Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Raje

Somewhere over the rainbow

Three children take cover under an umbrella near Girgaum Chowpatty on Sunday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Street art gets its own mag

Artwork by Anpu Varkey in Marol Art Village

Street art has changed the way we look at the city, often compelling us to take note of the extra-ordinary that exists in our ordinary surroundings. And, while they can't go out to paint the city like they used to, Mumbai-based street art and graffiti crew Wicked Broz has turned their nearly six-year long journey into a magazine that's available on their Instagram handle.

Although the magazine showcases their work across the city and the world, it also offers a glimpse of how visible street art has become in Mumbai. COO and co-founder Zain Siddiqui said, "Graffiti and street art are an important part of our work, but we also use art to build a sense of community, like we did at the Marol Art Village. This magazine is an amalgamation of our journey and dreams. We hope to turn Marol Art Village into a New York subway kind of place."

Gaga over FM radio

FM Radio is ruling hearts amid the pandemic. The rising number of women listeners prove it. The latest RAM Adex data released by AZ Research PPL revealed that the lockdown marked a 22-per cent increase in FM radio listeners, with 82 per cent people across four metro cities tuning in, and a 23 per cent increase in listening time.

Most listeners were women. The data that was released last week, shows that 51 per cent women aged between 25 and 34 years in Kolkata, 24 per cent women between 20 and24 in Mumbai, 21 per cent of women above 45 in Bengaluru and 16 per cent women above 45 in New Delhi, tuned into FM radio channels for infotainment. The medium is here to stay, and women won't have it any other way.

Support for the freelancer

The economic loss arising out of the pandemic has been harsher to freelancers, given cancellation/postponement of projects and payment delays. Hence, Bandra-based actor and director, Errol Peter Marks started a survey two weeks ago to document their struggles and reach out to authorities and organisations for help.

So far, it has garnered over 190 responses with over 75 respondents reporting income between nil and R10,000, with over 70 per cent staying in rented houses. "I wish to reach at least 1,000 people and am looking for people from non-film backgrounds to participate, too," he shared. Take the survey at bit.ly/3gRq7VI.

Green lessons from BNHS

The Bombay Natural History Society's Conservation Education Centre (CEC) is keen to assist schools in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts to teach environmental science during the lockdown. The team will shortlist topics from the Class 5 to Class 9 syllabi that its education officers can talk about and conduct free webinars on, to sensitise young minds.

"During this time, we reached out to over 8,000 people through free webinars about environment-related topics. Now, we want to reach out to students. We want to help the schools and talk about the environment, too," Dr Raju Kasambe, assistant director, education, BNHS, told this diarist. Interested schools can write to education@bnhs.org.

A classical feast

Films Division's (FD) online film festival, Raagotsav-Celebration of Monsoon will bring joy to those who appreciate Indian classical music. The festival that will be chronicling legendary instrumental maestros, will be made available between July 14 to 16 on YouTube and FD's website. Apart from the views of world-famous sitar exponent, Pandit Ravi Shankar, on the Indian gurukul system in Moments with Maestro, soak in the musical journey of flute magician Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia in Bansuri Guru. The rare collection will also include films on virtuosos like Ustad Allaudin Khan and Ustad Bismillah Khan among others.

"In these unprecedented times, we can't have people in our theatres and auditoriums but we won't let them miss out. What better time than the monsoon to put out an online festival on music? This will boost the morale of music lovers," Smita Vats Sharma, director general, FD, said.

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