The reason. Call it a singular lack of imagination on part of all and sundry. In the battle to put their cities on the tourist map as a destination for millennium party goers, Pune did not even lose. It simply failed to put up the good fight. ``It is just not a happening city,'' says Narayan Malhapur, deputy general manager of Prasanna Tours. Most of the tourist traffic is out bound, be it Goa or abroad. ``There isn't much that you can do in Pune,'' he says, so even his company planned a do ninety kilometres away from the city.

That does it. If the private sector is not interested would the government be interested. Apparently they are. A quick trip to the Maharastra Tourism Development Corporation's (MTDC) office at the Central Building reveals that there are plans.

Better late than never. Which explains the letter dated November 11 from the deputy general manager's office, MTDC, Mumbai. The long and short of it: Get cracking. The letter wants its regional offices to start bookings under various millennium packages. Slight discomfort that there isn't much planned for Pune.

There is a cultural package though. Starting from December 24 to January 1, 2000 the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and Sinhagad will witness folk artistes performing to usher in the new millennium. Similar programmes are also planned at Mahabaleshwar and Karla which the MTDC is pegging for the party this year.

``Our bookings are almost over,'' says senior manager of MTDC, Pune regional centre, Vijay Chavan. Obviously there are takers as he reports good bookings for the packages priced between Rs 1000 and Rs 5000. ``We have completed more than 50 per cent of our quota and we should be full by December.''

That still leaves Pune out. All the lakes and all the tourist attraction maketh not a happening place. Sad but true. The cultural capital of the State (and some say even of the country) is not too big on the initiative.

There are other factors. Indian tourism is battling the radiation fallout of Pokhran II and waging a war against the Kargil effect (not a scientific phenomenon!) ``They resulted in a 30 per cent drop in tourism,'' Chavan says. Which explains why the industry has been left gasping.

So that means head out. The hotels have their plans, as they do every year. Of course there is a better tag to it thanks to the calendar declaring it the great crossover. But again, nothing as a city that was marketed.

Here's a funny. The city, known for its scientific temper, is not too hot on the millennium idea at all. When Prof Jayant Narlikar was asked for his plans for the millennium biggie he had one answer. ``This is not the millennium,'' a smile breaking across his face. ``It is next year and I want to write about this,'' he said.

R Mashelkar, director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research agreed with him. And the scientific community is busy anyway, with the impending Science Congress that jump starts on January 3.

The city known for its software professionals will be at office attending Y2k calls. So the young and the restless will get along with the bold and the beautiful to party like every year. Bid deal? Naaah.

In case the others are not out celebrating or wondering about why Pune really missed the millennium bus, there is the other disaster epic to contend with on satellite television. Go to sleep with Leonardo Di Caprio running around the after deck with Kate Winslet wondering why they are crashing into an iceberg. Beats us.