PEOPLE | FOOD | CULTURE | ENTERTAINMENT November 01, 2014

PLUS InstaPune | Scor’d | Pune Express | Photo Feature | #ActPune

UNLTD.

FOOD

ANIMAL ANGELS Therapy Pets Doing Their Bit

Ways to Detoxify Post the Diwali Binge10

THOSE WERE THE DAYS…

Cover Story

When elections were profitable

COVER STORY

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 3

“The old style of campaigning was also a way of life for many. And going forward, it’s going to become increasingly harder for them to cash in on elections.”

@adityakuber

Contact: hello@puneunltd.com

Editor-in-ChiefAditya Kuber

Editors Veethi Telang Apeksha Bhagchandani Contributors Sharan Garcha Parmeet Kohli Radhika Sharma Protima Tiwary Amruta Ghate Richa Satpute DesignPrasanta Kundu Maddy Kulkarni Sanjali Manekar MarketingAnish Sohoni Rekha Achtani PublisherMedia Sphere Communications Pvt. Ltd.www.mediasphere.co.in

The more things change… 67 years on, we seem to have turned a corner. The two most recent elections were among the most ‘modern’ in terms of how they were campaigned for and where they were won. Fewer rallies and a greater focus on the vast middle class was the differing factor. A great majority of the campaigning happened in the living room, offices and wherever you were. Think about it… TV, computers and mobile phones were what told you more about candidates and man-ifestos than any other medium.

Yes, this meant that opinion was often injected into what you heard about a candidate’s claim or offer, but it also meant that a lot of chaff was separated before you consumed the wheat!

This, however, hasn’t gone down particularly well with everyone. The old style of campaigning was also a way of life for many. And going forward, it’s going to become increasingly harder for them to cash in on elections. Of course, there are going to be more organised forces that will continue to cash in, but at least some of it would be accountable.

In this issue, we present a look at how this changing paradigm affected the life of one such election-specialist-cash-in person. His reasons for resentment of the new way and why he hopes we con-tinue to rot as we currently do! It’s all tongue-in-cheek and totally fictional (more conjecture, really!).

What we are also keen to know is how you, our reader, have responded to this change. Are you ready to embrace it and make it the way of the future? Or did you prefer things the way they were?

As an advertisement once famously proclaimed, “Tradition is what it used to be…” let’s break from it. The time is now.

Aditya Kuber

EDITOR’S NOTE

Cover Photo Al Jazeera English Used under Creative Commons License

4 PUNE UNLTD.

SEE

14 INSTAPUNE Capturing the soul of Pune on Instagram

20 PHOTO FEATURE Showcasing awesome work of Puneri shutterbugs

LIVE06 PUNE EXPRESS

Winter is Coming!

08 #ACTPUNE

Animal Angels Animal Angels Foundation is India’s only registered NGO working in the field of Human-Animal Interaction. It is a team of pets, pet owners, volunteers and mental health professionals who provide therapy through the medium of trained therapy animals. To know how it all started and what kind of activities they do,

22 ENTERTAINMENT

Sports & the city IPL, Kabaddi, and now the ISL. Pune has seen a glut of sporting action and has a big choice of sports and teams to support. But is it working?

IN THIS ISSUE November 01, 2014

12

30

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 5

PLAY

07 SCOR’D Reviewing all you can watch, read and eat in Pune.

35 EVENTS These are set to rock Pune for the next 2 weeks.

EAT 10 FOOD

10 Ways to Detoxify Post the Diwali Binge The festival of lights is over. Sad as that is, the sweet induced illusion full of barfis, karanjis, mysore paks has died down and reality is staring you in the gut. Time to get out of the sugar rush and get back into shape. Time to restore the balance. Holidays are done, the body needs a detox and to flush out all the oil, alcohol and get better for the upcoming festive months! Here are 10 ways to get your Diwali detox on.

16

08

16 COVER STORY

Those were the days… When elections were profitable

6 PUNE UNLTD.

Natasha ShastriStudent/Model

It has got to be the fashion aspect for me. I love dress-ing up in warm clothing, jack-ets, scarves etc. And winter in Pune is just so perfect; it is not painfully cold and the sun still shines upon us without it being uncomfortably hot. I’ve already dug out my favourite jackets, hoodies and boots for the sea-son!

