Citygritty 8212; Pune

Magical mystery tourIn whatever way one may experience the play, Safar has some meaning for everybody. Written by Vijay Tendulkar and pre...

Magical mystery tour
In whatever way one may experience the play, Safar has some meaning for everybody. Written by Vijay Tendulkar and presented by the Theatre Academy, Pune, the curtains open on the first show of the play on January 21 at the Bharat Natya Mandir. As the name suggests, the play depicts a journey. At a glance, it can be summarised to be the story of the fantastic imaginary travel experiences of a seemingly retarded man. On second thought, it may seem that the situation and not the character is retarded. The viewer could also apply the travel to himself, as if he is the voyager, and draw from his experience whatever he sees. Or then, it can be simply a pure source of enjoyment, our very own Alice in Wonderland. An hour and a half in the company of humour, presented by those like Subodh Bhave, Aniruddha Thuse, Deepti Radkar, Amit Phalke, Anagha Wagh amongst others. The play is directed by Subodh Bhave and choreography is by Deepti Radkar.

Scholarly pursuits
To inaugurate its operations in Pune, Scholastic India has organised a book fair for four days at Thakker House from February 3. On display will be a range of children8217;s books, touching various subjects 8211; all to promote the habit of reading amongst children. The kids in Pune are now amongst the 10 lakh children all over the country to be re-introduced to books via Scholastic. Here8217;s to some happy reading for kids.

Mind games
In order to clear myths that cloud the issue of mental illnesses, Ekalavya, a city based organisation will organise a discussion on the subject on January 26. Says Aruna Bhide of the organisation, 8220;The discussion will encourage people to ask questions and will help to clear misconceptions about mental illness. Many people wonder what electro-convulsing therapy, better known as shock therapy is and how it can help someone who suffers from a mental illness. They have doubts on the helpful effects of psycho-therapy. The discussion will address this and other doubts. Those participating in the discussion include Ulhas Luktuke, Hemant Chandorkar, D.M. Dhavle, Pradeep Pathak and Aruna Bhide, while Anand Nadkarni will compere the show which is to be held at the Fergusson college amphitheatre at 5.00 p.m. on Republic day.

Dance ballet
Even as the Osho celebrations are drawing to an end, there are more celebrations with dance and music coming up. On the traditional dance front, well known dancer from Calcutta, Mamata Shankar, daughter of the illustrious Uday and Amala Shankar, comes to Pune with her international ballet troupe. They perform at the Tilak Smarak Mandir on Monday, January 25, at 5.30 p.m. The Sampare Social Action for Manpower Creation organisation, recipient of a Presidential Award for best child welfare activities, 1997-98, brings this beautifully choreographed collection of traditional folk and contemporary dances, based on music scored by Pandit Ravi Shankar, L. Subramanium, Philips Glan and Salil Choudhary.

There8217;s more for dance enthusiasts, Kumari Sayali Zhambre, performs Bharat Natyam at a charity show, organised by Antara Nritya Niketan, at the Balgandharva Rangmandir on Saturday, January 23 at 5.30 p.m. Sayali is the student of Anuradha Jog and the programme seeks to raise funds for a fully equipped ambulance. On the same day, Nritya Sadhana celebrates its annual function, titled Bhavayami Raghuraman at the Tilak Smarak Mandir at 5.00 p.m.