Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Reflecting on life

People walking along the Marine Drive promenade are reflected in the small pool of water left behind by the recent rainy spell across the city.

Fifteen and proud

Gaysi Family celebrates its birthday

As Delhi's recent pride parade took the Internet by storm; Mumbai-born LGBQIA+ community Gaysi Family added another vibrant stroke of colour to its journey over the last weekend. To celebrate its 15th birthday, the community hosted a tight-knit party with team members. "Next year, we will make it grander," founder Sakshi Juneja promised. In what she called the big reveal through mid-day, Juneja further shared that they have now opened their first-ever creative studio in the city. "We're naturally and consciously evolving into a queer space that is bringing the non-conformist ways of existing into mainstream spaces," affirmed creative head Priya Dali. With their flags already hoisted in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, they are now looking at Hyderabad, Chennai and Goa in the coming six months.

One step at a time

A previous workshop at the plaza

After temporarily shutting down towards the end of 2022 for internal maintenance, Byculla's Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum is now set to open a part of the space, starting December 1.

Tasneem Zakaria Mehta

"We are pleased to welcome the visitors back to the museum plaza in time for the holiday season. They can enjoy our upcoming exhibitions, outreach programmes, theatre performances and family workshops in the green ambience. The museum building will continue to stay shut due to essential repairs but we are working with the BMC to ensure that we can reopen the museum soon," revealed director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta. With little to no change in its façade, the museum shop and café will also reopen to the public along with the plaza.

A tale of two cities

A mural in Montreal Mumbai

How do you explore a city? For Montreal-based Pravin Subramanian of SwapBook! and Gopal MS, city chronicler, it's through photography. The friends began DeuxCities, an Instagram-based photo project highlighting the similarities and differences between Montreal and Mumbai.

Gopal MS and Pravin Subramanian

Gopal shared, "It's an odd combination but fun to try. Mostly we've seen that features between the two are poles apart. But Montreal has a more globally diverse population than Mumbai; and that the art scene is more visible there, whereas in Mumbai the variety of art seems to be hidden in the noise."

Live like you're living Dolce Vita

A model poses during the fashion show by Istituto Marangoni at the event

The 14th edition of Festa Italiana, a flagship event by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IICCI), that celebrates the Italian way of life through fashion, design, automobiles and more, wrapped up at Mahalaxmi Racecourse last weekend. The night included a fashion show featuring young talent, curated by Istituto Marangoni, and a performance by DJ Olly Esse. But what stole the show was the line-up of iconic sports cars, bikes, and advanced technology appliances. Claudio Maffioletti, CEO, IICCI and Italian National Tourist Board, shared, "The event was an immersive experience of Italian excellence."

Grocery shopping just got fun

A look at the new store in Lower Parel

Celebrity gossip is for the fickle-minded; what we love are battles between large consumer-based companies loosening their grip on proper corporate communication for a thoda hatke stance. In case you weren't following the drama, this diarist will keep you up to speed on why Nature's Basket (NB) taking over the space that Food Hall once occupied in Phoenix Palladium is a juicy titbit. Remember when NB cheekily revealed a billboard with the wordplay ‘get your food haul' near the venue of the then-recently closed Food Hall? To add to the (healthy) competition, the store has now opened an artisanal pantry with a wine cellar, cheese counter, chocolate studio and more to compete with a certain gourmet grocery centre in Santacruz. This is why we feel that grocery shopping is fun.