Mitra Keshav Student

Pune winters are so differ-ent from the places I usually have to travel to for work. Like Mumbai and Delhi. I look for-ward to this season all year and it just flies by! I especially love this time of year as it’s the ‘party season’; Weddings, Christmas, New Year all lead-ing to shopping and outings with family and friends. So in a way, I associate the season with great times!

Arindam BasuSocial Media Professional

Gorging on hot street food while it’s cold out is my favou-rite thing about Pune’s win-ters. I stay in Viman Nagar and the area is filled with deli-cious street food joints that are packed every evening. Steaming momos, hot bhajjis and parathas, spicy Chinese dishes, South-Indian thalis and so much more; you name it and the area has it. Signs of winter approaching makes me look forward to chilling with my friends sharing a plate of yummy hot food on roadside benches!

It’s the start of winter and Pune is known for its particularly pleas-ant weather during this time of the year. We asked a few Punekars

what their favourite thing about this season is! Read up on...

Winter is Coming!

We would love to know your views on the topic.

Write to us at hello@puneunltd.com

Simmi RaoIT Professional

I’m from Delhi and moved to Pune sometime in the mid-dle of last year. I never liked winters in the former city. It’s excruciatingly cold there and I was so pleasantly surprised in the months of November-De-cember here in Pune. It’s absolutely gorgeous. For me it really isn’t too cold and so, I’m very comfortable. I especially like taking walks in various areas of the city with a take-away coffee in my hand. Bliss!

Rajdeep SinghInterior Designer

My favourite part about win-ters in Pune is going for long drives on a slightly foggy night with some soothing music. A bunch of us usually go out for dinner once or twice a week and then take a nice long drive before heading back home. The chilly weather makes this experience even more pleas-ant than usual.

Vinay BhattGraphic Designer

I especially love the unique fragrance in the air during winters. And I don’t mean the kind of winter the north expe-riences. There’s just something beautiful about Pune during these 2-3 months. The foggy mornings, sunny noons and chilly evenings are an absolute joy!

PUNE EXPRESS

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 7

SCOR’D

Winter is Coming! Film Happy New Year

Nothing new and not happy!

Celebrates the commitment of an Indian foot soldier

Book Catching the Departed Author: Kulpreet Yadav

Book Lost and Found in India Author: Braja Sorensen

Film Dr. Prakash Baba Amte

An inspiring story!

An autobiography written in an unusual style

Restaurant Le Plaisir, Bhandarkar Road

A charming little European style café

Restaurant: Durban Bunnychow, FC Road

Delicious South African food!

8 PUNE UNLTD.

� Sharan Garcha

Animal Angels Foundation is India’s only registered NGO working in the field of Human-Animal Inter-action. It is a team of pets, pet owners, volunteers and mental health professionals who provide

therapy through the medium of trained therapy animals. To know how it all started and what kind of activities they do, I interacted with Minal Lonkar-Kavishwar, the founder of the organisation.

What got you to start Animal Angels?M: I started Animal Angels in 2003 with a couple of friends. I had just completed my post graduation in human psychol-ogy. I was working under my mentor and my main inter-est had always been animals. I got a chance to work on a project at a school to train a dog for children with mental retardation and physical disabilities. Being a psychologist, I felt that the dog could be trained well to be more than just a companion for these children; to be a ‘therapy dog’. Till then this subject was unheard of by most people in India. I researched on it and found out that I was of the right back-ground and could implement this project of ‘Animal Assisted Therapy’. The dog that we trained was Kutty, who was Mrs. Bhosle, the principal’s pet. She would come to school every day and be with the children. The children were found to have more tolerance, their motor skills and their attention span improved, children who were thought to be speech deficit spoke their first words to Kutty, they would come to school just to be with Kutty and many such inspiring instances were observed during the project. She recently passed away. Since this kind of work was not done in India

before, I decided to document the findings of her work. We are currently working in 5 cities with over 50 trained ther-apy dogs and aim to spread awareness about the benefits of Human-Animal Interaction throughout India.

What kind of work do you do?M: At Animal Angels Foundation, we have a team of trained therapy dogs who work with therapists and medical pro-fessionals on providing Animal Assisted Therapy in differ-ent settings. We provide therapy programs for children at special schools and hospitals, where a child gets to study in a very healthy and open environment and is allowed to learn with a therapy dog. Also, to enhance literacy skills in children and to encourage the joys of reading, children are asked to read to the dogs. This is known as the Animals-As-sisted Reading therapy. Animals are ideal reading compan-ions because unlike peers, they are attentive listeners; they don’t judge or criticize, so children are more comfortable and inclined to forget about their own fears.

