Citygritty 8212; Pune

Pu La thrills even in HindiIt was an evening of laughter at Balgandharva Rangmandir, this Monday as Shatranj ke Mohre, unfolded on the st...

Pu La thrills even in Hindi
It was an evening of laughter at Balgandharva Rangmandir, this Monday as Shatranj ke Mohre, unfolded on the stage. This Hindi adaptation of humourist Pu La Deshpande8217;s Marathi play, Tuzha Ahe Tuzhapashi was part of Pu La Bahuroopi-80 programme. The story directed ably by Ramesh Talwar revolves around Usha played by Sulabha Arya a strong-headed patriot who believes in putting social service above personal happiness. Swayed by the simple living, high thinking8217; philosophy of her mentor the austere acharyaji played by Anjan Shrivastav she invites him and his adopted daughter Geeta Neha Sharad to her house to conduct a camp. While her easy-going father played by Sudhir Pandey and her fun-loving brother played by Rakesh Bedi are resigned to Usha8217;s attitude, they prepare to welcome Acharyaji. Geeta, brought up in the stern discipline and austerity of the ashram contemplates on her life which she realises is no different from a game of chess where chess pieces can only move inpredetermined steps. As Usha begins to realise how she has spent her energy in a cause she doesn8217;t believe in, her brother comes under the influence of Acharyaji, an irony that is made obvious to them by their father and the neighbourhood doctor Bharat Kapur. The experienced actors, most of them television stars and a time-tested play made the evening a memorable one.

Coming of age
At last, here8217;s a computer education programme for children that is age specific. Boston8217;s Cyberkids, the children8217;s Education Division of Boston Education and Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd. BEST has launched its centre in Pune. The centre, located at Sassoon Road, will offer a wide range of specialised courses for children aged 3-14 years. The latest computer programs like animation, spreadsheet, DTP, multimedia, Internet and other graphics are very effectively dealt with.

The secondary learning includes mathematics, science, geography, history, arts, language enrichment, creativity development, personality and logical and analytical skills. Boston8217;s cyberkids promotes the concept of learning is fun.8217; They have also started cyberadults8217;, where courses are customised for parents/grandparents of the cyberkids.

New sounds
Amol Dongre is a class apart. He performed Indian classical music on the synthesiser. He performed Raag Bageshri followed by mishra pahadi dhun on October 30, for the seventh IEI Convocation programme held at The Institution of Engineers India Pune. Amol is well-versed with Indian classical music and is an engineer. 8220;Amol is a serious student of music, all he needs is encouragement,8221; feels Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Dongre has a promising future, surely.New high
Vasant Gowariker needs no introduction. An eminent scientist, and former vice-chancellor of Pune University, his has been an illustrious career and now he8217;s all set to add another feather to his already over-crowded cap. The GP Chatterjee Award for 1999-2000 is to be conferred on him by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the 87th meet of the Indian National Congress, to be held at Pune from January 3 to 7. The award is a recognition from the entire scientific fraternity for the pioneering efforts made by Gowariker, not only in science and technology but in other related fields.

Switch on
Jaws presents another Friday night do. This time Switch which will turn on the music. The band will play Deep Purple and Gun N Roses with vocalist Nilesh More at the microphone. If you like the hard rock kind of music you could plug in and switch on at Jaws. There8217;s no entry fee. The organisers promise new bands and more music for the Friday nite live shows lined up for the coming weeks. Milking Kargil Kargill Gutkha, spelt with a double l. What next? And what is the connection? Another one in the long list of killer gutkhas reaches the local market by the end of November. Kalyan Gangwal, vice- president of the National Tobacco Eradication OrganisationNTEO, said, 8220;It has been scientifically proved that the intake of gutkha causes cancer, heart problem and impotency amongst youngsters.8221; Gangwal strongly opposed the use of the name Kargill and calls it criminally wrong. Playing on emotions.

Colourfully yours
8220;We cordially invite you all, dear lovers of fine arts 8230; of imagination and creativity, preservers of culture 8230; travel with us,8221; reads the invite of well-known Pune artists Milind Phadke, Dhananjay Sastakar and Vinayak Gokhale, who hold an exhibition at the of paintings at the Holiday Inn, from November 2 to 5, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The proclamation says it all 8211; the nodal point of the exhibition, very clearly, is the preservation of our culture. And each artist interprets it in his own style. Phadke8217;s Ganeshas, Sastakar8217;s in-depth study of Pune8217;s peths and Gokhale8217;s religious rituals 8211; the canvases come alive with the colourful scenes. Worth a dekko!