प्रमोदच्या न्यूज़ जगतात आपले स्वागत आहे

Domestic help sexually damages herself and creates panic

2011-05-09T02:14:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, a queer case of a maid having sexually damaged herself came to light. She had been working as a house-maid with a British expat family at Odyssey - II in Hiranandani Gardens and had just joined work sometime back. The expat couple have four children and have been living for quite some time in the building.

The maid, Ruksana (name changed), 18 years old was found profusely bleeding from her genitals by the lady of the house on Monday night. The expat's wife panicked and called husband home narrating the saga. They rushed her to Hiranandani Hospital where on questioning by the doctors she told that she has been raped by unknown persons after drugging her.

The doctors at the local hospital advised the expat that since it is a medico-legal case the police has to be informed. The expat then got the police and she was taken to treatment to Rajawadi Hospital (a govt hospital in Ghatkopar). She is still in the hospital undergoing treatment.

While speaking to the senior PI Jhadav of Powai Police he told that, “In her first statement to the police she told us that four men picked her outside the building and bundled her in an auto to Andheri. Where they took turns and then dropped her back near the Odyssey-II.”

The police found anomaly in her statement when she could not elaborate about the rapist's description and grilled her again. This time she came out with another statement to the police. She told the police, “I happened to see the expat couple intimate in the bed and got excited. I got hold of a pipe-like kid's toy and vigorously inserted in and out to satisfy myself and thus damaged my private part.”

This newspaper spoke to the secretary of Odyssey - II who told us, “The expat family has been living her for quite some time, the expat lady is a religious one and they have four children. In fact the couple themselves rushed the maid to the hospital seeing her condition and also alerted the police. A British embassy official is helping them deal with the matter. I have heard lot of rumours of the maid being raped, but it holds no ground. The maid also told the police that the expat family helped save her life. Well, the police will have to investigate the matter for the truth to come out.”

This reporter also met Shabana, elder sister of the maid in Sangharsh Nagar, Chandivili who maintained there is no foul play. She could not explain what exactly she did to herself but she did something and damaged herself. The family is yet to understand what happened to their daughter and are in a state of shock to give any statement that may arouse any foul play.

We also spoke to some maids who have been terrified by the rumours and the plight of the girl. On talking to them the account that they have is not from the victim but hearsay.

MMRDA to install noise barriers outside IIT

2011-05-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

After acquiring land from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay for the road-widening project for the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has decided to install noise barriers along the IIT compound at Powai.

MMRDA officials said after the land acquisition and road widening the distance between the residential buildings and the road reduced greatly and this had led to noise pollution. “During the land acquisition, the IIT authorities had asked us to take measures that could reduce noise pollution. So, we are putting up noise barriers along the compound,” said an MMRDA official. The work will take around six months at a cost of Rs 4.24 crore on a patch more than a kilometre.

The JVLR is one of the busiest roads in the city that connects the eastern suburbs with the western.

Your family hospital at Powai just got at par with world’s best technology in cancer treatment

2011-04-18T02:21:00.000-07:00

Adopts the best available in the world, 'radiation therapy' and 'bone marrow transplant' in cancer treatment. Niranjan Hiranandani announces 250 bed hospital in Thane soon.

Powai now gets identified by its latest landmark, the Hiranandani Hospital in town by its sheer popularity of the best medical healthcare. The hospital is on a spree to modernise and bring the best technology creating centres of excellence.

Keeping in stride with advancements in medical science globally the Indian healthcare is adopting the best available in the world. 'Radiation therapy' and 'bone marrow transplant', two key cancer treatment procedures will witness a paradigm shift with the introduction of the state-of-the-art technology at Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital's cancer center.

Imagine the enhanced safety and efficacy of cancer treatment for a patient when the time required for radiation is 5 minutes from the current 20 minutes; where the radiation machine adjusts itself rather than shifting the patient's position; a machine that only target's the radiation on tumour cells and not the surrounding healthy cells; all forms of cancer where radiation is Bone marrow transplant (BMT) therapy is a major treatment modality for the management of various cancerous as well as non-cancerous conditions. Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital will be the first private facility in Mumbai with capabilities for both the usage of patients' own stem cells or donors stem cells; where air flow is controlled to safeguard patients from infections.

Speaking at the inauguration on Thursday, builder Niranjan Hiranandani told media-persons that, “Our group is planning its second hospital in Thane as the eastern suburbs lacked adequate healthcare facilities. The planned hospital would have facility from a stitch to cancer treatment under one roof. Incidentally, we already operate a polyclinic in the housing complex in Thane.”

Dr Vivek Desai, managing director of HOSMAC, a healthcare consultancy group, said, “Thane needs another hospital. The Bhandup-Thane stretch alone has a population of around 60 lakh. As of now, there are only two main hospitals on this stretch and many a time, patients have to go to the city for treatment.”

When will this road to NAHAR get completed?

2011-04-18T02:18:00.000-07:00

Nahar's Amrit Shakti is a tranquil residential complex coming up quite well in Powai, but the residents here are bogged down by their approach road called DP Rd No. 2. Only one side of the road is operational. The other side of the same road is dug for concretisation and hence the problem.

Last year, during the monsoon this road had become a mess with water stagnating and the numerous potholes adding to the woes of locals. To their relief, as a result public pressure and local media highlighting the BMC 'L' ward relented and started work to concretise this road. What is irking the locals is that eight months have elapsed and the work is not getting completed.

Speaking on the plight a local resident Goyal told PP, “With only one side of the road taking the traffic it is a mess in the peak hours. It takes me 30 to 40 minutes on this stretch daily and many a times I get late for office.”

When PP spoke to the local corporator Chitra Sangle she told, “No doubt it is taking longer for the work to get completed here. Along with concretisation the BMC is constructing storm water drainage and the problem is compounded with electricity and gas pipeline work going simultaneously. It is expected that the road work should be completed before monsoon.”

Yes, Powaiites really went berserk rejoicing World Cup victory

2011-04-12T04:18:00.000-07:00

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Perhaps, Powai never looked as jubilant as on the night of April 2, 2011 when the Indian national cricket team won the World Cup after a gap of 28-long years for the second time by defeating the Sri Lankan team. The Indians were almost equally jubilant on the night of March 30 when it had defeated its arch-rival Pakistan in the semi-finals.

Significantly, the Indians, who largely believe in the power of God, had prayed for the victory of the Indian cricket team in those matches.

As soon as India won the World Cup, people unfurled the Indian national flag with great fanfare. The entire Indian nation was up dancing the whole night to celebrate the victory. In their jubilant mood, men, women, young and old all joined hands to express their joy. Many people celebrated played the colour festival with each other. Estimates are that millions of Rupees worth of firecrackers was used all over the country on the occasion.

Anna’s Lokpal Bill crusade saw massive support from Powai

2011-04-12T04:16:00.000-07:00

The government finally agreed to accept the demands on Lok Pal Bill on Friday morning; the notification was carried by Swami Agnivesh to Jantar Mantar, setting the melee of campaigners for Lok Pal bill into frenzy of celebration. It is the biggest victory of the common man after independence that kept the nation united for building a strong anti-corruption society. The govt has since announced the five-member panel of non-govt reps.

The 72 year-old activist, Anna Hazare, an ex-army driver and school dropout stirred the nation single-handedly provoking a people's revolution unprecedented after 'aazadi'. He launched what he calls 'India's second freedom struggle,' and for five days kept the government on tenterhooks with his fast-unto-death agitation to get the Lok Pal bill implemented.

Powai too caught up with the buoyant mood starting on the third day. Veteran Powaiite Appukutan took initiative with the senior citizen forum by starting the campaign from Powai Plaza. On the first day he maintained speaking to PP, “The rot in society and political system in bribery and corruption has reached an all-time high and until we too participate in the movement of Anna Hazare, we would be doing injustice to our future generations.”

The next day they called for a candle-light march, this galvanised a few hundred Powaiites, who walked with placards, flags, candles shouting slogans and congregate at Galleria vowing to support the campaign started by Anna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Prominent activist citizens of Powai, ladies, common Powaiites and children were seen participating in the rally.

Whereas, thousand registered their sentiments and voiced their support on the internet voting on the site called 'awaz' and facebook. Equally, the mobilezens resorted to tweets and SMS garnering support for the movement.

This newspaper was flooded with SMS and messages on email just after Anna Hazare broke his fast-unto-deat on Friday. We however quote a self-styled fighter of corruption, Mahindra Islaniya of Chandivili who summed it aptly, “Congratulations to Anna Hazare, Kiren Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Swami Agnivesh for winning the anti-corruption semifinal cup. We wish them all the best for the final soon. United we shall never fall thanks to TV media, print media, internet and the RTI activists of United India.”

‘Earth Hour’ initiative at Powai saw excellent response

2011-04-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

Over 150 joined the Young Environmentalists' EARTH HOUR at Meluha - The Fern ecotel Powai Mumbai at 8pm on March 26th for a candle vigil with solar lanterns and lit candles. Citizens took a pledge to save Mother Earth's resources and continue to adopt habit to switch off when necessary. Violinist Sunita Bhuyan performed at Meluha at 8pm, enthralling one and all. The Aromas Café at the D 'Mart circle also held a street show of candle light vigil.

In 2010 Hiranandani complex Powai saved 346911 watts whereas this year due to extra hard efforts it saved 5177028 watts. The first prize for this effort went to Kensington[B] of Hiranandani Business Park, for which Rajeev Singh was honoured.

Second, was Ventura building, whose award was given to Sandhya Ramchandani and Vikrant Bakshe, third prize went to building Sommerset for which Simmon Sigo got the award.

Speaking on the occasion Anusuya De of Young Environmentalists said, “The Earth Hour continues to be a global call to action for communities. Climate change is for real, we need to sustain Planet Earth at least for our next generation if not for ourselves, and we owe it to our children and their children!”

Hiranandani Gardens, Powai Mumbai once again was joined by nearly a billion people in India, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Singapore, Dubai and over 6000 cities in over 130 countries across the globe to observe the Earth Hour on March 26, 2011. At the function held at Melhua, Daniel Chatterton chief of Rodas Green Team said, “Our hotel is an environmental ecotel therefore we are proud to be part of Earth Hour. We all need to conserve energy and sustain Planet Earth even after this one hour of Earth Hour.”

At the Central Avenue in Hiranandani was Aromas Cafe spreading the earth hour message by its street act along with Young Environmentalists members, as many as 100 gathered around to light candles at the street corner so that the aam janta could also get well informed about Earth Hour!

“Aromas Café is delighted to be part of the Earth Hour on 26th March for the first time and support the worldwide cause of climate change in association with NGO Young Environmentalists programme trust. It is inspiring and encouraging to see how a step as simple as switching off lights for an hour can unite communities and countries towards a single cause. We pledge to the cause and had a candle lit dinner at Aromas Café at our Powai outlet from 8.30pm - 9.30pm on 26th March 2011”said Sapana Malhotra, Executive Director, Aromas Café.

HOLI - Celebrating the Colours of joy at Powai

2011-03-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

Force India’s speed-king, Nico Hülkenberg Go-karts at Hakone Powai

2011-03-29T00:57:00.001-07:00

Bringing a whiff of speed to the Indian soil, Kingfisher Premium announced a contest giving 16 lucky fans of 'Force India' a chance to race with the Force India Formula One team's speed king - Nico Hülkenberg as he made his first trip to India along with Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta. Of the 16 selected fans, nine went on to race with the Force India Formula One team driver Nico Hülkenberg after scoring the best lap times in the qualifying races.

Youth in Mumbai gathered in huge numbers to catch a glimpse of the speedsters at the Hakone Go-Kart track, Powai, Mumbai. Nine lucky winners got a chance to battle it out and race with the ace driver as the rest of the captivated masses cheered them on, engaging in a unique 'Race with Force India' contest with the speed master.

This event by Kingfisher Premium had Force India fans who battled it out with each other to match their racing skills with the Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg on Go-Karts. The event was flagged off by Adrian Sutil, Paul Di Resta, Nico Hülkenberg and Samar Singh Shekhawat, Senior Vice President - Marketing, United Breweries Limited. Out of the selected 16 fans, the competition saw nine fans getting selected through preliminary races.

The nine finalists went on to be divided into groups of three with each group racing against Nico Hülkenberg.

The fan who secured the best lap time in each group then went on to qualify for the final race with Nico Hülkenberg. Force India Formula One team fan Naveen Kumar won the final race and celebrated his much earned victory with Adrian Sutil, Paul Di Resta and Nico Hülkenberg.

Speaking on his first visit to India, Nico Hülkenberg said, “It was a fantastic experience to be driving along with the Force India fans here in India. I am already looking forward to interacting with many more fans on my next trip to India. This is my first season with the Force India Formula One team and I am looking forward to driving the new car and being part of India's only Formula One team at the Indian Grand Prix.”

