The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Shadab Khan
Message in the bottles
Kids reuse plastic bottles as planters to decorate a mural at Matunga.
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A chapter for the coast
You can always expect city-based author Katie Bagli to draw inspira-tion from nature in her works. Only last December she released a book to unpack food for kids. Now, Bagli is working on another title to be published by the Mangrove Foundation. It’s called Ishaan’s Treasures, and has been illustrated by Chetan Sharma. The author told this diarist that the title is all about the rich flora and fauna on Mumbai’s seashore. “I went on a marine walk at Haji Ali two years ago and was awestruck by how much life I saw among the boulders,” she said. More importantly, it will be released as an e-book, in the hope to be a free resource for school kids.
Dancing her way to the top
From narrowly escaping death when she was buried alive as a girl child, to being the first woman dancer from the nomadic Kalbeliya community of Rajasthan, folk artist Gulabo Sapera’s life has been about living life on her own terms. In these gloomy times, the Padma Shri awardee’s chat at the 2021 edition of Jaipur Literature Festival with mentor Tripti Pandey yesterday offered a ray of hope and motivation. Ahead of her talk, the performer, who conceptualised the Kalbeliya dance form, shared with this diarist how she grew up with snakes: “Since childhood, I’d shadow my father, a sapera [snake charmer], and drink the same milk as them. In a way, I found inspiration in snakes.” The dancer revealed that her first break was at a mela near Pushkar, where she sneaked in with other women, and started dancing. “That’s where Pandey ji spotted me and offered me, a girl of five or six, a stage.” Since then, the performer has braved the barbs of patriarchal norms in her community that would kill women at birth, and eventually travelled to Jaipur, Delhi and then the world. Sapera, who is now a visiting faculty at international dance institutions and is building her own school for girls, asserted that it feels good to see her community walk on the path of progress now. Her mantra for all girls? Make your own rules and chase your dreams. We agree.
Moo-d of the times
One of the upsides, if one could call it that, of lockdown or Work From Home mode is the temporary drop in pace of life for some. Which gives Mumbaikars on the WhatsApp whirl plenty of time to post messages, observations and life’s philosophies. For instance, one that is going around is: ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari knew about the petrol price hike.’ While that quip is apt for our times, we also have a slice of the past. An archival photograph of the Gateway of India from the 1920s or 30s, it states. While we are not sure of the exact date, it’s a frame that beautifully encapsulates the prevalent public transport of the time. There is a line that reveals that these are taxis meant to pick up passengers from the Taj Mahal Hotel. With a cow spotted on the lawn, this seems to be a walk down moo-memory lane.
The encore by Valli
We’re happy to hear that celebrated Bharatanatyam exponent Alarmél Valli has received the prestigious Balasaraswathi Award (Dance) for 2019. The Chennai-based dancer told this diarist that the award is especially significant as it comes at a time when, due to health and economic concerns, the arts are often marginalised. “It was abolt from the blue, and I got to know only a couple of days ago about the award. The first thing that struck me like a ray of light, was the fact that it was in Balama’s name [the danseuse] — for me, she represents the highest ideals in dance, poetry and musicality, which have been key to my understanding and interpretation of dance. It’s an honour,” she shared, adding that attending the function was like “coming alive again after being in kind of a limbo” and that it was reassuring to see many folk and rural artistes get their due at a time when the arts need backing.
Ladies, get ready to take over art
After being postponed indefinitely last year due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, the Ladies First Street Art Festival, an all-women affair, is set to come back on March 7 and 8, making a noise in not just Mumbai, but Dehradun and Gurugram too. Omkar Dhareshwar, co-founder of Wicked Broz that organises the festival, shared that although the festival is travelling to two other cities, the total scale will be smaller, due to COVID-19 restrictions. “In terms of square foot area, it’s a smaller affair. Last time, we had done seven to eight walls in Marol, but this time we’ll go with three to four walls in each city. Registrations are open. We’re looking forward to it,” he added.
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