Are there any particular breeds you work with it?M: No, actually there aren’t any particular breeds that we work with. The breed isn’t the criteria here. We work with Labradors, Beagles, Golden Retrievers, Great Danes, Cocker Spaniels, Pugs and even mixed breeds. These animals are screened for their health, temperament and personality, after which they get trained along with their owners for therapy visits. These therapy animals then assist mental/medical health professionals as co-therapists or visit spe-

ANIMAL ANGELS

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 9

#ACTPUNE

cial schools and institutes with their owners.

Kiara is one of the therapy dogs from Pune. She is a Golden Retriever with special qualities needed to work with hospi-talised patients and cancer patients. She was the first dog to be allowed in a hospital for cancer patients. And Scott is an adorable male Golden Retriever who volunteers with his owner Mrs. Sonali Ogale. Scotty is one of our senior most and very experienced therapy dogs from Pune. He is expe-rienced in working with children with developmental dis-abilities and in hospital set up. Scotty was the therapy dog who worked with me on India’s first AAT program in KEM Hospital, Pune.

Can anyone volunteer with the organisation?M: If you are a student doing your graduation/post grad-uation in psychology, counseling, special education, you can volunteer or take an internship program with us. So can professionals working in the field or mental or medi-cal health. We have families who share their pets with us. Along with the dog, one member of the family is trained as well. So, if you believe in sharing the joy of having a pet with

those in need, you can come and share your pets with us!

What makes Animal Angels stand out?M: We are the only organisation that focuses on the human and animal bond. We focus on how the animals can inter-act with humans through a social purpose and provide one another the support and love they require. Our aim is to spread the love and healing effects of one’s pets.

Could you share with us any memorable moments with the dogs and people you have worked with?M: There are number of memorable moments for me with every dog and patient that I have worked with. But what seems to amaze me every time is the way the dogs inter-act with children. I don’t have to give the dogs any form of instructions. They are instinctive in nature and know exactly when children need to hug them among other things. I have a lot to learn from them. Even after being a psychologist and being trained in the field, I always get to learn something new from the dogs!

10 PUNE UNLTD.

FOOD

10 WAYS TO DETOXIFY POST THE DIWALI BINGE

The festival of lights is over. Sad as that is, the sweet induced illusion full of barfis, karanjis, mysore paks has died down and reality is staring you in the gut. Time to get out of the sugar rush and get back into shape. Time to restore the balance. Holidays are done, the body needs a detox and to

flush out all the oil, alcohol and get better for the upcoming festive months! Here are 10 ways to get your Diwali detox on.

� Radhika Sharma

Get rid of the leftover sweets and savouries. Be generous and give it off. ALL OF IT.You are just about to start a massive cleanse and you don’t need a reminder of the Diwali faraal around you to lessen the motivation. No cheating, no nothing. Be generous and get rid of all the leftover sweets and savouries in the house. Give it to the neighbour aunty, the guy who washes your car every morning, the office peon, the doo-dhwala- whoever you can, just get rid of it. What you can’t see, you won’t eat!

Cut back on the sugar Almost everything that is had around Diwali days has some amount of sugar in it. And, most of it has tons of it. If you are like me and have a sweet tooth, Diwali is our party time. Since you have had plenty of it, start cut-ting back on the sweet rush. Switch to green tea and black coffee. If you absolutely need to eat something sweet after dinner, grab a fruit and get natural sugar instead. And, most importantly, NO COLAS AT ALL. Stay away from that sugar induced soda hell.

Photo: Ang Sherpa Used under Creative Commons License

Photo: Personal Creations Used under Creative Commons License

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 11

Fresh everything- salads, juices and give in to the waterThe toxins need to be flushed out of your body and the electrolytes need to be replaced. Drink lots of fresh fruit juice (stay away from packaged juice- too much sugar), coconut water and water. Water is a natural antioxidant so drink at least 2 litres of it in a day. For some added freshness, add some tulsi to the water and sip it all day. Great for the skin!