Women with difference descend at Powai

2011-03-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

25 women achievers awarded by YEPT on International Women's Day

Bollywood actresses Diya Mirza, Divya Pallat, Jasmine D’souza, artist Brinda Miller and twenty other distinguished women received the 'Women's Achievers Awards' by Young Environmentalists Programme at Powai in a glitzy ceremony

The city witnessed twenty five deserving women receive the coveted “Women's Achievers Award" by the Young Environmentalists Programme Trust in association with Rodas Ecotel in Powai.

On the eve of Women's International Day on 7th March saw Bollywood Actresses Diya Mirza, Diya Pallat, Jasmine Dsouza and Artist Brinda Miller presented the Women's Achievers Awards by Young Environmentalists Programme trust among a host of other deserving women at Rodas hotel Powai, Mumbai. Parents of actress Priyanka Chopra, Dr. Ashok and Madhu Chopra were chief guests of the programme.

“I believe in women empowerment, and I think that the Young Environmentalists have a lot of that! I also know this because I am a proud parent of a daughter and lucky to have such a great wife like Madhu, two lovely strong ladies in my life,” echoed Dr Ashok Chopra while inaugurating the function.

In an apt flowing green saree, actress Diya Mirza, the Guest of Honour congratulated the Young Environmentalists programme for their efforts in the field of environment, “I salute the Young Environmentalists and truly believe that if each one makes a small effort we can all make the Planet Earth a better place to be in. It is valuable to network to sustain Mother Earth.”

A packed hall full of people cheered as Western Railway's first motor-woman from Bihar Priti Kumari took to the stage, the audience could not get over her spirit and enthusiasm. For some one hailing from Bihar and who drove her first train from Borivili to Churchgate she said, “I am delighted to be here among achievers. I owe my success to my parents.”

India's national hockey player Helen Mary who is an awardee of several international gold medals proclaimed, “Yes It is true that all kinds of people need to network to respect planet Earth and am proud to receive this award,” the crowd continuously applauded her.

The youngest awardee, Krushna Patil, only 20 got the biggest applaud when she walked in at 8.30 pm driving all the way from Pune. She got a standing ovation as this renowned Indian lady who conquered and climbed Mt. Everest came to conquer the Young Environmentalists Programme trophy, “I am thrilled to be here. All I want to say is do not litter, do not throw garbage and simply strive to be eco-friendly in every aspect of life. We, at thousands of feet above ground level and sub-zero temperatures while climbing Mt Everest and several other peaks at Chile, Antarctica and Australia have taken great care to dispose all our waste and garbage. It cost us thousands of dollars but it was well worth making it an eco-trip.”

The lady behind the Happy Home for the Blind at Worli, Meher Banaji who has made a bright difference to lives of thousands echoed her gratitude to the children she is with daily, “I am glad that I have my children to work for and am truly humbled by this award.”

Renowned psychologist Anjali Chabria received her trophy and bought her Mother on stage devoting the award to her guidance in life! While theatre actress Divya Palat who had miraculously recovered from bed rest after a long term ill health situation dedicated her award to her husband who had proposed to her while she was till sick in bed!

International gourmet chef Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal's award was received by her Husband and Mother.

Rushina is away in Australia on a gourmet trail. Dr.Shobha Kapoor of Powai picked her trophy for her social work in the field of substance abuse whereas Dr.Padma Ramakrishnan was awarded for her dedication to her medical practices.

Priti Patkar devoted her award to all the women and children she had ever worked for. Priti is accredited with several path breaking social interventions for the protection and dignity of children and women victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

Economics professor Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Financial expert Deepa Narayanan from ICICI Bank, Ashvini Yardi of Colours TV channel, Hindi literati Sudha Arora, Social worker Minoo Mantri, social causes laywer Girija Balakrishnan, Environmental journalist Bhavika Jain, Green building inspiration international editor Isabelle Hasleder, Marketing media expertise Rozina Gaziyani of Uppercrust, Jasmine D'souza model / actress, Dr.Madhu Chopra, Sharell Maharana of 'about.com', Poorva Joshipura of PETA and Swati Paradkar of 'Lijjat Papad' for women's liberation were of the eminent awardees who graced the Young Environmentalists award function.

The Young Environmentalists Programme Trust recognized leading women who have made a positive difference in the community and stood out as enigmatic leaders. Many have made grass root level efforts, others have campaigned nationwide, some have contributed to policy making decisions by the government and some simply have gone all out to garner public support without a flinch, nonetheless all the 25 have devoted their time and effort in making our world a better place for others!

The success of the event was a true showcasing of the team spirit of the Young Environmentalists!

Powaiites, go and register yourself for ‘Aadhar’ UID Scheme at two centres in Powai

2011-03-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

The two centres in Powai are located at: TIRANDAZ Municipal School, near Powai Hospital, opp IIT in Old Powai and PASPOLI Municipal School, near old traffic post below the L&T flyover at the junction of ADS Marg and Sakivihar Road in Powai. The timing is 9 am to 1 pm on working days. For more info call Toll Free no. 1800-180-1947.

You might have heard about the Planning Commission's initiative of mapping the entire population of India under the Unique Identification Number (UID) Scheme. Interestingly, an alumnus of IIT Powai, Nandan Nilenkni heads this Authority for the Govt of India. The scheme is called 'Aadhar' and managed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Govt. of India.

The Authority aims to provide a Unique Number to all Indians, but not smart cards. It would provide a database of residents containing very simple data in biometrics on a plastic card.

The registration under this scheme in Maharashtra started with Tembhli, Nandurbar district and has now reached Mumbai. In Powai there are 2 centres located at: TIRANDAZ Municipal School, opp IIT in Old Powai and PASPOLI Municipal School, near old traffic post below the L&T flyover at the junction of ADS Marg and Sakivihar Road in Powai. The timing is 9 am to 1 pm on all working days.

Though the project is scheduled to be completed in a period of two years but the Powai centres will work only for one year from now. Don't wait for the last moment, find time and register yourself. It will soon become mandatory for every citizen of India.

The UID will link a person's Passport Number, Driving License, PAN card, Bank Accounts, Address, Voter ID, etc and all this information will be checked through a database.

Those who will opt OUT of this program will have much inconvenience in doing business, operating bank accounts and other offices which will require a UID in times to come.

It will have fingerprint, body-mark and Iris of the eye for unique personal identification embedded in the chip on the card and linked to the central database.

What all documents you need to carry for the UID registration?

The entire process is very simple and does not involve much effort. In fact you just need to take out time for this. Carry original and photocopies of documents pertaining to your Proof of Address and Identity Proof like: Ration Card, Voters ID, Driving License, Bank Latest statement or Passbook, Pan Card, LPG Gas Card, TIN no etc.

Reach the UID Centre in Powai, take a form fill it and attach photocopies of your Proof of Address and Identity Proof, submit it to the concerned officer. Thereafter, they will take your digital fingerprint, image of eye (Iris) and photograph. It will then be computerised then and there. You will then be given a control number to check the progress on their website. That's it! You will get your UID card through Indian Post shortly.

Residents to kick-start revival of BMC ‘S’ Ward Citizens’ Committee

2011-03-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

The 'S' ward in Mumbai is full of sky-scrapers lining the Powai skyline, the new malls coming up in Kanjurmarg and Bhandup, also housing many mega corporates like L&T, Godrej, Hiranandani to name a few, long JVLR flyovers running across the ward, unfortunately riddled with unending encroachments, massive traffic issues, landslides in Parksite Vikhroli and several never ending issues, the ward truly needed to bridge the gap between the citizens and BMC officials.

On Thursday the 3rd of March over 60 citizens from all walks of life came together on a working day to support the formation of the BMC citizens committee at the Rodas ecotel, Powai. The meet was called by the BMC 'S' ward and conducted by the Young Environmentalists Programme Trust after realising that so many issues needed support of citizens to solve the same.

Citizens from Bhandup, Kanjurmarg, Vikhroli, Rambaug, Raheja Vihar, IIT Market Powai, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai Plaza, Panch Shristi, Panch Kutir, Gandhi Nagar, Phule Nagar, Holy Trinity Church, St Xavier's zone of Bhandup among several others responded to the BMC's call for an alliance to join a proactive group.

R.Biradar the Asst.ward commissioner of the 'S' ward at the function said, “There is a need for restructuring the existing ward BMC-Citizens structure in 'S' ward where roles and responsibilities of committee members and the services, infrastructural and support needed from BMC can be properly defined.” He further added, “We can define a list of possible activities of citizens to contribute towards, identify locality and support needed from ward. Various levels of engaging with BMC can be outlined.”

The meeting was a callout for citizens, NGO's and trusts, housing societies, Corporates and local groups to join hands, help in fixing dates of monthly meetings as well as review the working of BMC-Citizens' Committee. Local citizens like Shekar Iyengar, Bhupendra Shah, Shreyas Sirigeri, Dinesh Udiawar, Dilip Savant, R.R.Nair, Apanna Shetty, Raut BK, P.J.Sunoni, C Alfonso, Mohan Sequiera, V Appukuttan, Herald Mascerenhas, Vivienne Choudhury, Vivek Nagpur, Sunil Sarma, Nisha Yadav, Sanjay Tiwari, Ashok Bhutalal, Mazie Coelho, Vijaya Reddy, Meenakshi Subramanium, Teresa George, Kavita Asher and Joseph Reddy have come forward to comprise the task force.

All participants felt the dire need to revive the alliance between the BMC and ward citizens to expedite solutions to various issues regarding pollution, water, malaria, encroachments, traffic, open spaces, parking, illegal hutments and shops, stray dogs, road repairs and lights besides numerous other civic issues.

A local resident, Dilip Savant of Raheja Vihar commented, “We should clearly know that what is the procedural modality for interacting with BMC? We want to help BMC to better fulfil its mandatory obligations of providing civic services to the city of Mumbai. Only by uniting can we work in a proactive manner. We have stray dogs' problems and traffic congestions also at Raheja Vihar. We are caught between two wards the 'L' ward and 'S' ward and are always in a fix.”

Regarding the proactive approach to citizens working together spoke Richard Noronha from the Holy Trinity Church Parish zone, “Outside our church are on the JVLR we have slum people still defecating after so many years on the main road. Why are the toilets not functional? Slum goons control the usage of the toilets leaving the kids to use the roads. The BMC management system needs to be backed up by organised structures within and outside the BMC to improve the delivery of civic services and responsiveness of the BMC through citizen participation.”

BMC Citizens alliance group needs to help expedite solutions and not have one or two hardworking individuals but active groups to be responsible for the entire streets or lane or area. Informed Sanjay Tiwari of Rambaug Powai, “The World Bank has conducted a survey on accidents on JVLR, how many of us know that. We need to meet more often and find solutions. At Rambaug we have stopped heavy duty vehicles plying and have brought down water rates. Even the street lights need to be resurrected. If all citizens get together we can move mountains.”

For the purposes of achieving a sustainable organisational structure for the involvement of local citizens groups the ward officers requested that the group should consist of residents as well as corporate and commercial establishments in the local areas to help re-structure and segregate problems. Regarding plastic pollution, voiced Bhupindra Shah of Powai also wanting to ban plastic bags in the ward, "We must go house to house and enforce this ban by distributing cloth bags. The committee is still an open one ready to welcome more members on the work force, those interested can contact the 'S' ward office. This is just an initial get together to start the committee. "

The initiator of the meeting, Elsie Gabriel of Hiranandani Gardens Powai said, “The 'S' ward in Mumbai is a heady mixture of hills, lake and plains, wetlands also covering the eastern corridor of the 'S' ward, with people from all over the world, specially many flocking to Powai . It is truly a kaleidoscope of much diversity. The need of the hour is to get as many citizens and groups involved in reviving a BMC - Citizens committee so as to address issues in a more structured manner with the help of the BMC ward officials.”

In totality about 22 citizens came forward to join the BMC - ward committee, which was a good start according to all present, who went away eager to sustain the dynamic ward on all fronts! Hopefully more will join the force.

Maha Shivratri Celebrations in neighbourhood

2011-03-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

A Tableaux with giant Shivling was taken in a procession through the streets of Powai complete with period attired sadhus by the Brahmakumaris. The Jagdeeswara temple dedicated to Lord Shiva at the Chinmaya Ashram in Powai and the Shiva temple at Powai Vihar saw hectic activity. Devotees in large numbers thronged for the puja since midnight till the next day, they offered milk and bel patra to the Lord. This could be the biggest event attracting thousands to this temple in a year.

Maha Shivratri or the Great Night of Shiva is a Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 13th night/14th day in the Krishna Paksha (waning moon) of the month of Maagha. The festival is principally celebrated by offerings of Bael (Bilva) leaves to the Lord Shiva, all day fasting and an all night long vigil. As per scriptural and discipleship traditions, the penances are performed in order to gain boons in the practice of Yoga and meditation, in order to reach life's summum bonum steadily and swiftly.

