<h2>Have I been naughty or nice?</h2>
<p>If you, like us, believe in thought bubble conversations, it&rsquo;s possible that Rudra the tiger at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoological Museum might have asked this Santa Claus the same question, given that it&rsquo;s Christmas and everyone looks forward to a gift</p>
<h2>Literary losses</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/dec/Bapsi-Sidhwa-aa_e.jpg" alt="Bapsi Sidhwa. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons (right) Jerry Pinto" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Bapsi Sidhwa. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons (right) Jerry Pinto</em></strong></p>
<p>December continues to take a heavy toll on the arts. After the recent departures of Ustad Zakir Hussain and Shyam Benegal, author Bapsi Sidhwa passed away on Wednesday at her residence in Houston, USA. The 86-year-old was a heavyweight in South Asian literature with titles such as Ice Candy Man and The Pakistani Bride, among her stellar titles. &ldquo;Owing to the strange politics of our two countries, I met her quite late in life,&rdquo; shared city-based author Jerry Pinto recalling Sidhwa&rsquo;s visit to Mumbai in 2014.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/dec/Earth-1947_e.jpg" alt="A moment from the trailer of Deepa Mehta&rsquo;s 1947: Earth showing the young Lenny. Pic Courtesy/YouTube" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A moment from the trailer of Deepa Mehta&rsquo;s 1947: Earth showing the young Lenny. Pic Courtesy/YouTube</em></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;I remember she was full of spirit and humour during our interaction at Kitab Khana.&rdquo; The bookstore still holds on to Ice-Candy Man and Pakistani Bride in their collection for those seeking Partition literature, shared an employee. Noting that Ice Candy Man was one of his early memories, Pinto added, &ldquo;I was struck by it, especially her using a child&rsquo;s perspective to show the unstitching of a country. It was a risky move, but she pulled it off.&rdquo; With the passing of another literary giant, MT Vasudevan Nair, who was also a respected screenplay writer and film director, the news comes as an added blow, remarked Pinto.</p>
<h2>Mumbai lights for Amsterdam</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/dec/Walk-daylight_e.jpg" alt="A view of the installation, Lite of Passage, at the ongoing festival in Holland" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A view of the installation, Lite of Passage, at the ongoing festival in Holland</em></strong></p>
<p>Winter in Amsterdam is being lit up by Mumbai&rsquo;s ideas. As part of the ongoing Amsterdam Festival of Lights, the city-based duo of Aneri Mehta and Khushali Chawda&rsquo;s mixed-media installation, Lite of Passage, has found a place in the Dutch capital city. &ldquo;We had applied to send in our installation in March, and were picked among the collective of 22 designers exhibiting at the festival this year,&rdquo; shared Mehta, architect and co-founder of the city-based studio, ACKM, Together with Chawda, she worked on a design built around a wire mesh structure of programmed lights.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/dec/Aneri-Mehta-a_e.jpg" alt="Aneri Mehta and Khushali&nbsp;Chawda" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Aneri Mehta and Khushali Chawda</em></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;The theme for this year&rsquo;s festival was rituals. Our design aims to be a metaphor for the transition that people experience as they pass through the city, and through life itself,&rdquo; shared Chawda. The lights are also programmed to respond in rhythm to any movement. &ldquo;The structure is purposely shaped with a wide entrance and exit, while its centre narrows down,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The experience of transition is significant since Amsterdam is a multi-cultural and global city,&rdquo; Mehta pointed out. While the installation will be part of the Dutch festival till January 16, the duo hopes to showcase it in Mumbai soon.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Choose wisely</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/dec/Holy-name_e.jpg" alt="A view of the Christmas crib" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A view of the Christmas crib</em></strong></p>
<p>The Holy Name Cathedral in Colaba has a timely lesson for the faithful this festive season. An alley leading to the Christmas crib at the Cathedral featured a wall of distractions, marked by representations of the vices, and a contrasting wall of prayers reminding them to choose the right path. &ldquo;Our idea has come to life exactly how we imagined it. The team this year was young,&rdquo; Josiah Cabral, youth president, told us.</p>
<h2>Community bonding</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2024/dec/IC-Colony_e.jpg" alt="A view of the gathering at IC Colony in Borivli. Pic/Nimesh Dave" /><br /><strong><em>A view of the gathering at IC Colony in Borivli. Pic/Nimesh Dave</em></strong></p>
<p>A Christmas Eve visit to IC Colony in Borivli by mid-day&rsquo;s assistant photo editor revealed that the city&rsquo;s Christmas celebrations extend beyond religious boundaries making it a multi community-driven festival. On sight were people from all communities who had turned up to catch a glimpse of the spectacular Christmas decor and participate in the vibrant festivities.&nbsp;</p><p>
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