Reduce the alcoholSince Diwali parties happen only once a year and the entire family is together in all its merriment, more often than less, we will end up binging on the alcohol. So say no to drunken stupors and make a serious effort to cut down on the alcohol. Your body is dehydrated and needs to get back to normal. If you absolutely must cheat, be prudent. Limit yourself to 2 glasses of wine a week or 2 small pegs of whiskey (no mixers- drink with water or soda; you don’t need the extra sugar)

Photo: Jessica SpenglerUsed under Creative Commons License

Photo: Christian Senger Used under Creative Commons License

12 PUNE UNLTD.

FOOD

Nothing fried. Put a hold on the carbs tooYou have clearly had a carb overload during the festiv-ities and heaps of fried, happy food. The excess oil is going to show on your skin in the form of boils and pig-mentation and not to mention the enlargement of the gut. So, put a hold on the fried quotient and eat some light salads instead. Skip the regular pasta for some wheat pasta with a lot of veggies! Fried is out, lean is in!

Get into a workout regime. SERIOUSLYEven if you were a regular walker or a gym addict, Diwali took you off it and made you lazy! Rightly so, as every one needs to take a break once in a while, it’s time to get back onto the treadmill. If you haven’t had an exercise routine in the past, now is the perfect time to get one. Start small- take the stairs instead of the lift. Join a work-out class- Zumba, Yoga, Kickboxing; anything that burns the calories and makes you sweat! Be true to yourself and stick to it.

Eat small & frequent mealsSince you have been snacking regularly the last couple of days, the chances of breaking that habit is easier said than done. So turn that frown upside down and make it into healthy habit. Eat once every 3 hours - but do not binge. Keep the calorie count between 100-170 calories per meal and you are good. This way you won’t overeat and you won’t be left feeling hungry either.

Pamper thyself. Spa day must be bookedDiwali preparations, family time and late nights have gotten you worked up and dark circles are starting to show under those eyes! So relax and spend a day just by yourself at the spa and get pampered. Courtesy all the smoke of the firecrackers, the skin has undergone some serious stress- so get yourself a facial and open those pores. Get a sauna, a nice massage and feel the toxins

going bye bye!

One spoon of traditional medication every-dayDiwali has always been one of those festivals, which has seen the celebrations going many levels up every year, that I sometimes can’t keep up and fall sick inadver-tently. That’s when my mother-in-law introduced me to an old Tamilian traditional medication called ‘Lehiyum’. A combination of jaggery, coriander seeds, peppercorn and ajwain- it does wonders to your cleanse routine and can be made at home! Take a spoonful everyday and it’ll help you with digestion and keep you safe from cough and colds.

And finally- give the cleanse time to take effectAs easy as it gets into the Diwali fervor, the detoxifica-tion process takes some time. All the toxins need to leave the body and this will take about 3-4 days to show its effects. So don’t lose heart if you don’t see any con-crete detoxification evidence in the first day itself. Stick to the above steps and there will be light at the end of this binge tunnel!

A word of caution; do not overdo anything. Instead grad-ually get into detox mode and give your body time to adjust. So what are you waiting for, grab those workout shoes and go for a run!

Photo: BingUsed under Creative Commons License

Photo: Unique Hotels Used under Creative Commons License

Independence Day long weekend is round the corner. Are you scrambling to put together your travel plans? We present you four quick alternatives to replace your travel agents and expensive hotels! To make the most of your vacation, explore these different options according to your budget, time frame and other parameters. INSTAPUNE

@krutikabudhani

@palashdeo@eveniamgaurav

@harsh2084

@bhavinikpandit

@rohanpavgi

@thepunekarWe love everything about Pune and scout for Instagram images that showcase its spirit. If you have an interesting image of the city, tag @thepunekar on Instagram and it could get featured here!

@gprocksu @nikworks

@iarnav

Independence Day long weekend is round the corner. Are you scrambling to put together your travel plans? We pres- ent you four quick alternatives to replace your travel agents and expensive hotels! To make the most of your vacation, ex-plore these different options according to your budget, time frame and other parameters.

PUNE UNLTD. 15

Independence Day long weekend is round the corner. Are you scrambling to put together your travel plans? We present you four quick alternatives to replace your travel agents and expensive hotels! To make the most of your vacation, explore these different options according to your budget, time frame and other parameters. INSTAPUNE

@tanishabhuraria

@sanasohonivipin4you

@aniketsp

@abhijeetmahajan

@thepunekarWe love everything about Pune and scout for Instagram images that showcase its spirit. If you have an interesting image of the city, tag @thepunekar on Instagram and it could get featured here!