Luxury stay just got redefined at ‘Meluha-The Fern’ hotel in vicinity

2011-03-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

Meluha - The Fern, a 5 Star Business Hotel with 141 rooms is now open in Powai. This is the next ecotel hotel opened in Hiranandani Gardens after Rodas Ecotel. The property is developed and owned by Hiranandani Group which is managed by Concept Hospitality.

Its name has been derived from Indus Valley Civilization connotation, Meluha which was commonly used in ancient text to refer to this wealthy vast and powerful land that flourished for more than a thousand years. The sheer genius of their engineering, the plainly apparent egalitarianism of their city planning, their love of peace and order that fascinated historians for ages, has combined with the pressing issues we face today - Environment.

A PP team went to stay at Meluha for a day in order to check out the luxury experience, that the hotel boasts. It was a real feel-good-indulgence to savour the well-appointed rooms of this newly opened hotel. What was strikingly visible was the emphasis on detailing in planning and execution; this is evident right from the moment you check in. It is a veritable walk-through sheer elegance and contemporary minimalism, spelling class.

The man credited to execute this project Punish Sharma, the Area General Manger of Meluha told us, “Some of the best inputs available in the hospitality industry have gone in raising this hotel not only to keep it at par with international standards but to ascribe to the ecotel standards in keeping it environment friendly. An exclusive centralised in-house training dept at Concept Hospitality takes care to maintain highest professional standards at the hotel. It is one of the most modern hotels in town keeping in mind the requirement of a global business traveller and to make him feel at home with all that he needs to conduct his business.”

Punish had been managing the Rodas ecotel in Hiranandani for the last five years. He has been throughout supporting community causes and his innate belief in environmental issues has made him an active community member connecting positively with the people of Powai. He intends to keep his initiatives going on in the same action mode with Melhua too.

The luxurious hotel rooms are designed to offer space, comfort and luxury. The rooms have elegant interior design infused with a warm ambience. They are controlled by an electronic panel designed to conserve energy and enjoy the best staying experience. The tufty carpeting, soothing curtains and high ceilings are the ones that give the feel of richness and -grandeur.

The other feature in the rooms like: luxurious feather mattresses, custom duvets, luxury linens, writing desk with high speed internet connection, laptop friendly safes, refrigerated minibar, walk-in wardrobe, direct dialing local/intl with voice mail, 42” LCD TV with multi- port jack with cable connection, complimentary exclusive mineral water bottles, tea/coffee maker, in room pillow menu, shower cubical and light makeup/shaving mirror. The rooms range from the choice of Wintergreen Rooms to Fern Suites. It also has one exclusive Presidential suite, most noteworthy worth checking it out.

The extensive banquet and conference facilities at the hotel can accommodate up to 500 pax in theatre style. This should be of particular interests to the local population, yet another swanky venue to hold marriages, reception and banquets right in the neighbourhood.

At present the restaurant TIARA on the ground floor offers all day dining area serves multi cuisine buffet spread for breakfast, lunch, dinner and also a midnight spread apart from a sumptuous a'la carte menu featuring an array of dishes from all across the globe. And the Bar offers a large selection of premium wines, juices and smoothies.

The yet to open MAGNOLIA, Specialty Restaurant shall offer nouvelle cuisine with great wine lists wherein emphasis shall be on freshness of food ingredients avoiding rich foods while food presentation is highlighted.

Leela Putali - Crafting passion from sea-shells

2011-03-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

Powai is a multi-cultural cosmopolitan society with hidden talent in its people. This became evident when last week I had gone to Sunflower bldg. in Hiranandani Powai that I noticed a chic mural outside a flat made of sea-shells.

It was so striking that I could not resist and decided to check out myself, I rang the bell of this flat to find a senior citizen attending my call.

When I asked about the sea-shells mural, I learnt that this 75 year old lady Leela Putali is the one who has crafted that mural. She agreed to talk more on this and when I told her that I from the local newspaper she invited me inside.

Her drawing room had numerous frames, murals, object-de-art and vases crafted from sea-shells adorning her living space. It was a beautiful sight to see this enthusiastic lady describe her passion so vividly, she got completely engrossed and had become nostalgic talking about her hobby.

Leela was reminiscent about her husband Ganesh, who has expired sometime back; it was he who encouraged her to pursue collecting sea shells whenever they went to Dadar and Versova beaches in Mumbai. She has been collecting these marine left overs for last 40 years. She made it a point to collect these shells on her sojourn to various coastal towns she has visited.

Then in 1970 she started creating patterns, designs and motifs from these sea shells. Most of the time she gifted them to her friends and relatives, she never sold any of her creations as a matter of policy. It is only now that she her hands tremble and she is not in a position to craft anymore. She still has a vast collection of these shells and can teach an eager enthusiast her skills.

She recalls that it was RK Laxman's wife known to her, who made her creations public. She once took her to the Ladies Club to display her sea-shell creation; it was instantaneously appreciated by all the members. Thereafter, all the households in the area came to know about her.

Some of her creations adorn the walls of Taraporewala Aquarium in South Mumbai. There could be many more like Leela Putali having creative talent and being hidden in Powai who need to be talked about. We salute the spirit of women like her who have made their lives meaningful by pursuing such creative hobbies and deriving solace in their autumn of their lives.

2 dead 1 injured in fatal accidents at Powai

2011-03-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Powai saw two fatal accidents last week. In the first one a 9 year old boy got crushed to death under a speeding towing van on the road at Alpha and Princeton Bldg in Hiranandani Powai. In the second one a hit-and-run case, on the same day a motorcyclist with a pillion rider got bumped by a speeding truck from behind on the Rambaug flyover on the ADS Marg at the lake. They were rushed to a hospital, the pillion rider was brought dead to the hospital and the driver is in a critical state in ICU.

Rahul Tanasar (9) had come to Hiranandani Powai to meet his uncle Suresh Wagh who works here. After meeting him he was leaving for home and was crossing the road at Alpha Bldg around 1 pm when a speeding towing van coming from Rodas side ran over him. Tanasar's head got crushed by the van and he died on the spot. It was a gruesome sight on the road.

For fear of being beaten by the crowd, the driver of the van Abdul Rahim fled the scene. Police arrived on the scene immediately and with the help of locals rushed him to Rajawadi hospital, where he was declared dead. The driver of the van later surrendered himself to the ACP office in Panchkutir.

Powai police has taken him into custody for rash and negligent driving and charged him under IPC section 304(A).

On the same day in another case of hit-and-run accident a motor cyclist (bike regn no. MH 03 AY 5919) with a pillion rider, Mandar and Ashish Salunkhe were going from L&T side towards Gandhinagar. An unknown speeding truck bumped them on the Rambaug flyover knocking them off balance. The pillion rider Ashish died on the spot with impact of the crashing truck and the Mandar driving the bike was found in a unconscious state by the police. They were evacuated to Hiranandani Hospital Powai, where Ashish was declared brought dead and Mandar is undergoing treatment in a critical state in the ICU.

The police have registered a case against an identified truck driver (absconding) under IPC sections 279, 338, 304(A), Motor Vehicle act 134 (A) (B). The Sr PI of Powai police Ashok Jhadav said, “We have registered a case in this matter and are trying to nab the absconding driver.”

Neighborhood gets a new Traffic Chief

2011-03-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

The suburb of Powai, coming under Saki Naka traffic jurisdiction saw a very able traffic officer Sanjay Neklikar at the helm of traffic. He stayed in Powai and did a tenure of one and half years at this division.

Now, the charge of Saki Naka traffic division has been handed over to SI Ravindra Patil with immediate effect. He has moved here from Andheri police station.

In the recent past some traffic regulation has been enforced in Powai like one-way-entry, one-side parking, No-parking regulation and signals working on the ADS Marg. But what needs to be addressed by the new SI will be controlling heavy vehicles in the residential complex and smooth flow of traffic within the complex and ADS Marg.

The challenges before him are: putting speed breakers and Zebra crossing paths and warning blinker lights on the ADS Marg at pedestrian crossings near the bus stands and Ganesh Ghat at the lake. He needs to address the bottleneck in peak hours at the Gandhinagar crossing which subsequently affects the Powai section.

Patil is from the 1987 batch of Sub Inspectors of Mumbai police. Prior to this posting he has been with Pydhonie, Trombay, Asst Police Inspector Crime branch followed at Sahar, Bandra and Andheri police stations. During his tenure with crime branch he has to his credit solving quite a few double murder and cheating cases.

Patil told PP, “Traffic division is a major component of Mumbai Police and I take this as a challenging posting. Like in the past I have taken my duty seriously and discharged them diligently. I will work to the challenges of making the flow of traffic better in Saki Naka division as well.”

He mentions that any resident who wants to give any suggestion for better of traffic issues can meet him personally or call the Saki Naka traffic divn. The Saki Naka traffic is located below the L&T flyover on the JVLR opp L&T Gate No 7 and the contact number is: 24691636, email pi.sakinaka@trafficpolicemumbai.org

Commandos nab bag snatcher, hand him to police, CCTV recording makes strong case

2011-03-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

It was a sort of achievement for the complex security that they could nab one of the accused who had snatched a hand bag around 11 am from a senior lady walking with her spouse near Aromas in Hiranandani Powai on 28th Jan, the bag contained a cash of ` 5000 and important items like credit cards and keys etc. The commandos did chase them at the time of incident till one of the accused flashed a chopper at him narrowly the commando.

Having fled on the day of crime, one of them was spotted a day later on the 2nd Feb, on the same bike by the private security guards in Hiranandani Complex. On suspicion, the private security of the complex nabbed the biker and questioned him, the youth confessed his crime of having snatched the bag on Friday in Hiranandani. On searching him they recovered 17 SIM cards 4 mobiles and a 'Human Rights' ID Card from him. He was handed over to Powai police.

On further investigation it was learnt that on 1st Feb this youth, Tousif Khan (23) was arrested by the Oshiwara police on 30 Jan along with his accomplice Nazim (same guy who was with him in Powai on the snatching day). The duo it is learnt belong to a middle class family living in Pantnagar Ghatkopar.

Tousif managed to get himself out from Oshiwara police within one hour of his arrest flashing his father's ID card and with his contacts. They were arrested by the Oshiwara police in some drug case. His accomplice (Nazim) was detained by Ohiwara police and has now been brought to Powai police on 2nd Feb for further investigation.

During investigation by media it came out that the bike seized from the duo has been stolen from Oshiwara police station, this has put the cops in a tight spot. Now a water tight case has been built and they are in police custody. With the CCTV footage and their flashing of chopper at the private guard a strong case is being framed. They will soon be produced in the court.

Senior Inspector Ashok Jadhav of Powai police said, “We are interrogating the duo to find out how many chain snatching and other offences they have committed in our area.”

Meanwhile, the Hiranandani administration has woken up to the challenge, Joseph Reddy GM Admin said, “We are in the process of installing more cameras along the main road to monitor the area and increase surveillance of the complex. Meantime, we request the residents to be vigilant and cooperate with us and the police.”

Spiritually inclined ‘youngster’, spreading gyan at a local temple

2011-03-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

“The real happiness and bliss which we all are searching for is only in knowing our eternal loving relationship with God and that in this human life we must realize God,” says Radhesham Das

In this competitive world, our children are so busy with their studies, extra-curricular activities, pursuing career and planning for future, that there is hardly any time left for spirituality and that is why a huge number of students are suffering from mental stress, trauma and depression.

Many find suicide as a solution to these problems, which is a big loss of valuable human life. Mostly, people turn to spirituality in the later stages of their life when the bright part of their life is over.

However, a miracle is happening, an angel has landed in our very own Powai. At 25, with a degree of computer engineering and a multinational job in hand, a youngster named Radheshyam Das, who is a disciple of Sant Srila Madhusudan Bapujia - pure, pious and divine soul and the spiritual head of Shri Krishna Bhakta Parivaar - is desperately trying to spread the message of Lord Krishna given in Bhagavad Gita, to the world.

He regularly conducts spiritual discourse (satsang) at the Shiva temple in Powai Vihar for last many months. He also goes to temples in Sion Koliwada and Ghatkopar.

Born in Ambernath, studied at Fatima School Dombivili, he has done BE (Computers) degree from Thadomal Shahani Engineering College Bandra. He works for Tech Mahindra. He used to frequent the vada pav stall outside the ashram of Sant Sree Madhusudan Bapuji, and he happened to know the owner of the stall who once took him inside for the discourse. Listening to the spiritual words of Bapuji transformed him and he got spiritually inclined, going deep into the realms of spirituality. Thereafter he undertook the mission to spread this gyan.

