Painting for a causeThe Rotary Club of Pune Central recently held a function wherein the winners of the traffic awareness painting competition (held by Rotary Margdarshak in partnership with the Pune Traffic Police), were felicitated. Speaking about the event, Ajay Aggarwal, of Margdarshak, says, “We feel that these children will form a very effective pressure group who can influence driving members of their own families and friends to follow all traffic rules. Since they are the ones who will be driving on the roads in the future, we will have a better future if they understand the value of following traffic rules, and this is the reason we are driving the campaign in the schools.” The winners of the event, Wasim Ayub Tamboli, Fouziya Salim Shaikh, Mohsin Rashid, and Khatri Kausar Akil, received a certificate and a prize of Rs 500 from deputy commissioner of Police traffic, Manoj Patil.

Swades Delhi-based designer Varija Bajaj launched her collection Desi Funk at Amara, a fashion store in Pune. The launch was attended by who’s who from the fashion scene in Pune. Some of them included Shobha Dhariwal, Seema Malhotra, Ritika Tickoo, Ipshita Deshpande, Shehnaz, Namita Sonalkar among others. The collection flaunted a rich collection of saris, lehengas, blouses, tops, skirts. The price range that started at Rs 700 impressed one and all. Explaining her design thought process, Bajaj says, “My collection is all about vibrant colours, young silhouettes and unconventional concepts dressing people in style with an element of fun. They are a collection for real customers.

Rustic charmCelebrating the rich rural culture of the state and depicting the age-old yet interesting rituals of Maharashtra, Ray Art Gallery is organising an exhibition titles- The colours of soil. The paintings are by Satyajeet Varekar, who has used bright colours to portray the vibrant culture and rustic charm of rural life in the state. The exhibition is on till April 9 (11 am to 5 pm) at Ray Art Gallery at FC Road.

Beat the heatAs the final exams get over, students of musician Vineet Alurkar, plan a musical way to beat the heat. Come April 4, The Backbenchers- drum and guitar students will perform at Soul in ABC Farms from 6 in the evening. They will play and sing songs of Billy Joel,Guns n’ Roses, John Lennon, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Eagles among others At Soul, ABC farms. Inviting the audience they say that concert is open to all who will sing along.

Shake it lady Music, food and fun-it was all there at a party hosted by Sanjay and Advaita Vazirani of Foodlink Group for the Tiger Lilies finale. The party that saw who’s who of the city, was also witness to a fun-filled dance competition, Nach Baliye, organised by the members. The contest had the audience enjoying as the participants rocked the dance floors by performing on foot-tapping Bollywood numbers. Rocky Poonawalla was judging the contest. Sangeeta Saxena was adjudged best solo dance performer, while Sharmila Bhingarwale and her group bagged the best dance group prize. Ogle and Vardekar familay bagged the second best dance group prize. Apart from dance, Mita and Neelima Deshpande rendered some soulful numbers. The guests enjoyed the evening, specially the cocktails and mocktails and good food making it an unforgettable evening for the Tiger Lilies family.