Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

I Believe I Can Fly

A lone flamingo flies over a large migratory flock near NRI Complex in Nerul.

Language no bar 

Urdu Markaz, one of the foremost organisations that promotes the Urdu language in Mumbai, has joined hands with Sion’s Guru Nanak College for a collaboration that opens the doors to cross-cultural learning. The college’s Language Centre will welcome members to share their works, and refine their craft. “The aim is to bring Hindi, Kannada, Gujarati and Urdu writers under one roof. To that end, our tagline is — Poetry sings peace,” Zubair Azmi, founder, Urdu Markaz, told us. He revealed to us that the organisation is also planning an Urdu Yatra that will aim to identify and educate promising talents in the language from the city later this year.

Match made in AI heaven 

The matchboxes displayed on the main menu of the web-based game  Harshit Agrawal; (right) Harshit Agrawal

City-based AI artist Harshit Agrawal is bringing vintage matchboxes back in style with a tech-savvy twist. Matchbox Momentos, Agarwal’s web-based game is a new addition to Google’s Arts and Culture app that aims to bring world cultures closer. The digital board game, built during a year-long online residency, lets players navigate their way through Indian bazaars like Chor Bazaar and Nehru Market to collect retro AI generated matchboxes in-game. “These matchboxes mark an era in India’s cultural history. I pitched the idea to the team at Google and we worked with contributors who had a repository of old matchbox designs to bring the project to life using Google’s own AI tools,” he revealed.

For a tree-filled Mumbai 

A Miyawaki forest in Chandivali. Pic Couresy/MYBMC X

Mumbai has a new feather in its cap; and it’s green. Tree Cities of the World, a programme by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Arbor Day Foundation conferred the Tree City of the World title on Mumbai for the third consecutive year last week. The win makes the city one of the 200 cities that received the honour this year; and the only one from India on the list. The international programme recognises cities that demonstrate leadership in management of their urban trees with a focus on five strict standards of urban forest management that all competing cities must satisfy to stand a chance. “This is a result of our continued efforts in making Mumbai greener such as building vertical gardens, Miyawaki forests [a dense mini forest in an urban area] and terrace gardens across the city. We are also working on promoting micro-greening in the city. A physical booklet that will help us in educating citizens about the concept, is under development,” Jitendra Pardeshi, Superintendent of the Gardens and Trees Office, BMC, told this diarist.   

Jitendra Pardesh

Of snail spottings and fishy finds

Gaurav Patil’s sketches of the animals 

For marine biologist and illustrator Gaurav Patil, a trip to Juhu Beach last Friday turned into an impromptu sketching session when he came across species like the Indian sea plume, sickle fish and nerite snails. “I was surprised to find cuttlefish eggs attached to the Indian sea plume. While the plume itself is a common sighting in the city, I haven’t spotted the distinct black cuttlefish eggs in more than two years,” the 30-year-old Borivali resident told this diarist, adding that the highlight, however, was spotting nerite snails. “These snails have inhabited the coasts of the city for centuries. For me, they are a reminder of my grandparents who introduced me to the species,” 
he fondly recalled. 

Indian Swifties groove together

Taylor Swift. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

Poets or not, Swifties from across India tuned in to Station Head (an online collective listening platform) last Saturday for a joint listening session of Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department. “Taylor is known to include hidden themes in her lyrics. So, we analysed all her songs in depth to discuss our theories and learn what other Swifties think of the tracks,” shared Ritu Bhoite and Priyanka Shirsath, founders of the Thane-based organising community, Swiftie Night India. While the two hours of listening went by in a flash, the duo of one of largest Swift fan clubs of India, with over 26 thousand followers on social media, shared that this activity will also help increase the rank of the album on Indian charts.

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