He has such vast knowledge of the Vedas, that when he starts speaking, listeners are completely mesmerized and his discourses leave a great impact on them.

After listening to him once, everybody wants to hear him, again and again. He has a convincing power great enough to change your lives completely, and lead you towards the way of liberation from the continuous cycle of birth and death, which is cause of our sufferings, birth after birth.

Such a process of self-realization can be achieved in this 'dark age' (Kalyug) by a loving devotional service to God, the ultimate aim of mankind.

He is on a mission to change the mindset of people. People are superstitious for many things related to God, due to which they remain unaware to the real concept of true love towards God. Such love is everlasting and ever blissful. This human form of body is really precious to awaken the dormant love for God, which is hidden inside each and every soul.

People interested to experience his magical satsang can visit: Shiv Temple, Powai Vihar, near Gopal Sharma School, Powai. You could email the author at karanisunita@yahoo.co.in to gain more insight on this youngster.

World Wetlands Day saw over 180 audience pledge to put Mumbai’s wetlands on the Ramsar Convention

2011-03-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

February 2nd 2011, World Wetlands Day celebrations by WWF & Young Environmentalists programme trust at Rodas ecotel, Powai, Mumbai saw photographer Baiju Patil, Sagar Gosavi and Sanjay Hadkar win the contest with the prize -winning captures of wetlands in India.

Out of over three hundred entries from all over the world, the wetlands of Ladakh, birds food habit along with Sewri flamingoes and a man picking at the mudflats three of which spoke a thousand words won the WWF & YEPT trophies. The photography contest saw contestants from Switzerland, France, Lakshadweep, USA, Gujarat, Orissa, Pakistan, Tamil Nadu, Thane, Bhopal, Pune and Mumbai, making it the first of its kind to take off on efforts to save our wetlands through documentation.

The World Wetlands day celebrations hosted by the Young Environmentalists and the WWF saw a good meeting ground for many environmentalists under one roof at the Rodas ecotel, Powai .

Adll. M.Commissioner R.Biradar of MCGM, Prof.Ivan John of Sophias college, photographers like Kedar Bhat, Yuwaraj Gurjar, Sachin Rai, Swapan Mukherjee, Mitali Kakar Chief of Reefwatch, Vivienne Choudhury, V.Appukuttan, Lalita Vasan, Prof Sahu, and Prof Seema Thakur, Rodas Green team chief Daniel Chatterton, Area GM Punish Sharma of Meluha-The Fern ecotel, Elsie Gabriel Founder Young Environmentalists Programme and Goldin Quadros of WWF Mumbai and chief guest Rishi Agrawal Mangrove expert were some of the environment patrons who graced the Wetlands day celebrations. Student groups from the Hiranandani Foundation School, Children's Academy Kandivli, Sophias College, SIES College, S.M. Shetty College and Environment Institute besides many other colleges also attended the programme.

Ace photographer Kedar Bhat delivering an interactive lecture on wildlife photography on wetlands day said, “It is vital to use photography for documentation and research projects as part of all environment work,use photography wisely concentrating on light, angle and composition of the subject matter.”

Over 200 enthusiastic audience got a chance to dive into the Ocean with Mitali Kakar Chairperson, Reef Watch Marine Conservation, a certified award winning diver who screened her award winning film “troubled waters', under the oceans in Lakshwadeep wetlands to share a whole new world of marine and coral water world. Mitali said, “Wetlands and oceans are filled with rich biodiversity of fish and shrimp and need our efforts to take care of them.”

At the meet Chief Guest Rishi Agrawal, the Mangrove expert expounded on the need to unite all environmentalists under one umbrella so as to make a proactive approach to saving our wetlands, “The wetlands of Mumbai will save us from future floods and disasters, we need to protect them by documenting them. We need to unite for this cause.”

Every year the Ramsar Convention selects a theme and raises awareness on specific types of wetlands or aspects of wetland management. This year the theme they have selected is Wetlands and Forests which was chosen especially as 2011 is the UN International year of Forests. Informed Elsie Gabriel founder YEPT, "Forested wetlands are biologically diverse areas which not only help freshwater management but also provide carbon storage- a very important property in a world threatened by rising Green House Gas emissions and climate change."

Regarding Mumbai putting their own wetlands on the Ramsar convention list strongly voiced WWF Mumbai Chief Goldin Quadros, “Not only mangroves but also taloas, and lakes also are wetlands and today we need to make a petition to unite to put atleast one of our wetlands bodies on the Ramsar convention list and safeguard our mangroves and wetlands.Out of 160 taloas and ponds only about 68 are left in Mumbai, there is a great need to recognize and document these water bodies.”

States Punish Sharma-Area Manager of the Meluha The Fern ecotel and Rodas ecotel, “ Meluha The Fern ecotel at Hiranandani, Powai is the first 5-Star Hotel brings to you the first 'Leeds certified Green building' with 'Ecotel certified green' environmental operation. We are proud to this environmental event bringing patrons from all across India under our hospitality.”

Later the event saw all in the audience take a pledge and sign a signature campaigne to save our wetlands and unite to conserve the environmental water hubs. WWF Mumbai & YEPT have decided to draft a letter to the Maharashtra Government to save the water-bodies of Mumbai and also to have atleast some of them to be put on the Ramsar Convention list. A signature campaign further to this would also be launched.

Photographs of oil filled mangroves, mangrove destruction, mangrove birds and mangrove marine life besides many rivers, lakes, ponds were displayed. Eminent wildlife and nature photographers like Kedar Bhat, Dr Caesar Sengupta,Yuwaraj Gurjar, Baiju Patil,Santosh Kowalkar, Yogesh Rane, K.K.Choudhury, Suchit Nanda, Sachin Rai, Sanjay Hadkar, Swapan Mukherjee, Hiren Dave,Summer Verma, Elsie Gabriel, Pramod Chavan, Mukesh Trivedi, Hiren Dave, Anita Anand, Sagar Gosavi were among numerous others who exhibited their photographs and graced the occasion!

Fraudsters arrested trying to sell Gold at rock bottom price

2011-03-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

The Powai police recently arrested two accused who were involved in several cases of cheating and duping people by promising gold at very low rates. They were nabbed after police laid a trap at wine shop where they had come to strike a deal.

A 55-year-old woman and her nephew have been arrested for duping people by promising to sell them gold ornaments at rates less than the market price. The police are now on the lookout for the mastermind of the gang, who is believed to over 60 years old.

Sitaram, the absconding accused, approached Balwinder Singh (30), a Powai based businessman and told him that he had found gold ornaments while digging on his farm in Bijapur, said a police officer. "He told Balwinder that he was selling the ornaments, weighing 1.5 kg, for Rs 2 lakh," he added.

The trap was laid after the wine shop owner Balwinder alerted the police. Sitaram, the head of the gang, approached Balwinder a few days ago and told him that he and his family members were in dire need of money. He also said that they had found some gold while digging in a field at Gujarat and wanted to sell the gold immediately.

A police officer said, “Sitaram had shown a sample of gold ornaments to Balwinder after which he agreed to buy the gold. Singh's friend alerted him as he had been cheated by in a similar way earlier.” He added, “This raised suspicion about the accused alerted the police. Acting on the tip off, the trap was laid on Wednesday and two members of gang identified as Gangabai Solanki, 55 and Laxman Gelod, 32, were nabbed.”

Sub-inspector S J Shirsat said it is too late by the time the victims realize they have been duped. "A few months ago, a businessman in Powai was duped of Rs 15 lakh by a gang using a similar modus operandi," he said. The gang consists of over 15 members, the police officer added.

'Powai Nisarg Udyan' inaugurated by Uddhav Thackeray, lambasts local MLA for hogging credit

2011-03-16T10:36:00.001-07:00

The piece of land jutting into the Powai Lake where once stood the camping site for Scouts and Guides was acquired by BMC for beautification is now done up and is called 'Powai Nisarg Udyan'.

Four years after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation started the renovation work, the Powai Lake was finally reopened for public on Saturday. The place was inaugurated by Mayor Shraddha Jadhav and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray.

The BMC has been criticised for the delay and huge cost variations involved in the controversial beautification project that was strongly opposed by locals who felt the project would destroy the natural flavour of the place.

Following the completion of the project, the Powai lake side will have a 2-km long jogging track-cum-walkway, musical fountains, children's play area and park. Even after beautifying the surroundings of the lake, the civic body is yet to take up the actual cleaning of the lake water.

However, the controversy surrounding the 400 per cent cost escalation still remains. The cost of the project shot up from Rs 8 crore to Rs 34 crore. Even after this, officials said that a part of the walkway was yet to be completed.

The Sena president lambasted the MLA for putting up banners along the ADS Marg hogging credit for the beautification work at the lake. He clarified that it was the effort of Sena with its hegemony at the BMC that this work has been done. He also mentioned Naseem Khan's visit to the Park two days prior of his inauguration and seeking to inaugurate the same.

During his inaugural address Uddhav suggested for a bird sanctuary at the Powai Lake garden and erecting a statue of Bharat Mata in the lake, on lines of statue of Liberty. He however, seconded Naseem Khan's demand for a crocodile island in the lake for their nesting.

Chain & bag snatchers strike with vengeance at Central Avenue

2011-03-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

SCENARIO - Saturday 10 am - place: near Aromas Hiranandani - a bike borne snatcher strikes he approaches a senior citizen lady from behind, snatches her gold chain and hand bag runs immediately from the scene - the commotion attracts the nearby commandos - on of the commandos chases the fleeing snatcher - the snatcher brandishes a chopper at the chaser - the chasing commando ducks and narrowly misses his arm by a hairline - the snatcher flees with his accomplice already waiting on his bike nearby.

This was a scene that happened on one of the busiest street in Hiranandani at Central Avenue in broad daylight. It was a shocking incident taken place in quick succession within 10 days of the laptop thieves striking at the same spot where this daring robbery took place. Meanwhile, the commandos have filed a report with the local police station.

Joseph Reddy, the GM Admn of Hiranandani Group told PP that soon more surveillance cameras would installed on the entire stretch of the busy sections of this road to monitor and record activities.

The Powai Youth who ran the full Marathon

2011-03-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

Manish Lala (27) is a spirited young man from Powai Vihar who has taken running the Mumbai Marathon in good stead. This was his second year when he ran the full distance of 42.195 kms from CST to Bandra and back in 6 hrs:17 mins at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2011.

Last year too, he ran the full distance and completed the run. Though, Manish is not an athlete but he loves to participate in such city sports events with a purpose. He considers this as an annual ritual to test his stamina. He reasons that this keeps one healthy and fit too.

Manish is pursuing a course diploma in Hardware & Networking and also working with L&T Infotech Powai.

Meeting with MLA Naseem Khan and Civic Authorities

2011-03-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Mantri ji ney lagaya Powai mein Durbar

MCGM and building proposals dept told not to give permission for new construction in Hiranandani until they have totally complied to all the rules. Work on a Community Centre for Hiranandani residents will begin in 2 months' time. MLA Naseem Khan has sanctioned 9 FOBs on the ADS Marg, they will have lifts.

New Powai started making an impact on the urban living scene in Mumbai sometime around 1985. Twenty six years later it has attracted the attention of politicians, bureaucrats and the policy makers quite seriously. This became evident by the recent 'durbar' held by our local MLA Arif Naseem Khan on the 18th of Jan at Lake Castle bldg. in Hiranandani Garden to redress civic problems being faced by this township.

The public meeting was organised at the behest of Jago India Movement (JIM), Hiranandani Gardens Residents Welfare Association, Jal Vayu Vihar Resident Welfare Association, AGNI, CITISPACE. These bodies combined their efforts to bring about a meeting with the minister and the public authorities on civic issues.

The officials who attended the public meeting were: MLA: Arif Naseem Khan, District Collector: Nirmal Deshmukh, Chief Engineer BMC - Building Proposals: Raut, Senior PI Traffic: Nighlekar, Senior PI Powai police: SI Jadhav, 'S' Ward Officer: Biradkar and Hiranandani Representative: Joseph Reddy. Apart from this contentious local residents attended the meeting. Some prominent ones spotted were: SK Saksena, JA Shah, Seema Thakur.

The outcome of the meeting between public officials and residents on civic issues discussed are as follows:

Quarrying issue:

It was enumerated by the minister that the High court order states that there should be no quarrying in NDZ in Mumbai. Abiding by this rule, Naseem Khan has instructed the Executive Engineer and others from the Building Proposals Department to stop giving any further construction permissions to anyone in the hill area of Powai.
In the presence of the District Collector, Naseem Khan has also instructed the Building Proposals Department to submit a copy of the re-sanctioned plans, wherein the proposed hilltop bungalows are disallowed to Supreme Infrastructure, to the NGOs working on this cause.
Moreover, he has asked the building proposals department to take an undertaking from the builders that they will not change their usage from IT to any other purpose. He has also told MCGM and building proposals dept not to give permission for new construction in Hiranandani until they have totally complied by all the rules and regulations that they have violated till now.
Naseem Khan has instructed the buildings proposal department to dismantle the tin sheds that have propped up near the hill.

