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R HEART U O Y S E H C T H AT T O U Y L I A D G IN AN INSPIR Vol. 1 No. 53 Pages 16 PUNE, SATURDAY JUNE 16, 2012 Rs.4 4 WEATHER Sunrise .....................05:58 Sunset ......................19:12 Moonrise .................03:17 Moonset ..................16:33 Temperature Min ...........................25 0c Max ...........................33 0c Rain ........................... Light rain
‘SAVE GIRL CHILD, SAVE YOURSELF’
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEN
NEW ROAD MONSTER
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Jan and Rashid Ali, working as house parents at a local school, are known for organising personalised heritage and nature tours across Pune, particularly for foreign visitors
Glocal guide Rashid Ali narrates ‘earthy’ tales of Kumbharwada to a group of foreigners. (Top) A tourist capturing the essence of the culture-rich by-lanes. (Below) Another visitor briefly enters a ‘domestic’ role, much to the amusement of the locals
LAXMI BIRAJDAR
It’s not just the foreigners who make new discoveries—we end up learning a lot in the process too! — Jan Ali
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apturing the charm of old Pune on their camera, an English family picked up pottery and other souvenirs from Kumbharwada and Kasba Peth last week. They had visited this part of Pune city for the fourth time. “They also interacted with the local families residing in these areas and photographed themselves with the women and children they met. They totally loved the experience,” says Jan Ali. She and her husband, Rashid, have their hands full with heritage and nature tours across Pune for foreigners who flock here. Two years ago, they started Chalo Heritage Walks, an initiative that offers a more intimate, far more accessible way for foreign guests to acquaint themselves with Pune. “One can easily see how much they value what they see and experience here as tourists,” says Jan.
Guests from abroad The Alis, who work as house parents to boarders at the Mercedes Benz International School, began Chalo Heritage Walks by offering organising specialised tours for expats, foreign business executives working in Pune and foreign students on visit to Pune during exchange programmes. Personalised heritage walks are led by her, while Rashid looks after nature walks for such guests. “Our initiative spread by word-of-mouth and now we have four to five such tours every month. We’ve entertained guests from practically all nationalities, right from Americans to Europeans to Africans to Australians. The last time, we also had a students’ group from Germany,” says Jan.
What’s in the offing The old parts of the city and the ‘peth’ areas are usually the focal points of such tours that last from a couple of hours to a few days. “We also
take them to Shaniwarwada, Kumbharwada, Mandai market, Tambat Ali, Shinde Chhatri, Vishrambaugwada as well as a day-long trip to Saswad gaon, off Solapur Road,” says Rashid. Nature walks are often held at the University of Pune, Sinhagad fort and Pashan Lake, among other locations across the city. “Foreign visitors love to shop at Tulshibaug and the shop run by the SMILE women’s
group at Vishrambaug Wada, among other places. They like shopping for ethnic fabrics like ‘khann’ and the brass and copper items at the Tambat Ali,” shares Jan.
Personal touch
also get a chance to interact with the locals. Photography is high on their agenda, so Pune offers many a wonderful sight to capture on their cameras,” says Jan. The foreign guests love to interact with the local children. “We click photographs of the guests with the local children and we give copies of these pictures to the children the next time we meet them,” says Rashid. Such tours are held throughout the year, with the largest number of appointments during Diwali, Christmas and Easter. “We often get requests from our foreign guests for repeat tours because they want to further acquaint themselves with the local heritage and culture,” adds Rashid. >> Continued on Page 5
EXTRAA
“These walks last for a few hours. We prefer to have tours for a group of four guests so that our guests are able to get familiar with the local heritage as closely as possible. They
For more information log on to www.chalowalks.in. To book the tours, contact Jan Ali on 9923338963 or email her on janrash@yahoo.com
Test your water for purity at PMC’s lab CIVIC BUZZ
In a bid to reassure citizens, the PMC’s water testing lab has been equipped with water testing facilities, where you can verify the quality of the water being supplied to you
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DHEERAJ BENGRUT
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he onset of rains has tagged along with it several health hazards that are typically associated with monsoons. A rise in the number of viral and upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) all over the city has been recorded by health authorities. The culprit-in-chief responsible for most of these ailments is impure drinking water. Bearing this in mind, the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) water department
Pic: Rahul Deshmukh
officials had initiated a special facility of water testing many years back for citizens, at the water testing labs in Parvati Water Treatment Plant. The water testing labs at the plant are facilitated to conduct various water sample tests, and the water portability test—a combination of all subtests. The facility is limited to citizens living within the PMC jurisdiction only. On any working day, between 9 am to 1 pm, one can bring in a water sample for testing at the labs. >> Continued on Page 5
Life 365 is more than just a daily that packages `life’ in its 16 pages. It is a platform to understand your city better in terms of the good work silently being done by hundreds of good samaritans. Their stories of
The test procedure z Anyone wanting to get water tested can carry a one-litre sample in a sterilised bottle to the PMC lab z A challan is then issued z One should then deposit the amount at the Bank of Maharashtra extension counter, in the PMC main building at Shivajinagar z The tests are completed within five working days and a report is prepared z Upon producing the paid receipt of the challan, the report is handed over to the citizen The state-of-the-art equipment at the PMC lab
how they lend an extending hand could propel you to contribute your bit to the society. In this progressive city of Pune, the desire to the serve the society is very strong, as we learnt from interaction with citizens.
Do you know of a person, a group of persons, an institute, an initiative or an activity that would inspire people or promote the larger social good? Are you one of them? Life 365 offers itself as your
trusted platform to share it with others. Contact us at: www.life365.in or Life 365, Aaj Ka Anand building, Shivajinagar, Pune 411005.