SOME things never change. Some do. Come September and it’s that time of the year! The road alternates between the resounding music processions for Ganapati visarjan and the Bandra fairgoers. I am all set for my art stalk but return midway as I cave in to the traffic. It gives me a window to whip up feast specials.
I switch off the bustling streets to catch the wafting saffron infusion of the arosse (prawn pulao cooked in coconut milk), amsol for which I used dried mango with tangy bindichi solum/kokum and a mean stuffing for the roast!
I wait till the crowds thronging the Mount Mary devotion at the Basilica and tradition of the fair and the September garden subside. The crowds are sparse this year. It’s the Monday after the concluding weekend and tradition has had a kind of after party for the Bandra residents (a baasi Eid kind of residual day). As usual I head to the home of “Pinto” instead of the steps where she has a stall.
I have to catch up on my kadio bodio and chana (roasted black horse gram) stash. The murmurs were right. The old timer who has brought in Goan feast sweet specialists from Goa to her home at the foot of the Mount Mary steps, for decades, was not allotted a stall in the BMC online process. I proceed to the steps leading to the Basilica which has vendors trying hard to clear their wares. The lines of devotees are smaller and it is the stalls that sell wax items and candles that try to vie for their attention.
One for Cinephiles
SAVE the Parks and open space warrior Anca Abraham’s message got me going. “A Separation” — a 2012 Oscar winner for the best foreign language film was screened at SPICE (St Paul’s Institute for Communication) under the banner of “Brief Encounters.”
This one is a bonus for cinephiles. It captures a spectrum of emotions, cultural nuances, morality, society barriers and the fragility of the young and aging with sensitivity. What Asghar Farhadi did brilliantly was leaving the ending open as the credits ran on. A great way to acknowledge the many crew who toil to see the film through. I might have sat through them in a bid to resolve the suspense except they were in Persian.
The Call of Artstalk
CALLING it the Artstalk deep dive mania as I’m not yet ready to cave in to Seniorita moments. I confidently head out to downtown Bombay. I am so sure that I will be able to have a visual arts feast by 10.30am! Bull’s eye! The galleries are shut due to Ganpati-bappa visarjan so I rerouted to Dilip Piramal Gallery of Photography. I am rewarded.
Brics Universe is the journey I plunge into. The exhibition is a collection of photographs taken by Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Ivan Vagner. The sharp aerial view from the International Space Station is interspersed with photographs taken on Earth to represent UNESCO Creative Cities.
The project was birthed in 2022 in Russia which is the inception of the BRICS association. The acronym standing for Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. Another five countries were added to the alliance in 2024. These countries added are Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arabic Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt
My travel demon is awakened by the spectacular images on display. I choose to believe what the covering note says, “You are the universe.” Random goodness happens when you consistently stalk art!