12 March,2025 08:09 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Nimesh Dave
Soft light emanates from the premises of Bombay Gymkhana in Fort on a serene evening.
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We'd like to believe that aging Guns N' Roses (GnR) rockers Axl Rose and Slash were humming "Take me down to the paradise city..." as they announced a Mumbai show scheduled for May 17 on social media yesterday. The performance at a SoBo venue will mark the first time that India will witness the duo after the artistes performed on separate occasions in 2012 and 2015. "I first listened to their album Appetite for Destruction in 1988. It was insane how the tremors from the album were felt all the way here in India. Every guitarist back then was trying the riff of Sweet Child O' Mine. It was a rite of passage for them," recalled musician and composer Dhruv Ghanekar, who hopes to catch the classic rock band live.
For Mumbai-based GnR tribute band, Nightrain, named after the band's 1987 hit track, the announcement has been a long time coming. "We have already finalised our plans. Watching the duo together with the band will be unlike anything else. Honestly, no one saw this coming. A band of this stature usually announces its dates at least five months in advance. But if you know GnR, you know that it's just how they are - full of surprises," the band told this diarist.
Taking a big leap in the global art scene, Minal Vazirani, co-founder of Saffronart and Art Mumbai has recently been appointed as the co-chair of the South Asia Acquisitions Committee for Tate Modern in London and re-appointed as the Chair of the South Asia Committee at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, in Washington DC. "This appointment is both a responsibility and a privilege. Although I have been involved with the committee at the Tate Modern for some time, accepting this allows me to contribute more to the committee and the museum, specifically greater support and vision for South Asian art internationally. This could include increasing visibility and better engagement the with South Asian community," Vazirani shared with us.
After a successful Butterfly Meet in Chembur in January, nature enthusiast and orthodontist Dr Sanjeev Shevade is now taking the butterfly mania online. A new e-magazine released by Shevade's co-founded venture Vivant UntamedEarth Foundation features more than 20 contributions in the form of personal accounts, poetry and love letters to the winged insects in Marathi and English. "The love for butterflies is universal. We wanted this love to reach more people than ever before. Through a bilingual [Marathi, English] approach, we were able to give enthusiasts from the hinterlands of India a platform," Shevade revealed to us, adding that the foundation is now working on a newsletter. Those keen to access the magazine and learn more can head to TheUntamedEarth on Facebook.
With Holi just around the corner, the city has sprung up in celebration. Making the festival more inclusive for people with disabilities, Walk n Wheels Foundation is working towards creating an inclusive space for the community at the Holi celebrations in Inorbit Mall in Malad. "The idea was to create an inclusive space. Inclusivity does not mean creating an event that is only open to people with disabilities, which is why we decided to build the zone inside the larger celebration so that everyone can join in," Khushi Ganatra, disability rights activist and founder, told this diarist. Last month, Ganatra had also organised an inclusive Valentine's Day. "What people don't realise is that physical touch and engagement is an important part of feeling included in any festival. Holi is obviously a very hands-on celebration. We wanted to bring this joy to people of the community as well. The venue is already accessible with ramps, we are working on ensuring that there are accessible washrooms in the area too so that everything goes smoothly," she added. Those interested in joining the celebration can log on to @walknwheelsofficial.
With the T20 league cricket season scheduled this month, city-based graffiti artist Raj Pathare aka Mooz is paying an artistic tribute by painting a huge graffiti of players like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav on the walls of a building near Sion Talao. "We were commissioned by the Mumbai Indians team for the piece. It was a timely surprise that Team India won the ICC Champions Trophy in the same week. We have been working on the piece for nearly four days now. The idea is to highlight the star players of the team ahead of the upcoming T20 league cricket season. I have also added a fun twist with some Mumbai-inspired elements like an illustration of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and other motifs," Pathare shared with this diarist.
