Lockdown Diaries: Director-Producer Faraz Ansari raises funds to support transgenders and daily wage earners in the film industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the worst epidemics that the world has witnessed within living memory. The lockdown imposed by governments across the world has been a huge setback for industries across the world, and for many in the busy Bollywood industry, this shutdown has spelt doom for the thousands making their living out of it. Faraz Arif...
Lockdown Diaries: Remembering the quintessential charm of Tagorean music
A new realisation about life has dawned upon us over last few months, many of us are either loving or loathing it, but yet one for sure, all of us are doing – we are recalibrating ourselves. What we thought was taken for granted has suddenly betrayed us. We have been going through an emotional roller coaster of trials...
Lockdown diaries: Think local, think community, support small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic
I live in London and have done all my life. It’s a bustling and busy City with a population of 8 million. You see people everywhere. Hustling. Shuffling. Rushing from here to there. This year, we became accustomed to phrases like lock down, self-isolate, global pandemic, social distancing, wash your hands, wear a mask, Zoom, ‘You’re on mute’, and...
Lockdown Diaries: Ankit Bhuptani’s views on self-isolation and how our actions will define a generation
50 or 100 years from today we will not be able to talk about the year 2020 without talking about this COVID-19 pandemic. I wonder, will a teen of that time be able to believe that all the commercial planes of the world were grounded? Businesspersons, film-stars, industry leaders and other powerful people who hardly had time to eat a meal peacefully,...
KASHISH 2020 to screen India’s first gay film ‘Badnam Basti’, lost and found after 49 years
Register for KASHISH 2020 at http://mumbaiqueerfest.com/attend/ Director Prem Kapoor's 'Badnam Basti', India's first gay film released in 1971, only to be lost to obscurity for around five decades, and found in a Berlin archive, will be screened at KASHISH 2020. Considered as one of first Indian films to explore same-sex relationship, Badnam Basti was made in 1971 and features a...
Open Oven: Baking it Even!
With the world witnessing a paradigm shift, food still holds fort as a constant source of relief. Entrepreneurial ventures stocking on comfort and utility food has become the need of the hour. One such immensely popular bakery in Kolkata, India is the Open Oven Bakery. Instituted by Reshma Sengupta, Open Oven has been supplying tasty and healthy baked food...
Lockdown Diaries: The hope that makes us go on and on….dancing
We celebrated Mother’s Day last weekend. It was just another day in these times of Coronavirus-pandemic-related lockdown existence. My day to day routine at home revolves around balancing home, office, and the kids. It is quite a juggle, but not quite different from what most other mothers all across the world go through every day. Many of these mothers...
Dallas textiles firm supports US medical workers by pivoting into PPE
More than 35 million (and counting) pieces of personal protection equipment (PPE) have been shipped to hospitals, school districts, and government agencies around the country through Nextt Shield, a new division of Dallas-based textiles company Nextt Affiliated, created during the pandemic. Known worldwide for its sheets, bedding, and towels, Nextt -owned by Indian-born Arun Agarwalhas - has now pivoted to...
Lockdown Diaries: Ashish Pandya, Sukhdeep Singh, Anwesh Sahoo continue their work for LGBTQ+ communities from their homes
The coronavirus lockdown in India, that has been carrying on from 25 March, is nearly four weeks old as we go to print. While this has been quite an anxious time for everyone, the situation has been especially tough for the LGBTQ+ individuals living away from home. Their family, work, and personal lives have come to a halt, affecting...
Flowers – an environmental poem
I haven’t been able to make much music recently. Processing the news around us has been far from easy. So here’s a different kind of offering, with words and paint, this one is called — Flowers. It rained last night, From a monsoon sky, Soaked my soil, Burrowed its way Deep into my heart, Until I was swollen... Dark earth, Bubbled bright, And it hurt To be brimming with...
