Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Raje

Colour wash

A mason cements painted tiles that depict the iconic Dhobi Ghat, on a wall in Saat Rasta, Mahalaxmi, as part of the BMC's beautification drive.

Hits the Spot

Readers of a certain vintage will remember a couple romancing to a catchy tune for the erstwhile soft drink, Gold Spot. This was back in the 1990s. Now, in 2021, a production company called Potli Baba has recreated that jingle in a modern avatar, replete with references to memes and video games, though they have retained the original tune that jazz veteran Louiz Banks had composed. "As soon as I heard the new version, I was flooded with great fun memories of sitting in the studio and recording this jingle with Eric D'souza and Gary Lawyer. I am glad that they retained the music by the original composer," Banks told this diarist.

Friends forever

(From left) Nithila Kanagasabai and Shilpa Phadke

Shilpa Phadke is 17 years older than Nithila Kanagasabai. They started their relationship as teacher and student. But that evolved into a friendship that has stood the test of time. It set them thinking about friendship as an inter-generational concept. And that gave birth to the idea of An Anthology of Friendship, a compilation of real-life stories featuring women and gender-queer people from South Asia. They are now calling for submissions to complete the project. "We are asking for essays that are between 500 and 2,500 words, where the narrative can be of the person's own experience or that of others, and graphic art and poems as well. We want to make it a truly South Asian effort, and are thus mobilising our networks in countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh as well," Phadke told this diarist. Interested in sharing your story? Write in to shilpanithila@gmail.com by July 15.

Arty exploits in Nashik

The artist community was one of the hardest hit in the past one and a half years. Now, in an encouraging step for artists in the state, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has curated the first-ever MTDC Artist Residency in association with Floating Canvas Company. The current edition features graffiti artist Zake (in pic), who has drawn inspiration from the murals of Ajanta and Ellora for the project, and illustrator Anand Radhakrishnan. As part of it, the artists are being hosted at the scenic MTDC Grape Park Resort, in Nashik, which offers a 360-degree view of the natural landscape, perfect to inspire boundless creativity. Cool move.

Singh is king

International Hospitality Council is a London-based organisation that, along with the Indian Institute of Hospitality and Management, hosts an annual award to recognise global leaders from the F&B industry. The lifetime achievement award for this year's edition has been presented to AD Singh, founder MD of the Olive Group of Restaurants. The virtual event also witnessed the general secretary of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, Zurab Pololikashvili, congratulating all the winners.

25 years of Indian stories

Yesterday, children's book publishing company Karadi Tales celebrated its 25th anniversary. The seeds of the company were laid as a project for kids in a blind school in Pune. But that eventually evolved into a flourishing business that, over time, incorporated audio books, an animation series and even film production. Co-founder Narayan Parasuram recalled to this diarist that noted names including Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Usha Uthup and Rahul Dravid have lent their voice to Karadi's audio books.

"We even forayed into adult literature with APJ Abdul Kalam's Wings of Desire, which Gulzar saab narrated in Hindi," he said. Parasuram added that the idea was born out of a gap for audio books that they perceived in the Indian market. "But we had no intention of forming a company when we started out all those years ago," he shared.