Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

A festive touch: Children celebrating Eid share their exuberance with police personnel at Bhendi Bazaar on Thursday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Under the shadowless sun

Here's an interesting astronomical occurrence to look forward to. Mumbai will witness the Zero Shadow Day today, which is a phenomenon that occurs twice a year. The Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai will be holding a session to showcase and educate participants about this phenomenon from 12 pm to 1 pm. "This occurs when the sun is going towards the north, and when it is coming back towards the south. During that time, at any place on earth, the sun will be right overhead, and, at that moment, you will lose your shadow. Through our Facebook Live session, we're trying to show people how to observe this event," said Umesh Kumar, senior curator.

Sarees against hunger

Mamta Das Sharma, a Kolkata-based stylist and content creator, has recently launched the second edition of her Saree Saving Lives initiative to raise funds for people stranded at railway stations and state borders. Participants are being invited to pick out a saree from their wardrobes and offer it for sale. Buyers can directly donate the cost of the saree to the NGO, MCKS Food for the Hungry Foundation, and share the receipt slip with the seller. The sarees will then be shipped to their new owners. "Since my social media presence is synonymous with handloom sarees, I wanted to leverage my audience for a good cause. In the first edition, we raised R2 lakh in less than a month. We are hoping to replicate the success this time around as well," shared Das. Head to @thebohobalika on Instagram to participate.

Music for the soul

Boxout.fm, a Delhi-based online radio community, is putting together a 48-hour fundraiser broadcast, starting today. The broadcast will feature 78 renowned international artistes, including Amotik and Virtual Geisha many of whom have performed in India in the past. Also on the line-up are contributions from institutions such as Aisha Devi's imprint Danse Noire, prominent Berlin-based reissue label Habibi Funk and all-female NGO Future Female Sounds. The associated fundraiser aims to raise Rs 5 lakh, which will be contributed to Give India's Covid-19 relief efforts. To learn more about the broadcast and donate to the fundraiser, visit @boxoutfm on Instagram.

Mask up to support a noble cause

Can you help strays in Mumbai by simply masking up during the pandemic? We think so. The folks at NGO Welfare of Stray Dogs (WSD) Mumbai have launched sales of pup-themed masks, with all proceeds directed to the treatment of street dogs in the city. "We realised during the lockdown that masks are essential but we cannot organise a physical sale. So, we took to Instagram to raise awareness about masking up while also helping the strays," said Dharmita Mandreka its senior manager.

Relishing a sweet high in Landour

Followers of veteran children's author Ruskin Bond have been tripping over photos of him enjoying a plate of jalebis in his Landour home during a recent rainy spell. Bond's social media feed has a huge following for his simple, often witty posts about life, literature and musings from the scenic abode. The sugary distraction took this diarist to a memory from 15 years ago, when both were represented by the same publishing house and were part of an author's conclave in Mumbai. By the time dessert was served, quite by chance, we ended up being seated beside the man himself as he relished a bowl of chocolate ice cream. After pleasantries were exchanged, with a twinkle in his eye, he turned towards us with a request: "I'm not supposed to be eating chocolate but I have a massive sweet tooth. Would you mind getting me a second helping?" Of course, we did.