Thousands of life forms exist in Mumbai's waters. Despite the pollution. A group is willing to help you discover them.
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Pradip Patade is a water sports instructor interested in Mumbai's shoreline. Over the last 20 years that he has spent time observing marine life in the megalopolis, he realised that it was rarely documented or discussed. Patade, along with Abhishek Jamalabad and Siddharth Chakravarty, founded Marine Life of Mumbai in February 2017 to conduct outreach activities that would acquaint Mumbaikars with creatures that live on the edge of the city. It is a citizen-driven initiative, aimed at exploring and understanding the coastal biodiversity of the Mumbai metropolitan region and is now registered as the non-profit, Coastal Conservation Foundation.
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The team has created an open-source database of all marine life spotted over the past three years, on inaturalist.org. "We have documented 500 life forms so far, out of which 350 have been identified down to the species level," says Shaunak Modi, 35, a wildlife photographer who joined the initiative in the capacity of volunteer and is co-founder of the non-profit.
Anthopleura anjunae (sea anemone)
The group helps familiarise residents with squids, crabs, sea anemone and clams by hosting shore walks along the city's waterfronts. They also hold marine meet ups where professionals working in the field, including marine biologists, are invited to talk of their ongoing work. Anyone can attend. All youve got to do is RSVP on the link posted by Marine Life of Mumbai on its Instagram page.
Instagram @marinelifeofmumbai
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Social change in a tote
A Tardeo gift shop is empowering the women of an entire village in Karnataka. From totes to cushion covers and gift-wrapping paper to diaries, all items at Samvit Sudha are handmade by the women of Shirali. When the manufacturing unit was first set up in the village 20 years ago, the locals struggled to make ends meet. "The idea was to make the women financially independent since the men had taken to the bottle and were not contributing to the family income," says Rupali Heblekar, chief co-ordinator. The women artisans follow a zero-waste policy, using scrap and waste for the production of the items.
"Most female residents couldn't dream of working."
Price: Rs 50 to Rs 2,000
Call: 9833668982
For retro Indian cinema
It's a rare 50-year-old picture of Marlon Brando playing an Indian guru in the film Candy that first got us interested in Film History Pics. The Instagram handle has a curation of old photographs related to Indian cinema and even outside, which can otherwise only be accessed in libraries. Run by two friends, who wish to remain anonymous, the page is steeped in nostalgia, and for a movie lover, it would mean hours of scrolling. "We started the page as a personal album of cinema-related photos we had collected. The intention was never to make an active page, which it is today. We now treat it as a serious hobby," says one creator.
Pic courtesy/@filmhistorypics, Instagram
instagram.com/filmhistorypics/
Redefining the classic
Laxmi Krishnan's lilting voice carries a fierce passion for literature in the new podcast Lit Nama on IVM Podcasts. The young host is dynamic and relentless in the pursuit to redefine literature. "The subject, as it is taught to you, is limited to classics. You will have your Coleridge and Wordsworth, but it is much more than that. Even your Instagram feed and Twitter are literature," she explains. Her podcast is geared towards exploring different mediums of contemporary literature including slam poetry, micro fiction and blogging. Krishnan also seeks an opening into the mind of an author or poet as they are in the process of creating a masterpiece. Speaking about her conversation with spoken poet Jasmine Khurana, she says, "When I read Enid Blyton in school, I wondered what she was thinking while writing The Secret Seven. I have always been curious about the intent behind everything."
On: IVM Podcasts
Instagram @literarychills
Cooking for beginners
Chicken changezi
With nearly 750-plus recipe videos online, Get Curried functions like a cookbook on-the-go. First started on YouTube in 2014, as a platform to share comfort food from across the world, it has expanded to Facebook, Instagram and Dailymotion. Where chef Varun Inamdar's easy-to-prepare meals are inspired from world cuisine (tandoori chicken momos and chicken cafreal), home chef Smita Deo traverses the length and breadth of Indian cuisine, while offering tutorials on recipes born from her own coastal roots—omelette curry, prawn ambotik and Karwari style mutton gassi. Tarika Singh and Shantanu Gupte, are the other chefs, who make cooking look effortless.
Curd rice
youtube.com/getcurried
facebook.com/GetCurried/
Dance like no one's watching
"I love dancing but I don't like to perform," says Yooti Bhansali, a cultural enthusiast, about doing her bit to transform Mumbai's dance culture. Bhansali has brought down No Lights No Lycra India (NLNL), a tradition from Australia that relies on the belief that anyone can dance. She realised she was cut out for NLNL after discovering that she was not the only one wary of being watched while dancing. Like the name suggests, it lets you dance in the dark, minus rules. "When you are in a room full of other people, your experience is inhibited. With NLNL, you set yourself free," says Bhansali.
Charges: Rs 300 per session
Call: 9833927287
facebook.com/nlnlbombay/
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