Beyond the headlines in Pune

Silence is golden  
At a recent press conference in the Pune police commissionerate, reporters did not let go off a point and badgered a police officer, until he blurted out some very important information. The emboldened reporters went for the kill. Sensing the mood, a senior police officer quickly interrupted the discussion and asked his beleaguered colleague to quickly pop in a lozenge to keep his mouth shut.

The ploy worked and the officer kept mum after that, quietly rolling the lozenge in his mouth. He even said, “The next time, instead of offering tea and snacks to the reporters, we should just give them lozenges. They will also keep quiet like me!”
 
Bench strength 
With the 2012 Pune Municipal Corporation elections fast approaching, male corporators are already flexing their election muscles. They have little choice, considering that the new panel system with increased reservation for women has made it an uphill task for them.

The first signs of proactive corporator activity are already visible. Inside the Pune district court premises, for instance, an innovative corporator from the Shivajinagar Gaothan area has already installed brand new steel benches for visitors with his name boldly emblazoned on them.

A bagful of attention
Pleased with the fact that the newspaper had provided her with a netbook, our lady  colleague marched off to buy an appropriate bag for it. She found a very neat bag, which instantly became the cynosure of all eyes. So happy is our colleague with the bag, that it rarely leaves her shoulders. Last heard she was even able to use the bag as an icebreaker at public functions. At a recent press conference, at least four girl reporters reportedly besieged her, wanting to know where she had bought the bag. 
 
‘If music be the food of love…’
The recuperative powers of music have been widely researched and documented. However, it was still interesting to observe the reach of music in the most unlikely of places: the city police headquarters. Our crime reporter was surprised to hear soft, soothing, instrumental music playing in the office of an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) a few days ago.

When he questioned the ACP about it, the senior police officer said, “Haven’t you read that soothing music enhances work flow? Women working in the fields often sing songs to get through with their chores. Ditto with us. I am confident that my team is happier working in this office because of the music playing in the background.”  AR Rahman, are you listening?

‘I am not Anna Hazare’
A wise man once said, ‘Ignore the intelligence of little children at your own peril’. Proof of this was available in one of our lady reporter’s home the other day. For our colleague, getting her 5-year-old son ready for a fancy dress contest in school turned out to be a nightmare. Junior just refused to dress up as Anna Hazare.

His argument was simple. “Why should I wear a cap with, ‘Mee Anna Hazare Aahe’ written on it, when my name is not Anna Hazare at all?’ Also, I do not like to wear a dhoti.” Our colleague tried to convince her little son in vain. Mother and son reached the school late, but junior was not dressed as Anna Hazare. Independent thinking!

— Contributed by Chaitraly Deshmukh, Ashish Jadhav, Kiran Dahitule, Sandip Dighe, Archana Dahiwal and compiled by Rahul Chandawarkar)