Infotainment Kaleidoscope

This is probably one of the best theme parks in the country, with innovative rides for almost all age groups, and the max thrill rides steal the show. We visited the park on Tuesday since the discount seemed quite attractive, however that was a mistake I'll not repeat. Though the Imagica site touts the Tuesday offer as "Limited tickets" available for pre-bookings, it turns out the tickets are not limited after all. It is a very clever trick to attract as large a crowd as possible, at the cost of reducing the fun offered. The crowd on Tuesdays is just too much for the park to handle, and queues for each ride extend up to 90 minutes or even more. We were just able to complete 4 rides in a single day, since most of our time was wasted in queues. The only rides we could get into were: - Nitro: simply awesome - Gold Rush Express: Great roller coaster, though slightly mild as compared to Nitro) - I for India: a unique experience which should not be missed - Curse ...

It is best to plan your visit well in advance. We booked the tickets online 2 days before our visit on 24th May 2015. Although the Sky theatre is 500 seater, only about 130 tickets are available for online booking. When we booked our tickets online, we could only get them for the 12:00 noon show “Invaders of Mars” (Hindi). When we reached the venue. we realized that about 350 tickets are sold over the counter, which is good in a way so the general crowd is not turned away. We therefore also bought tickets for the 3:00 PM show, “Wonders of the Universe” (English). The entry starts about 10-15 minutes before the stated timing, and the immediate attraction is checking how much a person would weigh on the Sun and the remaining planets of the solar system. After a few minutes, the show co-ordinator calls everyone and provides a 10 minute brief explaining the solar system, and a bit about how vast our universe is. This is followed by entering the actual sky theatre where the show starts....

Ganpati Bappa Morya!!! This is considered a “Navasacha Ganapati”, meaning that if anyone makes a wish and promises to do something in return to please Lord Ganesha, the wish comes true. Accordingly we paid a visit to Lord Ganesha to fulfill one such promise made 2 years ago. While some may say this is superstition, others consider it as faith. It doesn’t really matter what anyone says, but one thing is for sure – “If you visit Pune, you cannot miss a visit to this temple.” The temple is located in the heart of the city, about 1 KM from the famous Shanivarwada. The interiors of the temple are bright silver, and the idol of Lord Ganesha is simply marvelous. If feels great when you stand inside the temple for the darshan. On the outside, the premises seems to be a bit overcrowed with no space for further expansion, though the temple sees increasing number of visitors every year. Since its in the middle of a crowded place, parking could be a challenge. If you are taking your ow...