Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Raje

I want to break free

A child tears up on the first day back at school in Shivaji Park, Dadar.

Going with the flow

The research reveals that Gen Z believes and supports the idea of gender-fluid dating

Matters of the heart have never been easy, not even with 10,000 apps at your fingertips. But the latest research from Tinder's collaboration with Gaysi Family does give this diarist some hope. The dating platform teamed up with the queer-owned and run media platform to decode the insights into the changing gender-fluid identities in the dating scene. The results show that Gen Z is far more open to exploring gender identities today than previous generations. The dating scene, the research paper suggested, has become a lot more diverse with over 29 per cent of the generation identifying themselves as gender-fluid, while a third of them say the same of their sexual preference. Another promising statistic is that over 76 per cent of the generation actively rejects gender stereotypes when compared to previous generations. Above all, 86 per cent of the respondents on the survey suggested that they find attention to mental health and self-care an attractive quality in their matches. Ahana Dhar, director of communications India, Tinder, said, "This generation is driving incredible change in how they date, who they date, and what they define as dating. It's an honour for us to be part of their self-discovery journey on the app and in real life."

Bombay, Batley and buildings

The Swastik Court façade in Churchgate is an Art Deco building

Would Mumbai radiate the same elegance without its Art Deco heritage? If you, like this diarist, dread that possibility, a nugget about architect Claude Batley and the city's architecture during the 1930s and '40s will delight you. Batley was the longest-serving head of the then department of architecture at Sir JJ School of Art. Mustansir Dalvi, a current professor at the school, shared, "He served between 1923 and '43.

(From left) A picture of the list of departmental heads, including Claude Batley Pic Courtesy/Facebook; Claude Batley. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

And meanwhile, he was also the principal architect of Gregson, Batley and King. It was an inspiring time because professionals involved in building iconic structures in Mumbai and across the country were also responsible for the education of students of architecture." Commemorating 100 years since Batley was the head, Dalvi added that his legacy is intertwined with the Art Deco buildings of that period, which were built by his students or firms owned by them.

Archival business

Tina Staples

On International Archives Day (June 9) Godrej Archives hosted Tina Staples, global head of HSBC Archives, for an international online masterclass on archiving history. Staples told us, "Corporate archives offer more than just simple nostalgia. They reveal the reputation and character of an organisation to help us understand its purpose today."

Champions of waste management

(From left) Co-directors Sachin Chaturvedi; Smita Birkar while on their campaigns

This newspaper has been following the journey of Kandivli-based waste management NGO 5RCycle Foundation since its launch in 2020. Over a short time, it expanded from collecting plastic to e-waste, thermocol recycling, and repurposing cooking oil. We were delighted to hear that the NGO was recently awarded by The Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) with the WINS (Women IcoNs leading Swachhata) Award 2023 that recognises work in sanitation and waste management. Founder Dr Smita Birkar shared, "We started thermocol collection drives in the Mira-Bhayandar region two to three months back, and of the 20,000 kilos of thermocol collected, 50 per cent came from this location."

Good art does good

Beating The Grey Factor by Srikant Puranik

A few months ago, this section carried a snippet about a Mazagaon-based art studio, Space 118's Donation for a Cause initiative that brightened the walls of hospitals and NGOs by donating artworks. This week, the art space reported a successful mission with over 200 pieces donated to Apne Aap Women's Collective, Breach Candy Hospital, SRCC Hospital, Bhatia Hospital, Samwad School and others. Founder and art curator Saloni Doshi told this diarist, "These works were donated to us by the artists in the residency programme in lieu of accommodation fees that we are now donating back to society." The space still has nearly 20 pieces that are yet to be donated.