Mohua Das

The Times of India • 30th May 2021

Video calls between horses & owners cure separation anxiety

At this point in the pandemic, Zoom fatigue or the exhaustion one feels after any kind of video call or conference is universal. But for some it’s been a source of much joy and comfort they never knew they needed until their horse joined them for a virtual meeting from their barn.

The Times of India • 24th May 2021

Kin create virtual memorials for those lost to Covid-19

As the Covid bereaved look for new and unsettling ways to say their farewell in real time — status after status of pictures and posts on social media — certain groups have devised a fresh ritual to channel this collective sorrow and recognise each life snuffed out by the virus by creating virtual cenotaphs. These online memorials do more than just pay tribute.

The Times of India • 13th April 2021

How Japanese forest therapy transformed Mumbai's green cover

A canopy of kanchan, karanj, neem, jamun and palash trees casting a 20-feet high shade on the Central Railside Warehouse is barely reminiscent of the cement bags, construction debris and toxic air particles that once defined this corner of a massive cement storage facility in Jogeshwari until even a year ago. Hemmed in by concrete chaos and smoke-belching motor vehicles zooming past its busy roads, the dusty wasteland is now a foliage-rich micro forest.

The Times of India • 21st March 2021

In Bollywood, women get screen time but very little talk time

The year 2020 wrapped up what you might call a good decade for women in Bollywood with many steely, witty, sharp, cute, fun and badass female characters in leading roles. It felt like the narrative was changing, and women had become more than accessories. However, research tracking speaking parts in the world’s biggest movie-making industry reveals that in the biggest pan-national box-office hits from the past five years — on an average, “women have less than a third of the dialogue". In other words, men significantly out-talk the women.

The Times of India • 12th March 2021

Vaccine FOMO makes India’s seniors give it their best shot

Country legend Dolly Parton who recently broke into a version of Jolene that went — ‘Vaccine, vaccine , vaccine, vaccine/ I’m begging of you please don’t hesitate/ Because once you’re dead, then that’s a bit too late’ — would be proud of her contemporaries in India. Contrary to the stereotypes of elderly people — wary, slow-of-gait and particularly vulnerable to misinformation about the vaccine — what emerged was a reverse of the depressing story one might have expected.

The Times of India • 7th March 2021

Religion meets feminism with women qazis and pandits defying male-only tradition

The name Sheela Atta made headlines last month after a Bollywood actor invited the veteran woman purohit from south India to officiate at her wedding ceremony. Women breaking into the male bastion of priesthood and challenging patriarchy aren’t new, but a wider acceptance is. With more young adults swapping sexist rituals with forward-thinking options, an increasing number of people are actively seeking out women priests as they are known to display “a higher degree of emotional intelligence”.

The Times of India • 22nd February 2021

Century-old Marathi-Hebrew kirtans get revived in Mumbai

At sundown this Thursday, if synagogues in the city are allowed its two-day celebrations for Purim — a festival commemorating the salvation of Jews in the Persian Empire — apart from time-honoured rituals of children and adventurous adults screaming and stomping their feet to scare away the evil Haman during readings from the ‘Megillah’, the congregation will witness a slice of Marathi Jewish history brought alive through ancient sounds of Bene Israel kirtans.

The Times of India • 7th February 2021

Baby Kohli, and the tiny A-listers who’ve become big stars

Celeb offspring are now more ferociously followed than their star parents with even Taimur’s nanny getting her own fan page. But are the cameras crossing the line?

The Times of India • 4th February 2021

This unique collection of foreign posters tells the global story of Indian cinema

It seems, time travel to an alternate universe may in fact be possible. Only that the time machine isn’t a spinning wheel that disappears in a puff of smoke but comes in the shape of Indian film posters where a Govinda potboiler Gareebon ka Dost inhabits the world of Russian avant-garde, Raj Kapoor’s Jagte Raho finds expression in East German reductive art and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman is a Japanese manga artist’s muse.

The Times of India • 20th December 2020

'Adopt' a museum artefact, save history this festive season

Know someone who would like a sixth century ‘ Head of a Damsel ’ for Christmas? Or maybe a 400-year-old silk thangka painting of Chundhaa, goddess and protector from epidemics and diseases? Instead of the predictable exchange of presents this festive season, these endangered objects can make for a gift that can keep on giving with the CSMVS allowing people to adopt centuries-old artefacts as a way to mitigate pandemic-induced losses and care for precious pieces from the past.

