illustration, whom corporates exploit for his need of money," he told this diarist.
Veteran journalist and artist Prakash Bal Joshi addressed a room full of readers at the Marathi Patrakar Sangh yesterday, as he launched the Hindi translation of his 1984-published award-winning Marathi book, Maitrinichi Goshtaa. "There is an English version also. It was translated by Smita Karandikar, and is called Mirror in the Hall. This one, in Hindi, is titled Saheli ki Kahani," Joshi shared. The book was launched alongside Ram Naik, former governor of Uttar Pradesh. "I have always been fascinated by the Hindi language. I have always wanted a Hindi version for the book and I am overjoyed to have finally launched it," Joshi shared. The book, he added, is a collection of short stories that discover the complexities of urban life in cities like Mumbai. "All characters hail from middle-class families. The stories are a reflection of my understanding of human emotions," Joshi added.
