Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

Haathi on Call

Two children sit atop elephant statues at a temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha, at Pali village in Raigad district on Monday

Bound for Italy

The Bologna Children's Book Fair is an annual event held in Italy, which is one of the biggest of its kind in the world. It also involves an honour called the Bologna Prize for the Best Children's Publisher of the Year, which includes an Indian name - Pickle Yolk Books (PYB) - for this year's shortlist. PYB founder Richa Jha shared that Tara Books is the only Indian publisher that has won the award in the past. "The organisers divide the award into six different zones, and we have been nominated in the Asia category. The selection criteria is peer-based, with publishing associations from around the world deciding on the eventual winner," she shared, adding that the award carries a lot of weight since the organisers are trend-setters in the publishing industry. Our best wishes to Jha.

Tanking it up

The Shivaji Park Arts ‘N' Culture festival, which ended on Sunday, left us with some enduring takeaways. Besides the food and fun, the art on display and the numerous selfie points across the park, there was also a battle tank which seemed to be made of some metal wire, and was lit up at one corner of the maidan. This one though, was for snapshots rather than the sinister. This diarist was reminded of a report about the Ukrainian soldier who blew himself up along with a bridge to stop the advancing Russian tanks into Ukraine. The Shivaji Park tank is so much better than the real ones that wreak death and destruction.

An app-t shift

Goethe Institut will soon make all its library services available digitally, with a special app, BibToGo, designed for the purpose. It will mean that people don't have to visit the library in Kala Ghoda, and can use all its amenities online, thanks to a digital card that gives them the required access. "The app complements our services; it is not a replacement for what you get at the library. We want people to be able to access the library anywhere 24/7," said Safurat Balogun, regional in-charge for the app.

Taking a write turn

Restaurateur-cum-scriptwriter Akshat Gupta is all set to don a new hat, that of an author. He is going to release The Hidden Hindu, the first book in a trilogy. The plot revolves around Om Shastri, an aghori who reveals some startling facts while being hypnotised during an interrogation. "Let us admit that it is our mythology and culture that has global interest and binds all our generations - past, present and future," Gupta shared about the title, adding that he spent six years researching and writing it. The plan is to eventually adapt it for the screen, with him as part of the screenwriting process given his prior experience in films.

Indie music in the spotlight

The Indian Music Diaries (TIMD) is an online platform that promotes independent music from all corners of the country. In 2019, they launched the first edition of the TIMD Awards, which honours standout artistes every year. The nominations for this year's edition have now been announced, and the list features Mumbai musicians including Krantinaari and Ankur Tewari (in pic). TIMD editor Akshay Kapoor told this diarist that an in-house editorial team decides on the nominated names, after which an independent jury vets them. "The first step in the entire process is floating around the information online that our nomination process has begun, after which musicians contact us themselves or through independent labels and artiste management companies. The jury members hail from different backgrounds, and are all people who are well-versed with indie music," Kapoor shared.