Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Ab BUSSome of the 2200 additional MSRTC buses that will ply to Konkan for Ganeshotsav stand parked at the Mulund bus depotTherapy for allTaking cognisance of the growing importance of mental wellbeing during the pandemic One Future Collective has devised several free programmes to offer professional help to those in need regardless of their economic capacity ldquoThose struggling with their mental health can sign up with us for four to six free therapy sessions The costs will be covered through our fundraising effortsWersquore also hosting sharing circles which are safe and confidential spaces for people to share and work through their emotions and experiences together These are facilitated by mental health professionals Further we have community spaces that help people cope with social isolation and foster feelings of belongingrdquo Anvita Walia programme officer told us To register visit them at onefuturecollective on InstagramArt for smilesCRY Foundation is conducting their annual art fundraiser at Tao Art Gallery in Worli On offer is a selection of 90 paintings with children as the central theme as interpreted by over 40 artists Dr Gunjan Shrivastava a contemporary artist is contributing a cyanotype slow stitching on paper titled A Million Stitches ldquoI wanted to depict puzzle pieces showing the happy times we spend with our friends and the layers of memories we create The concentric circles are a metaphor for these memories coming together to create a happy childhoodrdquo she explained The artworks are on display till tomorrow and can also be viewed on the CRY websiteHeritage on vintage wheelsIndustrialist and car collector Yohan Poonawalla recently exhibited several cars from his collection at leading international events Salon Prive Blenheim Palace UK and Concours Of Elegance Hampton Court Palace UK Among these are Poonawallarsquos 1949 Bentley Mark VI which was awarded the prestigious Duke of Marlborough Award at Salon Prive Blenheim Palace and had been originally built for the Maharaja of Mysore Therersquos also the 1927 RollsRoyce Twenty HP by Barker which was awarded the Most Exceptional Coachwork Award at Salon Prive ldquoThe collection represents the rich automotive heritage of India and this is a proud moment for all involvedrdquo Poonawalla told usDoughy mattersRoughly a year ago sourdough bread became one of the most popular trends to come out of the lockdown A selfconfessed sourdoughhead Aditi Handa head baker and cofounder of The Bakerrsquos Dozen along with cofounder Sneh Jain has conceptualised Sourdough Summit a oneofitskind virtual congregation to celebrate the bread ldquoThe last decade of my life has been dedicated to only one mission a sourdough in every home The summit is an extension of this visionrdquo she addedFlexing for a social causeMoved by the plight of homeless children during the pandemic Krish Singh a 15yearold student from SoBo devised the novel solution of creating raincoats for them using discarded flex material It helped that his older sister Aashna Saran runs a luxury wedding design studio and was also seeking to reduce the significant environmental impact of her enterprise ldquoThe wedding industry creates a lot of waste including flex which isnrsquot biodegradable hence we wanted to focus our attention on thatrdquo Aashna shared With the help of a local tailor the two converted the flex they had at hand into colourful raincoats and distributed them to 30 children ldquoSince flex is durable they can use these raincoats over several monsoons We also experimented with several styles and settled on Velcro fasteners which last the longest instead of zips The bright colours brought a smile to their facesrdquo added Krish The duo is planning to expand their Flex Project to include backpacks and wallets for the benefit of more children