City: Mumbai

Fish caught in Maharashtra are not promoted enough in local markets. The local fish, considered to be superior in quality are exported for lower prices outside the country. Even restaurant associations refrain from purchasing these local fish and prefer to import lower quality fish such as the Basa. Why do we need to bring fish from outside when we have a superior quality of fish such as the local Tuna, Sakla, Ghol, Barracuda, Snapper etc, ask local fishermen. https://youtu.be/Ju5UJHvVxNU

Maharashtra currently ranks 7th in India when it comes to fishing. The government encourages inland fishing rather than promote existing traditional fishing methods. Maharashtra however is not very popular for inland fishing. In comparison to Maharashtra, other states have been aggressively supporting the fishermen by giving them coastal land to create nurseries. One such example is that of Gujarat where fishermen have been given coastal land for fishing. However, in Maharashtra infrastructural developments have been taking place which are having a direct impact on the coastal areas of Maharashtra where mangroves are being cut and coastal roads are on the…

The rivers in Mumbai are a source of livelihood, sustenance and a way of life of the people who live on its banks and around It. Rivers are slowly turning into sewers due to disposal of trash by Humans. One such example is that of the Versova creek that has been polluted as there are 12 inlets connecting to the creek coming from North Mumbai.Rivers like Malad, Oshiwara, Mogra, Poisar etc that have been carrying a lot of harmful Industrial as well as domestic waste into the river. This has led to heavy pollution and an extreme loss of marine…

The Adivasi Community of Mumbai's Sanjay Gandhi National Park are being asked to vacate their homes from the forest which they have resided in for generations. This video tries to showcase their survival, the adversities they are facing and how it’s going to affect the livelihood of these communities when they are forced to relocate. The Adivasis live in areas that are beneficial to them and they are highly dependent on the forests for their survival. Relocation will prove to be a huge tragedy in terms of finding new ways to survive. Not to mention, it will end their cultural…

The Art and Culture of the Warli communities are slowly getting lost. Today, not many indigenous communities have been following their traditional art and culture as they are slowly getting urbanized and trying to find a livelihood outside the jungle and forest areas. Through my videos, I want to show their Culture and Art forms that have been slowly fading and how their art needs a space of its own to be displayed to not only the residents of Mumbai but also to people travelling to Mumbai to see the majestic Culture of its original inhabitants. https://youtu.be/s2wt08Bqqzo

Being a hardcore Gujju (Gujarati) and a Bombayite by birth, the street dancer in me that comes alive and out in full force every Navratri, is restless this year. Navratri, which when translated into English literally means '9 nights', is usually 9 nights of worship and dancing for us. Garba and Dandiya are the big cultural dances that are performed. Garba is done before the worshipping rituals (called Aarti) while Dandiya is performed after the Aarti. Some of us have been performing as a troupe at the local celebrations over the last couple of years. This year all the festivities related to this…

Over the past few years, rising temperatures, heat waves, and oppressive humidity have made Mumbai scorching hot. But not all parts of the city heat up equally. Life in some is more stifling than the others.  A recent World Resources Institute (WRI) infographic showed that in October, Dharavi is typically five degrees hotter than Matunga, its immediate neighbour. The study looked at Mumbai’s average land surface temperatures in October over the past three years. Land surface temperature is the radiative skin temperature of land which is recorded using satellite-derived data. Quite simply, it is about how hot a "surface", like a…

When some residents in Pune couldn’t get information about an upcoming commercial complex within their residential neighbourhood, they approached Right To Information (RTI) activist and journalist Vinita Deshmukh for help.  Deshmukh visited the government office with residents. But, the officials refused to share the information, claiming the loss of the requested file. The residents stayed put and insisted on seeing a copy of FIR about the missing file. Lo and behold, the missing file emerged within 15 minutes and the residents acquired the information they needed.  Most RTI activists have their own stories about being denied information and how they…

In my initial days in Mumbai, Durga Puja meant soaking in the memories of the grand festivities in my hometown, Kolkata. This changed, after Krishti, the association of over 300 Bengali families of Lokhandwala Township, Kandivali East, started celebrating Durgatsov Pujo right where we live. Pujo is the “Big Bong Festival”. Over the last 15 years that Krishti has been organising Pujo, acquaintances became friends and friends turned into one big joint family, for whom Pujo is an attempt to keep the Bengali culture, heritage, traditions and identity alive. We converge with similar passions, emotions, love of life, warmth of togetherness,…

Drawing inspiration from protests in New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, hundreds of women sat in protest against anti-Muslim citizenship laws, on a road in South Mumbai's Nagpada since the night of January 26 around 11 PM - in what came to be called Mumbai Bagh. Although the protests were suspended in the wake of the COVID19 outbreak, they continued symbolically. Today, the protest site on Morland Road near Hotel Arbia has pictures of women leaders and has only one slogan on placard "hum kal yaha the" (we were here yesterday). The site where anti CAA protests were held pre-lockdown. Photo: Santoshee…