Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Platform for fitness

A group of seniors do the laughter club routine at Kopar railway station in Dombivli West on Wednesday

It's all in good rhyme for Naveen Kishore

Publishing veteran Naveen Kishore has taken a turn for the verse, so to speak, with his own book of poems about to hit the stands. The title is called Knotted Grief (Speaking Tiger) and in it, he writes about how sadness and cruelty affect the relationships that human beings have with each other. Speaking about why he took to writing poetry, Kishore shared, "I have always read poetry and turned to it for solace in times of loss or despair. The loss could be personal, for someone or something I loved or cared about. Or, it could be political. I could be mourning a way of life, of thought, of being. I could be mourning a place. During the pandemic, loss was everywhere, in me and around me. And I turned to not reading but writing poetry, to carve my own hope out of a world not known by many of the poets I was reading. The only way out is hope. Grief leads to hope in the end. No one is alone. Perhaps that is what I was trying to tell myself, and am now telling my readers through my book."

Back on stage

Same Same But Different, a play staged at Studio Tamaasha last weekend

As theatre in the city steps towards normalcy again, Studio Tamaasha in Andheri is staging an apt play this weekend. It's called Beds, and is centred on the pandemic. Founder Sunil Shanbag told this diarist that it's part of a project they have created to encourage young theatre professionals to return to live performances. "We are curating shows where we support these young artistes, so that they don't have to worry overtly about the business model. This is more about the psychological impact, about saying that theatre is back," he said, adding that they have planned workshops as well.

The write way to show solidarity

Bengaluru-based theatre-maker and educator Nisha Abdulla has started an initiative where she is encouraging women who can relate to the issue about wearing the hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka that triggered off a series of incidents in parts of India. They can send handwritten letters to express solidarity for the targeted women. "We want to let them know that they are not alone, holding leaders and the media accountable, helping them push back in whatever way they can to fight for themselves," Abdulla told this diarist. Those who wish to contribute can send their letters via email to educationisafundamentalright@gmail.com.

Jasmine will listen

Sometimes, all it takes to feel better while struggling with a problem is the quiet comfort in knowing that we're not alone. To encourage a space where one can share their darkest thoughts or random musings, newsletter The Alipore Post is starting a new initiative - Dear Jasmine. It's not an advice column, shared curator Rohini Kejriwal. "Our writer will share their experiences and insights as a response to the questions or thoughts. But it doesn't need to be about sorrowful things," she shared with this diarist.

This cafe takes a virtual turn

It's time you came out from under the rock in case you haven't heard of metaverse, a network of 3-D virtual worlds focused on social connection. It is widely regarded as the immediate future of human communication in the fields of retail, finance and art among other things. The F&B industry is not to be left behind either, as is evident from an announcement that Zorawar Kalra, founder of Massive Restaurants, made yesterday. Kalra declared that Farzi Café, a chain of restaurants under his hospitality firm, is entering the metaverse. "Ten years ago, no one believed that an Instagram page for your restaurant would be necessary. Yet, there is no restaurant today that can do without it. We feel that a presence on the metaverse will follow a similar path. The Farzi metaverse experience will be all about building a community. It will be a juxtaposition of the digital and real worlds, and will create memorable experiences where actions in one will directly affect the other. Interesting games, NFTs and being able to get virtual tokens that can be redeemed at physical locations will be some of the endless list of possibilities," he said.