Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Whatrsquos the catchFishermen pass on the dayrsquos catch from their fishing boats at Sassoon DocksBorivlirsquos canvas for BappaFrom left A sketcher at work a finished sketch by Deepika Ramshetty PICS COURTESYSUBURBAN SKETCHERS Deepika RamshettyAs Mumbai begins preparations for Bapparsquos arrival Suburban Sketchers an art community recently visited a Ganpati workshop in Borivli to witness the beloved deity being sculpted to life in various shapes and forms The group documented the artistic process in various stages of completion for three hours ldquoWe went to see the process of how the idols are made what goes on behind the scenes the working conditions and how different parts are cast and put togetherrdquo revealed Deepika Ramshetty cofounder Suburban Sketchers The group also plans to visit a Ganpati pandal in the suburbs to document the festivities through their sketchesBirdrsquos AI viewCinnamon Bittern PIC COURTESYWIKIMEDIA COMMONSAn old birdie told us about a new initiative that is rewinding time for nature enthusiasts Before phones became the norm naturalists often jotted down their notes from the field the oldschool way These seemingly valueless records of bird sightings will help experts at the State of Indiarsquos Birds SoIB get a new perspective ldquoAny data even as old as the 1970s will help us determine longterm trends Wersquoll be using AI to read and classify handwritten notes and upload the data to ebirdorg the opentoall repository of birds worldwide After careful manual analysis we can draw inferences on population trendsrdquo Sanjeev Menon project manager SoIB Submissions have started pouring in including data on species like the Cinnamon Bittern Little Swift and River Tern from as long back as 1987 Those keen to share their own notes can log on to stateofindiasbirdsinMan of the hourSubhajit Mukherjee at a rainwater harvesting site in Malad PIC COURTESYMISSION GREEN MUMBAISubhajit Mukherjee an environmentalist working closely with the Jal Shakti Abhiyan an initiative of the Government of India recently gained unexpected global recognition after getting featured on SVT1 a Swedish television channel A short clip explored Mukherjeersquos efforts in efficient rainwater management in the country ldquoThis international recognition is not just for me but for the nationrdquo Mukherjee told us adding that it is great to see that the world is recognising the effort that began in India almost five years ago His future goals involve training individuals and NGOs including schools and colleges on conservation of water implying a need to implement rainwater harvesting techniques at the grassroots level to save the valuable resourcePark and readReaders at a recent session by the lake in SGNP PIC COURTESYSGNP READSBorivalirsquos silent reading club SGNP Reads smashed a hundred out of the park with their 100th meeting yesterday ldquoReading amidst the green cover in Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP is a whole different experience in itself It is possibly why parkgoers friends and strangers have joined us in great numbers over these meetsrdquo founder Amanda DrsquoSouza told this diarist The National Park has grown equally fond of the group we learn ldquoSundays can get crowded at the park But in recent times ticketing personnel spot us standing in the queue from afar and hand us our tickets before we even ask for itrdquo the founder told this diaristSing in the trainFrom left Krutika Borkar Aarti Satyapal Rasika Borkar Nikita Ghate and Sakshi Marathe perform inside a ladiesrsquo compartment PIC COURTESYKONKAN COLLECTIVEThe girls of the Konkan Collective from Bandra got a taste of the King Khan experience when they jammed to Chaiyya Chaiyya on a Mumbai local on July 15 ldquoWe had initially planned to record it at home But it just felt right to record it on the trainrdquo shared member Nikita Ghate Spurred by a lastminute decision the quintet decided to catch a latenight train to Churchgate and record the song on the way ldquoWe did not even have someone to help We just used a selfie stick and a tripod I was shy initially but the vibe was so fun and no one bothered us We chose this take because even the train passing in the background was in perfect syncrdquo she revealed