Traffic, Law & Order, Public Community Centre:

Sakinaka Traffic Dept to depute a Mobike Rider to monitor traffic in Hiranandani on a continuous basis.
Traffic Constable at Central Avenue near Eden who will monitor the one way rule (a towing van and two constables already posted at Blue Bells CHS since 19th Jan).
SI Jadhav of Powai Police has been told to report directly to Naseem Khan on the law and order in and around the Hiranandani area. Hiranandani representative Joseph Reddy said that there are plans of putting up security cameras around the complex, Naseem Khan asked Reddy to expedite this effort.
Given the rash driving of call-centre drivers, all the call-centres have been directed to tell their drivers to follow road safety rules strictly and to drive carefully. Letters to the Directors of theses call centres will be written on this matter.
Movement of heavy vehicles to be restricted at night. Barricades may be put up as well.
Speed limits and 'No Honking' signs to be put near school areas.
Pedestrian pavement to be built on the Hiranandani school road so that parents and children can walk safely.
Zebra crossings to be painted on all the junctions within 8 days.
Call centre buses not to be allowed to park on the main road.
Naseem Khan told the concerned officials to remove the barricade at Swaminarayan junction to allow easy flow of traffic towards Kailas Complex.
Sound pollution will be monitored by the police by using a Noise Level Check device.
Parking by shop owners like Dominos and Papa John's occupies public parking space, hence this issue will be followed up with Hiranandani Builders' representative.
Work on a Community Centre (measuring 2000 sq metres) for all Hiranandani residents will begin in 2 months' time. It will mostly be in the area opposite Norita building. This has been confirmed by the Hiranandani Builders' representative.

Foot-over-bridges (FOBs)to come on ADS Marg

MLA Naseem Khan has sanctioned NINE FOBs on the ADS Marg. The unique feature is that this over bridge will have lifts operating in them which will be highly beneficial for senior citizens and children who wish to cross over to the Powai lake area. Work on this project will start this February and it will take approximately 6 months to complete.

2011-03-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

For first time in Hiranandani complex history, there was a society event that created a strong impact and recall. Yes, we are talking about none other than the Annual Function of Odyssey 1 society, one of the premium societies of Hiranandani complex Powai.

The function was held on 16th Jan at the building premises. Arabian Night being the theme of the event had a lot of exciting things in store for all the guests. There was an entire area cordoned off with white masking filled with colorful lighting and decor, all in the chosen theme. Amazing theme cut-outs were placed all over the area. All men were complimented with head gear and all women with veils to place on their face which enhanced the theme.

The theme decor also included few lit up decorated tents, each with some activity going on. There were tarot readers, mehendi, caricaturists, glitter artist etc in a tent. Guests were lazing around enjoying hukka in one tent, creating the perfect Arabic atmosphere. Live performances not only included building members participating in dance, music but also had professional fire dancers and magician act that brought out immense fun amongst to the entire crowd.

A lavish and sumptuous spread of food included exotic seafood, special Arabic food-counter that served hummus with pita and shawarma - an Arabic delicacy along with various vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes catered by one of the finest caterers Mini Punjab. The manager of Mini Punjab Salman quoted by the end of the event " We have managed so many big events and functions at all levels, but have never managed a society function of this high a level. It's absolutely phenomenal “

All said and done, the other highlights of the event included attendance of various chairman and secretary of surrounding towers of Hiranandani complex. We also managed to see Joseph Reddy from Hiranandani Group and SI Ashok Jadhav from Powai police station attending this classic event.

All thanks to the efforts put by Hon. Secretary Kumar Katara along with the committee members of Odyssey 1 society. This was truly a one of a kind society get together annual event.

Rodas’ new wing, ‘Meluha - The Fern ecotel’ had its ribbon cutting ceremony

2011-03-16T10:24:00.001-07:00

Locals know Rodas Hotel quite well for the last eight years well. It has done reasonably well for itself and its banquets, restaurants and restro-bar are popular with the residents and corporates in Powai. The property is owned by the Hiranandanis and managed by Concept Hospitality of the Vitthal Kamath fame. Recently, Kamath has sold his stake to Kanimpally and the group has renamed its chain to 'The Fern'.

Well, the block to have come adjacent Haiko has been named - Meluha-The Fern, 5 Star eco-friendly hotel. The facility is ready but yet to be opened officially for business had its ribbon cutting ceremony last week in a closed ceremony. The grand old-man Dr LH Hiranandani did the honour of cutting the ribbon announcing the MELHUA ready. Niranajan Hiranandani, his wife Kamal brother Surendra and Concept's Kanimpally with staffers of the group and hotel attended the event.

The hotel offers 141 well-appointed guest rooms and suites, multiple restaurants, a bar, extensive meeting and conference facilities, a full service spa and a fitness centre. The extensive meeting and conference facilities at the hotel can accommodate up to 500 pax in theatre style.

Of interest to local would be its two restaurants: TIARA-All day dining area would serve multi cuisine buffet spread for breakfast, lunch, dinner and also a midnight spread apart from a sumptuous a'la carte menu featuring an array of dishes from all across the globe. The Bar would offer a large selection of premium wines, juices and smoothies; MAGNOLIA-Specialty Restaurant would offer nouvelle cuisine with great wine lists wherein emphasis is on freshness of food ingredients avoiding rich foods while food presentation would be highlighted.

It should be thrown open to public sometime by second week of Feb.

Crocodile habitat to come at Powai Garden

2011-03-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

MLA goes inspecting soon-to-be opened Powai Nisarg Udyan

It's been four years since the Powai Lake beautification project began, during which time the cost shot up from Rs 8 crore to Rs 34 crore. A 2-km-long waterfront has been created along the 120-year-old lake, which has a Ganesh Ghat at the west end and the Powai Garden on the east. The Scout & Guide camping ground has been converted into a garden called Powai Nisarg Udyan.

It would have got inaugurated on Sat evening by Uddhav Thackeray. The beautification has already begun to draw politicians looking for mileage before the BMC elections. Local MLA and cabinet member Naseem Khan on Thursday inspected the promenade and even sought to know if he could inaugurate it. Civic officials were taken aback as they could neither refuse nor accede to his request. Journalists pointed out that the officials would get into trouble if they acceded to the MLA.

While Powaiites would have got another public space, something stinks, and that's the lake itself. Though the lakefront looks beautiful, the lake itself has not been cleaned. One may not have to exactly hold their nose, but the water is filled with sewage. “The remaining beautification work won't be taken up till the 13 sewerage outlets that empty into the lake are closed,” said Gupta.

The sewage lines had been shut as part of the lake-cleaning process, but they were opened after the MMRDA, which was widening ADS Marg, damaged existing sewer lines. The damaged lines have not been repaired though the roadwork is complete. Gupta said the BMC would do the sewer repairs, estimated to cost Rs 4 crore. “HE department will spend the money,” he said.

The beautification of Powai Lake has unfortunately not taken into account the lake's original residents - the crocodiles, who number around 70 today. The crocodiles' lifestyle could be adversely affected by the improvements.

They may no more have easy access to the shores, which they use daily to bask in the sun. "The parapet wall is too steep for them to climb and come onto land," said Debi Goenka, convenor of the NGO Conservation Action Trust, who termed the project a waste of public money.

The BMC should have thought of the crocodiles first, said local MLA and cabinet minister Naseem Khan. "The retaining wall has been built in such a way that the crocodiles have no access to the shore. The reptiles come on land daily and even lay eggs on land. This could create a man-animal conflict," he said.

Others said the fountains in the lake would disturb the crocodiles, who till now lived in serene waters. "We are considering making a crocodile habitat at the Powai Garden end, which faces the lake," said Aseem Gupta, additional municipal commissioner of BMC.

Heavy turnout at Powai goKart for ‘Amaron Karting Championship’, springs new talent

2011-03-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

The fifth regional round of Amaron Go-Karting Challenge Season 3, India's largest Karting challenge ended last Sunday on the Hakone go-Karting Track, Hiranandani, Powai. Zipping at the track in Powai following participant made it to the finals of Amaron Karting Challenge Seson 3 to be held in Hyderabad on February 6, 2011:

1) Aakash Gawda, (12), INNS International School, Bangalore 2) Pranav Thakkar (15), NIS International School, Mulund, 3) Yash Thawani (16), Stanislaus School, Bandra, 4) Badal Chandrana (14), Jamnabhai Narsee School, Juhu, 5) Avneesh Chowdhary (14), 6) Shamroz Peerbhai (15)

A total of 54 racers across the country will eye for the coveted trophy in finals and make their first move towards entering the whimsical world of Motorsports.

With consistence performance across all rounds, the 6 racers were the top qualifiers in the last round of the race held here on the fantastic Sunday evening amongst roaring sound of engines, cheers and ecstatic crowd. The top three crowned winners : Aakash Gawda, Pranav Thakkar and Yash Thawani were awarded at the prize distribution ceremony which concluded the three day racing event of Amaron Karting Challenge in Mumbai.

Having started on 7th Jan, 2011 (Friday), AKC season 3 saw an overwhelming response with more than 9000 students from across the top schools of Mumbai registering for races. The selected participants were divided in batches and the fastest 64 were chosen to race in the main race last Sunday.

The track event was conducted basis the selected 64 being divided into eight batches of eight. The batches were made to race one by one and the top 4 from these races moved on to the next level. F2 driver and GP2 racer Armaan Ebrahim was present to provide tips to the aspiring racers from Mumbai and give a unique demo race.

The most gripping moment of the day was the last race when the eight fastest contestants raced together displaying impeccable performance. The race ended with the announcement of the of the top 6 finishers selected for the GRAND FINALS of AKC season 3, winners of witch to be awarded scholarship of upto Rs 10 Lacs and Professional training by Amaron Pro Racing with MECO Motor Sports.

Amaron Karting Challenge is only talent hunt in India tha scouts and discovers talents at the grass root level. Amaron Karting Challenge Seson 3 will span across 9 cities namely Kolhapur, Bengluru, Coimbatore, Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad.

Taking this sport to messes, Amaron also gave opportunity to collage and corporates enthusiasts to race at the support races, the intent of the support races is to take speed of the streets and onto the race tracks. While the participants (16-24 years) under this category will not compete for the Amaron karting Challenge Season 3 trophy, their lap times will monitored and top finishers will get invitation to participate in Volkswagen Polo Cup 2011.

Gang which stole cars from Powai busted, four arrested

2011-03-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch recently busted a four-member gang allegedly involved in hiring cars for trips outside the city, assaulting the drivers and abandoning them on the way before before decamping with the vehicle. According to the police, the gang had carried out six such car robberies, with cases registered in Tilak Nagar and Powai police stations in the city, and in Raigad, Pune and Ahmednagar.

The accused have been identified as Madanchand Sonkar alias Raju (24) from Bhiwandi, Asif Syyed (34) from Andheri (East), a driver from Chembur named Nitin Rajpal alias Maya (24), and Raju Ambedkar (38) from Vile Parle (East).

They were arrested by Unit 6 of the Crime Branch. While the first three accused were picked up on December 23 last year, the fourth accused was arrested on January 5. According to the police, on November 1 last year, a complaint was lodged by Shakti Ramkishan Bahut (29) at Tilak Nagar police station stating that some people had hired his Tavera (MH-03-AR-9076) to go to Nashik, and had assaulted the driver and strangled him with a wire near Kasara Ghat, before leaving him at an isolated spot near a village and making away with the car.

Shabana Azmi claims MLA trying to grab school land at Sangharsh Nagar in Chandivili

2011-03-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

Residents of Sangharsh Nagar in Chandivili, led by actor-politician Shabana Azmi, have threatened to take over a school which stands on a plot which, according to them, is being illegally claimed by the local MLA. They sat on a protest outside the school on a dharna on Tuesday, demanding the school be left alone.

The school, which was built two years ago in Chandivali along the Powai Hill is yet to be inaugurated, it was meant for children from colonies constructed under Slum Rehabilitation (SRA) scheme.

An NGO headed by Shabana, Nivara Hakk, has alleged that Naseem Khan, minister of state for textile and minority development, is putting pressure on the authorities to claim the plot on which the school stands.

Shabana said, “If the school does not start within a month, we will take it over and see to it that classes are conducted. Government talks big about providing free education, making education compulsory, and then, we have such cases where land on which schools stand is being grabbed.”

When media spoke to the MLA Nassem Khan he said, “These allegations were baseless. Where were these people for the past two years?” he asked, “I am not doing anything illegal. Let them prove otherwise.”

