The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Atul Kamble
All set to flex
A volunteer preps a participant for the King Mass Classic Parel Shree 2023 bodybuilding contest at Nare Park, Parel.
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Etched in stone
Illustration of one of the inscriptions at Akshi by @kapilbhagat
On Marathi Bhasha Din yesterday, graphic designer Kapil Bhagat drew light to the earliest inscriptions of Marathi that have been found at Akshi and Naneghat in Maharashtra, and Shravanabelagola in Karnataka. Creating an illustration represent-ing each, he tried to decode the inscriptions that signify Marathi is 2,500 years old, according to experts. The artist shared that he came across information on the inscriptions in a report by Abhijat Marathi Bhasha Samiti. “I’m not an expert nor have I visited the sites. I’m just interested in cultural nuances. One of the inscriptions in Akshi mentions the grant of grains by King Keshidevraje’s head minister Bhairju to the Mahalakshmi temple; the Naneghat one mentions ‘Maharathino’, or those who spoke Maharathi language. The Shravanabelagola one mentions ‘Shri Chamundarai karviyale’ and ‘Shri Gangaraj Suttale karviyale’, at the feet of a Gomateshwara statue,” he added.
Also read: Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier
Making a point
Twenty-five years is a long time to effect change, and Mumbai-based non-profit Point of View celebrated the rare milestone this week by hosting the Jhakaas mela — featuring 75 grassroots creators — that began yesterday. Founder Bisakha Dutta recalled, “We started by using media, arts and culture as our main tools to talk about gender equality.” Dutta believes that they need to spread to the digital domain. They aim to make technology accessible and safe for women across comm-unities and bridge the gender gap.
Art that’s lit
The installation was made out of scrap metal. Pic Courtesy/Vaastu Vidhaan
Long, long before the harsh glare of white street lights lit up Mumbai, the southern tip of the city was illuminated by gas lamps. Ladder and a stick or pole in hand, professional lamplighters — a tribe that’s faded away with time — lit up these lamps. In 2017, when architect and heritage enthusiast Rahul Chemburkar was working on the restoration of the Kothari pyaav near the General Post Office, his team at Vaastu Vidhaan Projects found a pedestal and remnants of a gas-lit lamp. They also found an archival image, which depicted the lamp. Instead of simply restoring it, they created an installation of a lamplighter at work. “Such parts of the social history of the city are unknown. We came across an archival image of a lamplighter reaching out to a lamp, in the typical half-sleeve shirt and dhoti. We decided to add value to the lamp by making this art installation that depicts and celebrates our intangible heritage,” he told this diarist. The installation by Neeta Pathare (Cobalt Art) was made from scrap metal. Talk about shedding light on our history.
Pitch perfect
A practice match in session
In popular imagination, the mention of cricket springs to mind a group of men running around a field, bat and ball in hand. While the India women’s national cricket team is changing that perception, one match at a time, city-based community, The Gay Gaze Bombay is making the pitch inclusive for the LGBTQiA+ community, too. Along with Sisters In Sweat — a community for and by women focused on sports and wellness — they are set to host The Sisters and Twisters Cricket Tournament on March 5. Eight teams with women, trans people and non-binary folks (no cis men allowed) will battle it out at Neville D’souza ground in Bandra. Gurleen Arora, co-founder, The Gay Gaze Bombay, shared, “In the queer community, we’ve had a lot of conversations on how trans people have no space within sport. So, the idea was to create a game that’s friendly in nature, but brings together marginalised communities — women and trans folks.” Arora added that they hope to host such matches every quarter and attract the support of brands, so they can give back more to the community. And yes, you can drop by to cheer them on. Howzzat for inclusion?
Coming up, one dosa by candlelight
Candlelight dinners are generally expensive affairs. But a bunch of patrons at Cafe Madras in Matunga enjoyed a rather economical candlelight supper for a couple of hours on a super-busy Sunday evening. It so happened that due to an underground electricity cabling fault, they lost power between 6 pm and 8 pm.
And while the BEST staff began repairing it nearby, the restaurant’s owner Devvrat Kamath asked his patrons if they would mind having their meals in candlelight instead. Everyone agreed, and promptly enjoyed their candlelight dosas!
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