A little bit of context before you begin reading this book review. I have recently enrolled for an MA in Philosophy at the University of Mumbai. Philosophy is something I have been getting interested in, over the past few years, as those of you who have been reading my blogs and Instagram posts would know. During the pandemic, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do next, and this is what I eventually came up with. It has been a challenge, getting back into academics as a student at this age, especially in a subject I have no academic background in. However, it has also been very exciting, especially thanks to my wonderful classmates (who, surprisingly, are of all age-groups, including some quite near my own) and my teachers, who have been very supportive and understanding. How well I will do is something that remains to be seen, but so far, I am enjoying this new journey and look forward to where it leads. Now that you know the background , you probably get an idea of how
Have you ever seen this? In Tamil, we called it 'Pinnal Kolattam'.
Each of us held a different coloured ribbon, and then, moved around in sync, as the ribbons wound themselves into a beautiful plait...
When was the last time you played Hop-scotch? Of course, you
might have called it by another name, such as ‘paandi’ or ‘tappri’ as we did.
When was the last time you skipped?
Or played snakes and ladders without a board?
And this one, played with small shells or cowries, was simply
called ‘chozhi’….
This game varied from place to place. We called it ‘Delhi
Bombay Calcutta Madras’ and Samhith calls it ‘Bomb in the city’. We simply ran
around as someone clapped hands, stopping at different cities when the clapping
stopped. The clapper called out a city name and all those who stood there were ‘out!’
Do these take you back down memory lane? If you, like me, grew
up in the seventies and eighties, before the advent of TVs and Computers,
chances are, you would have played these games too, and many more.
This weekend, the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum at Byculla, Mumbai,
gives us a chance to go back down memory lane, remember all these games, and
re-learn them…. Introduce our kids to show them just how much fun they are!
These games are on at the Museum over the weekend…. Tomorrow is
the last day, so if you are in Mumbai, do not miss this chance.
And in case you do miss the chance, you can download a book I
collaborated on, with my fellow writers from Pocket Cultures. Titled ‘Gamesfrom around the world’, the book will surely give you some ideas!
While you are the museum, you have other things to feast your
eyes on… The museum of course has some fascinating works of art – ivories,
metalwork, and representations of culture and myths. There are stories galore
always on display. But, at the moment, there is another story too being
displayed – a story told through photographs and reproductions of letters. Ghiora
Aharoni’s ‘Missives’ is inspired by love letters written by his mother
as an adolescent in the 1950s. Accompanied by thousands of vintage photographs,
and reproductions of fragments of the
letters on delicate Japanese paper, the installation is a delight to
experience. This is on display till the 30th of November.
And then, there is also the exhibition of photographs of
properties in Bombay owned by David Sassoon. Most of us have heard of the
Sassoon Docks and the David Sassoon Library, but the photographs show us a
legacy so much bigger than just these two. The beautifully preserved and
displayed photos show us Bombay as it must have been, and make me wish I lived
then. It made me want to explore more of the Mumbai today, and see what has
become of those buildings today. The exhibition is on till the 24th
of November.
great stuff, i'm going to go tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteThanx to your blog, i finally visited this awesome place and i am already planning to visit one more time ! Keep it up :)
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