Powai Park resident and Wipro Staffer’s cars gutted in fire

2011-03-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

It was a sad for two Powaiites whose cars got gutted in fire from short circuiting on the 5th of Jan.

Jyoti Bhatija, a resident of Powai Park, Hiranandani Powai had just returned home at 5 pm from Santa Cruz and was parking her Indica car in her building, that she saw smoke coming out from the bonnet. No sooner did she realise what to do, the car got engulfed in flames. The Hiranandani commandos rushed in and tried to do fire fighting with conventional extinguishers but of no avail. Meantime, the Vikhroli fire brigade was alerted and they arrived in no time to extinguish the already gutted car.

A fire officer from the dept present on the site told PP that, “It was lucky that the CNG cylinder was intact and it did not explode, else the damage could have been much more to surrounding houses and human lives.”

Wipro Powai staffer leaps to safety as car turns into fireball at Thane

In another case of a similar car fire, an IT engineer, Dilip Wadhwa working with Wipro Powai was driving home to Kalyan in his Ceilo at around 11.30 pm last night saved his life by his presence of mind when his car caught fire on the Cadbury flyover in Thane.

On the flyover near Cadbury, he heard a crackling sound and the interior of the car began to fill up with smoke.

The entire car was engulfed in a matter of minutes, and by the time the fire brigade turned up, the fire had burnt itself out leaving behind a heap of smoldering metal.

I had just got out to check when the car caught fire and burned down before my eyes, all in a matter of minutes." Wadhwa added that the fire brigade arrived and sprayed water on the car, but by that time it had already been totally damaged.

A fire brigade official said, "Running car fires are common and we have seen this happen many times."

Powai Road rage: 2 weeks on, engineer arrested

2011-03-16T10:09:00.001-07:00

An engineer was arrested on Monday for allegedly assaulting a woman who had confronted him for allegedly damaging her car on December 20, last year. Police said Shailendra Patil was arrested from Bhandup after the police traced his car from the number that was provided to them by the victim who clicked pictures Patil and his car.

“He was produced before the court and was granted bail on a surety amount of `4,000,” said police sub inspector, Raju Shirke. The Park Site police had registered an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including rash driving, causing grievous hurt, causing insult and outraging modesty of a woman.

“I was called to the police station to identify him,” said Janice D'Souza, the 30-year-old woman who suffered internal injuries in her ear because of the assault.

On December 25, a leading daily reported about how D'Souza was made to run between two police stations when she tried to register a complaint against Patil who slapped her after he allegedly damaged her car and was confronted by D'Souza.

D'Souza tried to register a complaint but the Powai police had turned her away saying the incident happened outside their jurisdiction and she was sent to Parksite police station. The Parksite police station, however, refused to register her complaint until she got a medical check done. D'Souza had to return without filing her complaint. She contacted the Daily Newspaper after the police helpline failed to offer any assistance.

A day after of reporting of the matter, on December 25, the Powai police contacted her and had asked her to visit them to register her case. Her FIR was finally taken on December 27..

Chandivali petrol pump staffers foil dacoity attempt

2011-03-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

Last week the staffers of Chandivali petrol pump on the Saki Vihar Rd foiled a dacoity attempt by 8 armed men at midnight.

At the same time two youth walked into the Chandivali petrol pump casually with cigarettes in their hand and approached the cashier on pretext of asking change for a `500 note, trying to engage him in a talk before looting the cash.

The cashier in turn got cautious and told them he does not have change and they should not smoke here, but go elsewhere.

A staffer of the pump told PP, “Then around 1.30 am the goons struck back with 8 others and started beating our staffers. We gave a fight and started fighting them, and pelted stones on them. Our three staffers, Rakesh Tiwari, Ajay Tiwari and AP Mishra got badly injured in the ensuing scuffle. We managed to chase them away.”

One of the attendants called the police, by then the pump staffers had managed to nab of the goons and handed over them to the police.

Raheja housewife, who scalded house maid, surrenders

2011-03-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

Madhurima Minocha, the housewife from Raheja VIhar, who had allegedly branded her 13-year-old domestic help Rama Thakur with an electric iron, surrendered before the Powai police on Tuesday.

Madhurima, a resident of Raheja Complex in Powai, whose anticipatory bail application was earlier rejected by the sessions court, was granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay high court last week after which she surrendered, said Powai police.

“Madhurima's anticipatory bail application was accepted by the high court last week. She was asked to pay `25,000 as bail surety amount, in addition to depositing `1 lakh. Subsequently, she came to the police station on Tuesday evening. We recorded her statement,” said Ashok Jadhav, senior police inspector of Powai police station.

The incident had occurred on November 20. Upset with her 13-year-old housemaid for accidentally leaving a hot iron unattended which caused minor burn injuries to Madhurima's three-year-old daughter, she allegedly branded the girl with a hot iron and beat her up. Jadhav added that in her statement to the police, Madhurima confessed that she had committed the offence in a fit of rage.

“Madhurima said that she suspected that the maid was not taking proper care of her daughter. In a huff, she branded the maid,” said Jadhav.

Madhurima, who was hiding at her friend's place since 26 days, was booked under charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt using weapon or means and sections of child labour laws.

Abhishek-Aishwarya descend at Powai for Bunt’s Meet

2011-03-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

The suburb of Powai witnessed the descent of Bollywood celebrity couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan at a community event last Sunday on the 26th Dec. The event being the World Bunts' Cultural & Sports Meet at Shashi Manmohan Shetty sports ground.

The Bunt Sangha has been a pioneer in bringing Bunts all across the world together by organizing sports meet annually. This year being no exception, the event saw about thousands of Bunts settled in various nations participating in the event.

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan inaugurated the valedictory function of Cultural & Sports Meet. Swami Gurudevanand of Odiyoor Mutt in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka also graced the occasion. Bunts Sangh President Harish Shetty presided. Abu Dhabi NRI entrepreneur B R Shetty was the chief guest.

The city-based S M Shetty Education Institutions chairman S M Shetty, Murdeshwar Ceramics managing director R N Shetty, World Bunts' Foundation chairman Dr M Shantaram Shetty, Charishma Builders managing director Sudhir V Shetty, BCCI chief operating officer professor Ratnakar Shetty, Vranda Krishna Shetty and R K Shetty among others were the specially invited guests.

Common Wealth Games and Asian Games gold winner athlete Ashwini Chidanand Shetty, Asian Games gold winner Kabaddi player Mamata Poojary and Karnataka Rajyotsav Award recipient R K Shetty were felicitated. CID super cop Daya Shetty and ace Cricketer and referee Javagal Srinath were among the other stars who were honored at the meet. Each guest was presented with a shawl and a trophy.

Bunts' Sangha Sports Committee president Mahesh S Shetty, Bunts' Sangha vice-president chartered accountant Shankar B Shetty, honorary secretary V K Shetty, honorary treasurer Prabhakar L Shetty and other office-bearers were present.

Want to travel to town in air-conditioned BRTS bus from Powai?

2010-10-03T07:46:00.001-07:00

Rally behind the cause to bring Powai as a destination on the BRTS route map to town, shoot emails to register your cause to generate critical mass required by BEST to build viability to start service

Do you go for work to town from Powai? Do you find trains a pain? Do you go in car pools? Do you take your car to town? Are you looking for a better alternative?

Well, BEST has introduced air-conditioned BRTS (Bus Rapid Transport System) from many destinations converging to VT/ Nariman Point (town).

One such BRTS bus plies from Mulund to Nariman Pt running on the Eastern Express Highway. The nearest point from Powai is at Vikhroli (E).

However, the Powai area, which is quite away from both the Central & the Western railway, has been left out for Powai to South Mumbai i.e. VT / Nariman Point for these modes of public transport.

A group of Powaiites: Tarun Baxi, Rakesh Bali and Dinesh Soni travel to Nariman Pt in a car pool, now have spearheaded an initiative with BEST authorities lobbying to start AC buses from Powai to town.

Tarun Baxi told PP that, “We have been pursuing this with BEST. We are pleased to inform that we have received a positive response from the officials. As per the telecom conversation with CV Tangsali,(Traffic Supdt - Planning & Control) BEST and Kelkar of BEST, they want us to assure them for a minimum number of commuters who shall be interested from Powai to South Mumbai and back for commuting.”

Direct buses from Powai to town will also mitigate the serious cause of traffic issue. Air-conditioned buses are a better solution to carpooling and be economical too. With the growth of Powai as an important residential and business hub it needs to get its much deserved place in the public transport map of Mumbai.

Recently, Tarun Baxi received a letter from Tangsali of BEST saying, “We are examining the possibility of connecting the vicinity of Hiranandani IIT Powai towards a nodal point on the periphery of city. The required action depends on arrival of new buses and fulfilling the already set priorities.”

Now, Powaiites who want to see a BRTS AC bus starting from Powai should rally behind Tarun Baxi. Send him emails (tarun.baxi@zmail.ril.com) or SMS him at 99676 47134 to register your request for such a bus service from Powai.

You could also send emails directly to the BEST officials at transport@bestundertaking.com, dgmte@bestundertaking.com

BPO employee duped by fake loan agents

2010-10-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

In the last one year there has been an upward spurt in economic offences in the city. At Powai police station 25% of the crimes recorded are of economic offences.

With credit card fraud, Nigerian rackets and stolen cheques encashment and lottery scam in email and SMS now the conmen have devised newer methods.

There is a gang operating in Powai targeting call centre employees seeking small loans. Nilesh Pawar (24) who works for a call centre in Powai was conned for Rs 17,000 by such fake loan agents last week.

Nilesh lives in Kalyan and has his family living in the village. He got a call on his mobile from an alleged loan officer of ICICI bank that he can get a small loan amount based on his salary account. Nilesh was in fact thinking of availing a loan to repair his family house in the village and this SMS was music to his years.

The agent by the name of Vishal explained to submit the required documents along with form and photo to him. He also asked him to deposit Rs 17,000 in his account. Nilesh was delighted with the prospect of the loan. He did not have ready cash, which he borrowed from a colleague assuming to return him once he got the loan amount. The unsuspecting victim did as told.

The next day another person by the name Nikhil Shah called to say that his loan has been passed but on verification of the documents his signatures did not match and he should give two signed blank cheques for this purpose urgently to get the loan cheque today itself. The victim did smell something wrong and he went to loan dept of the bank to enquire, whether it is okay to give a cheque like this. He was told it is fine and he then gave those two cheques to the agent.

Nilesh told ‘Planet Powai’ that, “When I gave the cheques to Nikhil Shah he told me that I should put my mobile off for two hours as the branch will unnecessarily call and trouble me. In my eagerness to get the loan amount, I did as told. But when I switched on my mobile I got two SMSes that an amount of Rs 17,000 has been withdrawn on the two cheques I issued and my balance is nil. I immediately reported the matter to police.”

The investigating officer at Powai police station told PP that they have registered a case and will soon start their investigation. Meantime, public is warned of such smooth talking unauthorised loan agents on phone who are just waiting for victims to fall in their trap.

A marvel of architecture and technology

2010-10-03T06:42:00.001-07:00

Powai Hill to have villas and service apts, approach via spiral concrete drive-way

Powai is getting all set for the next wave of concrete revolution. After the Hiranandani complex, it is the upcoming ‘Supreme City’ on the base and top of Powai Hill that is going to become the next icon of excellence here. It shares its neighbourhood with Winchester bldg in Hiranandani Business Park along the base of the hill. It is exactly located just behind Avalon/Verona and Lake Castle bldgs in Hiranandani Gardens at the fag-end of Forest Street.

The project is an architectural marvel, the Supreme City sprawls across a versatile landscape of over 32 acres with a distinct topography, it has only 10 per cent of the land parcel as construction blue print while the rest remains open. The project was conceived by Bhawani Shankar Sharma who has taken Supreme Group to great heights by executing prestigious public road projects.

Backed by modern technology it consists of a business park, residential villas, service apartments, helix, and a lake are sprawling over the contoured basalt hill canvas - The grand set-up of the project is accentuated by the central visual axis which is an end-to-end 220 mt. long unobstructed view that originates at a 150 ft. high waterfall fuelling the 3.5 acre lake and an array of cascades, retention pools and waterfalls that stretch right up to the entrance.

Explaining their foray into the such a project the third generation scion of the Sharma family, Vikram Sharma of ‘Supreme Real Estate Innovations’ said, “Since the land belongs to us and had been lying unsued, we conceived something path-breaking and architecturally innovative that will be a sound investment offering to corporates and alike. There exists nothing like this in Mumbai, it could match any modern international city. We have taken care of environmental concerns by employing world class consultants. Not only this we will make the hill green and beautify as the project takes shape.”

