Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

Cycle of love

A man and child pedal away at Mazgaon.

Make it matter

A candle-light vigil in Mumbai for Danish Siddiqui. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Celebrated photojournalist Danish Siddiqui might have left us recently, killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan. But his work will remain for posterity, and Lucknow-based educational NGO Aaghaz Foundation has now instituted a scholarship for journalism students in his memory. It's open to anyone pursuing an undergraduate course from a reputed institution in the country and is worth Rs 50,000 annually. But, the combined income of the applicant's parents can't exceed Rs 3.5 lakh a year. Aaghaz Foundation secretary Tariq Khan told this diarist, "We have established scholarships in the name of eminent people earlier as well, and have a board of trustees who take these calls. In this case, we wanted to pay tribute to Danish's memory and the work he was doing in such dangerous conditions. There was also the role he played in covering the Delhi riots, highlighting the violence from both sides." Those interested can send their applications, along with a cover letter and 200-word introduction, to
aaghaz.foundation@gmail.com.

Art on the bookshelf

An installation at Chemould Prescott Road

Fort-based Chemould Prescott Road has launched an online bookstore in connection with the gallery's programme, featuring catalogues, artists' books, editions and monographs. It houses titles from artists on their roster, including Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Bhuvanesh Gowda, Desmond Lazaro, Gigi Scaria and Jitish Kallat.

Shireen Gandhy

Creative director Shireen Gandhy shared, "For the lack of physical exhibitions, we've been sorting and setting up the little book store within the gallery. As a matter of practice, the gallery is constantly producing art books for exhibitions. As we stay home, books have gained currency. Taking into account the vast repertoire of artists' books we have, we were pleased to curate, and re-create our bookstore."

When science and poetry meet

The worlds of poetry and science will collide today as poets and science communicators from across the globe will come together for what's being touted as the world's first online Science and Poetry Cafe. The result of a collaboration between the Falling Walls Foundation-Berlin and the Consilience Science Poetry Journal, the initiative has been organised by Dr Sam Illingworth, associate professor, Academic Practice, at the Edinburgh Napier University, and Pune-native and poet Chandrakant Redican, science outreach and communications manager at the National Center for Biological Sciences. "The café will be the template to build a science and poetry community. There will be performances by poets Akul Anandur, Ruth Aylett and Sunayana Bhargava," Redican revealed.

Big love for indie reel

A still from Bodies Of Desire

Mumbai-based directors Varsha Panikar and Saad Nawab's visual poetry film, Bodies Of Desire, which was conceived out of a sketch-poetry series on young love, queerness and intimacy, has been making quite a stir at film festivals. Panikar told this diarist that the film - an intimate portrayal of gender, sexual identity, desire, care and camaraderie - has now won the Special Jury Award for the best international short film category at Rio Festival De Cinema LGBTQiA+.

Varsha Panikar

"This marks our presence in 27 festivals. When we started out making the film, we were sure of what we wanted to achieve, but didn't think we'd come so far," Panikar added. We wish them luck.

When music wins against the odds

A still from Lyari Notes

In 2015, Mumbai's Miriam Chandy Menacherry and Maheen Zia from Karachi directed and released a feature-length documentary that explored the music scene in Lyari, in Pakistan. The film, Lyari Notes, was shot over three years, and followed the lives of four young girls who attended music lessons from a Pakistani rock star in one of Karachi's most volatile districts.

Maheen Zia and Miriam Chandy Menacherry

Since then the film has amassed several awards. Today, it will be virtually screened by Goethe-Institut Mumbai. "The camera chronicles how these girls grew up. To ensure that children living in conflict zones are not sucked into a vicious cycle, there should be spaces for forms of expression that aren't violent," shared Menacherry.