07 April,2021 04:41 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
A lady does stretch exercises next to an open gym at a garden in Matunga on Tuesday.
Ek Madhavbaug is a play that will celebrate its 10th anniversary later this month, and will soon reach its 150th show virtually. The reason it's an important piece of work is that late dramatist Chetan Datar addressed an issue in the script that remains unresolved even after a decade - that of LGBTQIA+ people not being accepted as equal members of society. The plot revolves around a mother who finds out that her youngest son is gay, and then reads a diary that he wrote for her, where he explains how there is nothing unnatural about his sexual orientation. Actor Mona Ambegaonkar essays the roles of the mother and child in the solo play. "Over the past few years, I have actually seen more people choosing to remain silent [about their non-heterosexual orientation] rather than facing the wrath of an increasingly abusive and regressive society, than those who take courage from the legal win of the dilution of Section 377," she told this diarist. That is a disappointing state of affairs.
The residents of Rameshwwar Darshan Cooperative Housing Society in Jogeshwari East were in for a shock recently when they found a massive bee hive inside their premises. mid-day staffer Uday Devrukhkar, who lives in the building, took the photo below after a beekeeper, Shrikant Kamble, was called in to resolve the problem. But when this diarist spoke to Kamble, he said that this issue isn't restricted to the residents of that particular society in Jogeshwari. You can face it too. "Bees find it too hot in the summer to build their hives on trees in the open. So, they look for shaded areas in buildings and housing societies. In fact, there are 40 to 50 buildings in Sewri alone where I was called to remove hives. The bees also build their homes in construction sites, water tanks and cell-phone towers," he informed.
People who have shopped at Palladium mall in Lower Parel would have noticed a senior gent seated by a grand piano in the foyer, playing tunes with the sort of passion that showed his love for the instrument. That man was Ronnie Menezes, an icon in the Indian jazz circuit, who passed away yesterday at the age of 81 due to complications that arose after he contracted COVID-19. "I remember Ronnie as a soft-spoken gentleman. I think he left this world without a single enemy," shared fellow musician Colin D'Cruz, who had played his first jazz concert with Menezes in the 1980s.
"The means of passing any social message through cinema is really impactful as it is one of the easiest and most effective ways to educate and spread awareness among the masses," feels Dr Tariq Thomas, CEO of Entertainment Society of Goa, an organisation that is hosting an anti-tobacco film festival. They are calling for advertising films that warn against the harmful effects of smoking, with '1 lakh as the prize for the winning entry for the national leg of the competition. Log on to esg.co.in and, if interested, send in your entries latest by May 17.
A previous edition of the festival at Augustine Ruins in Old Goa
An upside of the pandemic is how close technology has brought us. Take for instance, the Ketevan Sacred Music Festival that has been held in the heritage hotspot of Old Goa since 2016. This year, the festival is back but in an online avatar till April 8, which means we in Mumbai can tune in, too. "We compose original music that uses elements of different religious and ethnic traditions. The idea is to create a musical experience of coexistence," shared co-founder and artistic director Dr Santiago Lusardi Girelli. This edition will showcase recorded performances from 10 countries, including one dedicated to the Dalai Lama. Log on to ketevansacredmusicfestival.com or their channel on YouTube to hear them out.
