The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Christmas is in the air
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An aerial Santa Claus teases children who try to reach him for gifts at Shivaji Park in Dadar West on Thursday.
This festival sounds lit
The second list of speakers for the Jaipur Literature Festival has been announced, and authors such as Avni Doshi, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Anne Applebaum have been added to the equation. Asked what she takes into consideration while curating this list every year, co-director Namita Gokhale told this diarist, "I keep in mind the rich diversity of the Indian literatures as well as important and interesting writing from around the world. I get suggestions and book alerts from friends and book lovers. My co-director William Dalrymple, and the producer Sanjoy Roy, both have their own range of interests, and the final result is an array of sessions that truly represent timeless books and ideas and those which are pertinent to our changing times."
Kayaking in the Konkan
Kayaking is typically considered an adventure sport; however, the Mangrove Foundation of Maharashtra is offering kayaking with a difference, at two locations in the state. "Under the government's Mangrove Conservation and Livelihood Generation Scheme, we are training local villagers in Raigad and Ratnagiri to identify local biodiversity. These guides lead our kayaking excursions," said Vandan Jhaveri, assistant director of ecotourism at The Mangrove Foundation. The rides are conducted on two-seater kayaks, which visitors can paddle through waist-deep water. The route is dependent on the tide and a 45-minute ride is priced at '300. Kayaking offers a closer look at the biodiversity and mangrove root systems, Jhaveri told this diarist, and allows visitors to explore narrower channels that are not accessible via larger boats.
Vicky in Bandra
Chef Vicky Ratnani has something exciting up his sleeve. He is going to launch a new venture called The Speak Easy Kitchen, nestled in the corner of Pali Hill in Bandra. It will first start off as a delivery and takeaway-only joint, but Ratnani told this diarist that he plans to create 10 seats at the venue in a month's time. "[The place] will have seasonal menus, with rotisserie roast chicken, freshly handmade pastas and artisanal focaccia sandwiches," he shared, adding that he has already started delivering holiday roast veg and non-veg boxes as part of the venture, before the eatery opens with its full menu.
Common Man Claus
Laxman's Legacy, an online platform dedicated to keep the work of late, legendary cartoonist RK Laxman alive, has sent across a greeting. This Merry Christmas and New Year wish touched a chord with this diarist; it is a self-explanatory tweak on RK Laman's famous creation, the Common Man, who looked at the complexities that make up our country with his own point of view. The Common Man Santa in the new cartoon wants to see the end of Corona and 2020 like all of us do. His bag of gifts, masks, was the painful perennial this year. As for the sanitiser in his hand, for the New Year, we do hope that you will be celebrating with another kind of bottle rather than the cleaning staple we have been saddled with all year.
Towering push for the planet
City-based contemporary artist Bandana Jain is best known for her corrugated cardboard works. But her latest installation at Bandra's Basilica Of Our Lady of The Mount features a unique medium - plastic bags. And she has designed it for a noble cause during the festive season. The 10-ft Christmas tree is meant to spread awareness about the detrimental effect of single-use plastic on the environment. The tree comprises clear polythene bags, milk packets and packaged food bags, which end up in the sewage and ultimately pollute the ocean. In the installation, each bag is also filled with ocean water and a hint of sand and gutter water, as a metaphor to reiterate this fact. In total, 700 bags form the Christmas tree. Jain invites the viewer to think about how the long-term effect of our excessive use of plastic, especially when a single shopping bag takes over a 1,000 years to degrade. "It took three days to make the sculpture although I took longer to conceptualise it. It will be at the church till January 10. I want to make many more installations and permanent sculptures to create awareness about sustainability," she told this diarist.
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