Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Damsel in distressLinemen wade through kneedeep waters to conduct routine maintenance in the foreground of a vibrant mural at Andheri railway stationHome is where the art isColabarsquos Strangers House Gallery hosted two special visitors from Kolhapur at artist Sachin Bannersquos right solo exhibition last week The artistrsquos father Lalaso a plumber and mother Bhagyashree a daily wage farm labourer in Kolhapur had braved Mumbairsquos heavy downpour to view their sonrsquos first solo exhibition in person ldquoThis was their first visit to Mumbai They were overwhelmed by the towering buildings and fastpaced life here I gave them a tour of Mumbai mdash including a BEST bus ride and a meal at The Taj Mahal Palace in Apollo Bunder mdash to make them feel at homeLalaso and Bhagyashree Banne pose with their son Sachinrsquos artwork PIC COURTESYSACHIN BANNEOnce we were at the gallery they were understandably overcome with emotionsrdquo Sachin told this diarist The 27yearold Kolhapur native is currently pursuing a Masterrsquos degree from Sir JJ School of Art while building a collection of artworks inspired by his experiences in rural Maharashtra ldquoItrsquos not easy to get a slot to exhibit your works in this city Having my parents here for the big day was a nonnegotiable from the first day Itrsquos a dream come truerdquo Banne shared with this diaristSinging in the rainSatyawan Gite sings in his autorickshaw PIC COURTESYSWEENY DIAS ON INSTAGRAMThe red alert in Mumbai on August 19 failed to dampen Satyawan Gite aka the Karaoke Autowalarsquos parade in Andheri In a video that has now gone viral on social media Gite sings a classic Bollywood tune seemingly unfazed by the relentless rain ldquoSinging has always been my passion Why should the dayrsquos work stop me from following my calling I have been singing for the last 15 years nowrdquo a cheery Gite told this diarist The city might want to take another leaf out of Gitersquos book A closer look at Gitersquos customised auto rickshaw will reveal its bright green interiors ldquoThe grass mats are artificial but the potted plants are as real as they getrdquo he revealedShimlarsquos indies get a QR upgradeFrom left Akshay Ridlan with an indie the pendants feature scannable QR codes that reveal basic information about the wearer PICS COURTESYPAWFRIENDINSionbased engineer Akshay Ridlan will make a northward journey with his QR codeenabled tracking pendants this week After helping Mumbaikars trace their displaced pet family members for two years the pendants will now help Shimla protect its stray dogs ldquoI had been in talks with Dr Anil Sharma the district nodal officer for Animal Birth Control and AntiRabies surveillance for two months before the move Irsquoll be flying out to Shimla on Friday to oversee a 25day drive to tag the indies in the cityrdquo Ridlan shared with us Well at least someonersquos cracking the QR code to the stray dog dilemma in a more humane wayCampus tales on rewindElphinstone College File picSatej Shinde right members of the theatre group in performance PICS COURTESYEMPURPLECollege days can be the most memorable times of our lives On August 23 playback theatre group Empurple will use their creative art form to take the audience on a trip down memory lane at the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind in Tardeo A special performance dedicated to the Elphinstone College alumni If Stones Could Talk will reminisce their cherished memories from college on the theatre stageldquoPlayback theatre involves telling a story through body movements sound poetry metaphors and basic props such as scarves or chairs A member of our group is an alumnus of the college who often posts about our open shows and as more people got curious about us we received a proposal to conduct a show for the alumnirdquo shared founder and director Preeti Birla Nair below Shaping the performance from the memories of the audiencersquos first romance breakups or pranks pulled back then the group will seek to find a common ground among the many passing batches ldquoInterestingly we have received registrations from alumni as far back as from the 1960s to 1990srdquo Nair told this diarist