Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Sameer Markande

Make a splash

A man beats the heat with a quick bath atop a parked vehicle on Eastern Express Highway at Vikhroli, on Wednesday.

Art lovers type the Bandra zeitgeist

If you happened to stop by Method Bandra during the Gallery Weekend, you'd have noticed a new addition to the wooden tables - a refurbished typewriter. Visitors are being invited to add to the ongoing narrative to create a collective stream of consciousness. "We consider Method Bandra to be an artist outpost and creative space. In line with that, we keep doing things that bring people together, offline, in small yet significant ways. One of our regulars has started refurbishing old typewriters in funky ways. When we found out about it, we decided it would be great if people could stop by, type whatever they're thinking, feeling, whether fiction or non-fiction. Some people type half sentences and others finish them. Others type philosophy. The vision is to let creativity spur on new creativity - whether that's from looking at the art, having a conversation with a near stranger or reading a note someone's left on the typewriter," shared Sahil Arora, founder and curator of Method.

Milan's muse

The collection will promote zero-waste and re-wearability

Representing Indian fashion at the ongoing Milan Fashion Week is designer Dhruv Kapoor, who will showcase his latest collection, titled Soul Tech, an ode to the confluence of technology, ancient wisdom and contemporary culture. Of the collection, Kapoor (who will be showing at Milan for the seventh time) said, "The collection explores poster prints, reminiscent of the 1970s and a squared silhouette mostly cinched at waist. All accessories are made using upcycled leather in keeping with our theme of introducing zero-waste products, and we explore versatility in each piece, promoting repeatability."

Painting a canvas across the nation

BAP's ongoing mural in Hyderabad

In a bid to draw attention to the adverse impacts of soil degradation - United Nations agencies predict that the world is left with agricultural soil to last 80-100 crops, or another 45-60 years - the Isha Foundation and Bollywood Art Project have mapped out an ambitious initiative - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev will be undertaking a country-wide motorcycle ride, while the Mumbai-based collective led by Ranjit Dahiya will be painting murals along prominent streets to spark these much-needed conversations. "We are currently at work in Hyderabad and Bangalore, but plans are underway to extend these murals to Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi. Our goal is to promote more sustainable land use and agricultural practices and we hope the murals will highlight this," Dahiya told this diarist.

Ranjit Dahiya

Tuck into bhonu in North America

For over three decades, Tanaz Godiwalla has reigned as the queen of Parsi wedding catering. Last year, she started retailing some of her iconic condiments. Now, this diarist has learnt that Godiwalla is extending her coveted condiments and ready-to-eat range to USA and Canada, too. In fact, gajar meva nu achaar and gor keri meva nu achaar are already on the shelves there. The idea is to table Parsi flavours to the rest of the world with similar expansions in the UK, Middle East and Australia in the works. "Catering is my baby, but this is so niche that there's always a lot of demand. I am also planning to take my catering business to the UK soon," she told us.

Kili's Bolly nod

Any social media user who's ever undertaken a dance challenge will instantly recognise Tanzanian dancing sensation Kili Paul and his sister Neema. The Pauls' videos of them lip-syncing and dancing to popular hits (often in traditional garb) have been reposted by the songs' original stars, including Nora Fatehi. Taking the Indian connection further, Kili was felicitated by the High Commission of India in Tanzania where Indian envoy Binaya Pradhan (in pic) shared pictures of their meet on Twitter.