Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Itrsquos been a hard dayrsquos nightThe setting sun casts a silhouette on construction workers at an underconstruction site in AiroliRead his lipsIt is inevitable really If you consistently stay at the top of a volatile industry people are bound to notice Especially if you show up wearing rosetinted Tom Ford sunglasses indoors after dusk On Monday evening jackofalltrades Sabyasachi Mukherjee chose an unbuttoned black sherwani a buttoneddown white shirt a dainty necklace and a film star smile at the byinviteonly launch of yet another collaboration with a global brand Sabyasachi the Kolkata couturier and his brand of bridal wear high jewellery eyewear home furnishings and decor has grown fast by staying close to the customersModels wearing Esteacutee Lauder x Sabyasachi Limited Edition Collection right Sabyasachi Mukherjee at the launchHit rewind on the LrsquoOreacuteal Paris x Sabyasachi collab in 2018 and the Indian customers tsktsking over Aishwarya RaiBachchanrsquos crimson pout comes to mind The latest synergy Esteacutee Lauder x Sabyasachi limitededition lipstick colours mdash gilded in 24K gold plated accents and emblazoned with the Bengal tiger monogram mdash is informed by learning what the beauty community wants not just from tones and shades but names too Bombay Berry is an ultramatte deep berry Muslin Tea a satin matte caramel nude and Coffee Masala an ultramatte warm brownBengal the couturierrsquos home state gets two shades as a salaam an ultramatte bluered called Calcutta Red and Rouge Bengal a satin matte warm red The makeup station on the second level of Sabyasachirsquos Horniman Circle flagship address hosted a full lipstick range surrounded by chattering guests actor Manushi Chhillar makeup artists Mitesh Rajani Sandhya Shekar Marianna Mukuchyan the couturierrsquos modelmuse Varshita Thatavarthi a few cast members of 2023 thriller Class and beauty influencersThe guests pecked on hors drsquooeuvres and while most sipped on Dom the rest mdash still on an extended Dry January reset including this diarist mdash nursed a tall glass of tepid sparkling cucumber water ldquoSaada panirdquo was nowhere to be found Someone chuckled ldquoYou need to know insiders to get a bottle of still waterrdquoCutting at the kattaStreet furniture gets apt and aesthetic at Shivaji ParkIt is the cup that cheers truly A Shivaji Park pavement has a cutesy colourful chai spot or chai katta to give it a local name The space on a footpath which is the proverbial stonersquos throw away from the Shivaji Park maidan is buzzing late morning and after as students office workers and the general public walks by or sits around cup of chai in hand There are conventional benches too but amidst those a giant tea cup seat is an aesthetically apt addition to all the street furniture Importantly this katta leaves place for pedestrians to access the pavement The cup makes a perfect bench where any and everybody can sip lsquochaharsquo and exchange haha with companions The graffiti on the giant cup with its Mumbai themes and local flavour makes one say When it is tea I would rather have it in DadarValues at your fingertipsA volunteer shows off her finger puppets made at the workshopChildren of the Nehru Nagar settlement in Andheri East learnt a valuable lesson in coexistence last Sunday thanks to a finger puppet storytelling workshop by citybased women and child empowerment organisation Serve With Shraddha As part of their Naitik Shiksha campaign the organisation makes weekly visits to the underprivileged areas finding interactive ways to inculcate values in children ldquoThis weekend our volunteers narrated a story of five friends and the strength they find in unity using finger puppetsrdquo Shraddha Singh inset its founder shared adding that the children were able to grasp the concepts and even asked followup questions to the narrators ldquoThe idea that these underprivileged children are not open to being educated is a misconception We must use the right language one that speaks directly to themrdquo Singh concludedRooms of fantasy in WorliPatnirsquos works will feature as part of the immersive exhibition that will also have actors performing and interacting with the audiencePhotographer and visual artist Tejal Patni is putting a new spin on the narrative that artists are strange creatures Patnirsquos latest immersive exhibition Vichitra that opens at Snowball Studios in Worli this Saturday will bring together live actors and the worlds of fantasy and surrealism ldquoThe exhibition of eight rooms artworks is inspired by the word lsquobizarrersquo The idea was to create and show a world that is fantastical humorous and whimsicalrdquo said the artistWhile he has worked on projects with bigticket brands Patni right remarked that some of his greatest influences have been childrenrsquos stories or works of avantgarde theatre makers and filmmakers like Tim Burton ldquoFrom a visual standpoint I was trying to experience the feeling of having seen a dream and recreate it in the visuals That is the experience I hope to give visitorsrdquo he told this diarist