Wat-er Fun!

Children play atop the city’s water supply lines in Bandra.

Taking Zanskar to the cinema

Satyadeep Mishra (foreground) and Vipin Mishra

Actor Satyadeep Mishra has managed to make his passion for biking come alive on the big screen. He set out with award-winning music director Vipin Mishra to Zanskar Valley, and the end result has been the show, Folk Road: Zanskar. “Vipin wanted to go to Zanskar and record local musicians and perhaps use their music somewhere to help them out. I just tagged along,” Satyadeep tells this diarist. The first two episodes are showing as part of the Red Lorry Film Festival today at Jio World Drive. “It’s a great chance to see this kind of landscape on the big screen. We drove there on Honda’s Africa Twins—the next time we may go on different bikes to the Northeast, but yes, a second season will happen.” All eight episodes of Folk Road will be available on YouTube as well.

For art’s sake

Gaza-The Sun Of Freedom by Bashar Alimour; (right) Nakba 23 by Bashar Alimour. PICS COURTESY/METHOD

In solidarity with a young Palestinian pharmacy student and artist, whose life and education have been brought to a grinding halt in besieged Gaza, Method’s Bandra outpost will be exhibiting Bashar Alimour’s visually striking works. Pointing followers and patrons in the direction of the artist’s GoFundMe, founder Sahil Arora emphasised that to Alimour, art is a means of survival and a crucial form of documentation and freedom. Significantly, the show will go on till Nakba (May 15), a day to commemorate the displacement of nearly a million Palestinians 75 years ago. Arora first saw Alimour’s work in 2021, when the artist created art responding to how Palestinian families were being forcibly expelled from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. “Every show we curate must fulfill three criteria: We believe in the artist, the art, and the message. This show is the same. This is, however, the first time a show has had such urgency. It is the first time we’ve been unsure if an artist would be alive in the end. It’s the first time an artist has said to us, ‘I’ll survive this, and if I don’t, at least I’ll know I tried,’” Arora said to this diarist.

Guess who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!

Some members of Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup-winning squad, who were shocked by Pakistan in Singapore a few weeks after the Lahore triumph. PIC/MID-DAY ARCHIVES

On this day in 1996, Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 76 runs off 28 balls in which eight fours and five sixes were hit at the Padang ground in Singapore during the Singer Cup final against Pakistan. This was Sri Lanka’s first tournament after winning the 1996 ODI World Cup. With a start like that from their great opening batsman Jayasuriya you’d be expect a team to go the distance and win handsomely. But the rest of the batters scored just 81 for the world champions to be dismissed for 172. Pakistan, who had scored just 215 earlier in the day, ended up winning by 43 runs for Aamer Sohail to lift the cup. Pakistan were well known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but this time the islanders did so, much to shock of their fans. The World Cup-winning Sri Lankans may have been in a hurry to go shopping, a fan had joked then. Less than a month ago they were the toast of the cricketing world. Cricket, that great leveller!

Single parent, yes. Alone? No

Single mom Swati Chopra is intent on giving single parents all around India a helping hand. The journalist has started the Single Parents Community to foster a sense of belonging and support. “When I was contemplating divorce, many people (some well-meaning) advised against it solely because we have a child together. It was difficult to navigate it all amidst those voices, but I was holding on to one fundamental truth—I couldn’t stay in a situation that didn’t bring happiness to me, and subsequently, my child. That doesn’t mean it’s all been easy. As a mother to an eight-year-old boy, I’ve experienced the challenges and complexities of single parenthood first-hand. I longed for a community that understood my journey. So, I started one,” she tells this diarist. Chopra wants people to have access to support and reliable information, and plans to organise offline meet-ups to further strengthen the support network. “Sharing is caring, but can also be empowering.”

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