Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Spreading their wings

On International Women's Day, women participate in a yoga session at Borivali station

Secure the change

With the amount of negativity in society, every little positive news deserves to be appreciated. The recent mandate last week by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) stated that even individuals with mental and physical health disabilities, as well as HIV/AIDS diagnosis are eligible for insurance cover. Mumbai's Samavesh Chamber of Commerce was among the groups who lobbied for it in 2022. Co-founder, Kanishka Chaudhry shared, "We, along with others, made a representation to the IRDAI on this last year. We are happy that IRDAI mandated all insurance providers to add these intersectionalities to their products." Coming in the same week as the new inclusive colours for the Pride flag, the news feels like a breath of fresh air.

Also read: Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Express with flair

(From left) Shriya Pilgaonkar; Sayani Gupta; Mithila Palkar

While every International Women's Day brings a flood of token appreciation campaigns, Kommuneity's recent effort caught this diarist's eye. The Mumbai-based arts platform has curated 27 women creators to share works of storytelling, poems and monologues over the next three days. Creator Tess Joseph remarked, "This project is about giving women a stage to speak about what they want, to imagine a future, and shape it." Among the pieces is actor Sayani Gupta's take on the typically annoying male behaviours. "I read it, and found it so funny. If you want to say something, being funny is the way to go. Plus, the script by Tess was a very cool take on something so rampant," Gupta shared about the project yesterday. In time, the platform will share works by Mithila Palkar, Priya Malik, Vanika and Nidhi Narwal.

Let's show her the money!

An example of the campaign run by Majlis and Fi online

Money, they say, makes the world go round. The finance app, Fi, and the Santacruz-based NGO, Majlis, have tied up to shine a light on financial abuse. Minhaz Fatima (inset), creative and social lead for the project, shared that culturally many women are denied financial education, and end up beholden to their companions for money. To solve this, the team scoured through several experiences of financial abuse to understand and explain it to others. "We want to start the conversation around abuse, and will follow it up with more content about financial literacy for women," Fatima added. In addition to this, Majlis will also offer financial counselling for women.

Lights at this site

The short cut leading to Sea Face and Pochkhanawala Road

A little lane opposite the Worli Sea Face, leading on to Hotel Hilltop has been in the news for several stellar wall paintings and beautification initiatives. Then, some months ago, this diarist wrote about how the same shortcut was full of dog poop with an overseas visitor even dubbing it: ‘Poop Central', as he walked through it. Now though, we are happy to state that it looks good once again. The Municipal Corporation authorities have put a signboard stating: ‘No dog pooping' aimed at dog owners and walkers at the mouth of the lane. In the late evenings, a part of the lane is all lit up. That makes this an aesthetic shiny pathway. More power to a clean city and if a little bling is your thing, then, like they say, life zing-alala.

Why waste waste?

Rahul Nainani

If you have witnessed more than a couple of monsoons in Mumbai, you are familiar with the tonnes of plastic waste the ocean throws up along Marine Drive every year. ReCircle, a waste-management service in Juhu, recently participated in the GSMA Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. Pointers from founder Rahul Nainani's participation assured this diarist that key players are trying to curb the supply chain of plastic waste.

A recent waste to canvas workshop by ReCircle. Pic/Instagram

"We presented amongst a crowd of global leaders. It gave us an opportunity to network and learn about using technology to solve bigger problems. ReCircle received funding from the GSMA and has been digitising the supply of plastic for better trace-ability. This helps us prohibit plastic from reaching our landfills and oceans," he elaborated.