<h2>Even superheroes need a break</h2>
<p>Contract-based sanitation workers catch a breather after clearing trash off Versova Beach</p>
<h2>A special moment with Pope Francis</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Fr-Leon-Cruz_e.jpg" alt="Fr Leon Cruz (centre) meets Pope Francis in Vatican City. PIC COURTESY/FR LEON CRUZ; (inset) Pope Francis. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Fr Leon Cruz (centre) meets Pope Francis in Vatican City. Pic courtesy/Fr Leon Cruz (right) Pope Francis. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons</em></strong></p>
<p>Father Leon Cruz, director of Don Bosco Youth Services, Mumbai, still remembers standing in a sea of white robes in St Peter&rsquo;s Square, Vatican City in 2018. Recalling his chance meeting with Pope Francis, he shared with this diarist, &ldquo;It was Divine Mercy Sunday, and Pope Francis was celebrating the Holy Eucharist along with us, the Missionaries of Mercy from all over the world. After the Holy Eucharist, as he was moving out, he passed by me, but there was a huge gap and heavy security between us. In a moment of courage, I breached the security personnel and soon Pope Francis was right in front of me.&rdquo; The city-based Salesian priest remembers that the late Pope spoke softly, as he usually did. Fr Leon, on the other hand, was at a loss of words. &ldquo;I had not planned to ask anything. Spontaneously, I asked him, &lsquo;Holy Father, please bless me&rsquo;. And he gave me a solemn blessing with both his hands over my head. This blessing on Divine Mercy Sunday, I will treasure all my life,&rdquo; he revealed. Before his passing on April 21, the pontiff met Fr Leon on two more occasions. &ldquo;Recently, we had a meeting in the Vatican from March 28 to 30. Though Pope Francis was unwell, he didn&rsquo;t forget to send a special message,&rdquo; he revealed.</p>
<h2>Value your art</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Atyaan-Jungalwala_e.jpg" alt="Siddharth Somaiya and Atyaan Jungalwala" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Siddharth Somaiya and Atyaan Jungalwala</em></strong></p>
<p>The city&rsquo;s gallerists and art curators are joining forces for a discussion on the art of pricing art in a session conducted by Immerse Fellowship and Chemould Prescott Road today. &ldquo;The idea is to support emerging talent and help them benchmark their practice and value their art,&rdquo; Siddharth Somaiya, co-creator at Immerse told us. Atyaan Jungalwala, Chemould CoLab founder added, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important to maintain a steady price without getting too carried away.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>A writer&rsquo;s comeback on stage</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Anahita-Uberoi_e.jpg" alt="(From left) Anahita Uberoi, Annie Zaidi and Chandan Roy Sanyal at the book launch in Juhu. PIC COURTESY/Literature Live" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>(From left) Anahita Uberoi, Annie Zaidi and Chandan Roy Sanyal at the book launch in Juhu. PIC COURTESY/Literature Live</em></strong></p>
<p>Returning with a new book, The Comeback, writer Annie Zaidi joined actor Anahita Uberoi for an interactive session organised by Literature Live! Evening at Prithvi Theatre earlier this week. Taking inspiration from the story, which explores themes of friendship, betrayal and forgiveness against the backdrop of theatre, the session featured performance readings by Uberoi, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Gagan Dev Riar, Rajit Kapur, and Vivek Madan.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Quasar-Thakore_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>&ldquo;All the actors took turns to read excerpts from the book &mdash; which has done an exceptional job in capturing what it is like to have a life in Indian theatre, especially in the past 10 to 15 years,&rdquo; Quasar Thakore Padamsee (left), co-director of Literature Live!, shared with this diarist.</p>
<h2>Mic check in Andheri</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Boy-studio_e.jpg" alt="A child tries his hand at voice acting in the studio. PIC COURTESY/RICHARD JOEL" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A child tries his hand at voice acting in the studio. PIC COURTESY/RICHARD JOEL</em></strong></p>
<p>Children from the city-based Dhai Akshar Educational Trust discovered their voices in a professional studio in Andheri last weekend. Helmed by LA and Mumbai-based voice artist Richard Joel, a special session welcomed the kids for a day of voice-acting and voiceover coaching. &ldquo;The children naturally had the time of their lives, but it was an equally enriching experience for me. There&rsquo;s a spike in the demand for child artistes in the animation and children&rsquo;s content space right now. We&rsquo;re now looking for more studio spaces to collaborate with, and help these children land actual jobs,&rdquo; Joel shared with us.</p>
<h2>Just for the record, we&rsquo;re going green</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Common-Crow_e.jpg" alt="(From left) Common Crow butterfly. pic courtesy/polina bespala; naturalists birdwatch in Navi Mumbai. PIC COURTESY/naturalist explorers" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>(From left) Common Crow butterfly. Pic courtesy/Polina Bespala (right) Naturalists birdwatch in Navi Mumbai. PIC COURTESY/Naturalist Explorers</em></strong></p>
<p>If you see trees of green and red roses too in the city, it&rsquo;s time you start channelling those observations for a greater cause. As part of the upcoming City Nature Challenge, naturalist groups are urging Mumbaikars to document the biodiversity around them from April 25 to 28. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to be an expert to join the movement. Using a smartphone app called iNaturalist, citizens can simply point and click pictures of the flora and fauna in Mumbai&rsquo;s green hubs. The algorithm takes care of the rest of the sorting,&rdquo; Anurag Karekar (inset), co-founder, Naturalist Explorer, shared.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/anurag-karekar_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>Such a collective effort, the expert added, will help experts gain a deeper understanding of the city&rsquo;s ecosystem. &ldquo;Having a solid database is vital. For instance, it helped us make a case for protection of vulnerable marine life during the Coastal Road constructions,&rdquo; he explained. To know more about how you can join the movement log on to citynaturechallenge.org.in.</p><p><script type="text/javascript">atOptions={'key':'d0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7','format':'iframe','height':90,'width':728,'params':{}};</script></p><p>
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