The Times of India • 13th December 2020

Tackling the new homeschool challenge of kids playing hooky

Remember the time when playing hooky in school meant making excuses to go to the toilet or to drink water and cheating was all about peeking into the neighbour’s answer sheet, writing precious information on thighs or carrying scribbled notes inside the pencil box? The homeschooling era has curiously ushered in a new truant landscape with students using their imagination and—inadvisable but ingenious—digital hacks to steal a march on their virtual invigilators.

The Times of India • 7th December 2020

Digital makeover turns back time on Ajanta’s 5th century murals

The idea of digital technology to resurrect a 5th century painting might seem a bit odd at first but the creative effects of such anachronism can occasionally be startling. Twenty nine years after photographer and art historian Benoy Behl stepped into the dark recesses of the Ajanta and revealed its cave paintings as it had never been revealed before, the 65-year-old has managed to digitally repair the ravages of time, blunders of less competent restorers and damages inflicted by the occasional visitor — to arrive at what they looked like 1500 years ago.

The Times of India • 18th November 2020

In a 1st, Mumbai development plan makes space for women

Cities have historically been built with no particular care or thought in its design and planning for women. But Mumbai has become the first Indian city to have an urban plan with a gender-specific focus—land reservations for physical-social infrastructure designed to meet women’s needs.

The Times of India • 15th November 2020

Your lockdown videos, handmade face masks to tell pandemic story

That face mask you made at home, your child’s homeschool routine, the poem you wrote in lockdown, video recordings of your remote work meetings and happy hours, and other such fleeting moments from your stay-at-home life in the coronavirus pandemic have historical value that could soon become an artefact.

The Times of India • 10th November 2020

Keema is losing the mutton, and bhurji its anda

Guess the meal these ingredients make when you blend wheat, rice, gram and quinoa flour; throw in beetroot powder and some pea protein; a dash of garlic, onion, salt and dhania; a smattering of binders; and then toss the mix into a hot kadai? A bowl of what its creators call the “unmutton curry”. One part plant, one part tech-engineered meat and one part activism—this jigsaw aimed at making it easier for meateaters to embrace a world-saving movement—comes in the shape of a kebab, omelette and sausage.

The Times of India • 25th October 2020

Locals fear construction work is muddying 1,000-year-old Banganga

All is not well at Banganga , the ancient talao or freshwater tank that rests at the southwest corner of Malabar Hill and survived for centuries as a living heritage precinct in the city where pilgrims have found their way since the 12th century Shilahara period.

The Times of India • 30th September 2020

‘Maal’: A slang that’s open to interpretations

At a time when eavesdropping on people’s phone conversations could lead you to words like ‘dope’ (which isn’t drug but millennial lingo for ‘cool’) or ‘slay’ (that doesn’t mean killing someone but excelling at something), the Hindi word ‘maal’ is curiously at risk after it drew the attention of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and a lot of fire on social media.

The Times of India • 19th September 2020

Eating in has elevated food delivery to restaurant-level experience

That fine dining can arrive at your home in a cardboard box was the kind of idea that would have seemed preposterous even a few months ago. Now, it’s just another part of the new world order. The Covid-19 outbreak may have forced restaurants to put up their shutters but behind their darkened windows the kitchens have been a hive of activity.

The Times of India • 19th September 2020

Hush-hush parties keep neighbours on toes

Nightclubs may still be waiting to unbolt and watering holes running dry, but that doesn’t mean the city is staying home. Despite the grim rise in cases everyday, Mumbai’s party loving folks have chosen to return to their pre-pandemic ways, ditching safety guidelines and socialising at house parties or at beaches and parks — sometimes openly or in secret, despite the risks and the backlash. Earlier this month, at a hush-hush party organised quietly behind downed-shutters of a plush restaurant

The Times Of India • 31st August 2020

Covid plays villain with film preservation efforts, rare material ruined

Unlike typical desk jobs where one could pack up their laptop and embrace the work-from-home culture when the growing coronavirus emptied out offices and institutions, remote work for archivists can be tricky and almost unfeasible in a line of work that requires physical access to the fragile pieces of history in their care.