Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

Divine Innocence

Children from Sane Guruji English Medium School in Dadar dress up as Lord Vitthal, Rukmini and Warkaris ahead of Ashadhi Ekadashi on June 29.

Abhanga in cricket

The band at a previous performance

Considering cricket is a religion in India, it is no surprise that Mumbai's Abhanga Repost will find an audience cheering on at the MCA International Stadium in Pune today. The band will perform at the closing ceremony of the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL). The reason, bassist Swapnil Tarphe revealed, has to do with more than cricket. "It is also Ashadhi Ekadashi, and the organisers thought that it might be better to go with a folk-fusion band than Bollywood music," he said. The band will focus on the music, rather than their explanations of the abhangas. "It is the perfect opportunity for us since we get to take this to such a large stage," he remarked.

Eric Nam is on a mission

Eric Nam on his There And Back Again tour in 2022. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

The K-pop invasion into India is beginning to pick up pace. After KARD, Korean-based American singer-songwriter Eric Nam has announced an Indian stopover on his House On A Hill tour in 2024. This will be his first ever Indian concert. Announced yesterday, the tour will see him perform for over 40 nights across the United States, South America, Australia and New Zealand, finally performing in Asia. The tour announcement also precedes the release of the title track from the album, House on a hill. Nam could have arrived in India earlier, as a business analyst after graduating from Boston University. Instead, he chose to pursue a career in music further East. Tickets for the US tour will go live tomorrow. Indians fans might want to keep an eye out for updates on the venue for the Indian concert.

Reviving a lost art

The hand drawn poster by Kher Saheb

The Film Heritage Foundation's (FHF) third Biennial Audio-Visual Archival Summer School (BAVASS) that begins in October 2023 will boast of a cover that represents its message of art conservation. "We were looking for old poster painters, and found one in Kher Saheb from Old Delhi," said founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. "For the colour scheme, Kher Saheb came up with that signature vintage tint," he added. Taking inspiration from Dev Anand and Fearless Nadia, the poster captures the Delhi style of vintage film paintings. To preserve and celebrate this legacy will be the purpose of the course as well, Dungarpur told us.

Raising the bar

The set up of the bar at the restaurant earlier

A Bandra hangout is getting an upgrade. The Pali Hill Asian hotspot, Seefah by chefs Seefah Ketchaiyo and Karan Bane, will be shut for a while. Fans of its fare need not worry as the restaurant is undergoing a makeover, assured co-owner chef Seefah Ketchaiyo. "We had kept the same look for quite a long time and thought it needed a change," she shared. To that end, the outlet will remain closed for the duration.

Chefs Seefah Ketchaiyo and Karan Bane

A key element set to be transformed is the bar space and the furniture, Ketchaiyo revealed. "I want to keep it classy, but work with a theme that is engaging and reflects our fine dining," she said. Patrons can also expect an upgraded menu on its return. As for the reopening, Ketchaiyo remarked, "We should be ready to serve our patrons by July 14, but it depends on the speed of the work. We hope to open as soon as possible." So do we, chefs.

Let nature draft your story

An upcoming workshop by Bombay Natural History Society is a hat tip to its core values. Hosted by author Tanvi Nishar, From Idea to Story will be held over tomorrow and July 1. "Observing and understanding nature is essential to writing, which is a major lesson of the workshop. If you do not study nature, you cannot build a world. We hope to encourage people and transform their ideas into stories. We will talk about how to incorporate nature across story genres; how to pen down our knowledge and set a writer's routine, among other topics. After that, we will move to plot-building, description and other technical aspects," Nishar revealed. Interested folk can log on to @bombaynatural historysociety.