Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Bus bhagwan ka naam loTwo women travelling past Siddhivinayak temple offer prayers to Lord Ganesha on Angarki Chaturthi a day dedicated to the Elephant God on TuesdayQuilting for a causeWe had written on this page about Indiarsquos Karuna Quilt Project a global initiative to donate handmade quilts to frontline workers during the pandemic With a goal of making 1000 quilts by August 15 2021 to coincide with Indiarsquos 75th Independence Day theyrsquove currently reached 500 quilts Theyrsquore now inviting everyone to get involved to help them meet their target ldquoDesigners and students can contribute 125 inches x 125 inches squares that will go towards making a quilt Quilters or sewing experts can create traditional and simple quilt blocks that can be assembled into single quilts right away Else they can help by contributing fabrics or finished quiltsrdquo said its founder Taruna SethiCalcutta to VeniceHerersquos a filmmaker who is definitely a talent to watch out for After winning the Best Debut award at the Venice International Film festival for his first feature Labour of Love Aditya Vikram Sengupta is now returning to the same prestigious event with his third film Once Upon a Time in Calcutta which has been nominated in the Horizons section for international cinemaA still from Once Upon a Time in CalcuttaldquoThis film is a culmination of personal feelings and emotions for the city of Calcutta and its people especially as it tries to catch up to the rapidly changing world Leveraging real characters and actual events the film is my effort to chip away the various layers of the previously communist city to reveal a human condition that is tragic and yet full of hope and joyrdquo Sengupta told this diaristIndianorigin writer on Booker listDesi literati has much to cheer as Sunjeev Sahota has made it to the 2021 Booker Prize longlist for China Room a sharp portrayal that follows two characters in preIndependence India and how they grapple with their struggles and realisations Sahota had previously made it to the Man Booker Prize 2015 shortlist for The Year of the Runaways This diarist recalls interviewing him in 2013 after he was picked as Grantarsquos Best Young British Novelist He made a shocking admission at the time mdash that it wasnrsquot until he was 18 that he picked up reading a book He chose Salman Rushdiersquos Midnightrsquos Children at an airport lounge en route to visit family in India He said ldquoThe writing part isnrsquot fun though it does get better once Irsquove got that first draft downrdquo This yearrsquos longlist includes heavyweights like The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed in pic below and Kazuo Ishigurorsquos Klara and the Sun The shortlist will be revealed on September 14 while the winner will be announced on November 3 The winner will receive pound50000 while each shortlisted author will be awarded pound2500Millennial eyeIndia is one of the youngest countries in the world with millennials accounting for a large part Naturally their choices will heavily impact local regional and global politics and economics But what is it that they want In What Millennials Want Viking that releases on August 30 policy entrepreneur and journalist Vivan Marwaha digs into what makes them tick ldquoI began this project three years ago to document the aspirations and anxieties of Indian millennials mdash the worldrsquos single largest demographic group But back then we didnrsquot have much data or reportage on those in Indiarsquos heartland My fieldwork mdash over 900 interviews with millennials educators business leaders and policymakers across 13 states mdash took me across India as I sought to understand the economic social and political consequences of this diverse generationrdquo he told usAnand wins at Eisner AwardsMumbaibased artist Anand Radhakrishnan has won the equivalent of the Oscars of the comics world Along with UKbased John Pearson he has been given the Best PainterMultimedia Artist interior art prize at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards in the US The duo won the honour for their graphic novel Blue in Green It was the brainchild of Ram V who wrote the story and also lives in the UK ldquoItrsquos about the perils of finding creative genius which comes at a costrdquo Radhakrishnan in pic shared about the graphic novelrsquos plot