Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

The sky is pinkA couple enjoys the evening sun light up the sky at Mahim beachFarewell to Tinkle BelleAfter 10 years of being the editor of Tinkle Comics and 13 years of being with Amar Chitra Katha Rajani Thindiath has decided to move on to tell different stories She is now pitching her first book and writing another The journey has been a mixed bag of emotions Thindiath says ldquoTinkle was where I first fulfilled my dream of writing original fiction that reached thousands across the country In these 13 years 10 as editor this dream has given me so much I had the chance to get kids to think about values and concerns that I thought were important as they enjoyed the stories Values such as gender equality diversity and acceptance of lsquothe otherrsquo regardless of whether the other is of a different skin colour community region or is someone with varying abilities and disabilities Children shape our future and what kept me going was their overwhelming love and encouragementrdquoWriting about changeMumbaibased social entrepreneur Elsa Marie DrsquoSilva who is the brain behind Safecitymdasha platform that crowdsources personal stories of sexual harassment and abuse in public spacesmdashhas added another feather to her cap DrsquoSilva has coedited as well as contributed to an important new book The Demographic Dividend and the Power of Youth Voices from the Global Diplomacy Lab published by Anthem Press The compendium of essays DrsquoSilva says explores the role young people can play as actors of change ldquoWe need to relook at our education system to create space for critical thinking and provide a platform for young people to create changerdquo This she says is what the books aims to doCongratulations are in Order for Greg ChappellAustralia captain Greg Chappell holds the B amp H World Series Cup after beating New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on February 3 1981 PicGetty ImagesItrsquos nearly 40 years for the Greg Chappellordered underarm delivery which his younger brother Trevor delivered to New Zealandrsquos Brian McKechnie in a World Series Cup game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 1 1981 Not many would have given the Australia captain any chance of receiving an honour then or even later because simply put that was a disgraceful act performed to deny the NZ batsman from hitting a six But Greg has been honoured now with the Order of Australia for according to the citation ldquodistinguished service to cricket as a leading player captain coach and administrator at the elite level and for a range of charitable foundationsrdquo Greg is thrilled that his charity work has come into the mix ldquoIt is a great honour and a recognition for many years involved with cricket but I am also pleased it includes the charity aspect because that is a very important part of my later liferdquo he told The Australian newspaper Itrsquos been four years since Greg and his Indianborn mate Darshak Mehta formed The Chappell Foundation which has raised more than AUD 3 million for homeless youth Not long ago this newspaper highlighted Gregrsquos deeds in ensuring food packets reach the homeless in Queensland and itrsquos time to say well played Greg You were never known to be satisfied with a century You always wanted more runs from that Gray Nicolls willow so donrsquot stop scoring on the charity pitch We need more of your kindAn erotic balanceRahul MishraFor all the organza and tulle haute couture is made of stronger stuff than it is given credit for Rahul Mishrarsquos The Dawn digital showcase third couture collection as a guest member of the Paris calendar brought up a spontaneous burst of powerful feelings residing still in our pandemicspooled solitude melancholy and longing It also nudged a realisation that this chapter in history is bigger than just this virusModel and drag artist Nitin Baranwal in Rahul Mishra haute couture Spring 2021To reconsider facts of life Climate crisis is real We need to act now or the consequences will be catastrophic The opening drone view of a marble dump yard in Kishangarh Rajasthan so scorched and elemental it immediately takes your eyes to engineered clusters of mushroom decidedly flannelling life on barren tree branches Mushrooms the only flowering bodies of fungi is an allegory Mishra chose for life itselfDirected beautifully by Keya Vaswani and Nidhi Kamath the sixminute 555 to be precise video has a kind of casual framing in the way a karigarrsquos jab at deft needlework patterns and punches vibrant colours in the outline of mushroomstriped motifs adding a tactile human vignette to the polished megaevent worthy outfits worn by a parade of three models This collection is one of Mishrarsquos most lyrical poems musical in execution metaphor theme and even title But poetic couture was not the only thing waking in his collection It was also the inclusive casting of the drag artist Nitin Baranwal as one of the fashion models to appear in the designerrsquos lifelike embellishmentsSaying it with such amazing graceThis diarist was heartened to find out that a fundraiser by Luke Coutinho a holistic lifestyle coach for the construction of an old age home in Guirim North Goa has brought in 107 per cent of the Rs 40 lakh goal Hosted on fueladreamcom the campaign hopes to help in the expansion of Amazing Grace an old age home run by Josephine DrsquoSouza who according to Coutinho shares her own family home with the elders ldquoOn my trips to Goa to meet my parents I have spent much time with Ms Josephine and the elders consulting for them and helping them with their health to the best of my ability I saw their predicament get worse as more of them joined the home and the space ran out This home deserved to be helped and I am glad that I could with the help of so many kind and generous fundersrdquo says Coutinho