Mohua Das

The Times of India • 19th July 2021

Tribal influencers fight everything from Covid to child labour with cellphones

The art of showcasing talent online and influencing audiences is a common phenomenon now. But Arjun Pawara is not your typical Internet star. The 32-year-old is a founding member of Aadiwasi Janjagruti — a network of 45 tribal youths across 200 villages in the interiors of Maharashtra ’s Nandurbar district — using just their mobile phones and the power of hyperlocal news to script, enact, shoot, edit and upload sketches, short films and documentaries that combat discrimination, promote literacy,

The Times of India • 5th July 2021

How a Brahmin priest found pride of place in Mumbai’s cathedral

Behind a cluster of tall trees and amid the impregnable thickets of buildings, smog and traffic in Bombay’s Fort area, the three-century-old St Thomas Cathedral has seen it all. But past its famous arches and inside its walls lined with sculptures, stained glass and liturgical art stands an intriguing piece of history that remains in good part unknown.

The Times of India • 18th June 2021

Netas go on pre-poll ribbon cutting spree at jab centres

Wielding a pair of scissors, an MP from the city is in the middle of a weeklong jaunt across vaccine centres. One morning at Kurla, the next day in Vile Parle and the day after, in Chandivali congratulating the “corporator & all party karyakartas working hard to help people.” All the while, trailed by an army of aides, a photographer to capture the moments and an audience of vaccine aspirants queued up. There will be relief. But first, let there be a ribbon to cut.

The Times of India • 13th June 2021

Now, dabbawalas to cook your lunch and deliver

The world of lunchbox carriers has been a resilient lot — constantly reinventing itself —English lessons, computer literacy, women entering the all-male bastion. Now, the modern dabbawala is in for yet another change: they will no longer just be dropping off lunch, but cooking too if asked.

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.