Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

Different lanes

A young boy pedals up the wall as his friend looks on, at the skate park at Carter Road in Bandra West

They talk the walk

Participants at the Borivali community walk that was conducted on October 1

Tomorrow, the Walking Project, a non-governmental venture, will conduct a community walk in Andheri. The participants will be guided around the area and topics like pedestrian infrastructure, civic challenges and how to make a city walkable will be discussed.

"We are going to start from Andheri West station, and follow the route under the Metro line 1, up till DN Nagar metro station. We will ask the participants to observe the infrastructure and to visualise how pedestrian-friendly this neighbourhood can become. The focus is to make them understand the need to make the roads more walkable by discussing the design guidelines for footpaths," shared Vedant Mhatre (left), programme manager of Walking Project.

The Baba of trance

Gilbert Levy AKA Goa Gil. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia commons

The passing of Gilbert Levy in his California residence on October26 might make little difference to the regular reader. For listeners of trance music though, he was Goa Gil, a pioneer whose influence and life was key to the spread of Goa trance. DJ Tarun Shahani recalled meeting Gil in Goa in the 1990s.

DJ Tarun Shahani and Nikhil Chinapa. Pics Courtesy/Instagram

"I was 16 years old, and he was a key figure on the scene. He spent a long time in India and learned our ways. In fact, he was playing trance, with a touch of his unique mysticism, almost a decade before the genre exploded," he said. For Nikhil Chinapa, Gil was a pioneer who marched to the beat of his own drum and introduced him to the music. "What set him apart, like pioneers in every field, is the passion for music. He used multiple genres and diverse musical influences to create his own sound," Chinapa said.

A club for young green thumbs

In order to set up a community where people can freely gain knowledge and educate others about environmental issues, GreenLine Mumbai has created a GreenLine Environmental Action (GEnAct) Club. The aim is to become a platform for young researchers and experts to showcase their work on environment related topics. "We wanted to create a space for like-minded people who can share deatils about their research, the insights and have a productive outcome. We didn't want to venture into the activism part of the environment, but focus on research and knowledge," shared Aniket Desai (left), programme officer, GreenLine Mumbai. The club is conducting webinars, where young researchers get to talk on the subject they have been researching on.

Of retail and restrooms

Loo and behold, retail and the restroom met in the most apt way. The Fashion Street, opposite the Bombay Gymkhana Club in SoBo, has a new eye-catching addition. On October 25, Firmenich India and BMC jointly inaugurated a pink toilet for women or Ti Bus, to cater to female shoppers. "This Toilet for Her is very unique as it is a one-stop hygienic facility for women in this high footfall area," said Ulka Sadalkar, operations manager. "We got a bus from a scrap yard and modified it to include both western and Indian toilets, a changing room, water-saving sensor taps, and solar-powered lights. This concept works because it addresses the issue of sanitation while also being an environmentally-friendly idea." We call this a much-needed ‘bus stop' with a difference.

The purr-fect pet

Amy, the star of the event. Pic courtesy/Citizens for Animal Protection

Cat Cafe Studio is hosting an event next week called Playducation with Amy in collaboration with The Feline Foundation and Citizens for Animal Protection Foundation. The aim is to normalise adoption of paraplegic cats. "We hope that through this event, people understand that adopting a paraplegic cat is not ‘extra work' and that they need as much love as any other cat or kitten. So, we decided to dedicate a day [November 4] where we would let people meet Amy, play with her and educate how paraplegic cats also need home," shared Lamya Kapadia, executive director, Cat Café Studio.