A gift of hope

Compiled by Nimisha Patil Jane Borges Nidhi Lodaya and Kasturi GadgeCynicism is the penultimate refuge of the scoundrel and the poseur Hope has been painted with cottoncandy colours labelled a Pollyanna and turned out of doors as uncool Never mind that We must always remember that hope is the bedrock of human civilisation Of liferdquo says writertranslator Jerry Pinto in the introduction of the new collection of meditations and ruminations that he has edited We want to agree with him But the heart has a mind of its ownmdashit wants to cling to this hope but struggles nevertheless whoever said that living through the pandemic would make it any easy Pintorsquos A Book of New Beginnings Rs 499 Speaking Tiger serves as an antidote to the many problems we grapple with This hardback is a curation of sweet verse and shining words of wisdom by poets artistes et al along with beautiful images to remind us that all is not lost A perfect gift for those we loveAvailable at all leading book storesMompreneur at workRhea RajanA new mom and entrepreneur Rhea Rajan founded Uptot in her bid to tackle the environmental problems caused by the huge number of baby products that parents buy for their offspring but have to discard soonafter due to their shorter shelf life ldquoWhen our daughter turned six months old a realisation hit usmdashhow quickly our kids outgrow their thingsrdquo Rajan tells us adding ldquoWe had numerous baby products piling up in the house Many of them pinched the pockets when we bought themrdquo This realisation led her to start Uptot an ecommerce platform where parents can buy and sell all preloved babyrelated products A welcome expansion of the old customary circle of borrowing and passing things onto cousins From cots crib pram to feeding pillows the website has everything a new mother needs for her child at decent rates The USP of the brand is its range of preowned products like strollers or cribs which are usually heavily priced It is also a suitable website for mothers looking to sell such products and make few bucks from itUptotinMaking mythology funFormer journalist Mudita ChauhanMubayi and quizmaster Adittya Nath Mubayi who has worked on shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati came together to pen Mythonama The Big Book of Indian Mythologies Rs 299 Penguin Random House The book blends ideas facts and legends from Hindu Buddhist Christian Islamic and Sikh mythologies among others while also dipping into tribal folklore as and where feasibleMudita ChauhanMubayi and Adittya Nath MubayiWhat makes it a fun read is its storytelling and interactive stylemdashit has illustrations games puzzles and immersive activities which can be either enjoyed alone or with friends Instead of humans with capes and electric weaponry the book features gigantic birds and creatures that defy science but is written in a manner that allows kids to question the superpowers and storyline The fact that it does not stick to one religious belief also earn brownie points from usAvailable at all leading book storesPretty in pinkPIC COURTESYMUMBAI PAUSEDBorn in March Spotting Pink In Mumbai is our new find on Instagrammdashthe page features everything pink in the city Twenty oneyearold Nimisha Kaura hit upon the idea after Mumbai Paused posted a flamingo ldquoThey mentioned an account called Spotting Pink in Karachi and suggested that something suchlike could be started in Mumbairdquo says Kaura ldquoI informed Mumbai Paused and also Spotting Pink in Karachi that inspired by them I would be starting a chapter in Mumbairdquo If you spot something in any shade of pink submit a picture with the hashtag spottingpinkinmumbai and tag the page or directly message the picture to the account on Instagram ldquoI want my page to grow organically and for people to follow this account because of the content and not through merdquo says Kauraspottinginpink InstagramA tellall documentaryTahin Ojah SharmaMumbaibased filmmaker Tahin Ojah Sharma has taken up the task of highlighting the issues faced by the residents of Baghjan a village in Assam after all its surroundings were burned down due to a sixmonthlong oil well fire ldquoThough it was the largest oil well fire in the history of India people in the country have not even heard about it something which is common when it comes to the issues related to Assam or the rest of Northeast Indiardquo rues Sharma a native of Assam This documentary is Sharmarsquos attempt to shed light on how Baghjan continues to deal with the aftermath of the disaster The filmmaker further adds how the village which was once covered with lush green trees now looks like a deserted land with the odour of oil mixed in its atmosphereYouTubeRaSwar films production