The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Bipin Kokate
Pray, put your mask up
ADVERTISEMENT
Two Mumbaikars walk past a Covid-19 mural outside Sir JJ Hospital, with one of them ignoring the pertinent reminder to mask up
Dear Amit, you are missed
On January 5, 2012, India lost a person who was a driving force behind the country’s independent music movement. Amit Saigal, who founded the pioneering music magazine Rock Street Journal in Delhi, bringing unknown artistes out of the shadows, and organising seminal festivals like Great Indian Rock, died aged 46. On his 10th death anniversary, film music composer Bann Chakraborty summed up his role when he shared, “All he told me and many other musicians like me was, ‘You do what you want to do with your sound and music, and I’ll figure the rest for you and make sure you get heard.’” People who owe him a debt of gratitude, including the likes of Indo-British fusion star Talvin Singh, mourned his loss yesterday on his death anniversary. Here’s hoping that he’s having a great gig in the sky.
Healthy bites in Bandra
Aiding diners’ new-found obsession with healthy desserts, Get-A-Whey, a health-conscious ice cream venture, has now opened up a cafe in Bandra. Dreamery by Get-A-Whey, the healthy dessert joint, is offering protein bowls, smoothies, guilt-free toasts, protein pancakes, caprese bagels, and of course, their signature ice creams. “Our mission has always been simple — make premium desserts that taste so good, you won’t even know it’s healthy. With the café, we’re able to introduce a lot more fresh, made-to-order options on the menu,” its founder Jash Shah, told us, adding that their desserts are prepared without any added sugar and using in-house ingredients.
Calling artists from Maharashtra
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Art Festival, which aims to lend a platform to upcoming artists from Maharashtra, is calling for applications from art-makers to exhibit their work. The festival slated for mid-January has now been postponed owing to the health crisis; new dates will be announced when the situation improves, as per government guidelines, said co-ordinator Meera Hatekar. “The fest is promoted by Sainath Durge, president, Vedh Foundation. We’ll be showcasing art installations from major colleges of the state, apart from a musical on the warrior king, live performances and artists’ stalls. Artists can send in any medium of work, on any theme,” she said. Interested artists can call 9820042463 to send their works.
Tech turn for turtle conservation
With the second largest coastline in western India, Maharashtra boasts of numerous turtle habitats and turtle species. Of these, the Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is the only species that nests along the state’s coast. However, their nests are threatened by poachers and predators. The non-profit Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (SNM), which works towards the conservation of the species, has now developed an app called mTurtle in collaboration with the Mangrove Foundation to collect turtle nesting data. Dr Manas Manjrekar, deputy director, research and capacity building, Mangrove Foundation, told this diarist, “The turtle conservation programme in the state was started in 2002 by SNM along with the government. Since then, the forest department has employed local villagers as nest managers. The app will be used by the appointed turtle nest managers at nesting sites in Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg to upload data, which will be collated on a server accessible to the forest department and we can do real-time monitoring.”
The legacy of Warli art
Mayur and Tushar Vayeda
For brothers Mayur and Tushar Vayeda who hail from Dahanu, the training to become artists started right from their childhood, which was steeped in the rich cultural practices of the Warli community — from their relationship with nature to the practise of storytelling and of course, Warli art. “We had been learning since then, but we didn’t know we would end up becoming artists,” shared Mayur, ahead of the duo’s upcoming exhibition — their first in Mumbai — Regeneration, which opens at Kalaghoda-based Artisans’ tomorrow.
Artworks by the brothers
Once they graduated and started travelling across the country, they realised that people are gradually losing touch with folk and tribal art. “As we have seen in Mumbai, Warli painting is so commercialised. From bed sheets to curtains, it’s printed everywhere, which takes away from the emotional attachment that the community has with the art form,” he explained, adding that it prompted them to work towards giving back to their community through art. “Tribal art is all about feeling. We want to showcase its simplicity and depth. We want to show what real Warli art is, and carry on what we learnt from our ancestors,” he added.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
