<h2>A Fiddler on the roof</h2>
<p>A worker leans on the bamboo scaffolding as he sprays water to clean the fa&ccedil;ade of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus</p>
<h2>Coexistence in Mumbai city</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/mar/Svabu-Kohli-works_e.jpg" alt="A view of three installations titled Mumbai&rsquo;s Hidden Worlds. Pic Courtesy/Svabhu Kohli" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A view of three installations titled Mumbai&rsquo;s Hidden Worlds. Pic Courtesy/Svabhu Kohli</em></strong></p>
<p>In the growing clamour to claim the city as your own, Mumbai&rsquo;s wildlife tends to get left by the wayside. If you have walked through Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya&rsquo;s (CSMVS) Mumbai Gallery, you might have spotted Svabhu Kohli&rsquo;s installations titled, Mumbai&rsquo;s Hidden Worlds. Inspired by the flamingos, aquatic life and butterflies, the hand-crafted installations are an extension of the Goa-based artist&rsquo;s practice of exploring the interconnectedness of natural and human narratives.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/mar/Svabhu-Kohli_e.jpg" alt="Svabhu Kohli" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Svabhu Kohli</em></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Very often we think of our cities as devoid of natural worlds. That&rsquo;s actually untrue. Whether it is Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru, they host some of the most unique wildlife, and offer a unique opportunity and insight into what coexistence actually looks like,&rdquo; Kohli shared. In view of the recent return of the Olive Ridleys to Juhu Beach, Kohli&rsquo;s take acquires an interesting significance. &ldquo;The puppets I created were meant to inculcate a sense of joy and wonder about these little worlds around us. As a child we grew up with toys representative of our natural surroundings. I wanted to recreate that,&rdquo; they concluded.</p>
<h2>Why Amol Muzumdar is sad and livid</h2>
<p>Amol Muzumdar was pained for two reasons on Wednesday morning. One was the hurt of losing Mumbai cricket stalwart Padmakar Shivalkar. The other one was not seeing any current Mumbai cricketers at the funeral. &ldquo;Surprising&hellip; no cricketers,&rdquo; the former Mumbai captain shared with this diarist during Shivalkar&rsquo;s funeral at Shivaji Park. Shivalkar, an accomplished left-arm spinner played for Mumbai continuously from 1967-68 to 1980-81.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/mar/Nilesh-Kulkarni_e.jpg" alt="Former Test player Nilesh Kulkarni (left) with Indian women&rsquo;s team coach, Amol Muzumdar at the funeral of Mumbai domestic cricket stalwart Padmakar Shivalkar at the Shivaji Park crematorium on Wednesday morning. Pic/Ashish Raje" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Former Test player Nilesh Kulkarni (left) with Indian women&rsquo;s team coach, Amol Muzumdar at the funeral of Mumbai domestic cricket stalwart Padmakar Shivalkar at the Shivaji Park crematorium on Wednesday morning. Pic/Ashish Raje</em></strong></p>
<p>Not long after paying his last respects to Shivalkar, the former India A player and current coach of the Indian women&rsquo;s team posted on Facebook: &ldquo;Just attended the funeral of the GREAT Padmakar Shivalkar sir. Also attended Milind Rege sir&rsquo;s a few days back. I was really pained not to see any modern-day Mumbai cricketer (Mumbai team) there. Let me remind them that your roots have been maidan cricket. You too shall be forgotten in years to come. The stardom or demi god status that you enjoy at this current time too shall pass. If we cross paths in the near future (pray that you don&rsquo;t)&nbsp;</p>
<p>I shall remind you [of] the great legacy that Paddy sir left. I hope I get that opportunity to convey or lecture you guys about the history. Reminder: There is real life beyond social media.&rdquo;&nbsp;Strong words. Take a bow, Amol, we are moved to say.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>PS:</strong> The entire set of the Mumbai Cricket Association managing committee members and several Apex Council members made it to the funeral, so well done, gents.</p>
<h2>Lens on urban pigeon menace</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/mar/Documentary_e.jpg" alt="A still from the film on the pigeon menace in Mumbai. Pic Courtesy/BNHS YouTube" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A still from the film on the pigeon menace in Mumbai. Pic Courtesy/BNHS YouTube</em></strong></p>
<p>Whoever dubbed pigeons as &lsquo;rats of the sky&rsquo; must be high-fiving themselves today. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has given the pigeon menace a nod of acknowledgement with a new documentary titled Mercy Feeding: Pigeon Menace in Urban Areas.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/mar/Praveen-Singh_e.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p>
<p>&ldquo;The primary cause of this overpopulation is indiscriminate feeding, often done with good intentions but resulting in unintended consequences including health risks like salmonellosis, cryptococcosis and histoplasmosis, which can spread through their droppings and airborne particles,&rdquo; shared Praveen Pardeshi (inset), president, BNHS. After premiering at Hornbill House in Fort on Tuesday, the film featuring scientific evidence, expert insights, and real-world examples will soon travel to schools, housing societies and community centres to spread the word.</p>
<h2>Circuits alight</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/mar/Circuits-a_e.jpg" alt="Students participate in the previous edition of the hackathon" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Students participate in the previous edition of the hackathon</em></strong></p>
<p>Students are set to pull all-nighters at the SVKM DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering this weekend. While they would not have the stress of submitting college reports, the students visiting the Vile Parle campus will be in the running for the Unplugged 2.0 24-hour hackathon. &ldquo;While most hackathons focus on software, this one revolves around the creation of hardware. Hosted by the Institution of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineers-International Student Forum (IETE-ISF), the competition is built around the theme of smart cities. The challenge is to design an IoT (Internet of Things) hardware solution to simplify urban traffic management for a city like Mumbai,&rdquo; shared professor Amit A Deshmukh, head of department, EXTC, DJSCE.</p><p>
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