AFF, PUNE INDIA

After a thought-provoking morning with the teachers, students and team of Vanasthali Rural Development Centre, our French Guests enjoyed the afternoon in the lush green surroundings of Jappaloupe Equestrian Centre and Petting Farm! The stunning equine beauty,the warmth, tjought and organisational expertise in the running of the petting Farm and the compassion and commitment seen in the equine hospital... left our guests wide
-eyed with appreciation!

Today began with a visit to our very own Vanasthali Rural Development Centre Somatne ! Our senior supervisor for the past 28 years, Kalpana Gunaki had organised a reception beyond imagination! The guests were treated with dhol tashe and Lezim by the Shirgaon Asram Shala. With fragrant garlands around their necks, the French guests walked to the centre accompanied by our traditionally dressed trainees, teachers and Master Trainers. They were treated to a cultural programme of poems and dances by the Balwadi pupils followed by a demonstration of musical yoga by the group of teaching trainees. The programme ended with the certificate distribution of Course Completion for training groups from Chikhali and Akurdi. The trainees spoke eloquently about the experiential learning in Vanasthali Teachers Training Course, the life skills and organisational capacities that they had imbibed and mainly the confidence building that is the core element of the course. 50 years ago Nirmalatai lit a lamp... the flame has never wavered and it still burns strong in the villages and towns of Maharashtra...

This afternoon our French Guests got glimpses of contemporary India through a series of 8 short films subtitled by students of the French Section over the past 10 years. They enjoyed the films and were very appreciative of the work done by our students. I am grateful to our ex-students whose works were screened for this programme.

The 3rd Rencontres Insolites went off beautifully today with a group of French friends from Perspectives Asiennes, Paris and hosted by the Association of Friends of France, Pune. In the presence of Director Amélie Weigel of Alliance Française de Pune, Sudnya Athale, Academic Director Swati Jambhekar, the 2nd Year students of Masters interacted with them in detail about their professional domains, their specialisations and of course their interest in Indian culture and society. It was an excellent exchange and very enriching for both our students and the guests, as a one on one interaction allowed for a real intercultural understanding.

Today was a day spent in the realm of art, beauty, expression and a deep sense of connect to nature...yes...obviously ! Chief Curator made time for us in his busy schedule and his sharing of knowledge, anecdotes, experiences in each of the galeries was marvellous! Very grateful to him. The French friends were "enchanted" by the day long experience and some were already planning their return! A very big Thank You to the Collector of all this beauty, Mr Ajit Gadgil who spent a moment with the group as they expressed their appreciation of the concept, the works, the organisation and the space!

Hello and a Very Happy Festival of Lights to all! We have an added celebration up our sleeve as we are thrilled to announce the arrival of a "Lumière" of our times and a close friend of the association, Marie Caroline Yatzimirsky, who under her pen name of Marie Saglio has written an award-winning first novel "Bombay"! An anthropologist of contemporary India, a social scientist of immense experience and standing and a psychotherapist working tirelessly with the immigrant population in France. As the second edition of the Rencontres Insolites series, launched under the aegis of the Association of Friends of France, Pune this year, and in collaboration with French Section SPPU and the Alliance Française de Pune, the event (entirely in French) will begin with an interaction with the author led by Amélie Weigel, Director, AF Pune and will end with "Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan" a short reading performance with excerpts from the book and other seminal writing on Mumbai. Open to all students, Faculty and French enthusiasts!
* This time it will also have a Mumbai edition hosted by the Alliance Française de Bombay with the MU. on the 7th of November... so choose your city and save the date!

Association of Friends of France has increased the number of places this year for its France study Tour 2025! On special request registration deadlines have been extended to the 30th of October!
2 BRILLIANT LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN LABEL FLE SCHOOLS
3 STUNNING CITIES
3 EXCURSIONS TO CANNES, MONACO AND CARCASSONNE
18 DAYS OF DELIGHTFUL DISCOVERY
DO NOT MISS THIS!
CALL THE NUMBERS ON THE POSTER AND REGISTER!!!
ZOOM LINK FOR QUESTION ANSWER SESSION TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON !

We at the Association of Friends of France, Pune are extremely happy to host the very first session of RENCONTRES INSOLITES... spaces where thoughts, ideas, imaginary landscapes of "inconnus" intersect and from the unknown, the strange, the unexperienced... a unique rich fabric starts weaving itself...