Pune Star Hotels – Luxury in the Cultural Capital

Pune is the second largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and the largest in the Deccan region. It is considered to be the cultural capital of Maharashtra.

Pune Hotels – Star Hotels in Pune

Pune, being an important tourist and business center has many Five Star Hotels. These hotels offer state of the art facilities for both tourist and business travelers.

The Sun N Sand Hotel

The Sun N Sand is a luxurious Five Star Hotel that offers elegant accommodation, a swimming pool, health Spa, business center, and a conference hall, to name just a few of its facilities. The hotel has 115 rooms which are available in four categories – Superior, Deluxe, Presidential and Club Sunbeam. All of these rooms come with the following basic facilities: Direct Dial Telephones facility, High speed Broadband for internet users, Mini Bar for drinking and dancing, Television with International Channels, Tea and Coffee maker, Daily Newspaper, and Weighing Scales. In addition to these facilities, each category of rooms has its own special features.

• Superior Rooms

Elegant rooms with all the basic necessary facilities to make your stay comfortable and memorable.

• Deluxe Rooms

These are spacious rooms divided into two levels: The Living Room level and the Bed Room level.

• Executive Rooms

These suites have a living room and a bedroom with an attached bath.

• Club Sunbeam

This is a separate floor dedicated to corporate executives. It has spacious rooms, a private lounge, a boardroom and a bar.

• Presidential Suite

This suite has a bedroom, a dining room and a living room. It is located on the sixth floor of the building. It is a suite designed for utmost luxury and comfort.

The Hotel has three different conference rooms:

• The Peshwa

This is a theater style room with state of the art equipment that can seat up to 350 people.

• The Senate

This is a room that can accommodate 40 people. It provides audio visual and conferencing facilities.

• The Maratha

This is a multi-purpose meeting and conference room.

Restaurants

The hotel provides a wide choice of in-house restaurants. The Orient specializes in Chinese cuisine; The Kurry Court serves South Indian and Tandoori cuisine, The Boomerang is the in- house bar, The Tea Lounge serves beverages and The Sweet Sin is a bakery. Whether you are on a business trip or a leisure tour, Five Star Hotels can make your stay in Pune a special experience.

Japanese Gambaru – Literal Meaning and Cultural Impact

The word Gambaru in Japanese means doing one’s best and hanging on to the bitter end. This means that students gambaru study hard to pass exams, athletes gambaru practice hard to wins games, and company workers gambaru work hard to increase sales. It also means to work hard or patiently, to insist on having one’s way, and to occupy one place and never leave, as in relation to working on a job or at a place of employment. Gambaru is also rooted in the following proverb, “The monk who does not work should not eat.”

There is an imperative form of “gambaru, which is Gambare or Gambette. The imperative term connotes high achievement, motivation, and orientation to group harmony. The term is also used among members to encourage others in group activity.

The Japanese people use the term gambare quite often and for various reasons. They normally use the term at least once per day with saying good-bye and also at the ending of a letter. The Japanese also use this expression to encourage one another with the implication of “Please keep up your hard work until your goal is achieved.”

The term is also used in many situations as a form of expression. The Japanese may use the expression in the initial states of a project. For example:

a) After the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, the slogan Gambare Kobe was used to encourage the people of Kobe to reconstruct their city and rebuild their lives.

b) Japanese people also use the expression among group members to encourage one another in cooperative activities. For example, during track and field days at school, children can be heard shouting “gambare” or “gambatte” to encourage their friends in the race.

c) Japanese people also use the expression as spectators to cheer on their team. For example, in the 1998 World Cup soccer match held in France, the Japanese spectators cheered the slogan Gambare Nippon! During the championship, the slogan was used on TV programs and commercials every day.

The literal meaning of gambaru is “to adhere to something with tenacity.” It is a very popular term used when encouraging someone undertaking a very difficult task. Additional meanings are: Hang in there, Don’t give up, Do your best, and Give it your all! The term also means work hard and patiently. Additionally, it exhorts enthusiasm and hard work from others.

