One-two, one-two-three? The strains of peppy music pick up pace and the bunch of bubbly kids fall into step. They are rehearsing for the members? programme, the high point of DKS Week, the annual carousal at Dakshin Kalikata Sansad, an alternative party pad during the Christmas-New Year week.

Sports is the lifeblood of the south Calcutta club housed inside Deshapriya Park and this is the only time in the year when the management disrupts sporting activities to usher in the New Year with pomp and pageantry.

?We have coaching schemes in various sports at the club, including tennis, cricket and table tennis. If we have social functions spread across the year, the continuity is disturbed and the children suffer. So a few years ago, we hit upon the concept of the DKS Week to fit in all the festivities in the weeklong window,? explains Hironmoy Chatterjee, honorary general secretary of the club.

While most big-ticket New Year-eve bashes at the city social clubs come for a princely price, the DKS Week promises ?loads of fun and colour in a clean atmosphere without burning a deep hole in the pocket?.

The festivities kick off with the children?s Christmas party on December 25, followed by the inter-club Antakshari the day after. A musical evening with Raghav Chatterjee of Devdas fame is slated for December 27, while the members? programme, the showpiece of the gala, is slated for the 28th.

Usha Uthup takes the stage on December 29, while the children from the club?s various coaching schemes are set to spice up the 31st night party with their choreographed numbers.

The curtains come down on the extended extravaganza with the Oindrilla Kundu Memorial bridge championships on January 1 and 2, a meet as big as the nationals, with no less than 540 participants vying for top honours and Sharmila Tagore giving away the prizes.

?We are essentially a sporting club and all our activities are geared towards sports. However, the children need to relax some time to break the monotony of rigorous training and our adult members too need time out to relax. The DKS Week, which is not a high-flying spectacle like at most social clubs, allows them to have a nice time amidst like-minded revellers,? says Chatterjee.

The club also provides a platform for talented youngsters to show their mettle in art and music during these festivities. Artistes like Shamik Pal, Chandrachud Mukherjee and Barnali Banerjee all got their initial break at DKS, the management points out.

The lawns are all lit up these evening as the club gets ready to usher in 2005. But once the festivities are through, it?s back to business with the ONGC ITF Junior Tennis Championship slated for January 24-29.

Adjudged the ?best organised tournament in 2002 by the International Tennis Federation?, the annual major at DKS attracts talented juniors from all over the world (picture left shows Ramesh Krishnan with daughter Gayatri during the meet).