ARTS and CULTURE

Missing the safety of studios, graffiti involves scaling tall buildings, working long nights, and often secretly, with the risk of getting caught by cops. Nevertheless, using graffiti as a tool of protest, female artists in our cities are breaking stereotypes.

Even as it celebrates the centenary of its creation, Shimla’s iconic natural ice skating Rink seems to be dying a slow death, primarily due to environmental changes and unplanned urbanisation in its surroundings.

Young students from the neighbourhoods of the East Kolkata Wetlands, along with students from city schools, are getting ready to join hands and work towards saving this “wetland of international importance” as designated by the Ramsar Convention in 2002.

An innovative experiment in Kullu inspired a similar initiative in Shimla, where the book café, managed by jailed convicts, has turned into a vibrant literary hub, attracting the city’s creative fraternity. Such has been its success that three more are being planned.

As old movie halls in the city pull down their shutters, one after the other, those close to the world of cinema are left ruing that iconic institutions and an entire culture of movie-watching will be lost to the future generations.

Scores of cities in the country have been renamed, or proposed to be renamed, over the decades. The recent revival of this spree focuses attention yet again on the relevance and rationale of such exercises.

With 18 institutions and 5,500 students at all levels, Education City in violence-stricken Dantewada is a novel and successful experiment. It is the only ray of hope for the children of a state ravaged by Naxalism.

Take a look at this stunning display of a traditional art form as Vidhya Sundar of Bengaluru celebrated each day of Navaratri with a wild bird rangoli outside her apartment.

Walk past the stretches where towering billboards loom over you on both sides, advertising everything from paan masala to entertainment apps, and you are sure to feel claustrophobic. The quintessential azure sky with white cottony clouds is now invisible.

It really isn’t just about coffee anymore. A distinctive café revolution has taken place across cities, with several run by, or employing, people who would otherwise find it difficult to find a space in mainstream society — from those with special needs to the HIV positive to acid attack survivors.

As Mumbai celebrates the 10-day festival worshipping Lord Ganesha, a citizen pens her imagined conversation with the god himself, revealing subtle changes in urban society and how it relates to and celebrates Ganpati Bappa today.

What do the commonest among the common men in our country really want? And what kind of space and acceptance do they find in the cities to which they migrate? A chance conversation with a young director of a National Award-winning film, who has filmed such people extensively, reveals stark urban realities that we often overlook.