Small Talk

A winning trek
On August 29,Rohit Motwani,captain of the Maharashtra Ranji Cricket Trophy,ace Jockey Mallesh Naredu and Anil Chhajed,MD of Gold Field Yacht Club,had flagged off the Trekathon 2010 which saw participation from over 350 Puneites. The Trekathon started and culminated at ILS Law College,after covering all the important hills of Pune – Hanuman Tekdi,Chatushringi Tekdi,Loyola Tekdi,the hills behind Hotel Banjara Hills and the ARAI hills — with an approximate distance of 22 kms. The winners received their awards at the hands of actress Sonali Kulkarni. Among the achievers were nine-year-old Arnav Binaykia who,along with his father,and four specially-abled people from the NGO Snehakshitij,ran 20 kms at Trekathon.

Go green!
The Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 is going all out to attain the Green Games title. A series of ‘Green Concerts’ is being held as part of the ‘Low Carbon Campaign’,organised in association with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The second concert in this series is being held in Pune today and its highlight is a performance by the well-known band Euphoria. These Green Concerts serve a dual purpose of being a curtain raiser to the Queen’s Baton Relay and motivating the public to go green. The concert will be held at the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch,Swargate at 6 pm.

A cultural platform
The Virasat Festival 2010 organised by SPIC MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth),is an annual event that begins at the start of the academic year and is held across the nation from July to October. The ongoing Folk Fest Fortnight,which is a part of the festival,features concerts by Ram Kailash Yadav,who is a professional Biraha singer,and workshops by Madhubani painter Shanti Devi,the latter being in association with Indiaart Gallery. Kasturi Paigude,coordinator for the Pune chapter of SPIC MACAY says that they usually get professional gurus to these concerts or workshops because they want students,from both schools and colleges,to learn and have more interactive sessions with them. It is for this reason that Shanti Devi’s workshops are being held at DPS,Bal Kalyan Sanstha,Janta School,Vishrantwadi and Symbiosis College of Management Studies. Post the Fortnight Fest (September 10),Kudiyattam specialist Margi Madhu will perform and conduct workshops,along with violinists Ganesh and Kumaresh from Chennai.