Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Bipin Kokate

Hair-raising tactics

Illeana D'cruz seems pleased with her long, newly coloured tresses outside a Khar salon on Wednesday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Taking a stand

What has been your response to the NRC and CAA? How do you engage and how not? What are your motivations? A Mumbai-based research project, Civic Studios, incubated at MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, is gathering such data in a Google doc available on their Twitter page to help understand citizen action around NRC and CAA.

The document addresses these questions directly and in two languages - English and Hindi. They are calling out to people from diverse communities on social media to fill the form, and help add to their research findings.

The city is getting lit this February

The free-for-all Gateway Litfest, a hub for regional literature, will held next month with over 50 women speakers across 20 languages. The theme is Indian Literature 2025.

"We have divided the event into languages from four divisions: north, east, west and south. So, we have senior writers from all languages," festival director Mohan Kakanadan told this diarist. While writers Monikuntala Bhattacharya, Anuradha Patil and Jeet Thayil will be present, one of Mumbai's most prolific women writers, Shanta Gokhale will see a tribute, as Jerry Pinto will be in conversation with her.

Booked for a delicious debut

In 2015, MBA graduate Munaf Kapadia quit his full-time job at Google to start a venture with his mother Nafisa. Today, this has evolved into The Bohri Kitchen, a sought-after home dining experience in the city. But it hasn't always been easy for Kapadia and now he's got the right outlet to share his journey.

The entrepreneur has been commissioned by HarperCollins to write a book titled The Guy who Quit Google to Sell Samosas, that is expected to launch in the latter half of the year. It turns out that the book has been in the works for a while.

"I have always wanted to write a book as my business has been built on storytelling," he told this diarist. Not confident of his writing skills, Kapadia initially got a friend to pen down his story but it didn't seem to represent it well. He later embarked on the proposal with a detailed marketing plan, and caught the attention of publishers through literary agent Kanishka Gupta.

He says, "This is not just an attempt at self-therapy but a potential vertical of my business. Also, I'm not taking myself too seriously - every page has a footnote which has nothing to do with what I'm writing about."

Prized acts

There aren't many mainstream publications that give two hoots about indie music in the country. But that space is being well-served online with platforms like The Indian Music Diaries. It's a social media page that's grown by leaps and bounds after starting out six years ago, covering independent acts from neglected regions.

And it is now hosting the first edition of its own awards show, with Mumbai acts including Aditi Ramesh (in pic), Maalavika Manoj and rap crew Swadesi featuring in the list of nominees among others from across the nation. Big luck to all the nominees.

Drink for a green advantage

Come February, and the VH1 Supersonic music festival will be back with a stellar line-up. And this year, they have added a green initiative too. In an attempt to go environment-friendly, the organisers have announced that attendees will be able to exchange used cups for F&B top-ups.

In a post that urged, "don't talk trash, collect it", they asked music lovers to keep the venue clean. A good move that the last big festival in the same city, NH7 weekender, also promoted, albeit differently. They served their drinks in metallic pitchers, and gave R50 off per drink to those who brought their cups back for a refill. Responsible drinking of a new kind?