Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Wheel of a time

A kid makes the most of an empty road in Dharavi. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

When the chai adda moves online

Ever since writer Viji Venkatesh started the Chai for Cancer adda on the second Sunday of May seven years ago, the warm evenings have become a part of the city's social calendar. However, with the lockdown underway, it was not possible to host the gathering this time. And that is why the Thane-based Venkatesh and her friends have taken the fundraiser online with #Chaifies, Zoom gatherings and a donation link. "Yesterday was the Chai for Cancer day. I started this to help people get comfortable with the topic of cancer over chai, because it's so relatable. At the same time, we were able to raise funds for cancer patients. Since we couldn't gather physically, we decided to shift the adda online. My friend, Rohini Bhowmick who hosts some of the gatherings every year, created a Facebook event, with a link where people can donate. This time, the need for the funds is even more as we help patients with a rare type of leukaemia that requires long-term treatment," said Venkatesh. Bhowmick, meanwhile, added that she was initially apprehensive about setting up the Facebook event, but it has worked. "The aim was to raise awareness and funds for a cause that I know is actually helping people," she said.

Life in a metro

A screenshot of the video posted on Twitter

Are you in that phase of the lockdown when you have actually begun to miss the hustle-bustle of your daily commute? The team behind the Ghatkopar-Versova Mumbai Metro 1's Twitter handle seemed to have captured this nostalgic feeling as it posted a virtual Metro tour. The video takes you from Ghatkopar station to Jagruti Nagar station, with the usual sounds and sights that so many of us have been longing to see. So you can hear the familiar "Mumbai Metro mein aapka swagat hai" when you step into the fully-packed rake at 9.30 am, "Kindly keep away from the door", "Pundhil station Jagruti Nagar", and many more such gems. "We've been posting health-related information and suggestions on what people can do during this time. But we knew that people miss commuting, so we wanted to tap into this nostalgia. As Mumbai Metro is one of the lifelines of modern Mumbai, now is the time to push content that's commuter-centric," a source told this diarist. Log on to
@MumMetro on Twitter, plug in your headphones and take a trip down the Metro lane.

Capture a cause

The times may be trying, but help is pouring in from all quarters of the world. Take for instance, a photographers' collective comprising Guannan Li from Germany; Samuel Beech from the UK; Sigga Marrow from Iceland; and Verity Fitzgerald from South Africa, who started Prints for India, a fundraiser to help the NGO Goonj in its efforts to provide relief to the vulnerable sections of the society. The website has a stunning range of photographs taken in India by world-renowned photographers and emerging talent. "The four of us met in Delhi earlier this year during a workshop. We were still in touch with our fixer back in India who was delivering ration packs once lockdown started. We wanted to help in some way too and so, we started this initiative. The fundraiser will run for four weeks with a collection of 70 images. A secret photographer will be announced for a week-long flash sale, every Friday," Fitzgerald told this diarist. Log on to printsforindia.com for more information.

Why dharma matters to the environment

Jairam Ramesh and Prakash Javadekar

Former Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Jairam Ramesh, seemed to be at his caustic best recently when he took a dig at the present occupant of the ministry, Prakash Javadekar, over the recently issued draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020. "You have extended the deadline for public comments on the draft EIA 2020 from mid-May 2020 to end-July 2020. This is welcome but please permit me to say that [only] this will not do. Life over the next few months is going to be extremely dislocated and an extension by 45 days is a crumb that is being thrown. What is the great urgency in ramming such a far-reaching notification at a time of grave national crisis?" he said in a letter to Javadekar that he posted on Twitter. While critiquing a minister is one thing, Ramesh, who is the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment, forests and climate change, upped the ante when he chided Javadekar to "fulfill" his "dharma as Minister responsible for protecting the environment". Also, we couldn't help noting that the letter was addressed, "Dear Prakash".

An eight-year-old success story

One of the previous shows of the play

The Company Theatre's production Piya Behrupiya, directed by Atul Kumar and written by Amitosh Nagpal, was first staged eight years ago. An adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the musical piece with elements of nautanki saw a lot of stage success, with over 200 shows, including one at the Globe Theatre London's Shakespeare festival. Now, under lockdown, the cast and crew celebrated its eighth anniversary by going live on Facebook over the weekend. "The journey has been beautiful, and we hope it continues. It feels like we just started, much like a love story," Nagpal told this diarist.

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