Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Bipin Kokate

Soaked in tradition

A man prays for the souls of his ancestors to mark Pitrupaksh pooja, at Banganga Tank in Walkeshwar.

Celebrating plenitude

A priest blesses the paddy in a field

This year's Agera, the harvest festival of the East Indian community, saw the participation of nearly 100 gaothans and 50 parishes organising the Agera special holy mass. "The festival typically involves the priest visiting the field, accompanied by parishioners dressed in traditional clothing, where a few shields of paddy are cut. The procession then moves to the church, where the priest blesses the paddy.

The procession heads to the church. Pics/Pritam Colaco

The paddy is then distributed to each family, who then place it on their doorposts or altar for the day. There's also a buffet of festive dishes and a traditional brass band. This year, in sight of the pandemic, we issued guidelines to help the gaothans to celebrate safely. We also delivered paddy to nearly 30 gaothans. Although the celebrations were slightly muted this year, we are certain that in the years to come, we will continue to carry forward this time-honoured tradition with even more vigour," Bonny Pereira, chief coordinator for Agera celebrations and MHP Borivali taluka sarpanch, told us.

Call of support

On October 7, 11 palliative care organisations across the country joined hands to launch a national helpline dedicated to palliative care. Named Saath Saath (1800-202-7777), it is a free-of-cost service. Dr Armida Fernandes (in pic), founder of Sneha and Romila Palliative Care Centre, said, "With less than one per cent of India's population having access to pain relief and palliative care, the goal of the helpline is to ensure that no person with a serious illness feels alone." The helpline can assist with pain relief, physiotherapy, diet advice and family counselling from qualified healthcare professionals and trained volunteers.

Telling stories with pride

Here's some news that will interest aspiring storytellers, screenwriters and filmmakers. City-based NGO The Humsafar Trust will be holding a weekend workshop called Studio Dhanak, in late October. Right now, the organisation has put out a call inviting submissions of short film ideas of any genre that highlights LGBTQiA+ issues. "This is our way of encouraging people to come up and tell us their own stories. And so, we wanted to create a platform where we could get all these young aspirants and hone their skills, nurture them and get them to showcase their own narratives. This is a step in that direction. We had been thinking about starting something like this for a while now," said Suhail Abbasi, co-founder and chairperson of the trust.

Words that connect and bind

The Long Weekend of Literature is a festival scheduled for October 22 and 23, which will bring European and Indian authors on a common platform. The fest, whose theme for this year is Belonging: Beyond Borders, will include book readings and panel discussions featuring the likes of Eva Baltasar (Spain), Lorenza Pieri (Italy), Merete Pryds Helle (Denmark) and Indian authors including Nilanjana S Roy (in pic), Rheea Rodrigues Mukherjee and Kareem Khubchandani. The festival also aims to foster better relations between India and Europe, by setting up a pen pal network between the two regions. To learn more, log on to @houseofbelongg on Instagram.

Rani Baug's Argentine guest

The Consul General of Argentina, Guillermo Eduardo Devoto paid a visit to Rani Baug (Byculla zoo) accompanied by mayor Kishori Pednekar and Jitendra Pardeshi, BMC trees and garden superintendent. "We have a rare collection of trees and plants here. The Consul General expressed his interest in seeing the garden and we were delighted to learn that he is a botanical expert.

We have Talipot palms with a lifespan of 80 to 100 years, which flower only once before their death. He could identify the species. His appreciation validates the efforts that the BMC is making, in conserving not just native but also rare species," said Subhajit Mukherjee, ambassador for Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyan. "As the Consul General showed an interest in spices and condiments, we planted a nutmeg sapling together. He also visited our nursery," added Pardeshi.