Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Heights of HazardWorkers without safety gear move precariously along the facade of the CSMT buildingPark that thoughtWalkers at Shivaji Park Dadar PicPradeep DhivarEarlier this year we had written in this section how LYPMumbai which curates experiences in public spaces in collaboration with local civic bodies artistes entrepreneurs and community groups had started a petition requesting that beaches promenades parks and gardens be open from 7 am to 8 pm With the authorities now allowing such spaces to remain open from 6 am to 10 pm the folks at LYPMumbai are a happy lot Cofounder Tina Nandi shared that the idea first came up in 2019 and that during the pandemic too they pushed for staggered and safe use of these public spaces as scientifically therersquos a lesser chance of transmission outdoors if protocols are followed ldquoWe started the campaign to also highlight that it should be our priority to increase available public outdoor space I wish parks hadnrsquot opened so late but wersquore grateful that they have now and as per the timings that we had fought forrdquo she said adding that they hope to restart their Love Your Park LYP Days in September ldquoIn January we started LYP Day but had to stop after FebruaryMarch The aim is to get people outdoors in a safe manner after all this time of isolationrdquoBest foot forwardWith the sixth edition of BC One Cypher India scheduled for September 4 six dancers are ensuring that Mumbai is wellrepresented in the finals They include BBoy Flying Machine BBoy Wildchild BBoy Tornado BBoy Flexagon and BBoy Shafi as well as BGirl Barb ldquoIrsquom quite excited to make it to the top 16 this year Being a defending champion from 2019 I am quite confident of my chances The competition is going to be tough as they are all very good breakersrdquo BBoy Tornado told us BBoy Flying Machine in pic added ldquoIrsquom going all in If I win this year itrsquos going to be my fourth BC One title Wersquove not been competing for a while now so this yearrsquos BC One will show the hunger in us which wersquove been nursing since the last two yearsrdquo The global finals will be held in Gdansk Poland this NovemberStaging a conversationA conversation series called In the Round being presented by the theatre programme SMART and the India Foundation for the Arts will explore how different theatre artistes banded together to help people from the community who were badly affected by the pandemic The first edition on August 25 features Sapan Saran who started the TheatreDost initiative in Mumbai Delhibased Anurupa Roy who helped puppeteers across India Sanjoy Ganguly founder of the Jana Sanskriti NGO in West Bengal and Nisha Abdulla a Bengalurubased artiste who works at the intersection of theatre community and education Sameera Iyengar in pic core team member of SMART will moderate the talk ldquoThe value of what these people have done is phenomenal and we want to honour thatrdquo she said Visit SMART India on Facebook to tune inAustralia callingFilmmaker Aditya Kripalanirsquos new work Not Today which explores the theme of suicide prevention is making a buzz at film fests The film starring Rucha Inamdar and Harsh Chhaya has now been selected for the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne IFFM 2021 where it is set to have its Australian premiere The director who is also known for films like Tikli And Laxmi Bomb Totta Pataaka Item Maal and Devi Aur Hero shared with this diarist ldquoThe film Not Today is about a young girl whose first day at work as a suicide prevention counsellor ends up being very tough IFFM has some very good films this year and we had Tikli And Laxmi Bomb play there too So it feels good to be selected there againrdquoSingalong with Bandrarsquos bestA prepandemic edition of the zonals at St Andrewrsquos auditoriumFor 66 years St Andrewrsquos All Bandra Zonals has provided musicians theatremakers dancers and other performing artistes a chance to showcase their talent With the world going online the iconic event is also taking the digital route this year But instead of a contest it will be a celebration shared Melody Laila who is hosting it with Daniel Dsouza Erica DrsquoSouza and Brian Tellis ldquoOver the years tonnes of talented folk have emerged from this competition who are now doing it on a professional scale In the online format the celebration will showcase artistes whorsquove been a part of the zonals in the past 66 yearsrdquo Laila told this diaristThe fourday live show will play out on August 28 29 and September 4 and 5 and comprises big acts such as Usha Uthup in pic and Lesle Lewis among others ldquoThere will also be a 100plusmember international choir conducted by USAbased Shaila Miranda and produced and engineered by Calvin Vazrdquo Laila said adding that viewers can tune in on their Facebook and YouTube channels