Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

Leap of faith

A man attempts to dock a crowded boat at Versova Jetty with a daring jump.

A Joy-ful experience for Kaushal

Joy in the new movie. PIC COURTESY/YOUTUBE

As Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2 continues to break box-office records across the globe, city-based voice-artiste Sonal Kaushal (right), famous for giving the first voice to Doraemon in Hindi, added another cheery feather to her cap. "I dubbed for Joy in the animated movie [in Hindi]," she told this diarist excitedly.

"Dubbing for a lead character of such a huge project was overwhelming. After the movie was released, many people told me that my voice brought life to Joy. But if you ask me, the character itself is very binding. Joy brings together all the emotions in the movie, and the audience to the film," she shared. Kaushal revealed that she was able to complete the recording in two days. "I was specifically complimented for the scene where Joy loses it for the first time when things go out of control. It was a challenging yet a fun experience," she signed off.

Govandi shines at Glastonbury

The artwork is exhibited at the festival (right) the paper birds with the messages

Young artists from Govandi have found new admirers in the UK. A giant artwork that reads ‘Haq Se Govandi' was exhibited at the recently concluded Glastonbury Festival, thanks to Natasha Sharma, co-curator, Govandi Arts Festival. "I was invited by the director of the festival's Green Fields section to be a part of their diversity programme. I wanted to take a slice of Govandi's undying spirit with me, so we created the artwork and a set of paper birds that carried wishes penned by our community members," Sharma revealed, adding that the visit has sparked a renewed enthusiasm in her.

"I want to create residency programmes back home for people to engage in cross-cultural exchanges like the one I participated in," she told us. For now, the team is working on Under One Sky, an initiative to create safe spaces for artists to practise their artforms in. "We aim to inaugurate the first few spaces next month, leading up to the Govandi Arts Festival in 2025," she concluded.

Talking design

Members interact at the event

Design wizards from across the city and its suburbs converged at Somaiya Vidyavihar University over the last weekend. A meet organised by Friends of Figma (FOF) Mumbai, the Mumbai wing of a worldwide community of design enthusiasts and experts, witnessed more than 100 participants engage in demonstrations, collaborations and discussions about the future of design. "This is just the beginning of an exciting journey. The design community in Mumbai deserves dynamic events like these, and we are committed to elevating the design scene in our city," shared Rishabh Singh, community lead, FOF Mumbai. Those keen to join the community can log on to @fof.mumbai.

Vasai's green thumbs join hands

Residents plant a tree in the Sun City neighbourhood to inaugurate the project

Vasai's Nanhe Haath Foundation is asking residents to join them on a unique green mission. The team aims to plant 1,000 trees including banyan, peepal and native karanja and jamun varieties over the next six months in Vasai West's Sun City neighbourhood. "We have already planted nearly 200 trees this month. Frequented by morning walkers and fitness enthusiasts during the day, we find no dearth of helping hands in the area. Our core team is only 15 to 20-member strong, but it's people's participation that we are banking on to pull this project off," Sanjay Vaishnav, founder, told this diarist.

To catalyse the process, the team will implement the popular Japanese Miyawaki technique. "The method entails planting saplings of native species close to each other in a small area. This gives rise to an instinctual fight for nutrition and sunlight among the plants, leading to rapid growth," Vaishnav explained. For more details and queries, head to
@nanhe_haath_foundation.