The Business Park with its impeccable mix of commercial and social infrastructure will be easily accessible from both Central and Western suburbs. Construction is 90% complete and it would be ready by the monsoon of 2010. It is a three stack architecture built like in a campus style with two wings, where one is cantilevered over the natural lake below.

Speaking to PP, Shivanand Samant, the CEO, he said this on the environmental aspects, “We have ensured to get the project cleared by the relevant authorities and have obtained prior permission in all aspects. We intend to be transparent and ethically responsible to preserve the environment around.”

When asked, will the Missile Launching position on the hill get disturbed? Vikram Sharma said, “We are only using the Western side of the hill which belongs to us. The missile site is further to the East which we are not disturbing at all. Moreover, we have got clearances to this effect from the government. Do you think we would have got clearances like this from the authorities, without meeting norms?”

The project is being executed in strategic partnership with CB RICHARD ELLIS and has been designed by Architect Raja Aderi who has studied architecture under Frank Loyd Wright in US. Aderi has worked on many international projects. In India he is known for his buildings like: Essar Towers Mumbai, Hotel Le Meridien, ICICI Bank in Bandra Kurla, Jawahar Bhavan Delhi and Technolpolis Mumbai.

A unique spiral concrete drive-way, HELIX will connect the lower contours of the site with the higher ones, thereby ensuring minimum intervention with the existing landscape. It has an overall height of 71 meters Spread across 9 levels. In the center, is planned an Activity Center, around which will be the spiral ring road. Radial car parking space provision is provided on each floor with the top most floor conceptualized as a Dome Restaurant cum banqueting service facility. The Activity Center with 4000 sq. ft. on each floor would have indoor activities like squash courts, billiards room, table tennis, etc.

On the hill top will be Service Apartments in a crescent shape. It will have a total of 130 bays across 8 floors, the stepped terraces dotting each bay shall have an unmatched view of the sky-line of the economic capital of the country Underlining its marvellous architecture will be a swimming pool cantilevered outside the building.

Perched high on the basalt hill shall be Residential Villas that shall complement the comprehensive package of Supreme City. Styled with contemporary architecture and modern amenities, these boutique villas provide a rare advantageous combination of lifestyle, luxury and location.

The entire city would be complete by 2013.

Old Powai teenager commits suicide after chat on computer

2010-10-03T06:32:00.001-07:00

There has been a spurt of shocking suicide cases by teenagers in the city post release of 3 Idiots, a strange coincidence though.

Powai too was in the tangle when an 18-year-old student, Bhajan Preet Bhuller a physiotherapy student of DY Patil College in Nerul allegedly committed suicide in her residence Sai CHS, Chaitnya Nagar in Old Powai on Saturday night.

She seemed to have been depressed over her poor performance in the second semester of the physiotherapy course. The police claimed that the girl had failed in three out of six subjects in her second semester and that might have prompted her to take the extreme step. No suicide note was found.

Ashok Jadhav, Sr PI of Powai police station said, “On January 3, we received information about a suicide Powai. When police reached, we found Bhuller’s body hanging from the ceiling of her study room on the first floor of her residence. We recorded statements of her father, Bhupendra Singh, who runs a workshop, her elder sister Inderjit Kaur and brother Karamjit Singh.”

The police further added that on Saturday night, Bhuller and her sister Inderjit were chatting with a family friend on their computer. Around 11 pm, the duo went to their respective rooms. “On Sunday morning, Bhajan who used to sleep in her study room on the first floor did not open the door despite repeated knocks. The family then peeped through the window and found her body hanging from the ceiling,” said the police.

The family refused to give any comment and asked to got the police for any records. Investigations are being carried out and there seems to be no clue so far.

Chotu ki chotee ki chutti

2010-10-03T06:28:00.001-07:00

The principal of a school cut off the tuft of hair (chotee/shendi) of a 14-year-old Brahmin student, Pravesh Dubey a student of class VIII of St Jude’s School, Sakinaka on Tuesday, allegedly because it violated the school’s dress code.

The principal, Father Fernandes has been booked for hurting religious sentiments. under Sections 295 (A) (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

Rajaram Ambardekar of SM Shetty School

2010-10-03T06:26:00.001-07:00

School music teacher bags ‘Voice of Powai’ Award

In the recently organised ‘Voice of Powai’ competition held on 7^th Jan at the Jain Mandir in Powai, a music school teacher, Rajaram Ambardekar of SM Shetty School was adjudged the winner of this competition.

More than 200 persons took part in this competition from various local schools of Powai. The event was organised by Bhawani Shankar (Lallu) Sharma of Supreme Infrastructure and a local social activist.

Rajaram teaches music to students at SM Shetty School in Powai for last many years. Rajaram hails from a village near Goa called Vengurle. Music runs in his genes as his eight previous generations had a rich traditions of music running through them.

Till the age of eighteen Rajaram learnt Shastriya Music and Tabla from his father Bhavusaheb. To gain further proficiency in music he went to a gurukul under Pt Jitendra Abhisheki. Just after this, he got a scholarship for vocal singing by the State Govt. Thereafter, he went under Pt Bhimsen Joshi for vocal singing practices for 2 years.

When he was 24 years old he attended a youth festival of Bombay University, reminiscing the same with numb eyes he told PP, “Though I had performed at many public stages, but this one at the University level with thousands attending the show was heart rendering one. The applause by thousands drives an artiste with overwhelming joy. The appreciation is soothing and a booster to the morale.”

He continued to work for the Maharashtra State Art Festival for 5 years. He has sung numerous classical songs and even in 1995 worked in a musical album ‘Sharan Sharan Shree’ for HMV which was much appreciated by music aficionados.

His wife, Bhakti too has been working with him as a music teacher in SM Shetty School. She too is a Visharad in music. They have prepared a team of students proficient in singing who participate in competitions and have won some twenty trophies for the school at State level.

Prior to the ‘Voice of Powai’ title Rajaram has the distinction of being the ‘Guni Singer’ from Thane Municipality plus he holds the title of ‘Sumni’ at Haridas Sangeet Sammelan. At BMC ward level competitions he has bagged many a first prize too.

Rajaram professes that classical singing is not very difficult; anyone who can speak a language can be a good singer with practice. Many students under him at SM Shetty School have been doing well in singing like: Vishnu, Vardhan Iyer, MK Vishnu and Sidhant Devre. Sidhant Devre went on to bag the first prize in one of the category at the ‘Voice of Powai’ recently.

Under a cultural exchange program Rajaram will be touring Australia this November to familiarise them of Indian classical singing. This will also give him an insight to understand their music as well and bring cultures closer. In his quest of excellence he thanks destiny to take him from Vengurle to Australia.

Maruti mandir blocking road alignment at JVLR 2

2010-10-03T06:19:00.001-07:00

The Hanuman God shall not budge from ADS Marg

The ongoing road broadening work under JVLR 2 at IIT stretch is bogged by the Maruti (Hanuman) temple coming in the way.

Several meetings with devotees, temple trustees and the Citizen’s committee have not resulted in any solution of relocating the Maruti temple.

Last week on 31^st Dec another shot was given when MMRDA’s Bidkar, MSRDC’s Chief Engineer, MP Dina Patil, MLA Naseem Khan, Builder Prashant Sharma and large numbers of devotees with locals met at the temple to work out a via-media.

According to Vikas Chaudhankar, who has been the Maruti temple's caretaker for the past 20 years, the trustee and owner of the temple -- Sridhar Paranjape -- is not against moving the temple. It is the devotees who for superstitious reasons wan the temple to stay where it stands today for last sixty years.

A few years back a local developer was given a contract to build another temple nearby to move the Hanuman idol. "Once the new temple was built, the day of shifting was decided but on that day some people sat on a dharna and the shifting was stalled. For two years the temple was constructed but no idol was placed, so we finally decided to install a Ram idol in the new temple," Prashant Sharma, the developer.

Mahuri Singh, a local resident confessed to PP, “The temple has sentimental attachment of people like me for last sixty years, how can we let it go.” But then another person remarked, even the gurudwara at the ADS Marg-IIT turning shifted in public interest.

Now, what came of the meeting was to confine the area of the Maruti temple its present location and build an island and proceed with the road work. A committee of devotees and locals have been formed to work out modalities with MMRDA and MSRDC for future action plan without hurting the sentiments of the locals.

It is only with time when devotees would find it difficult to reach the temple amidst fast flowing traffic on both sides that some positive sense will prevail to look for an alternative location, may be in future.

Saki Naka garment trader hoodwinked business associate, arrested

2010-10-03T06:16:00.001-07:00

A Saki Naka businessman, wanted in an offence for breach of trust, managed to escape for 15 days by hoodwinking the Sakinaka police repeatedly.

“Dilipkumar Bhabria (35) had been duping several clients, from whom he had taken raw materials (clothes) to make ready-made garments at his workshop on Khairani Road in Sakinaka, for almost two years,” said the police investigating the case.

Bhabria ran out of luck when he sold the machinery, furniture and motorcycle that belonged to the garment dealer Ankit Bhansal (32) from Peddar Road last month.

Bhansal in the complaint said: “Bhabria quit the company in 2008 and started his own business. He took the machinery and furniture worth Rs7 lakh on rental from me to start the business. He never paid the rent. I grew suspicious when his contact number stopped functioning. I learnt that he has misused the affidavit of the machinery that he took from me to start the business and used the same documents to sell it.’’

Senior inspector S R Dhanedhar of Saki Naka police said, “Bhansal had rented the machinery, furniture and his motorcycle to Bhabria when he decided to start his own business. Bhabria was employed as a manager with Bhansal but later decided to start his own business so he quit Bhansal’s company.’’

Based on the complaint lodged by Bhansal in the first week of December police started looking for Bhabria. “On two occasions Bhabria, over the phone, told us that he is employed as a manager in a company at Vapi. A team was sent to Vapi but on both occasions they returned empty handed. Third time, he said he would be available at a bungalow in Vapi. When the team reached the place they learnt that the bungalow belonged to a businessman and he had never heard about Bhabria,’’ said assistant inspector S.S Pradhan.

Acting on a tip-off received, cops laid a trap at Goregaon on December 24 where Bhabria was employed in a garment manufacturing unit. “Bhabria revealed that he did it in order to evade the debts of the clients from whom he had taken raw materials but was unable to pay the increased sum in the debts since 2007,’’ Pradhan said.

The accused has been booked for breach of trust and is remanded to police custody.

Unspoken Words

2010-10-03T06:15:00.001-07:00

Neha Dhupia dispenses condoms & pills for her movie promotion at IIT

2010-10-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read it right. Neha Dhupia has thrown loads of condoms and contraceptive pills to a crowd in IIT Powai. No, she is not doing any AIDS related social work as of now. Actually she was there to promote her new movie “Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi.”

Movie promotions are getting weirder, but they like to call it innovative ideas. In fact Neha was wary against this idea, because she thought that it will malign her image. But, the Pritish Nandy Communication, The producers of this movie, made her understand the need of this act.

‘Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi’ is a low budgeted experimental movie, whose premise is one night stands with strangers, and its aftermath, which creates a series of funny situations. Rajat Kapoor, and Vinay Pathak (both Bheja Fry fame) are the only known people here, along with Neha of course.

We all know that sex sells easily. In fact in her “landmark” comment, Neha herself has accepted that only SRK and sex sells in India. But, these kind of promotions are more of a gesture of desperation, than innovation. And the brains behind these acts aren’t denying. According to them, the recent multiplex strikes has delayed the release of many movies, which are lined up now to see the daylight. Now if they don’t shout out loud about their movie, then the Janta may never bother to spend money on these movies. Chalo… accepted, no issues. After all, money matters.

Early Flowering of Mango trees

2010-10-03T05:57:00.001-07:00

Climatic change now visible in Powai

Taking a chance walk on the High Street and Central Avenue in Hiranandani Gardens, Powai you come across two very old mango trees. You can see the trees have already started flowering in December month. Miimum temperatures in suburban went as low as 16 deg on 31^st Dec night.

This seems to be an unusual phenomenon, mango trees flower in Feb/March. It is a clear indication of climatic changes triggered by green house gas pollution globally, which is affecting the flowering pattern. The sudden rise and dip in temperatures is the factor that confuses the flowering. In 2008 flowering of Alphonsoes were delayed to April in Ratnagiri at Maharashtra.

Though early flowering of the mango trees in Powai would not have any influence on the health and wealth of Powaiites, but it is sure indication of the climatic changes that nature is signaling to man.

Global warming refers to the Earth's air and oceans gradually heating up to a point that disrupts balance, a problem that is continually getting worse. It sounds like a problem too massive for any one individual to take on, but it really isn't. Combining any few of these suggestions can make more of a dramatic effect than most people understand. The goal is to emit less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

What can Powaiites do to help this phenomenon ?

