Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Back on trackA man walks past wall art outside Ismail Yusuf College in Jogeshwari that echoes the cityrsquos return to normalcyBack with a bangAfter nearly 11 months of staying shut wersquore happy to hear that Mahalaxmirsquos G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture is opening its doors to events workshops film screenings and discussions from March 1A prelockdown event at G5A Pic courtesyFacebookAnd there are a host of projects in the pipeline digital and physical including some of G5A Forumrsquos productions such as Morning Riyaaz and Table Reads and the virtual cinema club Ishan Benegal associate artistic director said they are taking utmost care to ensure COVID19 protocols are in place ldquoWersquove missed the buzz of audiences and hope that despite all the restrictions wersquoll be able to experience some level of normalcyrdquoKulfi on the tableKulfi side tables from The Kulfi CollectionDuring the peak of the lockdown Farzin Adenwalla founder and creative director of design studio Bombay Atelier decided to work on a project that would lighten up the gloomy times we were all living in Having been in touch with artisans she knew that they really needed work So Adenwalla tied up with six artisan communities working with metal art forms such as Koftgari Kansa Kandkari Naqqashi Bidri and Thathera and Bharat Floorings The result of this collaboration is The Kulfi Project a collection of unique kulfithemed tables that draw on the nostalgia comfort and delicious flavours of the dessertFarzin AdenwallaThe first line boasts of kulfi coneinspired side tables whose base has been crafted by metal craftsmen and the terrazzo in hues of rose saffron malai and pistachio by Bharat Floorings ldquoTwenty per cent of proceeds from each sale go towards supporting these artisans The idea was to get designers to work with more artisansrdquo she said But why kulfi we ask ldquoGrowing up in New Zealand I have fond memories of my mother making kulfi Also any person with a kulfi in hand always looks happy and nice isnrsquot itrdquo We agreeRaise a toast to Braz and jazzBraz Gonsalvez in maroon blazer at the cafe PicIan De NoronhaGoa and jazz music in India have an interlinked history and a new eatery there now pays tribute to Braz Gonsalvez one of the greatest saxophonists that the Sunshine State has ever produced Itrsquos called Chaacutefeacute Braz the title being an amalgamation of the words lsquocharsquo or tea and cafeacute The Centre for IndoPortuguese Arts runs it and cofounder Orlando De Noronha shared that there are two parts to it one is the eating area in a verandah that overlooks the river and the other is a jazz room where gigs and workshops are held He added that the menu comprises traditional Portuguese dishes that are getting lost with time such as empadinhas de carne a savoury pastry and serradura which is also known as sawdust pudding ldquoIt was always my dream to honour these legends of jazz and for me Braz is the greatest saxophonist that India has ever seenrdquo De Noronha told this diaristNow thatrsquos a beery good ideaDoes art and tipple sound like a perfect match Homegrown microbrewery Crafters has tied up with Art Amore which conducts workshops to organise a Valentinersquos Day contest that requires participants to think up creative ways to upcycle a growler of beer that they receive once they sign up All you have to do is recycle it with your own design and post a picture on social media tagging them Moreover those who post the pictures of the repurposed bottles also get 70 per cent of the registration charges back The winners will be announced on February 16 ldquoThe idea is to get more people to do fun stuff with our growlers Using the growler as an art piece will also help people discover interesting facts about their design which otherwise goes unnoticedrdquo shared CEO and MD Vipul Hirani Head to alleventsin to sign up for an artsy dateFlying high with numbersAsian Brown Flycatcher one of the species spotted PicKushal KulkarniGreenworks Trust a Mumbaibased NGO and the forest department of the state government recently joined forces to conduct a bird count at the Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary Fortyone birding enthusiasts along with the NGOrsquos volunteers and forest department personnel were divided into different groups to scan the entire area and they recorded not just 190 species of birds but also 50 species of butterflies 10 different types of amphibians 23 species of mammals 18 different reptiles and four varieties of spiders ldquoWe even saw a mouse deer which is a rare sightingrdquo said Kushal Kulkarni one of the participants adding that the survey was conducted over three days in January