The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Nandita Das seems intrigued by what filmmaker and peer Onir has to share as they catch up at an event on Wednesday. Pic/Ashish Raje
Tell me all about it
Nandita Das seems intrigued by what filmmaker and peer Onir has to share as they catch up at the Bombay Art Society's anniversary on Wednesday. Pic/Ashish Raje
ADVERTISEMENT
Lakshmi says #MeToo
A hand lingers on a bewildered little girl's groin. Is it a game? She wonders. Or the jolting push of a passer-by's elbow sending a shot of pain through the bosom you forgot to guard with your bag. A pair of eyes stares at us pleading us to be quiet, their head bobbing between our legs as we lay awake and asleep in equal measure. Every woman has some version of the same story to share. It's been going on for ages, but silent they will no longer remain. And the #MeToo movement finds a new voice in Indian-American celeb chef, model, and TV host Padma Lakshmi, who after sharing her experience on Twitter wrote an opinion piece for a leading US publication. In it, Lakshmi shares a detailed narrative of her experience, recalling and reliving the pain of being raped at the age of 16 by her 23-year-old boyfriend at the time. "I am stating publicly what happened. I have nothing to gain by talking about this. But we all have a lot to lose if we put a time limit on telling the truth about sexual assault," she wrote as she spoke for millions of women across the world. Her powerful story did leave us with goosebumps, but it left with us courage and hope, too.
Sandstorm to hit UK
George FitzGerald, renowned English electronic musician, shared a video of our very own Sandunes aka Sanaya Ardeshir sending waves of celebration through the Indian indie community as he announced that she will be accompanying him at his gigs in Bristol and London in October this year.
"I'm really honoured to be supporting George Fitzgerald. The music I'll be performing is due to be released later this year. I'm still tweaking the exact details of the set-up," Ardeshir told this diarist.
Food for the senses
In the lead up to the Serendipity Arts Festival, an annual multi-disciplinary arts event which takes place in Goa, the management announced chef Rahul Akerkar and author and food critic Odette Mascarenhas, as their culinary arts curators. And to celebrate the festival a curtain raiser is being organised tonight at the Royal Opera House which will feature a performance by Rukmini Vijayakumar as well as an introduction to the festival's curators. "We're putting together a series of workshops, the underlying theme of which is how taste and smell are the biggest trigger of memories. We're focusing on a wide variety of elements to highlight how each plays an integral part in evoking nostalgia to celebrate food and food lovers in all their glory," Akerkar told this diarist.
A clean sweep by Jai Hind
Beach cleanliness drives may have become a weekend activity recently, but students of the BMM Department of Jai Hind College have been lending a helping hand to the BMC for post-visarjan clean-up for years now. Keeping up with the tradition, nearly 200 students from the college rolled up their sleeves and participated in a clean-up drive at Girgaum Chowpatty on Monday, as part of an initiative of their annual media fest, Detour. And who doesn't like a little help? As a token to show their gratitude, BMC officials felicitated the staff and students.
India's WALL-E
It has been 10 years since an animated movie depicting a dystopian world covered in waste hit the big screen. A decade later, the dystopia is becoming seemingly tangible. As environment crusaders push for a sound waste management system, the problem of e-waste or electronic waste throws new challenges.
A joint survey that was recently conducted revealed that Indians are not only aware of the impending problem, but are also keen on participating in finding a solution. Even so, many complained that there were no viable options for disposal. Taking off from this, Cerebra Green partnered with several others including the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and are launching India Cleanup Week, a pan-India clean-up drive. It will include home pick-ups, public collection centres and pick-up trucks for commercial establishments. "E-waste awareness in the country is paramount and the results of the survey indicate that citizens are already moving towards this awareness quickly," V Ranganathan, founder at the public-listed company said.
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