@anishsohoni @peek_out

@dr_bakasur

@akshayaher1

COVER STORY

16 PUNE UNLTD.

Those were the days…

Ramukaka sat outside his humble two-room home lamenting the losses he had just incurred. All this stability in the country was not helping him. Neither was the increasing

reliance on technology and transparency during election time. He looked forward to elections every few months. A country like India was great for his business of hiring out votes to the highest bidder. But the recently con-cluded Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elec-tions were amongst the worst for his business.

Even five years ago there was much more to be earned. The going rate was about Rs 1,000 per vote from his area and he also enjoyed additional perks of free food and booze in the days preceding the elections. And then some more days till counting. Typically, he would earn about Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 in a usual election but this time, he barely managed about Rs 7,500. Not even enough to justify quitting his Rs 12,000-a-month job.

Before he became Ramukaka, Ramu had learned the ropes of the election business from his aunt Indu, who was a pioneer of sorts of this business in their area. This was the 1980s and political strife ruled India. The Man-dal Commission, Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and other such key political events helped Ramu make a mark as a political mercenary and earn big. He had the acumen to move up the food chain. For instance, he didn’t always

drink all the free booze; he stockpiled it and then sold it for lower than market prices for a clear profit. The buyer didn’t mind much even if it was somewhat diluted since it was still cheaper! And he did the same with other goods including diesel, sugar and even biscuits!

A curt “stop daydreaming” woke him from his reverie. It was Kamla, the neighbourhood do-gooder. What he wouldn’t give to have her out of his area of operation! She was the primary reason he had a miserable time during the recent elections. She and the party she sup-ported and canvassed for. Those goody-two-shoes had insisted that no votes would be bought. Without being in power, they had done work for the small basti. Install-ing street lights, water pipes and cleaning up the area had got them votes. What idiots most of the people liv-ing here are, thought Ramukaka. They could ensure that the corrupt win and with that, their own added incomes every few months. But the shine of a streetlamp and trickle of a tap is what soothes these idiots’ hearts.

Without further pleasantries, Kamla continued to taunt Ramukaka.

“It’s time to got your job back, Ramukaka,” she said. There are no more elections in this part of the world for the next 5 years. We’ve got a stable and connected gov-ernment at the state and the centre.”

Photo: Yogesh Mhatre Used under Creative Commons License

� Aditya Kuber

When elections were profitable

COVER STORY

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 17

Photo: Justin Alex Used under Creative Commons License

At the other end of this, though, were people like Ramu-kaka. Bitter and resentful of everyone around them-selves, they hated that they couldn’t earn more. That their potential was limited. It’s all well and good to say that let your kids study and they will have a bright future. But where does this education end? And the gov-ernment isn’t funding it beyond a point. Moreover, what I had was a legitimate business. Like any other. I did it my way.

What Ramukaka really despised was the growth of India’s middle class. They had woken up at last. After years of slumber and devil-may-care attitude, this elec-tion the populace had voted en masse. This had reduced the demand for people like Ramukaka and their ser-vices. The connectivity and technology that Kamla spoke of so highly coupled with a sterile government for 10 years at the centre and a corrupt one for 15 years in the state had brought about an Indian spring of sorts. This, however, was a peaceful uprising. One that was fought through the media. The media. Another of Ramukaka’s pet hates. The shouting and screaming on TV screens that did nothing more than fill the pockets of those who ran the TV channels, thought Ramukaka.

He decided to walk to the neighbourhood paan shop

There was that word again. “Connected”. What the hell was it supposed to mean?

“Don’t be so glib. I’ve seen it all before. Governments fall. People change. People die,” he snarled trying to get her off balance.

“Yes, they do. But that affects us when there is no sys-tem or hierarchy or succession plan in place,” she added smartly.

“We’ll see.”

“Why are you so upset anyways? Aren’t you happy that there will finally be progress? We will have better facil-ities and jobs and more money to earn and to spend. What’s wrong with that?”

“I have to work for that. With elections, I just have to be smart and work for a short period. That’s how I built this house. You won’t understand. You didn’t have to live through the difficult and dark days…” he added remi-niscing.

Kamla decided to walk away. This was a battle she had fought with Ramukaka and others of his ilk for years. They always had a myopic, here and now view of the world, she thought. Why didn’t they see the big picture?

COVER STORY

18 PUNE UNLTD.

COVER STORY

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 19

and get his daily fill of gutkha. The one vice he had in life other than the occasional drink. But slowly, that too was getting outlawed. The price had already skyrock-eted from just about Rs 0.50 per packet to almost Rs 10! Secretly, he hoped that the new government would do something about this so the poor man could enjoy his vice. “We all have to die eventually. This is how I choose

to go,” he thought somewhat morbidly.

