The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Ashish Raje
A(head) of the rest?
Given Mumbai’s tricky roads and infrastructure woes, we don’t agree with this scooterist’s idea of a safe helmet
From Mumbai to Tasmania
Pic courtesy/Nikhil Vaidya
Dark Mofo, a renowned mid-winter festival of Tasmania, is back, and Indian chef Niyati Rao will be representing the nation at the festival. The festival is celebrated from June 5 to 15. Rao, the head chef partner at Nisa Experience and creative force behind restaurant Ekaa, said, “ It was an honour when we were invited to represent India at the Dark Mofo festival. I wholeheartedly believe this representation is essential so people on a global scale can experience the beauty of Indian ingredients. Each year, Dark Mofo delves into centuries-old rituals to explore the links between ancient and contemporary mythology, humans and nature, religious and secular traditions, darkness and light, and birth, death and renewal. What this festival also entails is that it’s about a lot of art mingling with culinary science and music as well, and all of those merge beautifully together with the ancient rituals of the winter feast that we will be cooking for.” She will be cooking dishes like marmoris and apricus at the festival.
Pride and joy in Juhu
A panel discussion at this year’s festival Pic courtesy/Soho House Mumbai
The Pride x Film Weekend event over the weekend to kick off month-long activities, screened films celebrating the LGBTQiA+ community, rights, identity and purpose, among other themes. Paloma Joseph, cinema programmer at Soho House Mumbai shared about the event, “The programme featured screenings of diaspora films such as The Shameless and A Nice Indian Boy. I was able to contribute my own curatorial experience, and leverage the access to the venue to get the right kind of films and talent to this year’s edition.”
Making waves in Uzbekistan
City-based Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athlete and referee Andrew Canday (below) will call the shots far from home in Uzbekistan this week. At the United World Wrestling’s Continental Cup in Andijan, he is representing India as an international referee and judge in the pankration and amateur MMA categories. “The sporting atmosphere here is extremely supportive and disciplined. My fellow international officials have been welcoming. The level of competition here is high, with top athletes from over 10 countries battling it out. I will return to India to boost the morale of our athletes who represent India on the international stage,” Canday told us from Andijan.
Early monsoon’s flora and fauna
Meehir Pawar conducts the walk. Pic courtesy/Shreya Patil
Last Sunday, Meehir Pawar, an entomologist and naturalist based in Mumbai, was at the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) conservation education centre in Goregaon East. Pawar happened to encounter a variety of plants and insects. He said, “Due to early monsoons, there are many flowers that are blooming right now. In the season, there are plants like turmeric, golden-eyed grass, and spiral ginger in the forest. You will also spot insects like moth caterpillars, also known as fruit-piercing moths and Great eggfly butterflies. We even saw a peahen in the forest.”
What led Ed to Madh?
A moment from the music video of Ed Sheeran-Azizam (Jams Around The World). Pic courtesy/@EdSheeran on Youtube
Last February, this section had disclosed Ed Sheeran’s hush-hush experiments with desi music following his short visit to Madh Island, away from the public eye. Now released as Azizam: Jams Around The World, the music video features a full Hindustani classical band accompanying Sheeran. “We had no idea what we were in for when we stepped into the jam session. Ed played us an unreleased track and asked us to jam along. He was extremely accommodating, and you could tell he knew his Indian music. He tried his hand at the sitar and a few other string instruments while putting together melodies,” revealed shehnai player Omkar Dhumal (inset), who features in the montage-style video featuring jam sessions from around the world.
“Working with Ed was a breeze. I’m usually a tad nervous around artistes of this stature, but Ed was all about the music,” he added. The hitmaker’s fans in India will be in for another treat soon. Releasing on June 6, a new music video titled Sapphire will feature a new set of desi elements.
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