Pic/Uday Devrukhkar
Paws for a picture
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A child holds up his pet dog for a photograph, at Juhu beach on Monday. Pic/Uday Devrukhkar
Farewell to festival
We had reported how Anto Philip, co-founder of Under 25, a Bengaluru-based youth platform, had bid farewell to the students graduating this year with a documentary titled Batch of 2020. It had featured entertainers, leaders and educators such as Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan and Roshan Abbas, among others, sharing gyaan on what education is and should be. We now hear that it's been selected, along with four regional films, for the International Indian Film Festival in Toronto.
“The journey of building this film has been incredible! When we heard about it [the selection], it felt unreal. College life teaches you more than any other phase in life. It's hard for students to not be around each other now, but that leaves us with a chance to adopt newer means of learning,” shared Philip.
Poetic justice
The results for this year's edition of Bound Poetry Contest have just been announced. Huzaifa Pandit sent in the winning entry, We Were Two. Aswin Vijayan placed second for Garden, and Nikita Parik came third with Stealing that Storm in a Teacup.
The judge, noted poet Arjun Rajendran (in pic), told this diarist, “I was looking for a unique voice, innovation in language and fresh imagery.” Our congratulations to all the winners.
Making a change
Today is International Youth Day and the UN Population Fund and NGO Population First are hosting an event where young change makers will share their stories on making an impact during the pandemic.
They include rap crew Dharavi United and climate activist Archana Soreng. Population First director AL Sharda told this diarist, “We need to celebrate the youth who are combining their passion with a desire to make a difference.”
To cover or not to cover, that is the question
(From left) The mask on Mancherji Edalji Joshi's statue; it lies on the ground; the mask is nowhere to be seen
We call it the different faces of an iconic, residential colony. On Sunday, we had a couple of Dadar Parsi Colony, or DPC as it is fondly known, locals congratulating a 'Good Samaritan' on social media for putting a mask on the statue of Mancherji Edalji Joshi, founding father of this charming precinct. Some said that the gesture “makes a good public statement.”
However, on Monday morning, a local noticed that the mask was off. The green-coloured mask was spotted lying on the grass at the foot of the statue. Just a few hours later, the pedestal seemed to have been swept clean and with it, the green mask on the ground was also gone! Between all this, the visionary stood tall, not blinking an eye. All we can say is, here today, gone tomorrow.
Bear this survey's results in mind
This pandemic is not just affecting people's physical health, but wreaking havoc on their emotional and mental health too, revealed a recent study by online emotional and mental wellness platform YourDost. Conducted in two phases at the start of the lockdown and post its lifting, the survey drew responses from 8,396 people between the ages of 17 and 90, across tier I, II and III cities. The findings reveal that when the nationwide lockdown was first declared, only 33 per cent of respondents experienced 'extreme to high stress', while 65 per cent reported 'moderate to mild stress' and 16 per cent experienced zero stress.
But these levels displayed a significant rise as the lockdown kept getting extended, with over 55.3 per cent respondents reporting an increase in their stress levels. But it turns out that exercising more frequently, and reducing the time spent on consuming news and social media helps. Puneet Manuja, co-Founder of YourDOST, added, “The impact of the pandemic has led to untold and unforeseen uncertainties. Feelings of loneliness, stress, anxiety and hopelessness are dominant responses to the situation. However, people are also figuring out various coping mechanisms and are reaching out, exercising more, avoiding stimulations that are not helping them remain positive and also turning to meditation.”
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