Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Animal farmA man feeds a crow while a dog looks on at Marine DriveResilience by the dockSassoon Dock has witnessed something surreal in the past week a mural by Australian First Nations artist Miriam Baadjo and Bhil artist Gangu Bai who hails from Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh The painting was a part of a project called Dreams in Her Scapesmdashwhich initiated a dialogue between the two women practicing Indigenous art forms from their respective communitiesSohil BelimSpeaking to midday Gangu Bai says ldquoThe mural is inspired by our community and nature In Bhil art dots represent stories and memories with distinct patterns for deities and ancestors I appreciate the similarities and differences I found in Miriamrsquos artrdquo Miriam too found the collaboration with Gangu extremely enriching from an art point of view She explains ldquoI was impressed with Gangursquos more precise dot techniques and her focus on animals and plantsrdquoMultiple organisations came together for this venture including the Start India Foundation the Australian ConsulateGeneral in Mumbai Asian Paints Mumbai Port Authority and Agency Projects Paul Murphy Australian Consul General to Western India says ldquoThis collaboration between Australian First Nations artist Miriam Baadjo and Bhil artist Gangu Bai beautifully reflects the shared wisdom of two ancient cultures offering a platform for dialogue through a contemporary lensrdquoOf Pawn2King and after DingThe chess abstractThis is what is called putting your finger on the pulse of the moment Freelance sports journalist Nandakumar Marar who dabbles in creative design had made an eye catching art work in appreciation of D Gukesh winning the Candidates Tourney in April this year qualifying to challenge Ding Liren for the FIDE World Chess Championship A green towel was the canvas as Marar stated of his design ldquoThese are pulses arranged atop the green towel Sesame seeds sago pearls make up the chess board Sesame seeds were also used for the pawn figure Corn kernels placed as the crown on the head signified the Candidates champion that Gukesh became then The fireworks taking off on either side were made using masur dal sago in the middle My attempt overall was abstract to convey a chess achiever It was titled Pawn2KingrdquoA queer sense Of humourComics Navin Noronha from Mumbai and Anshita Koul from Berlin are on a fourcity tour that will be in Mumbai on December 28 and 29 at Broadway Blues Lower Parel and at Thanersquos Bookspace respectivelyDouble Billiyaan on December 28 and 29 in Mumbai and ThaneThe pair quip that their showmdashDouble Billiyaanmdashdoes talk about the queer experience both in India and being a Indian queer person abroad but that it is not all that they are ldquoMost standup comedies are still spaces of toxic homophobic jokes that are not truly funnymdashthey are just crass crude jokes that people get to make at our expenserdquo says NoronhaKoul who is now working and earning majority of her living as a comedian in Berlin brings her own insight into being a queer woman to the table ldquoI believe we do need shows like this because it ensures a safe space for a queer comedians who might have the talent but donrsquot have the confidencerdquo As we end our interview she quips ldquoThank you for not asking us how we knew we were gayrdquoMaybe a sign that journalists need to brush up on their etiquette while speaking to the members of the LGBTQiA communitylsquoThreestarrsquo appearance continues in Brisbane TestJust like in the Perth and Adelaide Test matches the Australian and Indian teams have one player each with three initials before their surnamesmdashSPD Smith and YBK Jaiswal In Brisbane during the 200304 BorderGavaskar Trophy series the Australian team had legspinner MacGill whose initials are SCG Interestingly he played for New South Wales so the Sydney Cricket Ground was his home turfSteve Smith and Yashasvi Jaiswal PICSGETTY IMAGESIn the Chennai Test of 197980 Australia included AMJ Hilditch in the XI while India fielded CPS Chauhan and SMH Kirmani In 198586 GRJ Matthews and SMH Kirmani were in the playing XI in Australia In most Tests of the 196768 series there was EAS Prasanna and MAK Pataudi for India while in the 198081 Sydney Test there were threemdashCPS Chauhan SMH Kirmani and RMH Binny And by the way SPD for Smith is Steven Peter Devereux while YBK for Jaiswal is Yashasvi Bhupendra Kumar