Roving Eye 8212; Pune

Going batty?With the World Cup fever raging high, event management firms and sponsors are joining the cricket bandwagon with new gimmicks...

Going batty?
With the World Cup fever raging high, event management firms and sponsors are joining the cricket bandwagon with new gimmicks. A strange procession that wound its way down Jangli Maharaj road on May 9 found many passsersby turning back for a second look.

The highlight of this procession led with an elephant was a huge 30-feet long bat carried by youngsters while a palkhi brought up the rear accompanied by traditional music. As the bat was carried from Fergusson College road, to Senapati Bapat road to the Pune Municipal Corporation onlookers were urged to sign their good wishes to the Indian team on the bat. The convoy organised by LG Electronics, one of the official sponsors of the World Cup ostensibly to cheer the Indian cricket team the procession. Lets hope all this goodwill translates into action on the field.

Past Perfect
The past when our country was in colonial shackles and the present are are so much the same. So proud are we of our achievements that it is an effort to get out of this shell of well being and confront the issues that beseige us. The play Shobha yatra which was performed at the Balgandharva Rangmandir on May 9 has skilfully handled this dilemma. Written by Mumbai-based playwright, Shafat Khan the play opens with a scene where actors dressed up as national leaders like Gandhi, Nehru and so on are rehearsing their part in a Shobha yatra to commemorate 50 years of Independence.

However this procession has been organised and funded by the mafia who have complete control on the actors. What starts as a simple rehearsal, progresses to reduce these characters to docile and submissive human beings. The days of valour and sacrifice have been replaced by dependence where corruption, lust, greed and fear are the order of the day. Though they wish to challenge the current institution8217; that governs their lives they are held back by self-limitations and inhibitions. The well researched theme weaves a pattern which is engrossing.

The actors have done a commendable job and proved their mettle and has been directed well by Ganesh Yadav. May maids all in a row After a week long grooming workshop preceding the show the May Queen ball got off the ground last Saturday at the Poona Club saw 15 beauties sashaying down the ramp for the grand finale. Twenty year old Shruti Agarwal was the lucky winner who bagged not just the main title but also the sub-titles of Miss Body Beautiful, Miss Beautiful Skin and Miss Catwalk. Amrita Thapar was declared first runner up while Poonam Joshi was adjudged third.

The judges for the pageant included Rajat Bedi, Noella Kambli, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Khalid Ansari. The ethnic and body wear sequences choreographed by Nikita, executive director, Oracle institute of fashion designing was also part of the schedule. The event conceived and directed by Prabhuraj also had Bobby and his band Dharti and the dance group Infinity taking the stage.