The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Getting schooled again
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With schools gradually starting to reopen in the city, a line of pupils wait to enter one in Chembur on Friday
A window for art
Hena Kapadia. Pic Courtesy/Tarq
The big, chic shop windows of SoBo have had a brush with art, courtesy the second phase of The Show Windows project. The Mumbai initiative is an extension of its Coventry (UK) counterpart, and is a collaboration between SqW:Lab fellowship programme and TARQ. Hena Kapadia, gallery director, TARQ, said the artworks celebrate the idea of home. “For artist Emma Critchley, home takes the form of the now-closed Coventry Baths while Ranjit Kandalgaonkar explores an alternative perspective on home in the back of auto rickshaws, and Tarla Patel examines the idea of people as home through the photographs from her grandfather Masterji’s studio in Coventry.”
Abiding with their conscience
The Republic Day this year had a key element missing that has been a fixture of the celebrations. Abide with me is an English hymn that was part of the list of tunes for the Beating Retreat ceremony, but the central government decided to drop it this year, after having done the same in 2020 and then reinstating it in 2021. It was Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymn, and many people were aghast at it being omitted. Some musicians have in fact rendered their own versions of it to coincide with January 26, as a form of protest against the decision. They include Sonam Kalra and The Sufi Gospel Project, and Carnatic maestro TM Krishna. The latter told this diarist that he put up a clip of him singing the song after a friend requested him. “It’s clear that this is a government that is trying to erase a lot of our secular past. It uses Gandhi whenever it wants to for its own convenience and disposed him whenever it wants to,” Krishna shared, adding, “It’s important for artistes to put these things out in their own way. It doesn’t matter how many people watch it. What matters is whether you are acting upon your own conscience.”
Sing and win
Digital music distribution platform OK Listen has joined forces with Big Bang Records and Compass Box Studios to organise a contest for singer-songwriters, the first shortlist for which has been announced. The 30 names include Mumbai-based musicians like Vanora Vaz. OK Listen founder Vijay Basrur told us that none of the applicants had to have any official releases before sending in entries. “The jury includes singers Dhruv Visvanath, Hanita Bhambri and Shalmali Kholgade [in pic], and the top three winners will be revealed in February,” Basrur said.
Madhur Jaffrey paved the way
If there is one person who can be credited with teaching the West about the intricate nuances of Indian cuisine, it is Madhur Jaffrey. Her shows like Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery (1982) and Friends for Dinner (2001) introduced different generations of people in the West to the nitty-gritties of desi dishes. She was named an honorary commander of the Order of the British Empire for her efforts in bringing the UK and India closer within the culinary space. Now, she has been bestowed with the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, giving her the much-deserved recognition in her home country. “The long and eventful journey of an original thinker is Madhur Jaffrey for me. She pushed the boundaries in the right direction and opened the doors for many girls like me in India to believe in a dream,” shared city-based chef Amninder Sandhu about Jaffrey’s influence.
Farewell, Dr Anil Awachat
The world lost a champion of the poor and downtrodden when Dr Anil Awachat passed away recently in Pune aged 77. The multi-faceted personality was a doctor who founded the Muktangan Rehabilitation Centre for deaddiction in Pune, apart from writing several books, the most famous one being Manasa, translated into English as People. “I have taught that book as part of our curriculum and have seen the impact it has had on so many people,” shared Dr Leena Kedare (inset), head of the Marathi department at Ramnarain Ruia College, adding, “I have also observed what an empathetic approach he had towards downtrodden people.”
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