Deep in his heart where he despised everything about the changing systems, he did hope for a positive change. He did want that the people in his little neighbourhood prospered. He just hated that everyone would prosper and his way of life would change. Like it had so many times. Sometimes he wondered what life would have been like if he had completed his education and taken up a regular job. Perhaps he would have made it to the middle class by now and been able to enjoy the new way of life everyone was so excited about.

Had something held him back all these years in becom-ing like the others? No, it’s just that he hated the thought of being another one chasing the pipe dream that seemed to go nowhere. “I’m not a cynic,” he thought. “I just know what the real world is like. There’s only so

many who can make it and even fewer who really make it big,” he argued with himself. Hadn’t he given his two sons and one daughter all they desired? Or at least all that he could of what they desired? Why go through this charade of elections and clean governance when noth-ing was ever going to change? Whoever said “the more things change, the more they stay the same” definitely

knew what he was talking about.

As he walked back to his house, he saw the open ground across the street where the rich kids and poor kids played cricket together. The poor kids were good. But the rich kids had better equipment and that made their game better. “Let them play with the poor kids’ equip-ment and then we’ll see who’s better,” he thought caus-tically. Even though the rich and poor played together, the rich would win. It was the way of the world. It was the food chain. That was how the world was wired.

Being rich was the first step to winning. And winning was the first step to becoming rich. “This government has won. Let’s see how long till they become rich!” Or do they really intend to use this win to make everyone rich? Then everyone wins…

Photo: Al Jazeera English Used under Creative Commons License

PHOTO FEATURE

20 PUNE UNLTD.

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 21

PHOTO FEATURE

All Photos: Anish Sohoni

Sports & the city � Aditya Kuber

ENTERTAINMENT

I recently visited the FC Pune City versus FC Goa ISL match at the Balewadi stadium. I have to admit I was impressed. Having seen a few IPL matches in the last few years, it was sort of expected that the

level of organisation would match it. And it did. The gen-eral carnival atmosphere has changed the sport-lover’s experience at such events. It’s no longer just about the sport. It’s about an event, an evening out and a good time. The sport is incidental in some cases.

While levels of organisation are now excellent com-pared to a few years ago, one wonders how long this

interest will last if the local team doesn’t fare well. Pune’s IPL team was lost due to non-sporting reasons, but the Kabaddi team did little to enthuse much support. The organisers would have you believe that the packed sta-dium was success of the format and the sport.

Missing the connectAs a local sport team, one would expect that the city would support it in hordes. Unfortunately, that’s not the case except with cricket. One thing that the IPL team did manage successfully was to take the team to the masses.

22 PUNE UNLTD.

IPL, Kabaddi, and now the ISL. Pune has seen a glut of sporting action and has a big choice of sports and teams to support. But is it working?

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 23

ENTERTAINMENT

Yes, the sport’s existing appeal and reach did help, but in the case of football, the effort itself is missing. Barring the odd hoarding en route the stadium, there’s hardly any noise about the team’s presence. Drawing non-foot-ball fans to the matches is going to be the true measure of success.

So what can be done? It’s a marketing activity that needs to be undertaken by the team management. Show the city the players that will represent them. Bring them

to our hangouts and show us why we should support them. Football has a huge following in Pune and the ISL hasn’t yet done enough to capitalise on it. It’s one thing to depend on the media to do it, but it’s quite another when fans can casually run into their favourite players (or players that the team hopes will become favourites!)

Kabaddi also faltered the same way and Pune FC (the local I-League team) has also been guilty of this. With no IPL team to support, football teams should take the lead

24 PUNE UNLTD.

ENTERTAINMENT

and make extra efforts to gain following. After all, that is the mandate for the ISL, isn’t it?

Quantity over quality?In its current form, two months of ISL will see 7 home games for Pune and 7 away. The home games – given the stadium capacity of about 10,000 – will only be avail-able for about 75,000 (including hospitality areas) fans to view in person. That’s too small. So Pune either needs a bigger football ground or more matches. It’s a tough one, but something that perhaps needs to happen sooner than later.

