The first of its kind, the double cassette has all the usual ingredients of any Diwali magazine. Discussions and interviews with litterateurs, songs, readings of different stories... it's all there on the spools. And the works include those of well-known literary figures like Kusumagraj, Shanta Shelke, Narayan Surve, Grace, D.M. Mirasdar, amongst others. Getting these across to the listener are the voices of Prasad Kulkarni, Gauri Lagoo, Vijay Koparkar, Anuradha Kuber, Anuradha Marathe.

Initially, this venture was meant to supplement a magazine on the internet. But with all the creative and electronic facilities at hand, the idea blossomed into making a full-fledged cassette. So listen on!

Upgrading the biosphere
To most of us, life without plastic bags seems unimaginable. You go to buy vegetables and the vendor gives you one as an add-on service. You purchase new clothes and plastic bags act as an advertisement for the store. Life in the 20th century is so full of plastic, but what about the damage this does to Mother Earth? Keeping the environment in mind, the State Government has been planning to ban the use of plastic bags for quite some time now. But the Rotary Club of Poona Downtown has already got into the act. At Ambedkar Road, near State Bank of India, they put up this huge hoarding that urges Puneites to stop using plastic carry bags. Seems like cloth and paper bags are soon going to be the signs of the times.

Seventeen till I jive
This only-17 DJ is a young gal with an impish smile, who says she got into the field of DJ-ing because she felt ``if guys can do it, so can the girls.'' Donabelle Zuzart hails from Goa, but is in the city for a show at the Green Pavilion in Hadaspar on Friday evening.

Big brother Karl Zuzart has been her inspiration, but this young lady is confidence personified when she says, shrugging an insouciant shoulder, ``I think I can take care of myself in case the crowd gets too close for comfort''.

In Goa, the lady deejays at pubs, discos and private parties with Karl and DJ Yuri Riberio, who mostly play techno, remixes, fast dance numbers and even bhangra for the young crowd. However, their favourites are the folk songs of Goa (Mando music), Portuguese and Latin American tracks. It does sound like fun, but this profession, too, has its occupational hazard - making the ear-drums sensitive, since DJs have to operate with headphones, confirmed by Yuri, who recently got his ear operated. But his love for music keeps him going and this vibrant non-conformist changes tracks as fast as the jiving crowd wants it. These are DJs `with a friendly attitude!'

Collective soul
Anyone visiting this art gallery will be baffled by the variety of exhibits on display - old gramophone records, rangoli portraits, books, ceramic pots, glass paintings, greeting cards, nib-painting. The Balgandharva Kaladalan is playing host to a very different exhibition - one of different hobbies.

The three-day exhibition, which started on October 29, has been organised by the Talegaon-based Chhand Kalavardhini. Origami flowers, embroidery, landscape paintings, sports posters are some of the other interesting exhibits. The aim of the exhibition, according to its organisers, is to encourage visitors to take up hobbies not just as a pastime but to help visitors develop other interests.

The fifth exhibition to be held by Chhand Kalavardhini, it is open between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and again between 4 and 8 p.m.