Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Wah kya scene haiTwo children shoot a video at a saltpan in Wadala on ThursdayAll views are aerialRufus the hawk looking out for pigeons Pic courtesyTwitterHe has wings He has a birdrsquoseye view of the proceedings literally And he has one of the most important jobs at the Wimbledon championships Meet Rufus the hawk whose main task is to keep an eye out for pigeons before play commences every day during the twoweeklong tennis spectacle His patrolling job described as an environmentfriendly way to keep pesky winged intruders from pooping or creating a ruckus on the hallowed grass turf ensures he has access to all the cool happenings He even tweets about his adventures on RufusTheHawk that has a following of 10300 fans And going by his recent post ldquoFedererrsquos out but itrsquos a new dawn for the young hopefuls A slight hurdle Djokovicrdquo he seems to have a sensible reading of the gameMaking sense of Mumbairsquos magicThe cityrsquos biodiversity is soon going to be the topic of an upcoming podcast called Marine Lines Mumbairsquos Hidden Worlds from Suburbs to the Sea The 10part podcast series hosted by journalist and author Raghu Karnad has been cocreated by Ministry of Mumbairsquos Magic MMM and DeadAnt ldquoMarine Lines is an attempt to capture a microcosm of Mumbai Each episode explores different facets of the city mdash a glamorous city of Bollywood an island with rich biodiversity a chaotic metropolisrdquo shared Arpita Bhagat of MMMIn the spotlightIs theatre your calling The Drama School Mumbai has announced admissions for its postgraduate course in acting and theatre making It provides industry preparedness for its graduates on how to use their skills across different mediums like film television and OTT ldquoThe course is designed across two semesters an intensive digital semester followed by a residential bootcamp programme of trainingrdquo shared Jehan Manekshaw its head The last date for applications is August 25Dilip saab acted in good faithWhen Dilip Kumar passed away this week itrsquos not just the film world that lost an icon The Pasmanda community also lost a champion for its cause Pasmanda Muslims are those who belong to marginalised classes such as Dalits and Kumar mdash whose real name was Yusuf Khan mdash joined the All India Muslim OBC Organisation AIMOBCO late in his working life to fight for their rights in Maharashtra Artist Siddhesh Gautam highlighted this with an illustration below that he posted on Instagram after the actorrsquos demiseGautam told this diarist that Kumarrsquos sensitivity towards the issue began in his childhood when he was part of a cricket team ldquoThere was a fellow cricketer from the community who along with him was invited to a friendrsquos house But he was denied the food and drinks there because of his background and thatrsquos when Kumar understood the concept of untouchability for the first time He then tried reading Dr BR Ambedkarrsquos works and there are reports that say that when he met Ambedkar for the first time it wasnrsquot very pleasant because Ambedkar had trust issues with the world of show business But Kumar didnrsquot mind that since he took it as positive criticismrdquo recalled GautamRethinking Indiarsquos citiesldquoTherersquos a contradiction in our country On the one hand we enjoy the UNESCO World Heritage tag and on the other we demolish iconic buildings For instance a collection of 19th century buildings in Fort was given the UNESCO tag whereas the Hall of Nations and Nehru Pavillion in New Delhi were demolished Despite an international outcry we saw the declaration of Central Vistardquo shared architect Poonam V Mascarenhas adding that it raises the question do we always need to destroy to build This contradiction will be at the heart of a webinar initiated by nonprofit Habitat Forum INHAF on July 10 Titled Heritage Conservation in the Emerging Indian City ndash I The Future of 20th Century Architecture in Indian Cities ndash UnLearning from Chandigarh Delhi Ahmedabad and Mumbai the webinar will feature eminent architects structural designers and urban designers