Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Royal RumbleArtists paint a mural depicting Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharajrsquos encounter with a lion on a wall in Jogeshwari EastSixty and going strong for MumbaiThe special postal cover with the stamp and the diamond jubilee bookMumbairsquos cultural community was in full attendance on Thursday evening as stalwarts and custodians attended the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of The Museum Society of Mumbai MSM at the Premchand Roychand Gallery at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS The Museum Society of then Bombay was set up in 1963 to be a cultural conduit between the citizens and the formerly Prince of Wales Museum In her address Dr Pheroza J Godrej chairperson MSM chronicled the journey as the audience that included Devangana Desai Saryu Doshi Sudhir Patwardhan Atul Kumar and Shirin Bharucha soaked in these historic highlights Admitting that the ceremony was two years late she reiterated the challenges of running a society with volunteers ldquoSustaining a society is no mean featDr Pheroza Godrej Cyrus Guzder Amitabh Singh Simran Kaur and Dr Sabyasachi Mukherjee at the book release PicAtul KambleTodayrsquos ceremony is to reflect deeply on our journey one that was started and continues to be run by ordinary individuals to promote our heritage and culturerdquo she shared She thanked stalwarts from the museum as well as Mumbai and Indiarsquos cultural ecosystem who nurtured the society Dr Godrej made a special mention of the bookrsquos authors Sunday midday columnist Meher Marfatia and Dr Shefali BalsariShah who did it ldquofor the love of the cityrdquo as well as current director general CSMVS Dr Sabyasachi Mukherjee and the museumrsquos staff who worked tirelessly with MSM In his address Dr Mukherjee informed the audience that of the 103 years of the museumrsquos existence MSMrsquos contributions span 60 years highlighting their close associationAmitabh Singh chief postmaster general Maharashtra Circle and Simran Kaur director postal services HQ Maharashtra Circle released a postal cover with special cancellation and a stamp in the presence of Dr Godrej Dr Mukherjee and Cyrus Guzder chairman board of trustees CSMVS Kamalika Bose ended the evening with a special lecture on the dynamic history of Western Indiarsquos rich maritime legacies Singh brought cheer to the audience when he mentioned his keenness to open a postal museum in Mumbai with the support of CSMVS and MSM Going by the positive energy that filled the room wersquore sure that these lsquoordinaryrsquo citizens would be eager to get cracking pretty soonCall me by my nameThe labels include Hindi English Marathi and Latin names Pic CourtesySUSHMA BAKSHIPowairsquos most dedicated green guardians will no longer work anonymously The tall trees dotting the neighbourhoodrsquos streets will soon receive shiny name tags under local naturalist group Kilbilatrsquos new treetagging initiative ldquoI noticed how residentsrsquo knowledge of trees was restricted to recognising a coconut tree or a banyan tree every now and thenrdquo shared founder Sushma Bakshi Assisted by environmentalist Kirti Amritkar the group recently tagged trees in the IIT Market area After recognising species like the Copperpod and Kadamba the group will soon venture out to more localitiesTwo worlds one stageDipna Daryanani and Devpriya Bihani in performance Pic CourtesyKinnari GandhiItrsquos time for children to keep their gadgets aside for a timely lesson Not Same Not Different is a unique show that will help young minds learn the value of tolerance through a theatre play Ahead of its premiere tomorrow director Dipna Daryanani explained ldquoThe core idea was to bring different worlds together and find a connectionrdquo Codirector Devpriya Bihani added ldquoThe multidisciplinary performance will have live music two dance styles and dialoguesrdquoThe big fat Wall Street weddingLeft Arjun Shah performs at right the traditional procession on Wall Street in New York Pics courtesyDJ AJ MUMBAIThe markets moved and swayed to desi tunes when Mumbaibased Arjun Shah spun the decks on Wall Street earlier this week Performing at a wedding procession that passed through the financial district Shah aka DJ AJ managed to keep more than 400 guests grooving on the go ldquoAt first I knew that I was booked only to play for a multiday wedding but when I heard one of them was happening in the middle of Wall Street I realised this wasnrsquot just another wedding What stood out was how passersby and locals stopped to watch smile take videos and even join in It wasnrsquot something people found odd it was more like a spontaneous celebration that brought everyone together I felt like I was part of something bigger than just a wedding it was a true cultural momentrdquo Shah told this diaristWhen Andre met AnandEric Andreacute with a vinyl record featuring Dev Anand PIC COURTESYERIC ANDRE ON INSTAGRAMAmerican comedian Eric Andre meant no funny business when he walked into Mahimrsquos vinyl record store The Revolver Club earlier this week Known for his eccentric style of humour Andreacute spent half an hour browsing through records and turntables store founder Jude de Souza shared The entertainer is in India to attend a close friendrsquos wedding we were told ldquoAndreacute turned out to be a music buff He even took home vinyls of Hindi classics like Shalimar 1978 and Qurbani 1980rdquo de Souza added In a short video clip posted online Andreacute picks up a shiny record of the 1971 Dev Anandstarrer blockbuster Gambler ldquoYou know I know a player when I see onerdquo he quips referring to the actorrsquos striking image on the cover Like they say it takes one to know one