Gamburu also has some additional meaning, some of which could be considered as negative connotations. Based on the denotation form of the word, it also means “to insist on having one’s ways,” and “to occupy one place and never leave.” Additionally, the word is derived from ga-o-haru, which means “to be self-willed.” This expression originally had a negative connotation of asserting oneself against group decisions and norms.

One may ask if other languages have the equivalent of gambari. According to Amanuma (1987, pp. 51-53), gambari, which is derived from gambaru, does not have any exact equivalent in non-Japanese languages. Additionally, Amanuma states, “Even though both Chinese and Korean have the characters that make up gambaru (gambari is derived from gambaru), they do not have expressions that possess the same nuances. This suggests that gambaru is an expression that is unique to Japan and expresses certain qualities of the Japanese character.

There are various proverbs that may show a difference between Japanese culture and American culture as it relates to the virtues of Gambaru. One proverb based on Japanese culture states, “The monk who does not work should not eat.” This speaks to the fact that one must work and that through working one is able to live. The Japanese did not take into account play or free time in this proverb, unlike Americas in the following proverb.

Alternatively, an American proverb states, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” This implies that one does not have to work but rest and play. It places play and work in the same category, and on the same level which equate to virtue. The account of play in this proverb gives the Japanese a feeling of uneasiness regarding the virtues of Gambaru in American terms.

© Joseph S. Spence, Sr., 8/16/09

© All Rights Reserved

Submitted by “Epulaeryu Master.”

Zambian Cultural Heritage – Chewa People – Their History and Culture

The Chewa people of Zambia live in the Eastern Province of the country. The language of the Chewa is Chichewa and Chichewa speaking people are Malawi and Mozambique. The reason for this is that historically before the white colonial masters came to Africa, the Chewa people of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique had one ruler – His Royal Highness Kalonga Gawa Undi. But when the colonialists came and created national boundaries, the Chewas were separated and found themselves living in three countries with different colonial masters. Zambia and Malawi fell under the British colonial rule while Mozambique belonged to Portugal.

However, the Chewa continued to recognise themselves as one despite colonial rule and new country boundaries. The traditional Zambian Chewa headquarters are in Mkaika, Katete and today ceremonies (in particular the Kulamba Ceremony) take place every year that bring the leaders of all three countries together.

The Chewa people are known for their love of farming and in particular for their craftsmanship – the women for their pottery skills and the men for their skills in making bamboo basketry, hoes, axes, arrows, reed mats and palm tree leaf mats. The men are also good hunters and fishermen and these skills are believed to bring honour to manhood. The Chewa are hard working people who are known to despise any form of laziness believing that it leads to the demeaning practice of begging.

The sacred sites of the Chewa

  • The royal cemetery at the Mano headquarters in Malawi
  • The shrines at Msinja and Mankhamba
  • The grave of Undi Chisakamzondi who dies whilst travelling in Mozambique
  • Kaphirintiwa in Malawi where marks in the rocks resembling human and animal footprints which is believed to be the place of creation
  • The ancestral graves at the Mkaika Traditional Headquarters

The Chewa clans

The original two main clans were the Banda who historically were healers and mystics and the Phiri who were said to the aristocracy. Other clans are:

  • The Mbewe’s known to enjoy the delicacy of mice eating (although the Phiri’s and Banda’s will also enjoy this delicacy)
  • The Kwenda clan which comes from the word ‘mkwenda’ which means ‘the stripper’. The tail suggests a man from the Phiri clan inappropriately stripped his sisters’ clothes whilst travelling – the rest is history!
  • The Mphandwe clan who are an offshoot of the Banda clan. The story goes that a man eloped with a woman of his clan (a disgraceful thing to do) and as a result wanted to be known as Mphandwe not Banda
  • The Mwale clan from the word ‘kumwalira’ which means ‘to die’. History suggests there was a bloody fight between two groups of people because they shot an animal and could not agree on how to divide the head.
  • The Linde clan from the word ‘kulinda’ which means ‘to watch’. This was the group who did not join in the above fight but instead watched over the carcass of the animal that was being fought over.

