Pune Citygritty

To every director of repute there always is a special actor. To Ray, it was Soumitra Chatterjee, to Martin Scorcese it was Robert de Niro, to Akira Kurosawa, it was Toshiro Mifune and to Shyam Benegal it was Smita. 8220;She was like a surrogate child to me and I was the stern schoolteacher.8221;It was an evening full of anecdotes, all in an effort to remember an actress, a friend, and above all, a woman. So what do you say about a beautiful woman who died. Not much. You deal with the tragedy and the loss and, once in a while, try to capture a fraction of the legacy she left behind.

One down, one more to go
Just as the city was gearing up for the event of the month 8211; Asha Bhonsle8217;s live performance on the Fergusson College grounds 8211; came the disappointing news that the show has been called off, or rather, as the organisers would like to put it, postponed. The reason? Apparently our unpredictable weather.

8220;A concert of this scale costs an enormous amount and the event managers did not want to take any chances with monsoons round the corner,8221; explains Gaurav More, Poona Bottling Company, the company that was to be the sponsor of the programme, adding that the show will now be scheduled for sometime in October. Nevertheless, the general feeling remains that there is obviously more to the cancellation than meets the eye, with the rains being just a very convenient excuse.

However, on the heels on this bit of bad news, there comes some good news too, which could well compensate fans of the highly-acclaimed and talented singer. On May 26, young and upcoming artiste Suvarna Mategaonkar will be singing songs of Asha Bhonsle at an evening organised by the Sankalp Sangeet Sanyojan at Tilak Smarak Mandir. Titled Swar-Asha8217;, the evening is a heartfelt tribute to the versatility and uniqueness of Bhonsle, whose music career has spanned decades and has led to her immense popularity with music aficionados.

Mategaonkar will trace the musical journey that was started by Bhonsle8217;s father, Dinanath Mangeshkar, reaching right upto the lady8217;s present persona as a pop singer. Like they say 8211; you win some, you lose some8230;FUN-da!
Summer holidays are almost at an end but not the fun times. Entre Nous, the event management concern, is organising a five-day workshop specially for children in the age group of four to 12. Among the exciting events lined up are T-shirt painting, general etiquette and table manners, story-telling, making jewellery and piggy banks at the Poona Women8217;s Council Hall on Kahun Road and cookery classes at the Holiday Inn. All material necessary for the workshop will be provided for by the organisers.

The workshop, which will be held between 9.30 am and 12.30 p.m., costs Rs 600 and those interested can register at the Entre Nous office in Koregaon Park. 8220;The idea is to teach kids new things in a fun way,8221; says co-ordinator Shweta Sharma. Sounds like fun!

Making a splash
The next time it rains and you are tempted to trip down to the one place that turns magical then 8211; Lonavala 8211; ensure that you also travel another 20 kms down the Mumbai-Pune highway. And stop at the newly-opened Nishiland Aqua Park, that is fast shaping up as a spectacular family fun paradise.

With an area of almost 55 acres, out of which 30 acres have been developed by owner Paresh Shah, Nishiland nestles amidst lush green mountains. A gigantic float of a clown beckons the traveller to step into the park whose biggest plus-point is its many water-related fun activities.

A huge wave pool, shallow enough to enable even non-swimmers to have a ball, punctuated with attractive floats available on hire, exciting splashdown slides that twist and turn to land you in three feet of water from a height of 32 feet and two water rides on inflatable rafts that deliver you into two feet of water in six seconds at a speed of 80 kms per hour are the main draws.

Then there is the Lazzy River8217;, created primarily for floats, plus a lake for boating pleasure, alongwith a full-fledged amusement park with seven rides that will soon be operational. A sure-fire hit with the kids is also the air-conditioned video games parlour that has 11 games.While a vegetarian Gujarati thali restaurant is already functioning, a highway restaurant is also on the cards. Future plans include a mini golf course, conference halls and a 90-room deluxe resort. With the entrance fee being Rs 125 for kids those measuring below three feet three inches do not have to pay anything and 150 for adults, the 20-crore project does seem to be attracting hordes of crowds, especially during the weekend when the number swells to almost 800, according to Commodore retd Vijay Vaid, the general manager.

So if you don8217;t mind the 70-km drive from Pune and a bit of the sun beating down on you, Nishiland is quite the ideal family getaway, worth the trip and a dip.

Pyrotechnics from the past
Despite the erratic power supply, despite the sound engineer and despite the neighbours who wanted the show stopped, the band played on. And when the band played, Derek Julien and Roger Dragonette decided to simply play. And there was a certain degree of eloquence as their fingers carved out chords from the guitar. The evening warmed up with It8217;s Probably Me Sting and Eric Clapton, Black Magic Woman Santana, and an Airwave original, Land of Souls, and the band then launched off into The Doors.

Crowd favourites, such as Roadhouse Blues, Riders on the Storm, L A Woman and Break on Through made the evening, dedicated to The Doors front man Jim Morrison, something to rock all night long for. Here8217;s to rock and roll, long may it live.