The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Shadab Khan
Here comes the Rain
Under the gathering dark clouds of monsoon, people enjoy an evening out on Marine Drive.
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London calling for Mittal
This June seems to have been a busy start for Aditi Mittal (below). The city-based comic is in London for a weekend performance of Democracy from Where I Stand at the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) today. Her performance will be followed by a screening of a short film by Margaret Atwood. “I am living my dream,” Mittal shared excitedly. What thrilled her more was sharing the stage with stalwarts such as Dame Mary Beard, Margaret Atwood, Elif Shafak and Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Estonia. “It started with a series of short films that I was part of, and later culminated in the book, Democracy-What it is and why it matters,” Mittal revealed. Published by Profile Books, the collection of essays by 11 female writers released on May 31. “The piece I am going to perform is a version of the short film I made. I still can’t believe I cracked a joke Elif Shafak laughed at. It is quite surreal,” she said.
French connection
Aanchal Malhotra
They say some tales last the test of time. In author Aanchal Malhotra’s case, it just might ring true. Her 2019 work, Remnants of Separation, was sparked into life yet again with a new honour from the La Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Franco-Indienne for its French translation earlier this week. Written as a crossover between history and anthropology, the book viewed the horrors and experiences of Partition through the objects that refugees carried over during the exodus. Remarking that it was this humanism that made an impact, Malhotra shared, “I’m delighted that Vestiges d’une Séparation, the French translation of my book, Remnants of a Separation has won the 2024 Literary Prize from La Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Franco-Indienne. For this book of memory to find resonance with French readers shows that the power of the human voice and its condition carries far beyond borders.”
Under their umbrella
A garden-sized umbrella from the gallery
As pre-monsoon showers hit Mumbai, people have started to clean the dust off their old umbrellas. For gallerist Sahil Arora (inset) of Method Art gallery, it was an opportunity to unite art with a social cause. The gallery will host the Umbrella Art Project, a community initiative in collaboration with five artists — Ashna Malik, Aniruddh Mehta from Big Fat, Zahra Baldiwala from Ruining Magazines, and Sid G from Toosid.
An umbrella design by Aniruddh Mehta
As part of the project, the artists have created original designs for consumer umbrellas that will be up for sale, with pre-bookings closing on June 12. For every umbrella purchased, the gallery will donate a large garden-sized umbrella to a street vendor to shelter them from the rains.
“The idea is simple: we all need to get rain-ready and that includes vendors who make a living outdoors. I don’t know if I would categorise it as ‘charity’, but being cognisant of our shared needs, and making sure they are met,” said gallerist Arora, adding, “We hope the project goes beyond function, providing joy and a topic of conversation within the community.”
Celebrating the legacy of Shivaji
Students perform a traditional composition at the event
On Shivrajyabhishek Day on June 6, students from the Marathi Vangmay Mandal of St Xavier’s College, hosted an event in celebration of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s 351st coronation anniversary. “All performances by the students like dance, skits and screenplays, celebrated the legacy of Shivaji Maharaj. They shed light on his life, history and the various forts he had conquered,” shared club member Jodel Godinho. She shared that this year, the chief guest was Dr Shramik Gojamgunde, a historian. “Dr Gojamgunde has visited 2,301 of Shivaji’s forts till now, and helped conserve 413. He said that he thoroughly enjoyed all performances, and that till date, if anyone uses the word Swarajya, Shivaji comes to mind,” she revealed.
Future titans
Pursuing a career is no child’s play. Aishwarya Pattabiraman, partner, Titans of Tomorrow, thinks otherwise. Having noticed nieces and nephews increasingly curious about radical career choices, Pattabiraman and her business partner, Akshay Dalal decided to find a way to enable them. The platform Titans for Tomorrow seeks to enable an easy and playful way for children and parents to interact with experts and learn to shape careers. “Children between the ages of eight and 13 often try to make intelligent conversations about careers when they see parents talking on such topics. At the same time, we have also often heard this quote where people wish there was someone better to educate them about their career choices. We wanted to enable such conversations with experts in the field with children and their parents in a fun way,” she added. Currently accessible on Instagram, @tOt_official, the platform will launch an active website in July, followed by offline events later this year.
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