Close encountersDiwali's over, but the Diwali magazines haven't been put away as yet, and the Chalta Bolta Diwali Ank, organised by the cultural group Srushti on November 1, continued in the same festive spirit. The idea being to get the writer behind the literary piece to perform, it turned out to be a lively time.The second of its kind, Srushti had a different type of presentation from last year. Anchored by the `sutradhar' (Madhav Gokhale) and the `nati' (Ujwala Mehendale), the traditional narrators, the next few hours included a range of programmes. Beginning with well-known Marathi humorist Mukund Tanksale, who regaled the audience with one of his stories, flautist Arwind Gajendragadkar then took the microphone for a nostalgic talk on eminent singers. A talk on the effects of modern-day competition and advertisements by Dr. Chandrashekhar Desai, poetry recitations by Ishwari Tambe, Chinmaya Kelkar, Neela Sharma, Anjali Kulkarni, Anil Kamble, a satire by Dr. Sadashiv Jawadekar were other highlights.The scene-stealer was undoubtedly a live interview with Sudhir Gadgil and Anand Modak - the former narrating anecdotes from his own interviews of eminent personalities, and the latter about his experience of putting a composition to music. While the programme was on, Salil Sahasrabuddhe was at work with his pencil, making illustrations of the Srushti clan. With the anchors dressed in part-Maharashtrian and part-Western attire, the message was clear: Westernisation is an integral part of our lifestyle, but limited only to the outside. An evening that would linger till the next year, most importantly, there were no commercial breaks!Young ambassadorsThese three young students of the Jnana Prabodhini Navanagar Vidyalaya, Nigdi, are definitely going places. Maitreyi Doshi, Sonali Unkule and Pooja Aphale have been chosen by the Media Laboratories, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, for Junior Summit 1998, a children's seminar. The seminar will see 120 children from 133 different countries congregate in Cambridge, Massachusetts, between November 15 and 21.``The students are among 120 children chosen world-wide, nine of them from India. They gained entry into the seminar after they participated in an essay competition organised by the Media Laboratories on the Internet,'' says principal Suman Shenoy.The topics for the essays ranged from how to keep children in school, the problems faced by physically/mentally handicapped children, to homelessness among children. After an elaborate screening procedure and voting on the net, the trio was selected. ``They will present their views and solutions to children's problems on subjects such as children's rights, telecommunications, individual privacy, personal health, environment and world peace before world leaders,'' says Shenoy. Responsible children should help create a responsible world.Sizing it upAfter onions, it is custard apples that are now acting pricey. On Tuesday, Desaibandhu Ambewale sold custard apples for, hold your breath, Rs 125 each!! Sounds incredible even in these inflation-hit times, but the reason these fruits were so expensive is because they are a special variety that weigh a kilo or more each.Says Mandar Desai, proprietor, Desaibandhu Ambewale, ``We bought these at an auction at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard at Gultekdi. Never before have I seen custard apples like these in my life. Since they were so big, we decided to sell them by the weight''.As of now, 20 of the 40 custard apples have been sold, the remaining are smaller ones weighing between 700 to 800 gm. In a world where size matters, what happens to the taste? Says Desai, ``We don't know about that as yet as these custard apples are raw and will be ready to eat only after a few days.''Picking up success cuesNothing, it seems, inspires more than living examples of those who have made it big in life by dint of their initiative, hard work and single-minded dedication. Which is probably what made the Shiv Udyog Sena (SUS) think of the week-long series of lectures where celebrities from all walks of life have been invited to trace their journeys to success for the benefit of the youth. Holding forth will be personalities like Union Defence Minister George Fernandes, actor Amitabh Bachchan, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, industrialist Rahul Bajaj, costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, industrialist B G Shirke and also Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, amongst others. The SUS hopes to motivate unemployed youth of the country through these dialogues and encourage them to take up entrepreneurial activity as a means to defeat the scourge of unemployment.To be held at the Shree Ganesh Kala Kreeda Manch, Nehru Stadium, from November 9 to 15, the personality development workshop will begin with Chief Minister Manohar Joshi's talk. Following that, every day will see a personality who is a giant in her/his own field, advocating why it is necessary to not lose hope and persevere to reach your desired goal. The young and impressionable, go for it.
