Citygritty 8212; Pune

Inspired greetingsDiwali greeting cards might have been on the decline this year, thanks to the general recession, but nevertheless, the ...

Inspired greetings
Diwali greeting cards might have been on the decline this year, thanks to the general recession, but nevertheless, the ones that came, were painted and designed in various hues and colours. One of them, sent by Ganesh Bagdare was particularly interesting. The inspiration on this card does not display any artist8217;s colourful imagination or a writer8217;s poetic elegance, but features the evergreen maestro of Hindi film music, O.P.Nayyar! While Bagdare8217;s firm, Kingston Enterprises8217; adorns the front portion of the card, the back of the card stated O.P Nayyar8217; as the rhythm king who is described as 8220;our inspiration.8221; A few months ago, Bagdare had organised a musical nite, by a group of local youngsters who sang hit compositions of Nayyar for a full three hours. O.P.Nayyar was invited as the chief guest and the audience were thrilled to see this man who had tapped Asha Bhonsle8217;s talent to the the fullest. And with O.P Nayyar adorning his Diwali card too, calling Bagdare his ardent fan, would actually be anunderstatement.

Cellular cricket
Hey, it8217;s a fast, fast world after all. And if you have a mobile, then being an ardent cricket fan is easy too. If you have no time for viewing a day-long cricket match that promises excitement, then don8217;t fret. You now have your cricket scores on their mobile phones, thanks to BPL. Started a few months back, this is good news for those who are always on the move and of course for those who are its subscribers. Besides having the current score on your cellphone all the time, you can also get a batting and bowling analysis. Way to cash in on the cricket fever!

Land logged
Shaheen Sayeed and Shakir Ebrahim who compiled a unique directory of properties available for sale in Mumbai and Pune in 1997, for the convenience of Non-Resident Indians NRI, are back again with another such endeavour. This time it is the international edition of India Properties which they recently launched in Pune. And it is available for localites too! The 160 page directory, all in gloss, and the size, a wee bigger than a telephone directory, is an impressive compilation of built properties available in three hot shot cities 8211; Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore. States Sayeed, 8220;Our first edition meant for the NRIs was a big hit. So, we decided to become bolder and said why not make it available to the general public here.8221; Containing about 1,000 addresses of various areas of the three cities, it promises to provide a preliminary guide for the prospective buyer. Sayeed8217;s and Ebrahim8217;s enthusiasm does not stop here. They plan to come out with an annual issue, year after year. Says Ebrahim, 8220;Every year weplan to add more urban cities that are under the eye of the prospective client all over the country.8221; Guide at your fingertips really, before you rush to your real estate agent!

Big brother watching!
The PCMC does has a way of looking ahead! A few days ago, top officials of the corporation proposed a plan designed to wake up even the laziest of employees. The meeting yielded the decision to install cameras at strategic points in all the departments and will be connected to close circuit TVs. This is a bid to improve the performance of persons on duty, who might be in the habit of stealing their 40 winks with impunity, knowing that nobody is watching. Now it won8217;t be so easy, Big Brother will be watching.