Mixed Shots

Curious Case Of Cash Origami

This could easily get someone a black belt in origami—folding Rs 11,111,111, or Rs 1.11 cr, in assorted denominations of cash to make a “flower garland” for the goddess at Kanyaka Parameswari temple in Telangana this Dussehra. This is part of tradition, but some critics fixed a gimlet eye on the folderol because of the pandemic-hit economy. The temple clarified: the money comes from donations (about 50 people donated this year) and is returned after the ceremony. The Covid downturn did mint its effect compared to, say, 2017 when the flower-and-bouquet accoutrement was Rs 3.33 crore in crisp banknotes.

Blue Moon, By Gregory

The phrase “once in a blue moon” acquires a special meaning in a bar: you can order one every night if you are a sucker for cocktails and Belgian beer. But the real blue moon—that is two full moons in a month (October 1 and 31 this year)—doesn’t happen often (apologies for the tautology). When it does, there’s some maths involved. A lunar month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 38 seconds, so to have two full moons in a month, the first should happen on the 1st or 2nd. That means February can’t have a blue moon, neither can any of the months in Islamic, Tibetan or traditional calendars in India that are based on lunar movements. It’s a Gregorian prerogative.

Releve A Dream

We all have tut-tutted the lockdown. But Kamal Singh, 20, of Delhi heeded the advice: if the tutu fits, twirl twirl twirl. An e-rickshaw driver’s son, Kamal raised more than Rs 19 lakh, with actor Hrithik Roshan among the donors, and danced his way to the English National Ballet School. The protege got hooked on ballet after meeting Fernando Aguilera, the London school’s director, in Delhi some years ago. He trained and trained and when he was ready to join the school, money became an issue. Crowd-funding platform Ketto stepped in just in time and he is now in London living this incredible feeling that takes over “when you enter that building, put your hands on those bars and you do some relevés, jumps or turns in those classrooms”.

Diner Serves Racism

In the world’s most powerful and rich democracy, skin tones are a grey area. Singer-songwriter Ananya Birla—daughter of billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla and mental health activist Neerja Birla, found out what it means to be a non-white in the US. She has alleged that chef Antonia Lofaso’s Italian-American diner in California “literally threw” her and her family out after they waited almost three hours for a table. “Very racist. This is not okay,” she tweeted and accused Scopa Italian Roots’ waiter Joshua Silverman of being “extremely rude to my mother”. For her part, Ananya’s mother also tweeted: “Racism exists and is real.” 

The Bachchan Square

Harivansh Rai Bachchan Square. The city of Wroclaw, Poland, has added a new address to its list of landmarks, naming a square after the legendary poet, the creator of Madhushala in 135 quatrains, and Amitabh Bachchan’s father. “There could not have been a more apt blessing on Dushhera than this,” the 78-year-old actor posted on Instagram. There has some sort of build-up to the honour— Amitabh Bachchan visited one the of the oldest churches in Poland in 2019 and a prayer was held “for Babuji”, and in July this year, University of Wroclaw students paid homage to the Hindi poet, who died in 2003, by reciting his Madhushala. We say, the longest pole knocks the persimmon.

Brevis

Illustrations: Saahil, Text curated by Alka Gupta