PUNE NOTEBOOK

*THE decision of the Bombay High Court to reinstate the dissolved Education Board of the civic body,as expected was greeted with glee by various political parties. One such leader,while expressing his pleasure over the medium of social networking made some important comments. “Let the media leave these bodies for some time so that they can work. These bodies are under the scanner of the media and thus are unable to work properly,” he said. Apparently,the leader’s ire was against the extensive reporting of the ills which were plaguing the education board,which had ultimately led to their dissolution.

Taking no chances

*THIS happened last week,when this reporter was on her way for an assignment in Fatimanagar. At the traffic signal before the Sub Area Canteen,though the traffic light was green,none of the vehicles were moving ahead. Same was the situation on the opposite side. No one was even honking (a habit so common on the roads in India). Right in front of the road,there stood a bicycle. The silence on both the sides lasted for five-six minutes. And then,a man,perhaps the owner of the cycle,came,got onto the cycle and rode away. Considering that the object used for the last few bomb-blasts in the country,was cycle,it was indeed wise for the public to not take a chance.

In his own world

* During the regular weekday rush hours at the Shivajinagar court,an elderly police constable was seen listening to music and beating tabla beats on a canteen table during the recess. He had closed his eyes and was engrossed in listening. As he opened his eyes after some time,he realised that a lot of people including some reporters were looking at him. A chat with him revealed that he hailed from family of warkaris and had been going to Pandharpur regularly. He was listening to Abhangas sung by legendary Bhimsen Joshi and was beating the Bhajani Theka,a rhythm often used with Abhangas. “My son has gifted me this cell phone with music facility. I don’t go the wari anymore but these songs keep me happy even in these hectic duties of making rounds to the courts with these criminals,” he said.

Logged out…

* THE incident date back to few days back,when one of journalist colleagues got a frantic call from a reader. After a brief haphazard interaction,the colleague could only understand that the persons on phone was seeking help from local media to address the issue of water-logging in his backyard.

When asked whether he had lodged any formal complaint with civic authorities regarding the issue,the person’s reply was “You reporters gave non-stop coverage to Prince (a five-year old boy who had fell down in borewell in Haryana in July 2006). Did his parents lodge any formal complaint with authorities,but you were there..?”. After putting up the call,the colleague said he was at wits end to convince the person that no parallel could be drawn between two incidences water-logging and Prince’s fall.

(Ajay,Partha,Garima,Sushant and Prasad)