Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Aditi Sachin Haralkar

Paws and chill

As if to get a respite from the sweltering heat, a dog relaxes in a natural pool of water at the Bandra Bandstand seashore.

Bells on wheels

Malhotra took over six months to install 101 painted bells on his cycle

Khar-based Vijay Malhotra recently installed 101 bells on his bicycle to create a fun and attention-grabbing way to promote cycling safety. "All bells sport different artworks. When I went on a ride across Bandra, people started calling me the Bell Man," he chuckled. "This initiative will hopefully improve visibility for cyclists, and drivers will start being mindful about our safety," he shared. To follow his journey as he takes this cycle across the city and its suburbs, log on to Pedal and Tring Tring on YouTube.

From India to France

A poster reveals characters from all four selected pitches for the film festival in France

In January, Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation organised Animela - a three-day animation festival that invited acclaimed animators from across the globe to Mumbai. Apart from screenings, panel discussions and activities, the highlight of this gathering was a pitch test. There were 62 entries, of which five pitches were selected by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival's International MIFA Campus. "Four of these are now ready to go to Annecy for the film festival!" shared Animela's executive director Neha Jain, "This is the first time that there will be a separate 75-minute-long Indian Pitch. These four animators will present their pitches, and hopefully get global partners to execute their vision." Selected entries include Rising Tides, by Pari Satarkar, a short film that sheds light on the age-old debate of development versus conservation through a story of friendship; Lala, by Isha Mangalmurti and Shreeya Wagh, a series on a 14-year-old girl and her passion for football; Table For One, by Debjyoti Saha and Dhruv Sehgal, a series that draws parallels between human emotions and Indian food; and Hide and Seek by Krishna Chandran, a short film where the game takes an unpleasant, mystical turn for a 10-year-old boy. "If one of the biggest animation festivals is looking at Indian animation, it means that the world is looking at us and our talents. About time, don't you think?" Jain signed off.

Neha Jain

Best out of waste

Repurposed kitchen garden containers

As part of their employee engagement programme, eco-friendly platform, Ladybird Environmental Consulting created handy kitchen garden containers from waste oil cans. "The employees who had volunteered this time wanted to do something indoors. I had seen a video where people make these cute kitchen garden containers out of waste plastic, and I thought it fit best for an indoor volunteering session," shared naturalist and founder Dr V Shubhalaxmi. After decorating and painting these waste containers, the employees sowed vegetable seeds which are currently sent to the foundation's Karjat nursery. "On International Biodiversity Day, which falls on May 22, we will donate these to the children of the Palaspada slums in Mulund. Going forward, the children residing there will take care of this kitchen garden as part of our ongoing education programme," she told this diarist.

Be the change

The youth of M Ward will create a manifesto listing their demands

A one-day festival, Participatory Citizenship: Voices of Change from M Ward, in Govandi today will witness youth share the importance of elections and put forward their demands. "The eventual aim is to create a manifesto that lists the needs and changes that the young adults of the area think are required in M Ward. This event is being organised by Tata Institute of Social Sciences," shared Anoop Parikh, founder of NGO The Next Page, co-organiser of the event.

Bengal art adda in Byculla

Giles Tillotson and Tasneem Mehta

Flemish artist F Baltazard Solvyns's documentation of the people and culture from his time in Bengal (1791-1803) is currently on view at the People of Bengal exhibition at Dr Bhau Daji Lad (BDL) Museum's Special Project Space. This evening, a treat is in store for aficionados who would like a deeper insight into the show's treasures. Giles Tillotson, scholar, senior vice president-exhibitions, DAG and curator of the exhibition, will be in conversation with Tasneem Mehta, director, BDL Museum as they walk through the exhibition to focus on the continuing relevance of this work. "Solvyns's work is significant as the largest, most comprehensive attempt to portray Indian society in the period around 1800. I find it especially interesting because the majority of the images focus on lower social rungs like farmers, malis and artisans," says Tillotson. "Solvyns was the earliest artist to document the people and the society around him at a time when Europeans were familiar only with the picturesque landscape depictions of the Indian subcontinent," shares Mehta, revealing that some clay figurines in the Museum's collection were created referencing Solvyns's drawings almost 100 years later.