Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Raje

Mirroring a splash

On a pair of sunglasses, Mumbaikars are seen enjoying some cool time at Juhu Chowpatty

Return of the corals at Haji Ali

False pillow coral seen in the waters around Haji Ali. Pic Courtesy/Shaunak Modi

Among the visitors at any of the city's beaches, you will find marine researchers hunched over in intertidal pools to document and study marine life. Giving us a closer look into this world of tiny creatures of the shore is marine researcher Shaunak Modi. Earlier this week, he took to social platforms to share a photograph of false pillow coral around Haji Ali's shores, near the construction site for the coastal road.

He shared, "I am happy to witness the return of these corals. Most coral colonies here [in Haji Ali] were translocated to Navy Nagar during the Coastal Road construction, and this seems to be a new recruitment. It is good to see that despite the construction work; parts of the shore are still a viable habitat for corals." The researcher added that corals are ecologically important, and are protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972.

Get your drip fit here

A previous edition of the pop-up

In the midst of styles derived from hip-hop culture spreading into mainstream trends comes the fifth edition of a streetwear pop-up festival Where's The Drip (WTD) on April 16, which brings the crowd an authentic offering. Paritosh Parmar, founder of To The Culture, a platform that voices events and talent from the hip-hop community in India, and brings us WTD, shared, "Streetwear started out within a bubble, and now, more festivals want to include it in their curation. Our target audience is serious buyers, which is why we have sellers who are homegrown and authentic. This includes resellers of sneakers that you won't find today. Our community base is really large and therefore, we can amplify homegrown and upcoming platforms."

TCT's happy 30

Putting everything into an idea that sways your heart often reaps rich rewards. And no one knows it better than Atul Kumar, theatre actor and director, and the artistic director of The Company Theatre (TCT). A registered non-profit organisation of an ensemble of theatre professionals, TCT has completed three decades in the business now. "To be honest, after doing this for 30 years, now I am a little bored," Kumar laughed. He chimed in, "I don't know where this journey will go ahead, but I would love to try new forms, new ways and new reasons for doing theatre." Kumar will be celebrating the milestone with two plays - an English play named Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood and a Punjabi-Hindi adaptation of a feature film by Ernst Lubitsch called To Be or Not to Be - at Prithvi Theatre from April 13 to 16.

Arty vibes

Mumbai's art scene doubles down at its nucleus, Colaba, with Akara Art's second gallery Akara Contemporary opening up at a 100-year-old heritage structure, Amarchand Mansion (left) on Madam Cama Road.

While the new space, designed by Rajiv Saini, opens later this month, the turn towards new ventures was ushered in with a new logo - a reflected ‘A' to denote the two spaces. Directors Meghna and Puneet Shah (below) said, "Our new look represents our envisaged ethos where we dedicate the spaces for contemporary and modern art, respectively."