Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

In good books: Students of Prahar Academy solve exam papers of the pre-entrance training programme for Army and police personnel at Shivaji Park, in Dadar. Pic/Ashish Rane

Souza on show as JNAF reopens doors

Puja Vaish and Ranjit Hoskote

After a wait of almost two years, the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF) is set to reopen its doors on October 30. Director Puja Vaish shared that the opening is marked by an exhibition that is "worth the wait". Titled FN Souza: The Power and the Glory, it's curated by Ranjit Hoskote, and provides a reading of Souza's works as negotiations with religious dogma and dissent, related socio-religious political moments in history, as also art/art historical trajectories germane to the artist's practice, she told this diarist. "The scale and impact of seeing artworks in the flesh is an experience that the online space cannot match. We look forward to in-person interactions in keeping with visitor safety protocols followed by the museum, as well as continued engagement with our widespread online audiences," she said. The exhibition takes its title from the Lord's Prayer, ‘For Thine is the kingdom, the Power and the Glory, forever and ever, Amen.' "Visitors will get to see some of Souza's most poignant works from our collection, works by some of his contemporaries, his chemical works from the Pundole's collection, and a selection of Goan Christian religious objects from CSMVS' collection," she said.

Sunburn is back

After a digital version in 2020, Sunburn, one of Asia's biggest electronic dance music festivals, is coming back to Goa this December. The 15th edition is based on the theme #LifeIsCalling, and will feature a three-day showcase of over 60 international and local artistes across three stages, alongside live-streams for those wanting to catch the action at home. Only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed at the festival, shared Karan Singh, COO, Percept Live, the founding organisation behind Sunburn. "Each person's vaccination certificate has to be uploaded online beforehand, and at the entry gates, we will verify it with their original government ID. Sunburn Goa will be following international-standard protocols. Other COVID-19 protocols include limited-capacity events, compulsory masking-up, contact-less entry and social distancing, thermal scanning and sanitisation," he added.

Park that thought

Lokmanya Tilak Garden in Goregaon West was one of the 500 surveyed parks

Make Mumbai's parks disabled-friendly, offer improved drinking water facilities, and set up public toilets around bigger gardens - these are some of the many recommendations and observations that a citizens' response survey by Harita: The Green Footprint Fellowship has found. At the end of the three-month fellowship, aimed at training Mumbaikars to mobilise public action towards better green spaces, non-profit Project Mumbai, along with the MCGM and Ministry of Mumbai's Magic, presented the findings of the research to the civic body.

The fellows assessed over 500 parks, grading them on factors including amenities, infrastructure, safety and accessibility on a three-point scale, with over 18 per cent gardens receiving grade A (exceptional condition), 70 per cent receiving grade B (good condition) and 12 per cent, grade C (needs improvement). Rupali Vaidya, head of projects, Project Mumbai, shared that the fellows have created a database of Mumbai's gardens that the civic body can use for future planning and upgradation, and have helped establish a connection with different communities across 24 wards of the city. "The research is limited to 500 gardens but the biggest takeaway is that this is the first time that grading has been done for Mumbai's gardens on the basis of different parameters," she noted. The research, she added, has given citizens a sense of ownership and identity with respect to parks and gardens in their own wards.

Buttering up in UK

Chef Saransh Goila recently got some love from England. The UK's foreign secretary, Elizabeth Truss, gave a hat-tip to him for playing his part in promoting cultural crossovers between India and Britain (there are branches of Goila Butter Chicken in London) while delivering a speech on board British warship HMS Queen Elizabeth, which made a stop over Mumbai. Goila was in attendance, and even served butter chicken pies at the event. "I would be lying if I said I didn't get goosebumps," he shared about the experience.

Booked for loyalty

Mumbai's much-loved Fort-based bookstore, Kitab Khana, has made it to Financial Times' list of the most brilliant bookshops in the world. COO T Jagath shared that this achievement validates their focus on carefully curating a collection keeping the reader in mind. "The second reason is our customer service. We want to establish a rapport with all our readers, and they keep coming back. We also offer a discount across the year," he told this diarist. In the past year that's been difficult for independent bookstores - especially Kitab Khana, which suffered a fire - what has helped them stay afloat is customer loyalty, he added.