About a 100 days from now, the eve will be here. At the stroke of midnight the world's denizens will wake up to a whole new century. As the much-awaited and much-debated year 2000 finally dawns it would be arriving, one supposes, to deafening decibels of music, glittering bashes and the highest of high spirits. One supposes a little too much. For, as of now at least, all seems to be just a little too quiet on the millennium front. For all the brouhaha about this being the mother of all New Year eves, ask most of the chatterati about what they plan to do for the evening and about the only thing you get in return is an inarticulate blank look.``No one's talking about it. Not yet, at any rate,'' admits Kuku Singh, a socialite. ``We made many plans last year. One was that all our friends from college days would meet at Bangalore where we would recreate those times complete with the courting experiences. Another was to fly off to Mauritius. But by the time we woke up to put the latter into practise we discovered that everything had already been booked. So, as of now no one in my social circle has any idea of what we are doing.''``It's too early to think about it,'' drawls Nandan Bal, ace tennis coach. Anu Patwardhan, who belongs to the circles that make the social world go round, however reveals some as-yet-to-be confirmed plans afoot of a private party at Wardekar Farms where the glitterati of the city proposes to ring in the new century.Lisa Tikekar of Mehak Foundation and hubby Mehan are toying with the idea of scooting off to Mahableshwar with a group of friends while many others plan to make off for the other most popular destination for Puneites - Goa.However, amidst as yet ambiguous plans awaiting a tangible shape there appears to be one concrete, new trend in Pune - of family reunions and celebrations. While glittering dos would probably dominate the larger canvas of worldwide partying, breaking away from this usual mould are some families that have decided that this once-in-a-lifetime event needs to be celebrated with the most important people in your lives your family.``We had planned right from the beginning of the year that the end of the year should see the Sen clan under one roof,'' smiles Bhashwati Sen who belongs to a business family. And so while her husband Saibal and brother Probal have ensured that there are no individual plans afoot for the memorable eve, their father Manash has invited his only brother and his family from Calcutta for the D-Day. ``All together there should be about 15 to 20 of us including the children and we figure that's a good enough party number on our own. Once together we may decide to celebrate in Pune or then may go off to Goa. The place is quite immaterial, being together is indispensable for us,'' says Bhashawati, who even picked up a millennium countdown clock while holidaying in Australia last summer. ``It's a clock that goes backward and gives the number of days left for the millennium. On the December 31 it will begin a countdown by the hour and minute and will finally ring in the millennium with a loud alarm, '' she adds.The Vermas are another clan that have set themselves the target of a grand family reunion by the time 1999 bids adieu. ``We have relatives scattered all over the world, so there are two people organising the event - one getting together the clan in India and the other contacting the ones abroad. Most of the relatives are in Pune or Mumbai and so we have thought of coming together at Mumbai and then proceeding to Kanyakumari. We should be about 50 people together,'' enthuses one of the family members in Pune. Even Vijay Mallaya of UB Group, who has been in and out of Pune lately because of the racing season, admits to having settled for a family celebration at Goa rather than an extravagant party or flying off overseas as they have done in the past.Interestingly, the desire to be with the family is stronger with the members who live abroad, with a majority of them making a beeline to India and their respective hometowns in December, adding considerably to the traffic that has, as it is, always been there at this time. So much so that according to the travel agencies all the bookings from the US to India are full as of now. According to Madhuri Bhende, her husband Rajan who plans to be with his family in Pune for the eve, simply cannot get his ticket from New Jersey to Mumbai right now a situation other NRIs are finding themselves in.It was probably anticipating this rush that Neela Bhole, who works with the American Express in Australia had worked overtime on her plans early in the year so as to be in Pune with her family as the century ends. ``Since she made the initiative and has confirmed her arrival, we too plan to get together all our relatives here and have a big family affair,'' reveals sister-in-law Neena Khandekar.So as the world moves towards the 21st century, it's heartening to note that its the strengthening of family ties that seem to dominate the mood rather than individual pursuits. And just to rephrase an old saying for the new era- the family that celebrates together, obviously stays together.Cashing in on festive spiritGanpati Bappa is definitely the most sporting of all gods. Which is probably what inspires people to come up with the most novel ways during the Ganesh festival. Like this boutique has, by hand-painting the Lord's figure on trendy T-shirts and putting them up in their show window for display. ``That's called combining the spirit of our store and that of the festival,'' states one of the co-partners of the boutique. ``We have just made a few and are not really interested in selling them. We may take orders and supply then later on,'' she says adding that many have approached them for the T-shirts. Did we hear anyone say Ganpati bappa mor-YO?!Dos and Don'ts for the eveDo not get into a heated debate about whether actually 2000 years have passed and how right /wrong we are in using the term millennium. Just party.Practise saying Happy New Century instead of the usual Happy New Year.And definitely practise not saying Happy Y2K to anyone especially an IT person.Do not get carried away by the spirit of the evening and make new century resolutions-you'll never get out of them alive.If you want to avoid the usual crowd and usual people stay at the usual place-`cause everyone else seems to be going away.If you want a typical Puneri ambience surrounded by Puneites, celebrate at Goa!LI>Finally, at least now learn the correct spelling of the word millennium or is that Milennium?
