The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Ashish Raje
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A few children play around with a parked bike at Dadar.
Ode to a Koli folk singer
(From left) Shahir Damodar Shibu Koli; Parag Tandel
The Son Kolis of Mumbai have a jargon which is intrinsically connected to the sea they reside beside. The rhythm, pitch and huffs and puffs of the way they talk have found themselves manifested in folk songs, traditionally sung by Son Koli women and dhavlarines (songstresses), who perform during weddings and other ceremonies. And 87-year-old Shahir Damodar Shibu Koli from Vitawa Koliwada in Thane is a Son Koli lyricist, and music and drama director, who has created several such folk songs. He has performed for All India Radio and Doordarshan, Mumbai, and his journey took him to HMV Music, as well. Aai Majhi Konala Pawli? (Oh mother! Whomsoever have you blessed?) is a book that comprises 40 of his important folk songs from Vitawa Koliwada that is being published by artist Parag Tandel’s Tandel Fund of Archives (TFA). The artist added that TFA is in the process of publishing books on the history of several fishing villages, and archiving evidence on the seven islands of Mumbai as part of their project Estuaries of Waning Sounds. “Koli is a very important and one of the oldest folk singers from our community. These songs [in the book] are about themes such as marriage, festivities, sea-faring and fishing. His lyrics are mostly inspired by the dhavlarines’; he has maintained that feminine style,” Tandel shared with this diarist.
Husain and Bawa’s best
Lady with Bird by Bawa. Pic/Prinseps
Auction house Prinseps has curated a set of artworks by popular Indian artists that will go under the hammer on July 6. Among them are creations by MF Husain, Manjit Bawa and Bhupen Khakar. “Our auction focuses on four artworks, the spotlight being a Manjit Bawa creation from 1999, titled Lady with Bird. We also have one by Prabhakar Barwe, Whispering Green, and an MF Husain work, King Of Hearts,” curator Indrajit Chatterjee said.
Coping with the lockdown
Different age groups dealt with last year’s national lockdown differently, a study by Godrej Group, titled Little Things We Do, has revealed. A majority (59 per cent) of Gen X (aged 45 and above) and Gen Z (53 per cent), aged between 18 and 24, turned to altruism, handing out sanitisers, food, medical supplies and clothes to those in need, while 54 per cent millennials, in the 24 to 40 group, made environmentally-conscious actions their top priority. The study was conducted among 2,768 respondents between September and December 2020.
It reflected that around three out of five millennials took to a physical or mental fitness activity to stay healthy and happy, while only 36 per cent respondents admitted that they quit unhealthy habits, with Gen Z and Gen X faring the worst. “We initiated a comprehensive research across 13 key cities to understand the little things people did during the lockdown to boost their well-being. It revealed how the behavioural pattern across age groups has shifted, while also focusing on how the pandemic has unleashed India’s creative and altruistic side. It is also a reminder that our citizens can adapt to challenging circumstances,” shared Sujit Patil, vice president and group head — corporate brand and communi- cations.
It’s green, it’s lit
With climate change becom-ing one of the most pressing issues of humankind, we’re happy to hear about the Green Literature Festival (GLF), initiated by Benedict Paramanand, founder of SustainabilityNext maga-zine and co-founder of Bangalore Business Litera-ture Festival. Paramanand shared that GLF aims to shed light on green literature. “The idea was in my mind for a while; I met author Meghaa Gupta [part of the core team], and the thought resonated with her. When WWF was keen to partner, we got the confidence to launch,” he said, adding that they’ll host a fest in December and sess-ions throughout the year.
The long of it
Chinmay Tumbe for The Age of Pandemics, Paro Anand (in pic) for A Quiet Girl, and Alka Saraogi for Kulbhushan Ka Naam Darj Kijiye. Those are some of the names that appear on the longlists across categories announced for the PFC-Valley of Words Book Awards 2021. There are eight categories, including children’s literature, English non-fiction, Hindi fiction and Hindi translations from Indian languages. Past winners include Supriya Sehgal for A Tigress Called Machhli and Other True Animal Stories from India, and Hridaynarayan Dikshit for Gyan Ka Gyan. Our best wishes to all the nominees for this year’s edition.
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