Drive less. Take bikes, take local trains, walk for short trips or carpool whenever possible.

Consider investing in a hybrid or electric vehicle to help prevent against further global warming.

Replace all the lightbulbs in and around your home with energy-efficient fluorescents (CFL) that use fewer watts for the same amount of light.

Clean or replace your filters monthly in your AC.

Choose energy-efficient appliances, look for energy efficient ratings when it's time to buy new ones.

Decrease your air travel, chose railways, plan your travel well in advance.

Wash clothes in cold water and line-dry in sun or air whenever possible.

Use a low-flow showerhead, which will lessen the hot water used but not drop your water pressure in the shower.

Cut down on your garbage-buy fewer packaged materials to prevent further global warming.

Unplug electronics when they are not in use, because they still take up energy. At the very least, turn items off when they're not being used.

Run the washing machine only when you have a full load, and if available, use the energy-saving setting.

Use air-conditioners minimally, keep temperature at 24 deg once room is cooled.

Buy recycled paper products and recycle as much of your waste as possible.

Bring your own reusable canvas grocery bags when grocery shopping, avoid plastic bags

Plant a tree, if you can’t adopt a tree to nurture in your CHS compound.

Have an energy audit done on your home so you can find the trouble areas and fix them.

Use nontoxic cleaning products, read products carefully when buying washing bars or powder.

Choose fresh food over frozen foods. Fresh takes less energy to produce.

Keep your car tuned up, and check tire pressure often to save petrol.

Eat less meat and more organic foods in your diet to do your part in preventing global warming.

KHWAISH - Cultural Fest at Chandrabhan College

2010-10-03T04:29:00.001-07:00

Anuya Mhaiskar

2010-10-03T04:24:00.001-07:00

Powai housewife becomes film producer, Marathi film Sukhaant

By Pramod Chavan

The ongoing case of Aruna Shanbag for mercy killing (euthanasia) who is in coma for last 36 years is a burning topic for such patients languishing in a condition which is neither being dead or alive.

Anuya Mhaiskar, a well-settled housewife with two kids from Powai and much into dance and fine arts made a foray into Marathi film production. The film deals with a never-before handled sensitive subject, that of mercy killing. ‘Sukhaant’, the Marathi film gives an insight into a mother–son relationship.

The idea of producing the movie was when a chance discussion with a friend and she found herself meeting director Sanjay Surkar who had a script with him. Anuya was impressed with what was narrated to her and, “I found it very different from what was being offered to the Marathi audience today. Since nobody had yet attempted a film on mercy killing, I made up my mind to be the first one to do so,” says the debutant producer who is happy with the way the film has turned out.

Brought up in Nasik in a typical middle-class family, she has done her education from Ruia College. As she had interest in fine arts from childhood, she decided to her visharad in Kathak after her graduation. No sooner she got married into the renowned Mhaiskar business family in Mumbai. Pursuing her passions of fine arts and film production has found support from her spouse and family all throughout. She is passionately associated with ‘Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya’ at Girgaum in Mumbai.

Produced under the Sudha Productions Anuya Mhaiskar’s SUKHANT has been directed by veteran Sanjay Surkar. The approval of the lawmakers has still not been received for mercy killing but this film poignantly supports the concept of mercy killing.

Pratap Gunje (Atul Kulkarni) is a lawyer from a well to do family living with his wife (Kavita Lad Medhekar) and son. In a freak accident Pratap’s mother Sitabai Gunje (Jyoti Chandekar) gets injured and her hands and legs are paralyzed. No hope for revival makes Sitabai an angry and frustrated lady who wants an easy death to relieve her of a life of a vegetable though her son and family take good care of her. But the old lady doesn’t wan’t to burden herself on anyone and asks her lawyer son to file a petition for mercy killing, a plea which is refused by the courts. But Pratap can’t bear his mothers pain and kills her with great remorse and surrenders himself to the police.

Talking about the sensitive tale that the film deals with, she says not only in India but everywhere, every family has some problem that is difficult to explain to the outside world. “Indians are bonded by their families but one has to learn not to be too dependable on each other as it is difficult to detach. Indian law doesn’t permit mercy-killing but there are people who want to get rid of their sufferings by leaving the world,” says Anuya. The film was completed in a 32-day shooting schedule at Pune and the interiors of Bhor.

Reminiscing on her experience of making the film Anuya told PP, “For me being the behind the camera as a producer was a novel experience which I highly enjoyed. I was extremely connected to the theme which in itself was the motivating factor to turn a producer opening a new vista for me. It was such a logical extension from fine arts to films that now I intend making more Marathi films with path-breaking themes with the finest directors and cast and bring Marathi Films to a high pedestal.”

In an interesting confession while talking to PP she narrated that when she was in college she had a friend staying in Hiranandani Gardens whom she used to visit very often. As luck would have it, her marriage brought her to Powai. She loves the place and enjoys every bit living in this vibrant suburb.

Commandos nab Dhongi Babas duping people

2010-10-03T04:21:00.001-07:00

The Hiranandani commandos were pursuant to nab two tantriks or dhongi babas who duped a construction supervisor, Inderjeet in Hiranandani Gardens. They were handed over to the police.

Last Wednesday, when Inderjeet came out of work, he was greeted by two babas near the D Mart circle who told him, “Baccha baut pareshan lagte ho, jaroor koi pareshani hai tumhare saath?” (Child, it seems you are very troubled something is bothering you).

In between Inderjeet got into a hypnotic spell of the conmen and he admitted saying to them, “Yes, I am troubled over money matters, money never stays with me.”

Just last week, in a similar manner a woman was conned by fraud godmen by Rs 1.68 lakhs in Saki Naka. The fraudsters had got away, such a gang is active in this suburb looking for potential gullible people.

When the fraud godmen realised that the victim (Inderjeet) is under their spell they said we have a solution to your problem. They asked him to take out all the money he had. Inderjeet took out a thousand rupee note for them. The babas then through tick flicked the note from his hand and placed a black egg shaped stone (see pic stone encircled in red) in his hand.

The babas then asked him not to open his hand till he reached home. They told him they about the stone and asked him to worship daily which will solve retain money with him and he will become very rich shortly. No sooner they gave this mantra to him they fled the scene in an autorickshaw.

As Inderjeet was jay walking after the ransacking by the babas, he met an acquaintance Sagar who happens to be a commando. He asked him that, why was he looking lost? On further probing he narrated the entire incident of the babas giving him the mantra of the stone and wriggling the money from him.

The commando alerted his team and they went in search for them. Soon they managed to nab the babas from the auto stranded in the epic traffic. They hauled them to the control room and interrogated them. It did not take much time for them to get the duo confess to their nefarious act. They diligently handed over the two to the police. Immediate action by the alert commandos saved the day for Inderjeet and consigned the fraud godmen to law.

Under Ground storm water drain work in progress at Chandivali, roads will also be done

2010-10-03T04:18:00.001-07:00

The DP road no 2 at Chandivali from Lokmilan to Nahar Amrit Shakti towards Khairani is getting a 3 wide metre underground storm water constructed by BMC these days. It may be recalled that this road used to get flooded in the monsoons every year being low lying.

Finally, good sense has dawned on the municipal corporation with persistent pressure of locals, the corporator and media.

Also, the road from Lok Milan towards Vijay Fire will get a storm water drain. Even the road from Lok Milan via IRB to the Jama Masjid is getting the road side with storm water drains done that are being covered with a footpath.

The contractor carrying out the work for BMC told PP that the work should be completed before the forthcoming monsoons.

On completion of the drainage work at DP rd no2 a proper road would be made, thus completely solving the passage towards Nahar Amritshakti.

Powai’s Jalvayu Vihar on terror target, intelligence report

2010-10-03T04:14:00.001-07:00

Traffic Police gets bogus call of terrorists heading to Powai

Last week the Centre gave an intelligence alert to the Maharashtra Govt. It said LeT is plotting to carry out fresh terror strikes. This was shared with the Indian security agencies by a visiting FBI team.

Among the targets that are said to have been scouted by LeT through terror suspect David Coleman Headley are the National Defence College and Raksha Bhavan.

Prime among them is Jalvayu Vihar complex in Powai, it houses retired Naval, Air Force officers and civilians. There are 620 flats in the complex and three registered housing societies of A,B and C sectors.

Some other areas in the hit-list are Air India colony in Kalina, Santa Cruz, and the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar; crowded places in Ahmedabad so as to inflict mass casualty and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

As a sequel to this, last Thursday the Sakinaka Traffic Division got an unidentified call that some suspected car-borne persons were seen heading towards Powai. The police took this seriously and as a result there was intense nakabandi carried out at the entry and exit points of Powai.

On condition of anonymity a senior police officer of the division confirmed this report. He further told to PP, “This is true that we got such a call and we carried out intense search on suspicious vehicles in and around Powai till late in the night.”

However, the city police was clueless about this incident till late which indicates gaps and chinks in the security of the city. Though, the phone call turned out to be a bogus one.

Meantime, various CHS of Jalvayu Vihar had an internal meeting to assess the security of the complex and have been on alert to entry of visitors. They have also approached the Powai police to keep a watch on the complex and take suitable action.

Vibrant dance recital by little disciples of a Kuchipudi dance guru

2010-10-03T04:13:00.001-07:00

Unlike the culturally vibrant adjoining suburbs of Chembur, Ghatkopar and Mulund, Powai does not have a fine arts tempo as such, barring odd events at IIT, seems to be a beginning of fine arts to take tempo in Powai too. But last Sunday the atrium of HFS, Powai was abuzz with a super-fine display of Indian classical dance of Kuchipadi by the disciples of Dr Silaja Desai.

The ‘Nrutya Kinnera’, Mumbai had organised a Kuchipudi Dance Recital under the able guidance of dance guru Dr.Sailaja Desai.. This event was organised to provide a platform for the youngsters who has been pursuing this art form with total dedication since past 4to5years and encourage them and inspire them to continue this tradition so that such classical forms are passed on from generation to generation in its pure form

Kuchipudi is a small village in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. On the name of this village now stands a famous classical dance form. Earlier only men used to perform this dance form, basically in the yakshagana tradition, due to socio economic conditions that was prevalent then. During late forties and early fifties, this dance form was transformed from dance-drama tradition to solo tradition with the efforts of many traditional Kuchipudi gurus. Slowly as this tradition started evolving, women also were encouraged to take up this dance form.

Nrutya Kinnera, is a Hyderabad based Kuchipudi dance institute, started its Mumbai branch officially in October 2007. Dr. Sailaja Desai who is the first student of Nrutya Kinnera, Hyderabad, is now in-charge of its Mumbai branch, based in Powai. Dr.Sailaja Desai is a Gold medallist in MA(dance) and Ph.D(dance)from Hyderabad Central University. She has been a regular performer and also been presenting lecture/demonstrations. .

Kalyani Patnaik, principal HFS, Powai and Srinivaas Sirigeri, founder of ‘Jago India Movement’ were the special guests who with their inspiring talk motivated the artistes of the evening and appreciated their effort for sticking to classical forms in this age of influence of western culture.

On this occasion Lakshmi Ramkumar, a renowned, Kuchipudi guru was felicitated. Dr.Sailaja feels that there are many silent performers who with their dedication and commitment to art are contributing a lot for promoting the classical arts,so the need to recognise their efforts.

performance began with an invocation to lord ganapati, VATAPI GANAPATIM BHAJE, in Hamsadhwani raga,set to aditalam. This was performed by, Sindhuja Desai,Rajeshwari Murlidharan,Prathyusha Basamsetty and Jagata Saumya. This was followed by a traditional JATISWARAM, in Athana raga,set to Adi talam.this was performed by the guru’s disciples: Radhika Kaushik, Devika Sharma, Ritika Chauhan and Isha Ajmera.

Next was Saranam Bhava, a Narayana teertha Tarangam, in Devagandhari set to Adi talam by Prathyusha and Saumya. Next was a Narayana Teertha's composition, Ehimudam Dehi Sree Krishna by Radhika Kaushik, Devika Sharma and Ritika Chauhan. Tyagaraja Kruti, Balakanaka maya with an interesting dramatised piece of Samudra Manthan (Amrut Manthan) was very well presented by Sindhuja Desai and Rajeshwari Murlidharan. This was in Atana raga set to adi talam. This item was very well appreciated by the audience.

The last item was the grand finale of Mahishasura Mardhini was presented by all the eight students of Dr.Sailaja. This item was also very well received by the audience. On this occasion Dr.Sailaja introduced her disciples and the accompanying artistes with a very personal touch. Mementos and certificates were given to the students on this occasion. The entire show was very well anchored by Krupa Popat.

On the whole, it was a very well organised show and the hall was filled to full capacity. Hope this would inspire many more youngsters to take up classical arts and also inspire the parents to encourage these arts among the children.