10 May,2023 06:59 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Anurag Ahire
While a mother buys a ticket, her child thrusts his hands inside the ticket vending machine at Charni Road Railway Station
This blue and white saes set with flowers features in Adil Writer's #RootedObjects series. Pic courtesy/Adil writer
Our memories are a mix of the tangible and intangible. And ceramicist Adil Writer's latest series of Parsi collectibles mirrors his interest in racial memory. Through Rooted Objects, he traces a small community's rituals and the myriad nuggets of folklore that accompany them. The carefully curated series in ceramic spotlights humdrum objects from a Parsi household. "In my sculptural practice, I often take up craft objects that are used daily; that we live with. Seeing them around the house comforts us. But when these very objects are taken out of context - in terms of their medium - they assume a life of their own and trigger memories," Writer explained.
He recollected that in his growing-up years, the saes sets were brought down from the loft every time an auspicious occasion loomed. "They are usually made up of silver with intricate carvings. There's a little dabbi to hold kumkum for the mandatory tilo on the forehead; a divo or oil lamp; and the other elements are for rose water, sweets and coconut. My sets mark a contemporary sculptural response to a cultural object that is seen in different Indian cultures in various permutations and combinations." Those with an eye for art and nostalgia should visit designer Ashdeen Lilaowala's store in Colaba to admire Writer's farohar treasure boxes, farohar platters, chalk-ba-dabbas, among other pieces.
With all the construction work underway across the city, and projects at midway stage, there is one complete piece of infrastructure that happily is in the pink of health. The flyover that begins from Parel Railway Workshop and goes till Lalbaugh cha Raja is blushing pink, thanks to the bougainvillea pots on the flyover divider. A BMC Garden Department official told this diarist, "These bougainvillea were planted in February 2023, and have started flowering now. They will grow taller, and the divider will soon be ablaze with more colour." The plant was chosen because it is very hardy, "It grows all year round, except in the monsoon, when all its leaves go green. The vibrant colour bursts forth post-monsoon, as this plant literally shows off its true colours in bright sunlight. These pots are watered at night, when there is less traffic," he revealed. The official added that there are a total of 200 pots along the divider. They are an instant mood lifter, even in a funk when everything seems to be doomed; you go from gloom to bloom looking at these flowers. While we aren't obsessed with changing names of infrastructure projects in the city, here's a lighthearted suggestion: why not change the name of Lalbaug flyover to Bougainvillea Bridge?
There's no way of telling if the crocodiles and gharials in Byculla Zoo have been upset lately about constantly being in the public eye. The visitors, however, are delighted. The zoo recently opened its crocodile trail that allows attendees to watch reptiles at the surface of the water - when they are resting, and also, underwater through a glass gallery on the ground floor. Biologist Abhishek Satam, shared with this diarist, "The croc trail is a novel concept in Asia. We came up with the design with the help of national and global designers." But do the viewing decks interfere with the needs of these reptiles? Satam assured us that the enclosure has been planned as per the natural habitats of the different species.
Every time the city loses a prominent landmark, this diarist loses heart. While on one hand we could get to the bottom of the current status of Eros Cinema - it's getting a facelift - we were dispirited to learn that IMAX in Wadala (below) has shut down. Although the development is temporary, a former staffer shared the business had faced a serious blow during the pandemic. "With the pressure of outstanding vendor payments and liabilities worth crores, it was difficult to make ends meet," he shared. Over 30 single screens across India, that had remained shut since 2020, reopened to release Pathaan. One would have hoped for a new lease of life for the multiplex with the success of the film, but alas!
