Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Raising the bar: Lalaji Devaria, a popular look-alike of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tries to take a shortcut through a closed gate at Dadar station. Pic/Ashish Raje

Hear, hear, to make a positive change

In order to leverage the popularity of podcasts to amplify change, podcasting platform Hubhopper Studio has started an initiative, Power of Podcasts, inviting NGOs, activists, educators, mental health advocates and creators to share their vision through the audio medium. Hubhopper will support them with tutorial videos and self-help decks. Founder and CEO Gautam Raj Anand shared that the initiative has been launched in the run up to International Podcast Day on September 30. "Podcasts have one of the most engaged audiences. It's important that we support people who want to create positive change."

Break the silence around suicide

With the pandemic bringing on different kinds of uncertainties, experts have time and again flagged how mental health emergencies, including suicide, are on the rise. "One in 20 people have thoughts of suicide. From a limited number of psychologists to the lack of knowledge, resources regarding suicide prevention in India aren't enough," pointed out suicidologist Nyana Sabharwal, founder of Mumbai-based Safe Space, a mental health service which trains people in first response. To help increase awareness and build advocacy, the Indian Association of Private Psychiatry, along with Safe Space, is conducting TASPC 2021 or Trauma, Addiction and Suicide Prevention Conference. The virtual event, on September 25 and 26, will feature 12 speakers from across the world, and open up a conversation about this often-overlooked reality. "We'll look at the latest evidence-based research, tools and methodologies on suicide prevention with a focus on trauma and addiction," she shared. The larger aim is to get people to recognise that those around them might have thoughts of suicide: "Five out of six people will not die by suicide if they get the help they need." To be part of this conversation, head to safespace.in/taspc to register.

A poetic tribute

Deepankar Khiwani was a Mumbai-based poet, who passed away last year, and to honour his legacy, poetry collective The Quarantine Train (TQT) instituted the Deepankar Khiwani Memorial Prize. Now in its second edition, the prize aims to recognise three Indian poets writing in English. Poet and TQT founder Arjun Rajendran told this diarist that the platform is accepting submissions till December 15 and Kinjal Sethia is the prize chair. "Deepankar was a close friend, who left a significant impression on me. I looked up to him. He was well-travelled, had wonderful memory, and was very humble. His passing was a shock. He had always wanted to do something for literature and poetry in India. I started TQT in April, and it felt only natural to institute a prize as a tribute to him," he said.

Hitting new milestones

Interactive children's activities organised by MSM in the 1970s

Earlier this week, the Museum Society of Mumbai (MSM), a cultural organisation that's part of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), celebrated their 58th anniversary. Spanning nearly six decades, the society, hand-in-hand with the museum, has dedicatedly carried out activities in fields of Indian art and culture. Formed under the vision and directorship of Dr Moti Chandra, the first director of CSMVS, and Surovi Bhattacharjee, the first chairperson of MSM, the society saw people from all walks of life, including expats still residing in Mumbai post-Independence, who brought the culture of museums with them. "There were activities for all. I joined the society in the mid-1970s; I had just finished university then," recalls current chairperson Pheroza Godrej. "The museum and the society have always been considered as one; we are one happy family. The whole purpose of the museum, when it was created, was to bring people to the museum and interact. In the last 20 years, that has really developed," she added.

Parrots on winged patrol

Birds on a wire, or, more aptly, parrots on a string. This is a recent evening scene at Tagore Road, Santacruz West where the parrots blend in with the green beyond. Above, one could also see planes taking off from the airport and flying over these birds. Wings everywhere and in a world where pandemic-induced restrictions curb mobility, we envy these avian lovelies and their freedom.