Pune

Putting Cricket In A Showcase

Cricket has a huge following in India, and one cricket  enthusiast Pune-based Rohan Pate has taken his passion for the game, so far that he  built a huge museum to display various memorabilia related to cricket, writes  Huned Contractor

It’s a museum with a difference. There are links with history, as you would find in any other museum, but here they all have one thing in common – cricket. In fact, the first thing that grabs your attention in the spacious hall of this museum located in Pune is a big frame displaying India’s World Cup winning moments with bats signed by all members of India’s squads of 1983 and 2011. There is another special frame of bats signed by members of all the ten World Cup winning teams, bats signed by the players of ICC Test and ODI Dream Teams, bats signed by India’s World Cup squads from 1975 to 2011, a bat with autographs of all the World Cup winning captains and bats signed by members of T20 Champions like India, Pakistan and England.

This unique showcase of cricketing memorabilia is the work of 25-year-old Rohan Pate, a real estate developer, who has been so passionate about the game and its players that he has devoted 4,000 sq feet for the creation of what he has named as the ‘Blades of Glory’. “The museum will be open to the public from May twice a week with prior appointment,” he says. For Pate, the collection has not come an easy way. Once he waited for ten hours in a hotel lobby on five consecutive days to convince a South African fast bowler to sign on a cricket ball and carried 35 cricket bats during his trip to England last year just in case he got to meet some cricketing legends to get their autographs. He has often gone to great lengths to get a room in the same hotel where the cricketing teams stay just so as to meet the players.

Pate has himself been a cricketer, having played for the state in the under-19 team and for some clubs in England. Ask him what drove him to set up the museum and he says, “In spite of the enormous affection for the game we hardly have any facilities where one can see the gear used or signed on by their idols. So I decided to set up a museum.” One particular room has been dedicated to the legends. It has a golden bat with Sir Don Bradman’s signature and a bat signed by Sir Garfield Sobers, that also have their career statistics. Next to this are bats used by Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid who have scored more than 10,000 runs in Test cricket.

There is also a room dedicated to bowlers who are record-holders, containing Muttiah Muralitharan’s sweater which he wore the day he took the 800th test wicket and jerseys of Shane Warne and Waqar Younis. There are walls dedicated to Mark Waugh (used bat, hat and shirt signed by the Australian team), Sir Desmond Haynes (blazer, sweater, ODI shirt and the bat with which he scored seven centuries), M S Dhoni (his wicket keeper’s gloves used in 2011 World Cup match, keeping pads and used bat) and Sourav Ganguly’s T-shirt worn when he scored 183 runs against Sri Lanka during a World Cup tie. To visit, you have to fill an online form on www.bladesofglory.net.

Kolkata

Remembering Ray

Satyajit Ray's 92nd birthday celebrated befittingly to the ace legendary Indian filmmaker

The city today paid rich tributes to legendry filmmaker Satyajit Ray on his 92nd birthday. The premier Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), named after the maestro, has decided to have their annual convocation each year on this day to coincide with the birthday of the versatile artiste.

While delivering the convocation address, Dadasaheb Phalke awardee filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan said there are very few filmmakers in India whose impact has been more powerful than that of Ray's.

"He left us too early. Had he been here now, we would have had the opportunity to get greater words from him. His contribution to Indian cinema has been monumental," he said.

SRFTI's director Sanjaya Pattanayak said awarding diplomas to film students on this day is a befitting way to contribute for the development of cinema.      

At the state-run multiplex Nandan, one of Ray's favourite films "The Bicycle Thief" by Vittorio Di Sica was screened. The Italian neo-realist film which tells the story of a poor man's struggle for survival is known to have a profound impact on Ray and his films including the iconic "Pather Panchali".

Nandan CEO Jadav Mondol said that as a mark of homage to one of the greatest filmmakers of the world, another four of Ray's favourite foreign films will be screened in the next two days.

It was after watching several international films during a trip to London that Ray had switched from advertising to cinema.

Author and film studies teacher Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, who delivered a lecture on the occasion, said these films have been close to the heart of Ray.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also paid homage to the director in the presence of his son filmmaker Sandip Ray and singer Anup Ghoshal.

Having directed a number of classics like the "Apu Trilogy", "Jalsaghar", "Sonar Kella", "Charulata", and "Shatranj Ke Khiladi", Ray remains India's first and only

Oscar-winning director. He passed away in 1992 at the age of 70 but continues to be a constant source of inspiration for filmmakers around the world.

PTI

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Kolkata           

Manna Dey turns 93

Legendary singer Manna De, who lives in Bangalore, celebrated a quiet birthday as he turned 93 recently.

"He is in not in a mood to celebrate his birthday because he is still devastated by his wife's death. Also, he is not keeping in good health," his grand nephew Sandeep De revealed.

Sulochana De, who passed away in January, was known to have been an inspiration behind a number of his evergreen love songs. De has been living in Bangalore since 2000.

"Their bonding was very strong as they were married for 60 years. Now on his birthday he misses her the most," family members stated. The health of the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee is also a concern.

A doctor attending on the singer revealed that  for the past one year, he has been unable to leave his house due to pain in the back and legs.

"Now he needs some support  to walk. In the last few months, he has shed 10-12 kg in weight, but other health parameters are okay now," the doctor said.

De was a name to reckon with in the music industry from the 1950s to the 1970s. Having recorded more than 3,500 songs in a number of languages including Hindi and Bengali, he regaled generations of listeners with his romantic ballads, intricate raga-based  songs, Qawwalis and fast-paced modern numbers, lending his voice to a number of Hindi and Bengali film stars.

His popular tracks include 'Poocho Na Kaise Maine' (Meri Surat Teri Aankhen), 'Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen' (Waqt), 'Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli' (Anand), 'Yeh Dosti' (Sholay) and 'Ek Chatur Naar' (Padosan).

Born in Kolkata, the singer spent more than 50 years in Mumbai before moving to Bangalore.

PTI

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Chennai

Touching the skies

Tamil  Nadu government plans Integrated Aerospace Park

In a bid to support the booming aviation industry in the state, Tamil Nadu government is planning to establish an Integrated Aerospace Park over 50

acres of land near the airport here.

 "TIDCO is planning to establish an Integrated Aerospace Park with the objective to support the development of aerospace industry covering design, engineering, manufacturing, servicing and maintenance of aircraft in Tamil Nadu.

 A 50-acre site located next to the airport here had been identified for setting up a Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) facility. The government also proposed to develop a components manufacturing park for aerospace industry in Sriperumbudur on an area of 300 acre. The land is being acquired by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT). The government would shortly announce the formulation of Tamil Nadu Aerospace Policy, 2012 soon.

 PTI