Could be inching towards the 30th in the last few weeks. But they are addictive. This one- on 29th July 2026- was dedicated to Mohammad Rafi, one of the great singers to have given us some immortal melodies. I liked his upbeat numbers with Shammi Kapoor the best. They had a rumbunctious quality unlike his other songs, which were good too.
Prasad Kulkarni, Monali Dubey, Sagar Atre and Mamata Borgaonkar did a good job. Others were Ok.
Ek pardesi mera dil le gaya by Prasad Kulkarni and Mamata.
I had floated the idea of rating cities by a few things that matter to a common citizen. Here is my first attempt, at rating Pune, where I live.
Commuting. Buses.. reasonable, but not as well-maintained as Bangalore. Some areas over-served, some under. 6 on 10
Metro- inadequate network. Last mile connectivity not well thought out. Cost is reasonable though. 6 on 10.
Cleanliness- roads are not cleaned adequately, particularly garbage clearance is sloppy.. 5 on 10..
Autorickshaws- very good, both metered and Uber are available at most places. 8 on 10.
Weather- better than most places, except Bangalore- 8 on 10.
Food/drink options- plenty, and growing. Seafood, North/South Indian joints are plenty, so are pizza places. Craft beer is homegrown too, like Effingut, Pune-based. We also have TOIT, and Doolally's at Corinthian Club.
Internet- good speed, options. Or else my blog and fb participation would go for a toss.
Overall, quality of life is decent. Pollution is a problem, with too much construction.. road quality needs to improve.
Saw a great show that was dedicated to Waheeda Rehman, last evening (July 4, 2026) at Modern College Audi, with Mona Dethe, and her Mom Parveen. Great singers (Deepika, Swarada Godbole and Sandeep Ubale), in voices that resembled the originals. Guru Dutt and Dev Anand films featured prominently, and also Khamoshi with Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna.
Highlights were Rangeela Re, Hai apna dil to awara and Kaanton pe kheench ke ye anchal, for me. Her husband's film Shagun also featured. Rekhi was called Kamaljeet in that film.
Emcee was Shalaka Gole.
Just saw a 2490th performance of a Marathi one man act. Assal Manase, Irsaal Namune. By a chap called Prabhakar Nilegaonkar. It takes a lot to do this. He acts as mutiple people, both male and female. Talented. Reminded me of Babban Khan in Hyderabad, who used to do this.. though he had a couple of characters mostly as props..
To honour the memory of Pu La Deshpande, famous humourist, there was a program at the Film Archives, Pune. A film about him was screened, and many speakers in a panel spoke about his achievements. Good way to keep the memory alive-
The 2 day program concluded with an award named after Pu La being given to Shama Bhate (above), a Kathak dancer from Pune who has done a lot for the art form. There was also a Films Division documentary about Pu La, mostly in the first person, narrated by him. It has his trademark wit.. for example, he says his father worked in a paper maker's firm, and did not realise his son would waste reams of paper trying to write something on them.. also, when he had gone to donate blood, while the syringe was in his vein, the blood bank owner asked him for a donation, which he was scared to refuse.. obviously!
Saw this musical show yesterday. Was familiar with two of the singers, who turned out to be the best- Ghafar Momin and Monali Dubey.. they sang a few good oldies, like Dil Pukare from Jewel Thief.
Another singer -Abhay Peshwe- was good too. He sang Phoolon ke Rang se..
The emcee, Ghanshyam Agarwal, had a great command of Urdu and Hindi, and was engaging! Also humourous at times.
A nice outing, all in all.. it was free too.
West Coast of the U.S., I mean. We met in Bangalore, then they left for California, and came back to meet us yesterday- June 9, 2026. Pushkar is a nephew, son of my cousin Baby (Prabha), and his wife Veena is from Pune. They have two kids now, and they have grown up. Rajvi and Raghav are in High School and Middle School, respectively. There was a lot of banter, and some food.
A play with a play on Expectation versus Reality.
An old lady is imagining what a new tenant will be like, while coming to terms with the loss of her son. Her husband has agreed to let out the son's room to a stranger called "Shaukeen" (she thinks).
It is a solo performance, almost, with her imagining the caste, religion, and habits of the tenant before he appears. She vacillates between a nice picture of him to replace her lost son, and depicting him as a complete outsider with strange habits, eating as well as lifestyle-related.
An unexpected twist at the end makes the one hour play watchable- suspense of a kind.
Padmavati Rao performed the old lady's role very well, with a variety of emotions showing while she sets up the room. Produced by Ranga Shankara, Karnataka. A part of the Shreeram Lagoo Theatre Festival.
On June 1st, we met with cousins who were available in Pune. The purpose was two-fold. To celebrate the birthday of our youngest aunt, mother of our host Jyotsna, and to remember Nikhil, my nephew whom we lost unexpectedly in a helicopter accident in Atlanta USA. The second came out of the blue, and we were still coming to terms with it.
Some of the cousins/families present.
Went to a Hindi play that was a part of the week-long festival. Amol Palekar was in the audience. The play, Naam me Kya Rakhwo Hai? or What's in a Name? was a satire on several things including gender equality, Kings and Ministers, and touristy artefacts or performances presented as "culture" to foreigners visiting India. Brilliant set design, acting and direction. Music too.
We saw a sizzling musical show called Sadabahar Dharmendra yesterday (16 May 2026) at Pune. It was a great evening filled with memories of an evergreen hero who came from Punjab and won the hearts of many, including a Dream Girl. Some great songs were sung.. 4 very good singers, Ali Husain, Makarand Patankar, Swarada Godbole and Radhika Atre. Saira was the compere, and did a good job of it. Pics-
A very entertaining musical show by him and his team- Vyjayanti, Monali Dube and Elizabeth, and Shrikant Bhatt and himself. Songs from many of them were excellent. Vyju/Vyjayanti stood out. Shrikant Bhatt, 81, did well with Talat Mehmood, Saigal songs. Shola jo bhadke, Kajra mohabbat wala, aana merri jaan merri jaan Sunday ke Sunday etc. brought the house down. 3 songs from Jhumroo were sung! The ladies did Shamshad Begum songs well!
Pune is a vibrant city, with a lot of choices- even more if you understand Marathi- of things to do. Plays, music shows (some free!) and events are on all the time.
One such event we attended.. these two were good singers- Pournima Waghmare and Uday. (first pic)
Golf I am yet to play, but the plays and music shows have kept me busy. Food outings and meetings with friends are also pretty regular.
We also have karaoke parties once in a while!
And if you still have the time, Mumbai is not far!
Saw a musical show at Balgandharva in Pune- 60s to 90s. Singing by various artistes, reasonably good. Song selection could have been better, in my view. But the show was free, so worth the three hours or so. One good idea was visuals from Youtube were flashed along with the singing, so relived a theatre experience with original actors, alongside.. my favourite was Khatuba, from Alibaba aur Chalis Chor, filmed on Zeenat Aman. Ek main aur ek tu was good too, and Kanta lagaa..
To end April, we assembled for a party at our place, with many people in attendance. The oldest was 90, an aunt, and the youngest, around 6. The karaoke added a lot of fun to the proceedings, with everyone participating- with the mic, or in the chorus. The amazing food and drinks meant that we closed pretty late.
