Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

The child shows the way
These mask-less motorists in Chembur should learn a lesson or two from the little acrobat in these days of surging cases.

Nucleya's in the house

This diarist has learnt that Raasta, with outlets in Khar, Delhi and Gurugram, has been a crucial part of EDM artiste Udyan Sagar aka Nucleya's journey. And the musician has thus entered into an equity partnership with the popular lounge. "The owners have supported me and my music from day one. A few months ago, they approached me with an expansion plan, and it was a no-brainer for me to join hands with them," he shared, while co-partner Joy Singh said, "We look forward to reaching new heights, while simultaneously focusing on the right franchising."

An exhibition to call home

Print from the Personal Shrines series, Zoya Siddiqui, Set of 35 Metallic Prints, 2016. Pic Courtesy/Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru

With the word ‘unpreceden-ted' etched in memory, the pandemic has changed the idea of home for all of humanity. That's what a virtual exhibition that will be put together by Bengaluru's Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) will explore next month. A distant Place will feature works by contemporary artist and Fulbright scholar Zoya Siddiqui (in pic).

Shedding light on what we can expect to see, MAP's associate curator Arnika Ahldag said, "Zoya's work allows us to reflect on the relationship with our personal spaces, be it the physical space or the space of emotional belonging. In essence, it speaks of the migrant's dream of another place, another future; a place we know many of them never reach, and a future that never arrives." What is also interesting is the fact that the show will not merely consist of images of her artworks but rather be presented in a video format with an exclusive narration by Siddiqui. It also marks MAP's foray into video art, and we're glad to see this territory being explored.

Ashwin's story gets reel

Author Ashwin Sanghi's fearsome tale, Keepers of the Kalachakra, about the men who guard the kalachakra, or wheel of time, is set to come alive on screen as a multi-season series. The production house Abundantia Entertainment recently acquired the rights to the book that weaves quantum theory with spirituality. "This is an exciting venture because the story is truly cutting-edge. There is a crying need for India's rich spiritual and philosophical framework to be explained in the context of science and a series based on the book will aim to do precisely that," he shared.

A hatke se quiz

(From left) Tanisha Ghura Kanani and Priyanka Ghura Kuka

As the world continues to stay at home, online dating has witnessed a huge boost. For all those who have had enough of scrolling through endless profiles, city-based sisters Tanisha Ghura Kanani and Priyanka Ghura Kuka are launching a website that focuses on matching people through their Compatibility Quotient (CQ). Not So Arranged, which goes live on Monday, was conceived a few years ago, said Priyanka, after one of them had a negative experience with an arranged marriage set-up. Tanisha explained that the CQ is based on a quiz designed by a psychologist. "Once you take the quiz, our specialised algorithm matches you with people with whom you have a high CQ; it doesn't indicate if you'll fall in love with them, but implies whether it's a good idea to do so," she added.

Swim and sea the difference

Living as we do in a city with a 149-km coastline, of which 16 km are beaches, it's a pity that most swimmers still prefer the sanctum of private swimming pools. "In India, most people think that open-sea swimming is too dangerous. This is what we aspire to change with our Mumbai Sea Swimmers Swimathon," Susrita Sen, one of the organisers of the event that's set to take place on March 7, told this diarist. Sen is a member of a group of amateur swimmers who want to make sea-swimming more accessible. For the Swimathon, they are inviting swimmers to convene at Silver Beach in Juhu, where they can participate in four categories - 1 km, 2 km, 3 km and 5 km. The timing of the event (around International Women's Day) has been especially selected to encourage more women to participate, although the event is open to all. The last date to register is February 28, on mumbaiseaswimmers.com.