Citygritty 8212; Pune

Efforts bear fruitTree-lined avenues may not be things of the past if the efforts of environment conscious citizens bear fruit. On the au...

Efforts bear fruit
Tree-lined avenues may not be things of the past if the efforts of environment conscious citizens bear fruit. On the auspicious occasion of Vatapurnima, Nisargasevak, an NGO, distributed around 300 banyan saplings to citizens last year. 8220;They were supposed to take care of the saplings for a year, plant it in their garden if they had the space, and if not, to return it,8221; says Dr. S.V. Joshi of the organisation.

Now, a year later, Smritivan has asked those who want to return the saplings to do so on June 13 between 7.30 and 11.30 a.m. The saplings will be planted on either side of the road in the Chandni Chowk area, again on the occasion of Vatapurnima, in a programme jointly organised by Smritivan and the Pune Municipal Corporation. 8220;We hope that residents of the area will adopt a sapling each,8221; says Joshi. The programme will take place on June 27.

Hitting it off!
Do you enjoy bumping into an old friend? Then Havana, the entertainment centre on Jangli Maharaj Road, is the spot to head for. Here8217;s where you can literally bump into each other thanks to the launch of Bumping cars at the venue. These cars will be launched today at 6 p.m. Says Prashant Bhandari of Havana, 8220;Our endeavour is to continuously upgrade and introduce new means of entertainment.8221; And bumping cars are the latest entertainment toys on the block.

Sounds of tomorrow
Monsoon8217;s around the corner, and Drizzle8217;s coming to town at the right time. That8217;s a Pune band formed in 1993 by three local lads, and later joined by five more. Returning to home turf to perform at the Jazz Gardens on June 5, the band dished out cover versions of songs by R.E.M., Nirvana, Dire Straits, Eagles amongst others.

While developing as a professional band, they have also been working on their own music and the result is their album, Streets of Heaven. Puneites will also have a taste of songs from this album like Dreams For Making It Big, Innocent Girl, Trust Me. 8220;It8217;s all about our feelings, our attitude towards life and love, our dreams and our message of love,8221; say the band members. Here8217;s hoping for a deluge of good music.

Dramatic voice
A trained social worker with her own Bharatnatyam school called Nritya Prerana, Suchitra Date has come up with a way of combining the two 8211; through a dance drama called Deep Shikha. 8220;A woman plays the role of a flame illuminating the path for others. Through the medium of dance, I want to show how women are discriminated against in society a boy is more likely to be sent to school than a girl, how we can help prevent Sati and so on,8221; she says.

The show, a fund-raising event for Swadhar, an organisation that works for women in distress and for the development of women and children, was held at the Tilak Smarak on June 6 with 60 of Date8217;s students performing.