Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Mumbaikars always find a way

A scooterist with a child in tow tries to negotiate her way through a narrow opening on a busy road in Ghatkopar.

It's raining pink

The new graffiti in Jogeshwari

If you find the neighbourhood of Jogeshwari turning a shade of pink, it is not an illusion. As the first monsoon showers hit Mumbai last week, graffiti artist Rahul Maurya AKA Alchemy set out to brighten the walls of Shahid Hemant Karkare Udyan in Jogeshwari East. "We [graffiti artists] often gather every couple of months to paint this wall. It is a regular project for us. The monsoon makes it difficult to create graffiti, so we thought we'd work on it before the rains pick up," shared Maurya. To create the artwork, he joined artists Carter, Veda and Aeon. The trio worked on the pink-hued artwork that now dominates the space. "We chose pink because it pops out in the monsoon," Maurya remarked.

Laughter therapy in Belapur

Founder Rohit Rath

Comics in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai have a new space in their own neighbourhood to try out their material. The two-year-old cafe, Panache Coffee in Belapur, is set to open their space to host a comedy club to cater to talent from the suburbs. "We had a lot of customers who were budding comedians, writers who would often share about their struggle of going downtown to Juhu, Andheri or SoBo to find a space to perform. We have a large enough space, and we decided to eventually take a plunge," shared founder Rohit Rath.

The interiors of the coffee house in Belapur

The coffee house will host their first session starting Thursday. The idea had been in the offing since 2023, when Rath hosted an open mic session that resulted in customers asking about more such events. "It made me realise that there is an untapped market, and the talent to cater to it. All they [the performers] lack is enough spaces that encourage them. We are planning to focus on talent, and provide opportunities to performers from Thane, Navi Mumbai and the suburbs who are often overlooked," he added. Since the café is a pet-friendly space, the new comedy club will be no different. "We are always open to all pets, and there will be no bias," Rath laughed. While they are starting with comedy, the founder added that the space might diversify to host other events in the future.

Frames from Italy

The fifth episode of the second season of the Aperitivo Italiano concluded last weekend with four filmmaking students - Giulia Destro, Shri Krishna Venugopalan, Leonardo Marziali, and Twisa Mookerjee - from India and Italy collaborating. Conducted in association with Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) and Whistling Woods International, the festival was a two-day session. "It not only highlights our shared cinematic passions but also launches an innovative filmmaking initiative that brings together talented graduates from Italy and India to create cross-cultural narratives," shared Alessandro De Masi (inset), Consul General of Italy in Mumbai.

A for Art challenge

Kyrah with her bear pancakes (right) a DIY aquarium

As couples on Instagram take up the A to Z challenge to plan dates, Andheri-based four-year-old Kyrah Remedios has given the trend a DIY twist. "I always create DIY art pieces with my daughter. This time, I decided to give it a rhythm," Kyrah's mother Meryl Remedios shared. The duo has reached the letter B. The first creation for letter A was an aquarium, followed by bear pancakes for B. "This challenge will help develop Kyrah's creativity. While there is no timeline, we are aiming to do three to four such activities a week. The only requirement is that the child has to be in a good mood," Remedios shared.

Reading the signs

Signages from Mumbai that depict the changing instruments and utilities of the urban resident

For the last 30 years, filmmaker and author Aradhana Seth has been travelling up and down the country with her eyes set on street walls. The signs and hand-painted artworks she came across have formed the crux of her book, Sadak: Hand-painted Street Signs in India, that was released in Mumbai last weekend.

"I have collected over 10,000 images over this time. As a filmmaker, I often used them to set scenes in films. But deep in my heart, I truly wanted to archive them in the landscape of people's minds," shared Seth.

Aradhana Seth

With the art of hand-painted street signs slowly giving way to computerised vinyl flexes, she shared, "These signs are part of our urban and rural landscape, and make a huge difference. They are a sign of the times, really. What they show on the walls or in their wordings is a defining aspect of our cities. They are subliminal in their effect on our culture."