Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Phool proof homework

A girl studies at a street side flower stall in Pratiksha Nagar, Sion

Begin with pride

At the 2019 Mumbai pride march

After the eighth meet-up recently concluded last weekend, the Mumbai Queer Pride group has released an exhaustive plan to celebrate the Mumbai Pride Month which falls in January. "There will be various events across the city starting January 12. The Pride March is scheduled for February 3," revealed moderator Sudhanshu Latad. "This will be the first pride parade in the city since 2019. We're trying our best to make it huge and as sustainable and plastic-free as possible."

Silent, green celebrations

Readers at the 25th session

SGNP Reads, a community that meets every Sunday at Sanjay Gandhi National Park to read in silence in the presence of other reading enthusiasts and nature, completed its 25th silent reading session last Sunday. "It was also the last day of 2023, where, coincidentally, we saw 23 participants," curator Amanda D'Souza shared excitedly. Adding that it was never just a session for reading, she said that over the past year they've had people do origami or embroidery, as well. "To celebrate, we hosted a donation drive for children's books, which we will continue this Sunday as well," D'Souza informed this diarist.

Training her eye on Mumbai

The artwork highlights a train from Amritsar to Dadar

Linking the City of Joy with the City of Dreams are trains birthed in Kolkata-based artist Shreya Roy's (below) new artworks. Her series, of which three artworks are released on @shreya_jpg, aims at drawing parallels between the trains of the two cosmopolitan cities. "I have many friends from Mumbai who keep telling me about how the local trains here are an experience one must never miss. It has been a longstanding dream to visit the city and board a local [train]," she told this diarist, adding that her series is inspired by the photographs she's seen of the trains in Mumbai. "I am fascinated by train journeys. There are a lot of similarities between the trains of the two cities. Both are known for their warm, helpful crowds as long as it's not peak hours," Roy laughed. She will release five more illustrations before the series is available in print.

Flexing like a queen

Yogeshwari Mistry performs aerial arts alongside King (in red) at his concert in Worli. PIC COURTESY/@divyajphotography

Dhule-born self-taught aerial artist and athlete Yogeshwari Mistry, who now resides in Mumbai, is still recovering from the head-spinning performance she recently delivered in Worli, courtesy, not her acrobatics, but sharing the stage with artiste King. "I am a big fan," she said. A former World Yoga Championship gold medallist, who was also a runner-up at India's Got Talent 6, performed alongside King on her favourite song, Sarkaare as part of his New Life India Tour. "The team was giving me a different song, but I requested for this one and they agreed," she added. "When I was done performing, I was preparing to bow down and leave, but King hugged me and asked the audience of what looked like hundreds to make a sound for me. It was dream-like," she reminisced over a phone call with this diarist.

Science gets a fitting stage

A moment from one of the winning plays to be performed at the fest

Boring science lessons from school textbooks will get a fresh lease of life on stage today at the National Science Drama Festival being held at Worli's Nehru Science Centre (NSC). Here, 10 qualified teams from five zones across India will showcase their theatrical prowess through plays. "Science is a subject restricted to books, and filled with technical jargon.

Drama is the easiest way to make the subject comprehensible and interesting for the masses," claimed Umesh Kumar, director, NSC. The plays explore varied topics of scientific importance such as global warming, water depletion, food security and the alarming rise in non-scientific healing practices, among others. Kumar shared with this diarist that a special drama that delves into the intricacies of scientific evolution, will be presented tomorrow at the venue.