Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pushing through a CrisisAn autorickshaw driver pitches in to help a woman with her brokendown car at Goregaon East on MondayA tough Habitat to breakParticipants at Mondayrsquos openmic Pic CourtesyVivian CastelinoWith the city gradually unlocking itself in phases a semblance of normalcy returned yesterday to The Habitat a cultural venue in Khar West when it held its first physical event after the second wave of the pandemic A poetry openmic was conducted there Attendance was limited to 15 people which is about 25 per cent of the capacity under the condition that they have got at least one dose of the vaccine ldquoWe also had a surprise act by standup comedian Bhavish Ailanirdquo said The Habitat owner Balraj Ghai adding that such events will now be held regularly with the plan being that poetry sessions metamorphose into general openmic ones with comedy and music too They will all wrap up by 4 pm though but Ghai isnrsquot worried about that ldquoAt least Irsquoll have my own evenings free nowrdquo he laughsSweden calling for artist duoJitish and Reena Saini KallatCitybased artists Reena Saini Kallat and Jitish Kallat are each set to display their first solo exhibitions in Sweden at Norrtaumllje Konsthall The exhibitions will be on display from June 19 to September 26 ldquoIt is a great pleasure for me to show these two contemporary international artists in Norrtaumllje when the city is filled with summer guests and tourists from all over Sweden and the worldrdquo shared Heleacuten Hedensjouml director Norrtaumllje Konsthall Much like their studio space in Byculla where Jitish occupies the ground floor and Reenarsquos works are showcased on the first floor their exhibitions titled Epicycles and Deep Rivers Run Quiet respectively too will be presented on two different floors of the Swedish institution ldquoWhen Hedensjouml invited us to hold simultaneous solo shows on two floors of the institution after the initial hesitation we felt the exhibitions would in a way mirror the adjacency of our two studios While our works probe the world in divergent ways Hedensjouml was looking to draw attention to our shared affinities and interests by creating a dialogue between the worksrdquo Jitish told this diaristBracing for clubfootFrom left Dr Shakuntala Prabhu Dr Rujuta Mehta Dr Minnie Bodhanwala twins Riddhi and Siddhi who were treated for clubfoot and Dr Alaric AroojisClubfoot is one of the most common musculoskeletal birth deformities in the world affecting around one in 800 children Considering the fact that if untreated the condition can cause longterm physical and emotional disability the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children in Parel recently launched Indiarsquos first brace bank titled Wriddhi Clubfoot braces help in the alignment of the feet Dr Rujuta Mehta head of the paediatric orthopaedics department shared that the launch comes days after International Clubfoot Day ldquoWe launched it with the idea of recycling braces as babies outgrow them This reduces the carbon footprint of the brace A refurbished brace would cost half the market price and help those from underprivileged communitiesrdquo Dr Mehta added encouraging parents to donateused bracesThe write IndiaSwiss connectWhat role does linguistic and ethnic diversity play in affecting gender sexuality race and other facets of identity in two very different countries India and Switzerland This is a topic that authors from the two countries will address through an interaction series titled Language and Diversity Dialogues put together by social venture Belongg Literature Collective BLC and Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia ldquoOne of the common things in Indian and Swiss literature is diversity of language and culture So we wanted to focus on how language meets diversityrdquo shared partnerships and community manager Lasya Nadimpally Head to thehouseofbelongg to tune inWith love KuhadHerersquos some good news for Prateek Kuhad fans who have been waiting with bated breath for the popular singersongwriterrsquos new release Kuhad has now announced that his new EP is set to drop in early July He also shared that the first single from Shehron Ke Raaz the EP will drop later this week And from the looks of the snippet hersquos shared on his social media handle the music seems like a celebration of love and relationships Well we could all do with some of that goodness right now