Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Shaping their world
It wouldn't be a gross exaggeration to say that women, at times, are expected to bow down to societal prejudices and behave a certain way. But some ladies often cock a snook in such situations and end up doing just as they please. Which is exactly how it should be, and that's the message that a clothing company is now spreading with a campaign called #IShapeMyWorld. It features five women in different videos telling the viewer their life story, and how they have never let society dictate any of their actions.

Swara Bhaskar

The firebrand ladies in question are actors Swara Bhaskar Parvathy Thirovuthu and Radhika Apte, media company founder Shradha Sharma, and popular chef Shipra Khanna. Apte, for instance, talks about how people had told her not to announce her marriage since that would make her "less attractive", but she went ahead and did it anyway. Khanna, on the other hand, reveals how she walked out of a bad marriage to forge her own identity. And Bhaskar says that in a country like India, the most precious gift that her parents gave her is fearlessness.

Gudi Padwa at Varanasi's ghats
Varanasi seems to be in the news for a while now what with French premier Emmanuel Macron being the latest to give the holy city a global flavour. Now, we hear that the city's famous ghats will play host to a Gudi Padwa music concert. To be held at the historic Dashashwamedh ghats on March 18, the mix will feature Maharashtra's abhangas along with Uttar Pradesh's thumri, birha and devotional songs.

Pandit Ronu Majumdar

Organised by a Mumbai-based music group, this second edition of Har Har Gange will witness the hoisting of a 'gudi' as well. The schedule includes an early morning concert by eminent flautist Pandit Ronu Majumdar followed by a performance by vocalist Pandit Anand Bhate. At least 450 Maharashtrian families are expected in the audience while members of the Benarasi saree weaver community will add a local touch to what promises to be a heady confluence of music from two states.

Chole trail with Todd
Former MasterChef Australia finalist and restaurateur Sarah Todd seems to be making a habit of exploring the country's corners with the same ease as she would back home in Australia. Or at least that's what we are given to believe going by her culinary exploits. Recently, the pretty Aussie chef hit the road once again, this time scouring Delhi's bazaars and gullies.

Sarah Todd

She shared a frame of the popular chole bhature from Sita Ram Diwan Chandiram. We totally agree with Todd's stopover, which began serving its famous dish from a pushcart in the late 1950s and remains on the top of the list for most Dilliwallahs. Now that's something.

Everyday Mumbaikars 2.0
"Bombay has so much to offer that every other day I come across people I want to sketch and include in my comic book," says city-based illustrator and graphic artist Abhijieet Kini, who is out with the second volume of Rhyme Fighters. The comic book, whose first edition came out in October 2017, features five illustrations of everyday Mumbaikars, with a rhyme dedicated to each of them on the facing page.

Abhijieet Kini

The latest volume includes a paanwala, boot polish man, vada pav seller, postman, and "the flash that goes past us on the roads" - a food delivery man. Kini's book is available at a popular Parsi restaurant in the city as well as its branches across India. "While the comic book was supposed to be a one-time project, we now plan to bring one out every 45 days," he says.

Art, now at your fingertips
In the city of dreams, of the many things that one needs to tick off from one's to-do list is to watch a show at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA). And yet, the fault of the human brain lies in its memory. We rarely remember things and even when we do, we are slightly late.

To make life easy and art mandatory, NCPA has now launched an app that brings everything to your fingertips. What's more? It's free, user-friendly and the events come in various slots, for example Indian classical music, international, plays, rock, pop and jazz, western classical and more. All you have to do is pick a date, pick a show and go ahead to book a seat. We are using it, and loving it already.

Fit to frame

Celebrity interior designer Sussanne Khan keenly captures a moment on her phone at a design event in Colaba on Wednesday. Pic/Atul Kamble

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