M A I N   N E W S

Bhuj students unable to take exam
by Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

BHUJ, Feb 14 — These are villages where death and destruction have taken away all the enthusiasm and zest out of the lives of people, more so the children. On the horns of a dilemma with no shelter over their heads and everything they knew as theirs gone, the benumbed students are in no mood to appear for their board examinations.

Fourteen-year-old Raseela is busy looking for her belongings in the mounds of debris her village, Madhapur, has been reduced to. Retrieving her possessions is foremost on her mind and studies figure nowhere on her agenda despite the impending examination schedule.

Similar to her fate is that of Jayanta’s, scheduled to take his Class XII examination, appearing from Paddar. His school building has gone and he has lost a few friends to the quake. Classwork has begun in a make-shift tent yet nothing but the devastation all around seems to clutter his mind. Most children appearing for the Gujarat Education Board and few of those appearing for the CBSE and ICSE examination are caught between the devil and the deep sea, not knowing what to do and where to begin.

“With destruction all over and the state machinery yet to clear up the area, we are at sea how to take the examination. Extending the date has been of no help in this situation since we cannot prepare anything now,’’ students say.

Their only problem is not that of having lost their homes but the fact that they have lost their books and notes. There has been no help in this regard from any quarter.

“My books, tattered and torn, lie beneath the debris somewhere. Anyway, having seen so much happen, I can hardly think of going back to my books, let alone concentrate,’’ says Kokilabhen, appearing for Class X. She lost her mother in the house-collapse and has been forced to take charge of her seven-year-old brother.

Sans books and notes, no “relief” is coming on the education front. The perplexed teachers don’t have a clue about what could be done to counter the problem. Students continue to fire questions on the issue of preparing for the examination and they have absolutely no answers.

“Undertones of depression and living in an atmosphere of perpetual scare are very evident on the faces of the students. In class, I have made several attempts to divert their attention to other subjects but have not tasted success. I will be glad even if all of them manage to pass. It has been a terrible end to the academic session and the new one does not seem any rosier. This is life,’’ observes a forlorn teacher.

Religious “deras” also provide relief 
by Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

RAPAR (Bhuj), Feb 14 — Several of religious organisations from Punjab and Haryana have reached here with volunteers to serve people of Gujarat hit by earthquake on January 26. They are running “langars” and providing goods needed to restart life.

Dera Sacha Sauda, a Sirsa-based organisation, has adopted 21 villages in Rapar taluka, where it is working independently. Its volunteers are coordinating relief work with the Haryana Government in another 15 villages.

Head of the Dera, Guru Maharaj Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhji, who reached here with more than 3000 volunteers 15 days ago, has been camping on the outskirts of Rapar since then. They are distributing food, medicines, blankets and tents in the villages adopted by the Dera.

Under the supervision of their Guru, volunteers work for over 18 hours a day, pitching on 60 tents every hour. The Guru himself visits villages to ensure that the poor too get tents and ration. Volunteers also go from house to house to assess requirements of villagers.

To overcome shortage of tents, the Dera has brought 60 tailors here. They work for 18 hours a day to stitch tents in the camp office of the Dera. So far, the “Dera” has distributed 35,000 blankets and have pitched more than 4500 tents.

The Dera accepts no donation though it has over 10 million followers all over the country. It has agriculture land in Haryana, Punjab and other States. Income from the farms is used for welfare activities.

The Guru also discourses to help shell-shocked victims to come out of grief.

Another religious organisation active in the area is the Vishav Gurmat Ruhani Mission of Ratwara Sahib. Under the guidance of its founder, Sant Waryam Singh, the volunteers of the mission have set up a “langar” here for quake-victims and volunteers of other relief organisations working here.

The Mission today flagged off another convoy of trucks carrying relief material worth Rs 1 crore from Ratwara Sahib for Rapar.

Swami Dharamdev Dutt of the Hari Mandir Sanskrit Mahavidyalya, Pataudi, in Haryana is camping in Bela village along with INLD MLA, Rambir Singh, who came here along with 30 truck-load of relief last week. It is one of the villages adopted by the Haryana Government.

When Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, M.P. son of the Haryana Chief Minister, visited Bela village last week, the villagers requested him to install a tubewell there to overcome severe shortage of drinking water, the Swami immediately accepted the responsibility. He said he would motivate his followers in Delhi to do so.

Forgetting personal grief many Gujaratis too have come forward to help their brethren. In Jaseda village, The Tribune met Dharam Bhai Mehta busy looking after the injured at a make-shift medical camp set up by Haryana. Dharam Bhai lost his two children in the quake. A colleague of his told us. We did not have the nerve to ask Dharam Bhai how he had overcome personal loss to involve himself in the service of others.

Hari Bhai, a hardware trader, was lucky enough not to lose any member of his family. But his two shops and house were destroyed by the earthquake. Now, he and his family live in tents in Manav Sewa Ashram here. He has made it a mission to serve the volunteers who have come from the other States. He cooks food for them.

Mrs Indira Ben of Uttarsanda in Khera district came with relief material for distribution in certain villages in the interior of Rapar taluka. Her husband is a rice exporter.

Indian gets US patent on virtual smell
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Feb14 — A 37-year-old Delhi- based inventor has left many a leading international groups behind by bagging the US patent for the world’s first multimedia invention on virtual reality device for producing relevant smells and sensations.

The invention involves all senses of a human being and transports the viewer to a virtual world replete with smell and feeling.

Addressing newspersons here today the inventor, Mr Sandeep Jaidka, said that the device would enable people viewing advertisement for a cup of coffee to smell its heady brew or smell the aroma of Basmati rice while viewing the cooking process.