The evening started on a lyrical note with Vithal Wagh reciting a love poem Gulbasa, followed by Narayan Sumant's hilarious satire based on G.H. Patil's poem Pahat relating the transformation of the modern villages where among other anomalies, TV sets are installed in the Maruti temple. Even the gossip in villages revolves around matters political and the newspaper brings with it news of how our `civilised' political leaders behave.

Roj deshdrohyancha naach nanga, sabhya netyancha sansadet danga.

The current political scenario, the state of democracy, India's poor performance at the Olympics, change in city life were all grist to the poets' mill. Among the witty nuggets, a poem by Prakash Pathare on the effect of sponsorship in cricket addressed to a cricketer, drew appreciative applause - Bhalte tumhi busy bua pan mazhe ek aikat ja, ya saglyat vel milala tar changle khelat ja (you may be very busy, but amongst all this if you find the time, do play well).

Ably conducting the proceedings in his capacity as sutradhar, Phutane along with the poets wove an entertaining tapestry of humorous anecdotes and verses. The poets, all of them popular with the audience, included Ashok Naigaonkar, P.M. Shinde, Sanjay Chaudhari, Nitin Kelkar, Hemant Joglekar, Madhu Salunkhe, Bhagwanrao Deshmukh, Prakash Ghodke. It was with a light heart and a smile on their faces that the audience left the hall at the end of the three-hour programme.

Sunny days
The last time he was in the news for a beautiful thermocol replica of the Baha'ai Lotus temple, a symbol of peace and harmony. This time artist Anand Lonkar decided to make a replica of the sun temple at Konark on the occasion of Ganeshotsav. ``The sun has been the object of worship in every civilization and as I believe that one should be able to convey something through one's art, the sun temple of Konark seemed an appropriate symbol,'' he says. The result is this temple carved out of thermocol - a union of art and faith.

French Press
The French are certainly pressing for more attention! The Indian Association of Teachers of French in collaboration with the Embassy of France, New Delhi organised a three-day seminar-cum-workshop at the Golay Hall, University of Pune from August 28. French professor in Goa, Gloria Saravaya, gave an introduction in French literature, followed by Jean-Pierre Ramphoux, Educational Advisor to the Embassy, who conducted a workshop on the French Press. In a highly interactive workshop, the participants studied and compared different French newspapers and magazines. And the way they presented political, social and cultural news. ``Newspapers symbolise the current social, cultural and political ethos of the country and it is of great importance to a teacher of the foreign language to understand and be able to communicate it,'' he felt.