The rhythms of coastal life

Curated by Jane Borges Sucheta Chakraborty Kasturi Gadge and Nidhi LodayaFor hiker and solo traveller Vinay Vishwakarma whose family moved to Uttan from Bandra six years ago there was an instant connection ldquoIt had the charm of a place frozen in time with old Portuguese mansions a tightlyknit Koli community which is steeped deeply in ancestral traditions and a myriad of landscapes to explore from beaches and hills to farmlands cliffs and unkempt forestsrdquo he says Vinay VishwakarmaThrough his posts we learn how shrimp that feed on bioluminescent plankton absorb their glowing properties and shine like stars when laid out in the open to dry and how Uttanrsquos seafood export industry attracts people from other states ldquoUttan is synonymous with beaches and resorts for the common city folk I wanted to change that perspectiverdquo says Vishwakarma ldquoI wanted to show the rustic and untamed Uttan that lies beyond the manicured lawns and granitefloored rooms inside popular resortsrdquosliceofuttan InstagramToy storyIn December 2020 Meerutbased Deepa Garga started YarnFarm which specialises in handmade ecofriendly crochet products for children with a special focus on animal characters For infants they design chewable teethers that are made using cotton yarn and natural unpolished wood to help babies with their teething woes ldquoThe hand puppets make for excellent playtime companions and very animated storytime accessoriesrdquo says GargaDeepa GargaldquoThey enhance your childrsquos imagination and involvement in storytelling making them budding little puppeteersrdquo The toys range from Rs 500 to Rs 3500 The team behind YarnFarm says the entrepreneur comprises skilled local women who are given training in the art ldquoThe idea behind YarnFarm was to create unique sustainable play pals for children and in the process generate work opportunities for local women making them selfreliantrdquo says Gargayarnfarmin InstagramStarting youngThirteenyearold Dania Khan has been writing short stories since she was eight years old but it was only during the lockdown that looking for an outlet for her emotions the Bombay Scottish School student took up poetry The works in her new anthology of poems Labyrinth are centred around the idea of emotions getting so overwhelming that they canrsquot be navigated making one feel stuck and in a maze and hence the title The collection deals with emotions like fear and love and contains quotes and illustrations ldquoIrsquom a shy person so Irsquom always observing people and when you observe you tend to know how to describe these emotionsrdquo says the eighth grader on how she chose this theme Consistent reading and writing has helped her to keep goingamazoninTworsquos companyMaanvi KapurA graphic designer by profession Maanvi Kapur turned fulltime illustrator three years ago and we love her dreamy portraits of couples and families Apart from digital paintings she also does water colour and acrylics on paper and canvas respectively and creates striking illustrated artworks of you and your better half in settings that unveil your shared experiences Before drawing Kapur creates a list of thingsmdashfoods personal memories music and even booksmdashthat are closest to the couple ldquoI enjoy imagining spaces and rooms So these aspects are great references and find their way into my artwork I also like to use a lot of plants and foliage in my work as it adds a cosy vibe to the spacerdquo Kapurrsquos portraits start at Rs 10000httpswwwmaanvikapurcom