Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Nimesh Dave

Paws for the camera

A woman coaxes some uninterested pets to pose for her camera on a walk in Bandra.

Heritage for all

The Heritage Lab has figured out an inventive way to get Indian heritage into popular culture. From April 19, they are conducting a six-day long contest inviting people to identify licensed heritage pictures, classify, and upload them onto Wikimedia Commons. "Cultural images from India are missing from our communication. Openly licensed images give a free hand to creators to use them, reinterpret them and introduce them into popular culture," Medhavi Gandhi (inset), founder of The Heritage Lab added. The efforts are part of the project's new website, open.heritagelab.in, to build the online presence of Indian cultural images. Gandhi added, "The other underlying objective is to demonstrate to India's museums the value of publishing their images with open licenses. Museums are always ruing about the fact that people are not coming in, but people don't know what to expect." She continued that not everyone can travel to cities to check out museums, but they deserve a chance to enjoy them. While she admitted not everyone will be drawn to cultural art, there is a chance it will filter into popular culture. Of course, with the added bonus of a Rs 10,000 prize and vouchers for participants, the contest offers more than just cultural or artistic satisfaction.

Musical therapy

Music can heal all, they say, and the Revival Disability Project is banking on the powers of the art for its next event. The platform, by the disabled and for the disabled, allows disability affected individuals to join in tomorrow, for a musical session. Nu Misra (in pic), founder, Revival Disability Community, told us, "Music of Dissent is by Swara Swami, a disability affirmative music therapist with autism." Swami said, "I will be sharing what music therapy is, how it helps disabled children and adults, along with some interventions." The forum, Misra explained, is an attempt to allow the disabled to exist without being defined by able-bodied norms and be themselves. For the interested, checking out @revivaldisabilitymag is recommended. Misra added, "The entry fee is also an attempt to make disability professionals feel valued for their work, which doesn't happen often in the real world"

Learning to save lives on the line

You would think our armed forces are well trained in medical procedures. Not completely, revealed Dhiren Talpade, city-based director and founding partner of Jumpstart Outdoors LLP. Talpade (below) recently conducted a three-day pilot workshop, Rakshak - Life saver series, with a batch of 22 soldiers from the army at their base in Madhya Pradesh. A certified Wilderness First Responder, Talpade added,"They are disciplined, and well trained in emergency situations, but depend on a doctor to provide extended medical care." While some members of a squad receive training for battlefield nursing care during the service, it is still the forte of a few. Talpade's workshop seems to be just the beginning.

A bird to watch

Most 24-year-olds are lost in filmy romances; Omkar Kharat (in pic) is too. Except that his love for the elusive kingfisher in the Karnala bird sanctuary near Mumbai, led to a debut film. The Life Journey Of A Forest Jewel, has earned its director a nomination in the Amateur and Youth films category of the ongoing 11th CMS Vatavaran Film Festival. "I have been fascinated by birds since I was 18," Kharat explains, adding, "Wildlife photographers often focus on tigers, crocodiles. We don't notice the little ones."

Migrant tales

Shahjahan Khatun whose story is featured on the page. Pic Courtesy/@mumbai.migration

On Instagram, @mumbai.migrations, might just catch your socially conscious eye. Set up as part of YUVA (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action), it documents the lives and affirming stories of migrants in this city. Doel Jaikishen, manager, communications, Yuva, called it "An attempt to get them together and share their stories." Part of the group's ComplexCity festival, these entries express lived experiences. Each of these entries captures a different world, Jaikishen explained, from their struggles growing up to the difficulty of finding employment and marginalisation. These tales are representative of a different world in the city of dreams, but just as integral. "Everyone moving to Mumbai carries a unique narrative with them. And it's about time we heard all their stories, in their own words." Divya Bhatia, artistic consultant, ComplexCity told us. The idea, Jaikishen adds, came from the question about how to build inclusivity. The group also conducts monthly walks in these districts, conducted by the storytellers themselves. Far from the perspective of outsiders, it allows the migrants to tell their own tale, as they would prefer to. In a world of tailored Instagram pages, this rough cut of the city did catch this diarist's attention.