Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Blue, with a splash of pink

A woman worships the rising sun near a pink trumpet tree in full bloom on the Eastern Express Highway in Vikhroli East

Finding Dennis

Ferdinand's personalised a comic strip for Sharma. Pic Courtesy/@toonfactory

One must never meet their heroes, they say. For city-based illustrator and writer Alok Sharma, it has proven otherwise. Apart from being a creator of comic books, Sharma is also an avid collector, and has spent the last decade scouring markets - online and offline - for rare comic strips and artefacts. Among them is a rare signed strip by creator Ron Ferdinand. The American cartoonist is best known for his work on the iconic Dennis The Menace. Incidentally, Sharma was on a search for a strip from Ferdinand's predecessor and creator of Dennis, Hank Ketcham.

"I am a huge fan of Hank Ketcham, and have grown up on Dennis The Menace strips. As a collector, I wanted to own a piece of his work," Sharma said. While on an online chatboard, he happened to find an email to Ferdinand. "I simply emailed him early last year on a whim, not expecting a reply," the collector added. But Ferdinand's reply prompted an email friendship that eventually resulted in a personally designed comic strip for Sharma. "It was more than I could ask for. It was a kind gesture from one artist to another," he said.

Rooted to the cause of a greener Mumbai

Subhajit Mukherjee will plant 100 banyan trees among the 4,000 trees

Subhajit Mukherjee, founder of Mission Green Mumbai wants to bring the city 4,000 steps closer to becoming a green haven. His quest for finding a space in the city to accommodate 4,000 five-year-old trees (nearly 15 ft tall) recently reached fruition as his followers helped him find a barren land near Madh Island. "Companies are required to execute compensation planting, for which they usually reach out to us. Most prefer doing it in faraway places from Mumbai," explained Mukherjee. However, when one such company expressed their interest in doing it in the city, Mukherjee went all out in finding a feasible location.

The barren location near Madh island in Malad

"The city requires trees more than anything else, and we hope more companies choose to execute the compensation here." He added that they aim to complete the project before monsoon. "We will use 30 tonnes of compost made from wet waste and plant trees like Ashoka, banyan, karanj, thanas, mango, jamun, kadam and other varieties."

A big, little innovation in Marol

The leaner, three-seater, electric model at the garage

Housed at Marol's 57-year-old Richard Garage is the only model of Tata Nano that was modified into a slim, three-seater, electric car in December, 2022 by Nano-admirer Sandip Patil, 15 engineering students and Dev Kiran Carvalho, owner of the garage. "It is perfectly suited for the traffic in Mumbai," says Omkar Dhareshwar, co-founder of Marol Art Village. He added, "As Tata is officially launching an electric version of the Nano this year, we are hosting a workshop on February 18 that will take automobile enthusiasts through the journey of this DIY car model at the garage. We will also arrange a free car check-up camp and guide owners on how to diagnose and do basic repairs for your car."

Drum's the word

(From left) Yamini Khamkar, Viveick Rajagopalan, Gino Banks, Nitin Shankar and Swarangi Savdekar at the park

Mumbai Drum Day, a celebration of the world's rhythms is a concert dedicated to the drum set, and will be held tomorrow at the Sri Shanmukhananda Hall, Sion. The concert is curated by percussion genius Gino Banks who must already be tapping at the line-up. Headlining the event is maestro Grammy Award-winning Ustad Zakir Hussain. Apart from Hussain and Banks Ranjit Barot, Nitin Shankar, and the dynamic percussionist Vivieck Rajagopalan will be performing at the venue. Recently, Shivaji Park, Mumbai's iconic cricket ground, where the ball hitting the sweet spot on the bat makes music, came alive with these legends in rehearsal. Play ‘n' park, we love the spark. Find details and bookings for the concert on: in.bookmyshow.com The rhythm's gonna get you.