Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Eggcellent ControlWith egg crates tied to his bicycle a delivery man weaves through the traffic on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg at Ghatkopar WestTum jiyo hazaaron saalUstad Zakir Hussain drooled over yakhni pulao from the Kapoor kitchen Sabir Khan made eyes at Taufiq Qureshi for drowning out the strains of his sarangi with the djembe and double Grammy Awardwinning Rakesh Chaurasia shushed excited voices in the wings finger on lips his legs crossed under a rose quartz silk kurtaFrom left Zubin Balaporia Zahan Kapoor Kunal Kapoor Sheldon DSilva seated behind Taufiq Qureshi Rakesh Chaurasia and Zakir Hussain on stage during the performanceFive feet away sat Jaya Bachchan with granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda sandwiched between average music lovers They were lucky they got a seat Ashutosh Gowariker squatted in a gangway for the first half hour of what was the zaniest classical music performance by maestros and rising stars in a long timeKunal and Zahan Kapoor were hosting Prithvi Theatrersquos 40th Memorial Concert on Wednesday to mark the birth anniversary of its visionary founder and actor Jennifer Kendal Kapoor Bowls of sheera to say Happy Birthday had passed around a grateful audience waiting in the porch to enter the haloed crucible of theatre In a first the sons and shagirds of late pakhawaj player Pandit Bhavani Shankar hosted a mini lsquoporch performancersquo with a dancer presenting tatkar rhythmic kathak footwork in perfect sync with the tala of the drum thatrsquos the ancestor of the tabla The evening was dedicated to Shankar and Hindustani classical maestro late Ustad Rashid KhanLeft Zahan Kapoor and Ustad Zakir HussainWhen a guest walking in with Jayati Dogra laughed ldquoFrom here on itrsquos a localrdquo he was being prophetic No one snaking into the intimate audi with a capacity for 200 expected to see what they did The seats were taken The staircase treads were occupied The pit in front of the stage overflowing ldquoSqueezerdquo was the theme of the evening and no one caredThatrsquos the thing there is something about Prithvi When you manage a seat inside one of Indiarsquos most democratic affordable and inclusive performance venues you leave your privilege at the door Even if you are a Bachchan Itrsquos perhaps the only public space where you wonrsquot see Bollywood stars chaperoned by security and media teams and experience the curious joy of standing at the buffet with Vishal and Rekha Bhardwaj waiting for your car alongside Neetu Kapoor or sharing a restroom mirror with Divya Dutta And the ticketpaying enthusiast doesnrsquot care if he made it to A1 Every seat is the best seat in the house as long as you get inVolunteers ushering audience members to find a seatThe remarkably modest Hussain fresh from his triple Grammy win put it wonderfully when he explained how he managed to make it year after year despite a crazy schedule He called it ldquodoing sevardquo for an institution that had kept the honest spirit of the arts alive And seva he did playing almost continuously for over two hours with a host of musicians including brothers Taufiq and Fazal Zubin Balaporia Sabir Khan and Vijay Prakash His playful and magical jugalbandi with Chaurasia and Khan Yaad piya ki aayehellip aah spoke of a comfort that comes from having jammed with and mentored next gen talentAnd the applause came pouring in not just from fans but contemporaries too Gino and father Louiz Banks and Ranjit Barot sat on a chocabloc second row enjoying the celebration of percussionOutside we missed tripping over a guest as she darted over the cafeacute seats to envelope Makarand Deshpande in a buddy embrace It took us a wobblyknee fiveminute hobble before we could stand straight on our feet after being in padmasana through the evening Someone called out our nameldquoQuasarrdquoA 10second bear hug in a patio swarming with people spoke of a time long long ago at a boarding school when this diarist wasnrsquot editor and Quasar ThakorePadamsee not one of Mumbairsquos most influential young directorproducerarts managersTherersquos something about PrithviNamaste JapanJapanese influencer Koki Shishido below who had found a home in Mumbai for the past two years is now back in Japan ldquoI returned to Japan after three years I feel like I am reexploring it from a foreignerrsquos perspective it feels refreshingrdquo he shared with this diarist via text messages from Tokyo The content creator fully adapted to ways of a Mumbaikar is now working on two series for his social media platform that will document an Indianrsquos life in Japan ldquoI miss Mumbairsquos warm people and the vada pavrdquo The idea behind the series he says is to encourage more Indians to head to Japan Each series will have at least 24 episodes one interviewing Indians and the other spending a day with an Indian in Japan He has a special note for his fans in Mumbai ldquoI am aiming to come back towards the end of April and I will be bringing the ramen culture along with me Stay tuned for an exciting event featuring new Japanese ramenrdquoLetrsquos find some poetryFrom left Bahuguna and a young participant at work on a poem children at an earlier workshopIf you thought poetry was not for the kids author and novelist Neha Bahuguna would disagree ldquoPeople often think poetry is complicated but there are ways to learnrdquo she admitted to this diarist Her workshop this Sunday at Madh Island aims to introduce children from eight years onwards to the art of Found poetry ldquoFound poetry is the practice of picking up words and letters from magazines or newspapers and cutting them to create poems You can pick and choose as your emotions or instinct strikes yourdquo the author suggested adding that children love it because of its handson practice ldquoThey like to use new words and work with their hands Sometimes the adults enjoy it more than the kidsrdquo she laughed Those interested in trying it out might drop a line at bolcollective on Instagram