Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Let there be lightWorkers in bright yellow raincoats set up celebratory lights at a pandal in Bandra West ahead of GaneshotsavBharatanatyam over brunchAnjusha Nair PIC COURTESYnairanjushaWe had just about wrapped our head around the lsquocafeacute raversquo trend in the city when Kalyanrsquos Snickerdoodle Coffeeworks threw us another curveball Ambernathbased Bharatanatyam artiste Anjusha Nair is gearing up to present a classical performance at the cafersquos outdoor seating area amidst diners this weekend ldquoWersquove always wanted to spotlight art forms that struggle to find spots in contemporary spacesrdquo Disha Chandak from the cafeacutersquos core team explained to us Nairrsquos piece wersquore told is just as ambitious Titled Aanch it is set to explore Draupadirsquos untold stories in the Mahabharata Those keen to join can log on to snickerdoodlecoffeeworksComic canvas for Iron Man of IndiaA panel from the book ILLUSTRATION COURTESYMohit SunejaWhen we learnt that author Mallika Ravikumar right was penning a new comic bookstyle book on Iron Man we couldnrsquot have guessed it was a literary snapshot of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patelrsquos life and times Now available in leading bookstores and estores Sardar Patel Man of Iron Words of Steel features 50 illustrated stories for young adults ldquoSome years ago when I was a content writer for a government portal on Sardar Patel I went looking for Patelrsquos office in Ahmedabad lsquoIs Sardar Patelrsquos office in this arearsquo I asked a street vendor lsquoKaun Sardar Patelrsquo he quippedI was astonished Sardar had united India mdash from Kashmir to Kanyakumari hersquod pulled off the impossible against all odds It appalled me that he was unknown in his own backyard I resolved to do something to make up for this yawning gap in public knowledge about him I wrote a blog addressed small groups of children on his birth anniversary wrote a book about accession 565 The Dramatic Story of Unifying India This anecdotal biography about Patel is yet another attempt in redeeming the promise I made myselfrdquo Ravikumar shared with us True to its comic book style the stories will be interspersed with humour wewere assuredWhen signs and melodies jamAn interpreter on stage PIC COURTESYACCESSFORALL12Bandra witnessed a heartwarming display of inclusivity earlier this week All About Music a threeday music conference held between August 20 to 22 at a fivestar featured sign language interpreters from Access for All a Mumbaibased organisation working for people with disabilities who were seen interpreting the panel discussions effortlessly ldquoOur idea was to make the event inclusive for which we even conducted an accessibility audit We had six interpreters presenting alongside the guest speakers who were impressed and even shared admiration and need for this to become the norm We hope that soon people with impairments can make sense of live shows from the comfort of their homesrdquo shared Siddhant Shah founder Access for AllA teese for MumbaiThe periodic table Tshirt PIC COURTESYlobocopmumbaiCitybased Kenneth Loborsquos below new Tshirt gave this diarist an eerie flashback to school until we looked closer Titled The Periodic Table of Elements of Bombayrsquos Electronic Music it features elements dedicated to pioneers of electronica in Mumbai Beginning with Ch for Charanjeet Singh dubbed the father of acid house music other elements are nods to DJ Suketu DJ Nasha and Kris CorreyaldquoI grew up in the rsquo90s when electronic music was booming in Mumbai This is my tribute to everyone who played a partrdquo Lobo a music industry professional told us Sure enough therersquos an element of surprise as well Elements J Dw and Fi are shoutouts to popular watering holes Janata Deepak Wines and the erstwhile Lower Parel party hub Fire Nrsquo Ice Those who wish to wear their love for the genre on their sleeve will have to sit tight just a tad longer Keep an eye on the release date at lobocopmumbaiThanks for the sassThe latest scoop from Nariman Point suggests the popular hangout Sassy Spoon is shuttering come August 28 ldquoThirteen years after we opened the doors the restaurant has reached its natural end Wersquoll be back in the same space soon with a starkly different ideardquo owner Rachel Goenka confirmed