This club culture enhances knowledge

As humans, our primary need is to stay connected and clubs are one place where we can meet like-minded people and exchange thoughts and ideas while having a good time. Renuka Deshpande explores some interesting hobby clubs in Pune.

Sunbeam’s Science Is Easy Club
This club makes you wish you were a child again. It makes learning science a fun exercise, using fresh approach to teach children (7-14 years) its principles. So you have demonstrations like that of the dancing dolls to explain the concept of magnetic fields, wherein paper dolls are placed on iron nails fixed on a cardboard. A magnet is held below it, and the magnetic effect moves the nails making the dolls placed on them seem like they’re dancing. Similarly, experiments like Balloon Amplifier, Ghost In The Bottle, The Case of Vanishing Reflection and Water Droplet Magnifier among others, from  physics, chemistry and engineering, are taught to the students.

Rachna Patil, the club’s chief coordinator, says teachers for the courses are meticulously chosen, and have a good, basic understanding of science and an excellent command over English. “Besides, we utilise discarded things for our demonstrations. For example, to explain the bending of light, we make use of an old Bisleri bottle,” she adds. Rachna says the classes get a phenomenal response and most of the publicity is through word-of-mouth.

“We don’t include more than nine children in a batch. A worksheet is given to each child, carrying instructions for the experiment, along with a detailed explanation of the scientific theory behind it. This ensures that each child understands the concept, since he or she does it individually, having fun along the way,” informs Rachna.

Jagruti Kasat, whose 11-year-old daughter Siya, was a club member, says her daughter would be excited and happy after getting back from the Science Is Easy classes. “Siya would bring home a few notes and excitedly tell us about what happened during the session. Her interest in science grew after joining the club,” she says.

Beware though, the six-month course, with weekly sessions lasting a hour and a half, conducted mostly in Sunbeam’s classroom in Patrakarnagar lane off Senapati Bapat Road, burns quite a hole in parents’ pockets, costing Rs5,000.

Templepilots Paragliding Club
Adventure sport lovers will probably fall over themselves to know more about this club. Templepilots, a certified paragliding school, which provides an Association Of Professional Pilots & Instructors (APPI) paragliding pilot rating, runs the club. Anita Deshpande Malik, business head Templepilots, says, for most of those who do the paragliding course, becoming a club member is a natural progression.

“The club was started in 2003, after paragliding wasn’t just an adventure sport, but a lifestyle sport as well. Many people with corporate jobs, who’d trained with us, often would go paragliding with their flyers over the weekend, accompanied by family and friends. The benefit of flying in a club environment, under the supervision of the flying school, is the best thing about the club,” says Anita.

The club has travelled to destinations like Bali, Pokhra in Nepal, Yelagiri in Tamil Nadu, Goa and Himachal Pradesh, discovering new mountains and cultures. “The pilots enjoy flying on our outings, while the non-flying members enjoy sightseeing. For the pilots, the sense of belonging they feel in the club, and the opportunity to fly with people who share their passion for flying, is probably what makes them happy,” concludes Anita.

Pune Open Coffee Club
This club is a boon for all start-ups and entrepreneurs in the city. Started by city professionals Santosh Dawara, Navin Kabra, Nick Karnik and Anjali Gupta in 2008, the Pune Open Coffee Club (POCC) was launched after the foursome started a mailing list as an informal forum for entrepreneurs in the city.

“It was after this that someone suggested we decide on a regular time and place to meet over coffee. Now, members meet on the first Saturday of every month in a classroom at Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies & Research (SICSR),” says Santosh, adding that the club’s focus is to strengthen start-ups and entrepreneurial network.

“We educate aspiring entrepreneurs about the basic aspects of how to build a company, how to register it, who to contact, and the likes,” Santosh continues, adding that there is no authority in the club and anyone is free to host an open coffee club on a topic he likes. Membership is free and so are its sessions, which see an attendance of 70-80 people. Although the club started in Shivajinagar, it now has branches across the city in Kalyaninagar, Kothrud and Koregaon Park.

City venture capitalist and entrepreneur Anil Paranjape, who has been a member for three years, says, “I came to Pune from the US, and wanted to know what was happening in the start-ups field in the city. POCC had organised a presentation on the topic and that was how I was introduced to the club. I made friends here, who introduced me to a well-known entrepreneur looking to start a venture capital fund. Now, I am managing that fund,” he smiles.