Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Aishwarya Deodhar

Weaving memories

A garland vendor immersed in work at the Dadar Flower Market

Gone too soon

Vinit Masram, the creator behind the YouTube channel Cinema Beyond Entertainment, passed away last week at 34, and film aficionados are truly feeling the loss. As we browsed the channel, we watched some of the most popular videos, like Analysing Swades - A journey of self-discovery and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: Why subtext is important. And we realised that Masram's strength lay in the fact that he truly tried to see beyond the obvious purpose of films, and that's why many a movie-loving nation connected with his work. And hence, social media was full of heartfelt tributes to Masram. Film critic Sucharita Tyagi, who was also Masram's close friend, said, "‘Fantastic' was probably his favourite word in the entire English language, going by how many things clearly amazed him. Vinit generously shared his excitement for all things cinema with his friends and colleagues. Even if you were a minor acquaintance who didn't know him well but had a doubt, a question, it would be answered in the most calm manner, with a smile on his face every single time. Vinit taught me endless things."

A tale of dark shadows

Kavita Seth

Filmmaker, theatre practitioner and screenwriter Suman Adhikary has recorded two semi-classical songs, Padhaaro and Rooh, with singers Shubha Mudgal and Kavita Seth respectively, for his debut feature Widow's Shadow. The film, which is primarily in Hindi and Rajasthani, centers around two women who are widowed at an early age. Adhikary, who is presently busy with post-production work, has shot the film in villages like Alsigarh and Rayta in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan."The rawness of the film comes from the location, and we have attempted to shine a light on the position of widows, the issue of casteism and the bias around same-sex relationships in our society," says Adhikary who plans to send the film to festivals and also release it later this year.

The gift of Maggie

Margaret Mascarenhas

Sometimes a lifetime is not enough to celebrate people and what they mean to you. Author-poet Margaret Mascarenhas, who passed on four years ago after a protracted illness, was one such to her friends. After her death, Margaret's friends, Arshia Sattar, Karthika VK, Prerna Bindra, Nilanjana Roy, Shobhaa De, Sivagami N, Sudeep Chakravarti, Sumana Roy, Tishani Doshi, Ranvir Shah, Rosalyn D'mello, Venita Coelho and journalist Peter Griffin, came together to form the Fireflies Collective. It has supported seats for emerging writers at Sangam House Residency for four years, and is now raising funds for its fifth, while also trying to add another seat in another residency for an artist, and even perhaps, a third for a musician. Griffin, who got his first job under Margaret's editorship, says, "The thought from the beginning was to not put too much of a financial burden on anyone. There is no intent to make Fireflies a legal entity, so it has been through a network of trust." You can donate by reaching out to any of the members.

Dad's a good way to remember an epic innings

Alvin Kallicharran during the 1975 World Cup in England

There are cricket grounds and there's The Oval in London. If Lord's has witnessed some of the finest performances in the game, so has The Oval. It's a ground which West Indians love coming to - it is very close to Brixton, where thousands of them reside. Why are we talking about The Oval when there's still time for the 2023 Ashes series to end there? It's because Rohan Kallicharran, the son of West Indies great Alvin, tweeted a picture of himself outside The Oval to remember his father's great innings of 78 off 83 balls (14 fours, one six) there against the Australians in the 1975 World Cup. While guiding his team to victory in a 192-run chase, Alvin gave Australia spearhead Dennis Lillee a pasting to remember. Alvin pierced the field with panache and hooked impressively to play the ODI innings of his life. Rohan was well aware of this when he tweeted, "Ran past The Oval earlier, reflected on two things.

Rohan Kallicharran posted this picture on Twitter recently. Pic/Getty Images

1. It's where dad had one of his most revered moments.

2. The joy the West Indies gave the Windrush Generation & the next two generations.

The latter further convicted me in my commitment to tackling social injustice. (sic)" It was an innings that prompted a sub-editor at The Cricketer magazine to headline the match coverage with, ‘Australia commit Hara Kalli.'

Tomato prices sting Like a (Busy)bee

The Busybee piece from July 1991

Today, cardiologists may advise heart patients not to look at the price of tomatoes. Okay, that may be stretching things a teeny-weeny bit, but the ‘tamatar' with its close to R160 a kg price tag does make us wince. A piece by Behram Contractor aka the immortal Busybee under his column Round And About is going round and about on WhatsApp. Dated July 26, 1991, when tomatoes hit Rs 40 a kg, it talks about Busybee's family, including his dog Bolshoi the Boxer, at the all-important ritual of carving one, repeat one pricey tomato. Total wry, dry Busybee wit. "If you pull out any random Busybee piece over the last 40 years, you will find it relevant and applicable even today. Life hasn't got any better, from prices to potholes! Except in those days, at least there was an uproar. These days we just seem to whimper a bit and go along, accepting our miserable lot," his wife Farzana told this diarist.