Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pipe dreamsA man sitting inside a concrete pipe at Andheri West seems to be caught in contemplationFood and the futureA plate of food on our table sustains us for the day but how many of us think beyond that In the face of climate change or increasing wastage for instance what happens to food and our consumption patterns These are some questions that an interesting virtual workshop by Praxis mdash a community where form theory and practice meet across design and art mdash addressed recently Titled How Do We Eat From Here the workshop last weekend was hosted by Mumbaibased graphic designer Vritika Lalwani founder of Praxis and Jashan Sippy an architect food designer and founder of Sugar and Space ldquoWe looked at futures thinking through the lens of food There was also a handson cookalong where we created a zerowaste singleingredient dish The idea was to get participants to think about what the future of food is and how their everyday decisions can impact itrdquo Lalwani added Now thatrsquos some food for thoughtGone for a sixThe lockdown isnrsquot a time to pay visits since that is frowned upon but who is stopping one from revisiting the past The Colaba WhatsApp chat groups are whirring with a blackandwhite picture of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in what was Bombay then The advertisement signed by manager Louis Gapp says that the hotel opened on December 1 1903 and has ldquoall the latest comfortsrdquo at ldquomoderate chargesrdquo Those charges are from Rs 6 upwards Today Rs 6 may not get you a packet of peanuts But at that time if we go by this photograph of the advertisement of the Apollo Bunder landmark you could have stayed at the Taj for Rs 6 ldquoupwardsrdquo or maybe just Rs 6Winging it for the flamingoFlamingos at Thane Creek during migration PicRamen KulkarniLast week The Mangrove Cell of the Maharashtra Forest Department put forth a proposal for the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary to be termed as a Ramsar site The proposal if approved would deem 16905 hectares of the area as the first such site in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region ldquoThis area is already highly protected as it comes under the purview of the Wild Life Protection Act The Thane Creek is also an important route for migratory birds like the flamingo Under the Ramsar Convention wetlands of national importance are granted this title Keeping this and the flamingos in mind wersquove sent a proposal to the government If declared a Ramsar site the area will also get international attentionrdquo Neenu Somaraj deputy conservator and joint director of the cell told usOne for RashidA condolence meeting will be held at The Mumbai Press Club today to celebrate the legacy of Rashid Irani the film critic who passed away recently Longterm friend and fellow film journalist Rafique Baghdadi shared ldquoPeople will share their stories about him and I will go on for an hour myselfrdquo The meeting will be held at 630 pm in the Bar Hall of the Press Club at CST Itrsquos open to all so try and make it if you can to find out more about a person who left an indelible mark with his honest writing about the movie industryDrum up funds for a causeRock Machine will go down in history as the first Indian band that released an album with completely original western songs 1988rsquos Rock n Roll Renegade It opened the floodgates for the sort of authentic independent music we see in the country today but the bandrsquos first ever drummer ndash Suresh Badricha ndash is going through a health crisis at the moment He is admitted at Maladrsquos Thunga Hospital with a large subdural hematoma a condition where there is internal bleeding in the brain His son Zeal Suresh Badricha has started a fundraising campaign on milaaporg to raise money for the treatment Meanwhile there is also a concert being organised on August 15 the proceeds from which will be directed towards Badricharsquos treatment Itrsquos a virtual gig that will feature Gary Lawyer and Usha Uthup among others ldquoUday Benegal Rock Machinersquos vocalist has contributed a video of the band which we will screen The artistes prerecorded their sets and we put it all together for the eventrdquo shared Colin DrsquoCruz of Jazz Goa which is organising the event adding that the aim is to raise Rs 5 lakh in total of which Rs 15 lakh has already been collected Visit Jazz Goarsquos YouTube page to catch the gig and help raise funds for someone who helped sow the seeds for independent western music in India