Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

A reflection of the timesAs COVID19 cases surge across the country social distancing goes for a toss inside this boat at Gorai creekGood movesLobo at a rehearsal at his studio in early March last yearAce choreographer Ashley Lobo is keeping himself busy in the best way possible While hersquos engaged in choreography on a piece related to the climate crises for a Washingtonbased dance company on International Dance Day tomorrow hersquos organising a danceathon to raise funds for COVID19 relief For three hours three dance styles will be taught nonstop on Zoom and Lobo will helm an interactive session with the participants Interested folk can choose from either of the five fee options available ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 1000 Lobo said ldquoThere is no exercise better for the heart than reaching out and lifting people uprdquo We could all do with that right now To register log on to thedanceworxcomBaked for hopeMansi JasaniMumbairsquos bakers want to do their bit in this hour Take for instance recipe developer Neysa Mendes who through her Instagram page goodslice began a collective movement BakeForIndia to raise funds for urgent COVID19 relief work Mendes shared that itrsquos like a virtual bake sale for which bakers can reach her at neysagoodslicein and proceeds of which will go to verified charities ldquoOn Sunday I had posted about a few tarts for sale and was able to raise R30000 only from that So I thought why not encourage others bakers and amplify the causerdquo she saidNeysa Mendes of Good Slice and chef Guntas Sethi BhasinOver 70 bakers have reached out to her since then including Mansi Jasani inset of The Cheese Collective ldquoWhen I saw Mendesrsquo initiative I decided to help out A lot of bakers are making cookies cakes and other goodies as a cheesemonger I opted for a rigatardquo shared Jasani Meanwhile patisserie chef Guntas Sethi Bhasin shared that shersquoll direct all the funds raised from the sale of her popular pullmeup cakes today and tomorrow to Hemkunt Foundation to support their 24x7 oxygen drive ldquoEvery day brings grimmer news but wersquore unable to directly help Feeling helpless I realised raising funds to support organisations that are helping the affected is one option we haverdquo If you wish to chip in call 9892020986Calling all storytellersHema Subramaniam Usha Venkatraman and Shalini Bajaj SurveMumbai Storytellerrsquos Societyrsquos cofounders Usha Venkatraman Hema Subramaniam and Shalini Bajaj Surve have something exciting in store for all prose lovers Story Slam coming up on May 8 is a virtual slam competition with 12 storytellers chosen at random and winners decided by the audience ldquoThe theme this year is Nurture and unlike other slams as long as the stories are within the theme they need not be true or personalrdquo Venkatraman told this diarist ldquoAudience registrations are open and the event is free to attendrdquo she addedSalute to PhalkeTo commemorate the 151st birthday of Dadasaheb Phalke the father of Indian cinema Punebased Swatantra Theatre along with their child actors has brought online a play showcasing the life and journey of the directorproducer What was initially performed and recorded at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Auditorium in 2019 to celebrate his 150th birthday has now been released to be streamed on Swatantra Theatrersquos Youtube channel this weekend for audiences to view from all cities ldquoThe show was very well received in Pune at the time so we thought we should premier it online for all those who missed the show and to create awareness about Dadasaheb as a personality his history and contributionsrdquo Dhanashree Heblikar creative director of Swatantra Theatre told this diaristMaking the right noisesRapper Shah Rule aka Rahul Shahani of Gully Boy fame just released his debut sixtrack EP called Hooked Made in partnership with citybased multimedia entertainment platform Mass Appeal India the EP is inspired by the Internet age touching upon nuances including memes and instant gratification It also features industry heavyweights like DIVINE and Meba Ofilia The artiste shared that the EP was created during the ldquocontemplative timerdquo he spent in lockdown last year ldquoSocial media plays a huge part in our daily lives these days especially ever since the COVID19 outbreak almost becoming a necessity for survival But there are always two sides to any storyrdquo he added Sounds about right