Citygritty 8212; Pune

Nostalgia for the raj
British deputy high commissioner, Western region, Michael Bates, was the chief guest for the Pune8217;s Pride Awards at the Residency club. Punctuating the evening with delightful jokes, Bates talked about how he loved to come away to Pune from Mumbai8217;s 8220;sweltering heat8221; and that he had come here thrice in the last four months. One of the reasons was that the Pune Cantonment reminds him of his country thanks to the buildings which have so much 8220;British8221; about them. Another reason he cited was the excellent transport system but then corrected himself. He related how he was absolutely distressed recently when he travelled by Deccan Queen from Mumbai to Pune which took him a good seven hours! By the way, Bates is presently doing research on the British links with Pune. Wow! We8217;d love to hear from you more, on this.

Jingle all the way
The Christmas spirit is on and in more ways than one. On December 24, 10 Downing Street will be streaked in red and yellow rather than the traditional red and white symbolising the 8220;brighter side of life.8221; With a female Santa, gifts galore, snazzy games and the recently renovated House of Lords with a top-of-the-line sound system, organisers Genesis hope to make this X-mas a memorable one.

The next day, the action shifts to Totem Pole with the theme of this freaky Friday being fashion.8217; The decor will reflect the latest trends in men and women fashions and every entrant to the disc will automatically become a contestant for the Best Dressed Contest. And from midnight DJ Ryan from Cyclone, Mumbai will take over to usher in Christmas Day. The prize is an outfit from More Mischief and some seconds of fame on Channel V, whose crew will also be present there. So come all ye fashionable8230;

Christmas eve and can can Portico be far behind. As every year this year too owner, Prem Tiwari has decided to play Santa Claus by distributing free snacks, ice creams and gifts to the kiddies of the town. This will be accompanied by a fancy dress for kids between 5 and 10, and fashion show put up by kids, with a clown thrown in for good measure. And of course Santa Claus in person will be making that all important appearance. Last year the party was apparently attended by some 600 kids who sure threw the place into a tizzy as everyone tried to be as near the stage as possible.

Hotel Sagar Plaza has organised a Christmas party for children on December 23, which will commence at 3.30 in the afternoon. Santa will be there in uniform to distribute prizes and play exciting games with the children. To top it all there8217;s a buggy ride with Santa. To be part of the X-mas Fiesta, the hotel authorities can be contacted anytime between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. for tickets. It certainly is time for the kids to have the time of their lives.

For them, it8217;s games, magic, ventriloquism and mimicry shows, Santa Claus and other characters from the Toon World and a whole lot of fun at Sunset Hall, Sharada Centre, near Nal Stop. Not to forget the goodies to devour and gifts to take away on December 24, 6. 00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m.

And while we are checking out what8217;s on where this end of the year, there8217;s Tandav 8217;98 happening at the Greenland Club at Hotel Greenfields. Organised on both Christmas and New Year8217;s Eves, it8217;s the brainchild of event managers Saadi and Anurag Agarwal. With music, dance, ambience decor, food, drink and lots of prizes on the agenda, the evenings will feature DJ Maa Faiza from London. Her brand of music follows the familiar concoction thrown together by DJ Vivek Sood, and adding a dash of variety will be DJ Gordon from Mumbai.

Prostrate no more
The CARE India Medical Society, along with the Rotary Cub, North East, also held a free camp for prostrate disorders in men above 50 years, on December 13, at Medinova Diagnostic Services, JM Road. The doctors and volunteers of CARE took medical check-ups of the hundreds of patients who registered. The Rotary club paid for the expenses. Suspected cases were organised to undergo PSA, to classify the patients as positive or negative. All positive cases will be followed by CARE India, who shall arrange for or advise further treatment as required.

And what was Shashi Kapoor doing last week visiting cancer patients in Pune? Well, December seems to be a month where everyone gets into the spirit of love and charity. So when Kapoor came into the city on some personal work last week, he decided to cheer up some cancer patients. Imagine Noorbi8217;s surprise when instead of the usual doctor, she had the hero of yesteryears as a visitor to her one room tenement at Ghorpadi gaon. Kapoor visited three such patients and was happy to note that CARE India medical Society8217;s home care program was working well for these patients. Instead of rushing to the hospital every now and then these patients8217; needs were looked after in the comfort of their own homes. Kapoor, whose wife succumbed to this disease wished that there were more such organisations that would offer such excellent care.