Leadership and political organisation

Interestingly the traditional Chewa social structure is matrilineal – property and land rights are inherited from the mothers and it is the woman’s bloodline which keeps the lineage alive. The traditional Chewa leader is usually male but the descendance is carried through the female side deriving its identity from the woman and villages are made up of matrilineal relatives by marriage.

The overall Chewa leader is known as the Kalonga Gawa Undi who is in charge of all Chewa chiefs who in turn supervise village headmen. Kalonga Gawa Undi has the following meaning:

  • Kalonga: ‘one who identifies and installs office in others’
  • Gawa: ‘one who allocates land and shares wealth with others’
  • Undi: ‘one who protects citizens, keeping them under his wings as a bird protects its young’

Those in line for leadership compete for their Chieftainship right but contrary to popular belief this does not necessarily mean conflict. Wise chiefs will select a nephew as their successor and send out their other nephews to establish subordinate chiefdoms. In fact, this system has avoided major dispute for centuries.

Taboos

The Chewa people will take offense if they are mistaken for the Nyanja because this propagates the colonial misinterpretation of their origin. Though the Nyanja and Chichewa languages are similar they are different and to say they are one and the same denies the validity of the Chichewa language.

Another taboo is to mention, call or write the birth name of the successor to the Kalonga Gawa Undi. The office of the Kalonga Gawa Undi must be seen to never die. Before the burial of the Kalonga Gawa Undi his successor is chosen by the royal family and the birth name of his successor is ceremonially buried together with his forerunner. The name of the current Gawa is therefore simply Kalonga Gawa Undi XI.

This article is inspired by the book ‘Ceremony! Celebrating Zambia’s Cultural Heritage’. It’s fabulous and a visually pleasing book which I would encourage you to get. I got mine from ZAIN in Lusaka, Zambia. It is published by Celtel Zambia PLC and Seka. Original photography, Francois d’Elbee. Coordinating author, Tamara Guhrs. Editor, Mulunga Kapwepwe. Contributing authors, Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika, Prof Mapopa Mtonga, Mulenga Kapwepwe, Isaac Smogy Kapinga, Miranda Guhrs, Msatero Tembo, Matiya Ngalande and Joseph Chikuta.

Zambia encourages tourists to witness traditional ceremonies and you’ll find local tourism service providers particular helpful.

Meeting People From Different Cultural Backgrounds

It is always exciting for me to meet people from different cultural backgrounds. It always thrilled me to learn about the culture of people I met from the different parts of the world. In my stay here in Malaysia, I am very lucky to have stayed in a guest house that caters all migrants from other countries. I was able to meet French, Russians, Dutch, Swedish, Hindi, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Malaysians and the like.

It is very important also to learn to speak their language. Even a basic understanding of another language can help build bonds with people who speak another language. Concentrate on learning the languages and learn how to speak proficiently. You’ll be able to have conversations with new friends in a language they feel most comfortable speaking.

When you interact with people of varied cultural backgrounds, it gives you an opportunity to enhance your verbal communication skills. The more comfortable you are in communicating with others, the more doors are open for you in your personal and professional life.

Every time we collaborate ideas with other people, we also learn from them. Sometimes we are too preoccupied with our own world that it’s nice to hear differences in opinion and other perspectives. It’s really amazing to learn something from other people whether it’s intended or unintended, the result is the same. You are able to broaden your horizon and widen your perspectives.

Be open and kind to all the people you meet. Being nice to everybody and willing to learn about new experiences help you make new friends wherever you go. Never judge other people because their experience is different from yours. Try to find something that you can have in common to relate to the person. You can ask them about their lives and you can also share the things that you’re interested in. Never come off as condescending or rude to anybody. Keep yourself open to great possibilities. And it’s always great to make a new friends by being the first to open the conversation.

When you are around with new people, you can come alive with new creative ideas to learn from about your life. Having a strong network of people who are experts in different fields is an awesome experience! Because when you need something, it’s always a good thing to have trusted people to lean on. The person next to you might be the one you need right now or could be in the future.

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