Snapshots

Man Of Substance
8220;Who is Shashi Kapoor,8221; they ask, as they see a large portly man come visiting. Difficult to believe that the heartthrob of the Sixties and Seventies has put on so much of substance. Kapoor was in Pune last week, visiting terminally ill cancer patients in the city8217;s slums, making their day the experience of a lifetime. But Sagar Nimbalkar, a nine-year-old Class IV student, was disappointed on missing the screen idol. 8220;Do you have his number,8221; he asks even as Kapoor tells the kids to take a picture with him. For a man who remembers his family members including his wife, falling to cancer, this is a difficult journey but one that is close to his heart.

Going Welsh
Doing business with the British is fun. Provided you get the hang of what the gentleman opposite is exactly telling you. It was more than clear at a recent interface between trade representatives of Britain and India under the umbrella of Indo-British Partnership IBP Initiative. The occasion was the visitof a IBP delegation from Britain under its co-chairman Sir David Jefferies to Ahmedabad. In his remarks, Leighton James, a member of the delegation representing the UK firm DSI Systems, humorously said it was often the incomprehensible accents that made or marred the otherwise excellent deals. In his Welsh accent, he told those present that negotiations between two different people could end up in remarks like: 8220;If I hear your presentation once again, then I may follow it and strike a deal with you.8221; In the light of this revelation, no one should be surprised if one gets to hear of more and more Indian and Welsh trade tie-ups materialising for the simple reason, as Leighton put it, 8220;Indian and Welsh accents are closer8221; than any other.

The Chui Mui Man
Ambitions can touch the sky or they can be sweetly humble. For indigenous pop artist Milind Ingle, who saw the peak of popularity with the Rajshree music video Chui Mui Si Tum Lagti Ho, the only musical album that even had Valentine8217;s Daycards printed on its theme and characters, it is a case of the latter. 8220;The opportunity to do Chui Mui came to me after 10 years of struggle, and quite frankly I never expected it to become such a big hit,8221; says the graduate from NM College, Mumbai, who left his Company Secretary course because 8220;that was not what I wanted to do8221;. Flying across the country for Sony Music8217;s next release Rasiya, Ingle who has sampled success, says the biggest high in his life came when he was asked to be the chief guest at his own college8217;s annual day function, almost a decade after he had left it. 8220;To be able to sit with the principal and trustee on the dais after being a student there was the proudest moment in my life,8221; he says.

All Fumes
The Transport Commissioner8217;s drive in Mumbai banning the sale of fuel unless a PUC certificate was produced, already has a handful of motorists contemplating a legal career. Soon after the drive began, petrol pump owners put up huge No PUC, No Petrol8217; banners. Mumbai8217;smotorists who8217;ve honed their argumentative skills into a fine art after years of plea bargaining with traffic policemen, were nonplussed. Fine, said some motorists, give us diesel instead. That8217;s when pump owners realised that in their hurry to put up the banners, they8217;d overlooked the little fact that the drive covered all fuel. Too late, there were at least a few motorists who8217;d chugged away in a cloud of grey smoke after tanking up on diesel.