Pune Notebook

Pungent presentOnions presented as gifts ? Jokes apart, with the country left with no other option but to import them, it doesn't really ...

Pungent present
Onions presented as gifts ? Jokes apart, with the country left with no other option but to import them, it doesn’t really seem surprising when people adopt various tactics to meet the current crisis. But what does one say to `misleading’ promises of onions being given as presents?
The Agro Information Services stall at the Krishi-Darshan exhibition at the Police Grounds offers one kilo of onions as presents. The only catch here is they cost Rs 200 a kilo ! Sure is a lesson for the marketing gurus when the smart alec publishers decided to cash in on the onion crisis by selling their 320-page volume priced at Rs 200 and offering one kilo of onions as `saprem bhet’ (gift with love) with each purchase!

A book for Bill
Bill Clinton, considered the most important man in the world, has been on the receiving end of a lot of things lately. Apart from the solidarity expressed by some quarters and the acerbic attack from others, there are some who seem to have his best interests in mind – or do they?
The Osho Commune International in Pune is despatching a copy of Osho’s commentaries on Tantra Sutra, titled `The Book of the Secrets’ to the president of the United States of America. Sent to him by Swami Chaitanya Keeri, spokesperson for the Commune.

Swami Keerti sweetly explains that he only intends to help.“We can all see from the unfolding Lewinsky affair and impeachment proceedings in the US Congress that Clinton needs this book now more than ever”.

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“Clinton needs the Tantra Sutra because it helps individuals transfer sexual enenergy to higher level of conciousness,” he offers as a clinching argument.

A clean breast of things
Pimpri-Chinchwad Mayor Hanumanth Bhosale has the rightful claim to the successful organisation of the Pimpri-Chinchwad festival. A month after the festival was held, he now has another job on hand.

Probably taking care to steer clear of controversy, he has decided to present to the public, the entire details of the accounts of the festival. The move comes in the wake of criticism and allegations from opposition corporators that there was misappropriation of the funds collected from the people for organising the festival.

The opposition has charged that while a substantial amount had been collected from the people, the municipal corporation too contributed a considerable sum. They alleged that as most programmes were sponsored, the entire fund amount was hardly spent. Bhosale has alloted the task of clearing the accounts to one of the principal coordinators of the festival.

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Wake up, PMT
It was just 6.20 in the evening. It had just rained heavily and the atmosphere was suddenly pleasant. But it was also a day to remember for many passengers who travelled in the PMT service (MH 12/F 5638) from Hadapsar to Dapodi.

Being a Sunday it was a lean day for the conductor as many families stayed back, fearing further wrath of the rain god. Even the PMT TCs (ticket checkers) seems to have had a day off. Though many passengers got in at the different stops on the Solapur highway the conductor never bothered about troubling them with tickets. Till the bus reached Mahatma Gandhi depot he was seen discussing mundane things and sharing tambaku with the driver.

When the bus started moving once again he seems to have realised that he is still part of the PMT staff and started enquiring about tickets. Many cashed on the opportunity created by the ignorance of `the Master’, and in the bargain the PMT turned out to be the real loser.

Wake up, PMT.
Indradhanush
The pen is mightier than the sword, they said. And we believed it. But how many know that the brush is mightier than the gun? Not many. But here is the right opportunity to realise this too.

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Every Puneite knows about the activities of National Defence Academy as he newspapers have been flashing the exceptional activities of the institution. Recently when the Big-B chose it as the location for the flop Major Saab, it once again was the focus of the report hunters. When the film was released also many readers chipped in to highlight the pros and cons of featuring NDA in the movie.

But now you can witness creativity of the NDA cadets at its best at a different venue — Balgandharva art gallery. The well-christened exhibition, Indradhanush-98, provides a glimpse of the multi-hued inborn talents of these cadets.

This is what happens `when the tough hands that held a gun picked up the brush’. Colours spread and in turn they provide a feast to the art lovers.

`Well Puneites!!! Come and experience a novel right through the realms of our technology, NDA beckons. The rainbow of colours will fade after 6 pm on Monday.

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Rotary bond
What is the bond between a Rotary Club and the National Day of Uganda?
On the face of it, none. But there seems to be a filial bond that binds them both.

The bond between the Ugandans and the Indians seems to be like the `Fevicol ki jod’ – undetachable, that is. While the national day of the country in the Black Continent was celebrated on October 9, Rotary Club of Pune Parvati has taken the initiative in providing a common platform for persons from both the countries at the Indian Medical Association hall on Monday. Apart from the Ugandan cultural programmes, cultural vedio films are bound to improve the friendship bond among the foreign citizens staying in Pune and Puneites working with international and various Indo-foreign friendship organisations.

An additional attraction seems to be a slide show on the 175 polio corrective surgeries conducted by the member rotarians at Uganda to enhance the Indo-Ugandan relationship.

It will be an occasion for both individuals and institutions to chip in to further the bondage, feels the director, International Service.