Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Puprsquos in the pouchThis pet parent ensures his canine is comfy in his carrier at Wadala on FridayWhatrsquos up with the vaccineRepresentation PicItrsquos a question wersquore still asking even though vaccine production and distribution has kicked off globally Thatrsquos what a panel of experts will discuss next month with a comparative analysis of the available vaccines A session called The Great Vaccine Race is being organised by Columbia Global Centers CGC Mumbai on February 8 and features two faculty members from Columbia University Wafaa El Sadr professor of epidemiology and medicine and Nischay Mishra assistant professor in epidemiology and Sandra Albert director of the Indian Institute of Public Health in Shillong Dr Ravina Aggarwal in pic director CGC Mumbai told this diarist that the conversation will address concerns and challenges connected with the vaccine and dispel mythsThey will also touch upon ethics involved in the process and highlight how countries can ensure equitable distribution ldquoThe COVID19 outbreak resulted in a detrimental effect on healthcare systems with a ripple effect on every aspect of human life Today when we look back at the last year we realise that there are many lessons learned as members of the global scientific research communityrdquo she added The session will be conducted on Zoom and registration details are available on globalcenterscolumbiaedumumbaiVerse gets framedOne of the photographs from Dear MelancholyWhile citybased photographer Parizad D is known for her multidisciplinary visual skills she has been writing poetry for much longer mostly scribbling in her journal At the same time she had several visuals from halfdeveloped projects lying around with her including shots from her first solo trip to Gokarna in 2020 So when the lockdown began and Bandra and SoBobased gallery Method reached out to her for their online exhibition Pause the verses in her diaries and pictures from the trip fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle The result is a photobook titled Dear Melancholy being released by the gallery on Sunday ldquoAll the pictures are shot on the analogue medium The pictures and the poetry although created at different times come from the same state of mind and contextualise each other The title might sound sad but the book is actually about growthrdquo she saidJudge a book by its coverThe sixth edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize is being held this year and the longlist for it was announced recently The award honours titles that have stunning covers that command the readerrsquos attention when perched on shelves The 18 nominees for this year include Hemendra Kumarrsquos Calcutta Nights designed by Pinaki De and Manu S Pillairsquos The Courtesan The Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin designed by Priya Kuriyan The jury members included politician Shashi Tharoor and authors Kunal Basu and Namita Gokhale Speaking about the awards Tharoor shared ldquoItrsquos an overdue initiative to show some recognition and appreciation for the extraordinary creative and design talents of our publishing industryrdquo Watch this space to learn about the nominees who make it to the shortlist and the winner who will be announced next monthNo place for anger only musicTomorrow aspiring hiphop performers will convene in Thane to pit their skills in a rap battle The event is being helmed by Omkar Narkar aka Verse Theory a Thane resident Narkar told this diarist that as one of the early pioneers of Thanersquos underground hiphop scene he wants to encourage young rappers to not view the art through the lens of negativity and aggression that it is often associated with ldquoPerformers have even punched others in the face on stage during battles The idea behind Curse Free is for performers to use music as a means of liberating themselves from the curse of frustration and angerrdquo he explained to this diaristA poetic faceoff onlineEvery year citybased Team Vision Foundation TVF organises Lantern a cultural event helmed by visually challenged artistes to showcase their talent Because of the pandemic theyrsquore taking it online this year and on Sunday will put together Kaavya Sandhya a poetry competition for these artistes Explaining the agenda foundermember Sandesh Bhingarde said ldquoWe didnrsquot keep a theme and didnrsquot have any age restrictions but the poems will be performed only in Marathi Hindi and English Nearly 37 artistes from across India have approached us and wersquove been conducting auditions So in the finale wersquoll have about 15 pieces being performedrdquo Head to TVFrsquos channel on YouTube to see who wins