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TOI : Round or oval, carefully pleated in satin, bordered with an intricately designed golden ribbon. The immaculately made quintessential Puneri pagadi is a humbling gift. Once worn by the likes of Lokmanya Tilak and Gopalkrishna Gokhale, a gift of a Puneri pagadi is considered an acknowledgement of one’s intelligence.

In other cultures too, the pagadi is a symbol of respect and several references from our much-loved Hindi movies clears the fact beyond doubt. Not only is this headgear more versatile and colourful than its ‘firangi’ cousin, carefully wrapping several feet of cloth into something firm that won’t flip open, is certainly an art. Sadly though, as the pagadi gets more popular for felicitations, the hands that bring them to life are dying a slow, silent death.

However, 35-year-old Laxman Khandare, a pagadi-maker by profession, refuses to let ‘his pride and joy’ fade away into anonymity.

“Although the demand and popularity for pagadi is rising, there is a severe crunch of manpower,” says Khandare, who originally comes from Pandharpur.

A farmer’s son, he first landed in Pune in 1990 to make a career in theatre and later in films. “But, I soon realised that acting was not my cup of tea,” he confesses, adding that he then decided to stick to backstage activities and took to dressmaking. It was then that he met Sachin Karambalekar, a dress-maker and most of all, an expert at wrapping pagadis. The latter taught Khandare the basics of pagadi-making and from then there was no looking back.

To keep the art alive Khandare organised a group of needy women, inducted and trained them for the job. He fragmented the process of making the pagadi and innovated ways to simplify it. Without asking every woman to make an entire pagadi all by herself, he trained every woman to create some part of it….More

TOI : PUNE: A 26-year-old Indian Army jawan of the 41 Artillery Regiment took his own life following an unsuccessful love affair in Pune on Saturday.

Gunner Sanjay Sopan Adagale alias Tanaji (26) of the Bhusawal-based 216 Medium Regiment of the 41 Artillery used a country-made revolver to shoot himself at his residence in Ramtekdi. A case has been filed at the Wanowrie police station and investigations are on to find out the origin of the revolver used.

Adagale died of a single shot fired on his own chest. He was taken to a local private hospital where doctors declared him dead. According to the police and sources at the 41 Artillery, Adagale was on leave for a month, as his marriage was to be held on April 25. However, he was in love with another girl from Maan tehsil in Satara.

Army officials told TOI that Adagale was a perfectly sober man and did not had a history of depression or trouble making. “It was a case of frustration over hindrances in his love affair,” said an officer.

The fact that Adagale had an unlicensed country-made revolver has turned out to be the biggest puzzle for the police in the case. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Demanding that the video conferencing system (VCS) at the Yerawada jail be restored, kingpin of the multi-crore fake stamp scam Abdul Karim Telgi has threatened to go on a hunger strike from April 21.

“Telgi has written to the collector and the director general of the prison informing them about his hunger strike,” Telgi’s advocate Milind Pawar said. He added that the hunger strike will continue till the VCS service is put back in place.

Pawar said more than 40 cases connected to the stamp scam were going on at different places and were conducted via the VCS. However, for the last three months, he alleged that the Bharat Sanchar Nigan Limited (BSNL) has suspended the facility due to non-payment of the telephone bills by the jail authorities.

The director inspector general (DIG) of prison (western region) Ravindra Kedari maintained that the system was not working due to technical reasons. He added that repair works were underway and the VCS would be functional by April 21.

In view of the Supreme Court order in 2003, the state government had installed the VCS at Yerawada to expedite the trial against Telgi. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), New Delhi had chargesheeted Telgi and his associates in 48 cases. Telgi has pleaded guilty in several cases, including the one registered against him in 2002 at Pune with the Bundgarden police.

Being a high-risk prisoner, Telgi has been kept in the high security egg-shaped cell at the jail. He is not allowed to interact with other inmates and meet relatives or visitors, except his lawyers.

The trial against Telgi, in connection to several cases, was being conducted on a daily basis at Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chennai via the VCS, but has now come to a standstill.

Pawar told TOI…More

TOI : PUNE: Out of the 94 nominations filed by various candidates for the May 18 polls to the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB), just one was found to be invalid.

The scrutiny of nominations was carried out by PCB on Saturday in presence of nominees or their election agents and proposers. A total of 94 candidates had filed their nominations on April 17.

“After the scrutiny, all nominations have been accepted except one filed by Pailwan Bhim Dharamji which has been rejected under the provision of Rule 23 of the Cantonments Electoral Rules, 2007,” said Brigadier R.J. Sharma, PCB president.

“The candidate had failed to deposit Rs 3,000, the amount required for the filing of nomination, and had instead deposited only Rs 1.500, ” he added. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Pune municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi has tabled a proposal before the PMC’s standing committee that the civic body should take responsibility of those affected by the BRTS work on Solapur road. If the proposal is accepted, the project cost would increase.

Municipal commissioner, in his proposal, said that the PMC should take a policy decision about the rehabilitation of residential tenements and shops affected by the Katraj-Swargate-Hadapsar BRTS route development project. The Pune cantonment had refused to shoulder the burden of rehabilitation. If the PMC accepts the plan, it will increase the cost of the project.

In another proposal placed before the standing committee, the municipal commissioner has mooted a consultant for implementing eco-housing. The proposed fees for the agency is Rs 21 lakh. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More