This is also a question to the All India Football Federation

(AIFF): why so many tournaments? Couldn’t the I-League have been glamourised? Couldn’t it have been merged with this? There’s 13 teams (no idea why this number!) in the I-League. Add 7 (out of the 8) from the ISL and you’ve got a league the size of the EPL: 20 teams with foreign players and great organisation. Now that’s a spectacle that could run for 4-5 months. Fatigue? Unlikely. It’ll give fans some more time to like it and get used to it.

I do hope that football takes off in a big way in India. The ISL is the first right step in this direction. Combining the efforts of the I-League with it would speed up the pro-cess and offer greater breadth while including existing fans into the fold. Let’s hope it happens…

All Photos:Aditya Kuber

facebook.com/Puneunltd twitter.com/PuneUnltd PUNE UNLTD. 25

Documentary Story-telling Workshop Storytelling lies at the heart of most documentaries - strong characters, compelling tension, and a credible resolution. Join in to understand the basics of Documen-tary Film-making. The program will be conducted by Jay Gholap Alumnus New York Film Academy, who is cur-rently working as a script consultant, documentary and corporate filmmaker.

When: Sunday, 2nd November 2014

Where: Prelocate, Plot No. 20, Survey no 90/2/B and 90/3/B, Behind Bharat Gas, Koregaon Park Annexe, Mundhwa, Pune

Time: 11 am - 6 pm

Contact: 7709113678.

Shavita - Ek Shaam Shayari aur Kavita ke NaamWe live, breathe, and dream Poetry. Do you? Then join infor Shavita: an evening of poetry recital and anec-dotes.

Theme: Bring Your Own Poem

Read any poem that speaks to you and / or you’ve written. Poems can be in any language, but the poets must be from the Indian Sub-continent. Recitation Time is 10 minutes per person

When: Sunday, 2nd November 2014

Where: Pagdandi - Books Chai Cafe, Shop No.6, Regent Plaza, Baner Pashan Link Road, Behind Syman-tec, Baner, Pune Time: 2 pm

02November

02November

Venky’s presents Da High Cookout feat Vitamin M and Laxmi BombThe highlight of your weekend is back with a bang, and we’ve got two huge live bands exploding on our High stage: Vitamin M and Laxmi Bomb! Vitamin M is a Blues and Classic Rock and Roll band, comprising Jameer Kharkongor on vocals,Mg Muang on bass, Muang on guitar, and Anant Joshi on drums. Laxmi Bomb is an exciting an electro-pop outfit from Mumbai. Truly unique in her own identity, come watch Laxmi Bomb explode at the High Spirits stage this coming Cookout!

When: Sunday, 2nd November 2014

Where: High spirits, Survey no 35a/1 Ghorpadi Gaon , Pune

Time: 2 pm

02November

EVENTS

26 PUNE UNLTD.

Farmer’s Market by Karen Anand Farmers’ Markets by Karen Anand are the first whole foods and lifestyle markets in the city - a source of excep-tional Indian and International produce which attracts everyone from chefs, restaurateurs, passionate amateur cooks and people who just happen to love eating and drinking. This time they will be having over 80 exhibitors! – fresh produce, cheese and cold cuts, patisserie and gourmet products and lifestyle wares; wineries featuring local and imported wines; Pop-up restaurant featuring a variety of regional cuisines; a Demo theatre and work-shops and a live Band.

When: Sunday, 9th November 2014

Where: The Westin Pune, 36/3-B, Koregaon Park Annexe, Mundhwa Road, Ghorpadi , Pune

Time: 11:00 am

Astrix India tourFor the first time in Pune at Blue Frog, Rage Enter-tainment is proud to bring you the legend Astrix. One of the pioneering artists of the millennium, Astrix (aka Avi Shmailov;), undoubtedly rules the psy-trance roots. Astrix is one of the few artists in the scene who really makes big waves throughout electronic dance music.

When: Sunday, 9th November 2014

Where: Blue FROG Pune, Ishanya Mall, Arcade 6, Off Airport Road, Opp Golf Course, Yerwada, Pune

Time: 7 pm

09 November

09November

DJ Oof at High Spirits Café, Alliance Française de Pune has invited Dj Oof for an exceptional performance mixing music, sound effects and images. This outstanding artist is well-known for his “mashups”, which turn movies and documentaries into video clips with a great sense of synchronization. DJ Oof will come to Pune during his tour across India and Nepal. Don’t miss this opportunity to listen (and watch) this first class DJ!

When: Tuesday, 11th November 2014

Where: High spirits, Survey no 35a/1 Ghorpadi Gaon, Pune

Time: 9 pm

11November

EVENTS