In the fitness of things
Le meridien is all set to launch a new fitness consciousness in amche Pune with its health club Esprit. Set in five-star plush ambience, the health club will have all the exclusive trappings - imported gym equipment, aerobics facility, steam, sauna, jacuzzi, also a squash court and swimming pool on the terrace, informs health club manager Aparna Deshpande. "It is more of a lifestyle health club. It's not a single activity that we are going to concentrate on, but an entire fitness bonanza which we plan to offer our clients," she says.

With this in mind, she has chalked out a range of activities which are in dire need of physical fitness and plans to hold regular workshops. The first one will be on `Deliverance', which includes pre-natal and post-natal exercise, nutrition and special problems related to that period. This will be held on Sunday, August 29, between 9.30 a.m. and 12.00 p.m. Dr Sumegha Dhabhke, gynaecologist, will talk, while Aparna will demonstrate the exercises. Mothers-to-be, this may be your golden chance, to have an easy delivery.

Setting the night on fire
The problem lay with the image. If most people expected it to be the whacky zany kind of parties that Osho Commune is famous for, then they were wrong. The launch of the inaugural issue of the Asia edition of Osho Times was a subdued affair. Initially, the Osho band played music that had some people doing the `nirvana dance' on the floor. Later, the chief guest Gary Lawyer unveiled the cutout of the copy that was on stage, and it was only when he took the mike that the party came alive. The man had spread the dance mania with his popular number Nights on Fire. In fact, the compere, Shyamolie Verma had to beg with the guy to sing till he was ready to drop. The rest? Well, suffice to say that the Osho Commune managed to keep the rowdy characters out, which helped keep the fun clean and almost nirvana -like.

Nexus on stage
Time and again a nexus has been established between politicians and the underworld. Shubham Theatres brings just this issue on stage in the Marathi play, An Encounter. Focussing mainly on the powerplay between politicians and the underworld, it tries to bring to the fore the criminalisation of politics. Against the coming election, this experience is chilling and one wishes it wasn't true. Framed against two settings -- one of a police chowki and the other the residence of the Chief Minister -- leads you to the murky depths where power and money challenge norms of living clean. At the one end is the politician who dons the mask of respect in society although he is corrupt and his connections with the underworld help him lead a good life. At the other end is the straight-forward police officer who begins a one-man crusade against these wrong-doings. Prabhakar Panshikar as the chief minister and Kuldip Pawar as the inspector are worth watching for their easy presence on stage. Prasad Walavalkar has done acommendable job on the sets.