CREATIVE SIDE
Nurturing the poetess in her
V.P. Prabhakar

“FOR years, I remained engrossed in ghar, parivar and naukri (service). The poetess in me often raised her head but I kept her under control. But my poetic urge could not remain suppressed for long. One day, I just decided to lift my pen.”

This is how Usha R. Sharma has described her feelings in the preface of her first book of poems titled Ek varg aakash. She has also expressed her feelings in the first poem of this book.

Not that she had not been writing earlier. Even in college days she would write and some of her poems had even appeared in magazines and newspapers but all this was not in an organised manner and she left writing after 1978 and entered the Indian Administrative Service in 1979.

For 17 years, she did not write anything serious. However, she resumed her writing in Mussoorie in 1996 when she had gone to attend a training course in the administrative institute. The lecture was not only boring but also lengthy, prompting Usha to scribble in her notebook. After the lecture, when other trainees wanted to see what she had written, she showed the poem she had penned. They not only appreciated it but also encouraged her to continue writing. This is how, she says, she rediscovered the poetess in her after a gap of 17 long years.

Since then, there is no looking back and she had since produced three books of poetry—one each in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Dr Narinder Mohan of Delhi University had written about her first book like this, “Although it is the first collection of her poems, these contain not only freshness but also reflect maturity. The poems represent different moods of the poetess. These also represent transparency of her mind.”

The subjects of her poems are nature, interpersonal relations, social problems, dreams, ambition, children and fearlessness.

Usha also writes short stories though these have not been published. She said that her book on short stories is almost ready and is likely to be printed next year. Side by side, another book on poetry is also progressing towards completion. She feels that half-cooked material should not be produced. She said although churning out prose or poetry is not her aim , her feelings which remained unexpressed for a long time come out spontaneously. In her short stories she has touched on subjects like dowry, will (vasiyat), loneliness, bride burning, personal problems and social issues.

She says that she writes in Hindi because she stayed in Uttar Pradesh for a long time. Born in Mumbai, Usha studied in various states as her father was in the Army and they moved from place to place. Hence, she not only acquired an in-depth understanding of the social customs of different states but also their cultural traditions.

She was also student of Panjab University and had also done a diploma in French. She has interest in music, drama and literature. Her husband is also in the Army.

When it is pointed out that her language is slightly tough, she maintains that there should be spontaneity in the language. Moreover, she adds, to understand Shakespeare one is supposed to be well-conversant with English but even Shakespeare’s language is not considered tough.

She feels that proper infrastructure should be provided for the education of children. After serving in various administrative positions in the Punjab Government, she feels that teachers, particularly in the rural areas, should be given proper training for teaching English in schools. She feels that the child should be given education in two languages, including the mother tongue, and the third language should be introduced at a later stage.

Serving as the Additional Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab, she is against giving reservation to women. She feels that whenever any section has been given reservation, all its members have not benefited from it.

As regards capital punishment for rapists, she says that proper investigations are necessary in such cases and if conclusive proof is available, capital punishment should be given.

She says that she believes in honest expression of one’s feelings as these come from the heart. When asked how she balances her poetic urge and the government work, she refers to her poem entitled Kab talak in which she has expressed this conflict.

SHOPPERS' CHOICE
Swiss knife: a trekker’s true friend
Ambika Kumar

SOME like to possess it due to its high utility, while some fancy having its collection. But mostly travellers love it as it is all-in-one— torch, nail-cutter, screw-driver, bottle-opener, pen, needle, cock-opener, plucker,tweezer, tin-opener, scissors, piercer, saw, wine-opener, filer, number of knives, toothpick, key chain, ply, scale, magnifying glass and more.

A Swiss knife is the world’s most practical and efficient multi-tool. The founder, Karl Elsener, developed the original Swiss Army knife, the first world famous pocket-multi-tool. The revolutionary knife was officially registered on June 12, 1897. These knives are available in the market but the number of tools vary. The maximum being 32 while the minimum is three. The price varies from Rs 75 to Rs 3500, depending on the quality of the product.

A Swiss knife is highly beneficial to those fond of trekking and travelling.

“I feel a Swiss knife is a practical, compact and multi-purpose tool. One need not collect these small utility items individually as they are found all in one”, says Abhay Dogra, a keen trekker. “Though it is available in the market but to fetch a good and original piece is quite a task”, he rues.

Of course, the quality of the product varies. “The notable difference can be seen and figured out by the weight, sharpness, plastic used and rust proof iron. The original and high-quality product cannot cost less than Rs 500, though there are immitations in the market”, asserts a business manager, Mr Robin Wallia.”Generally, the frequent travellers and class-consciouspersons purchase these knives”, adds Robin.

A lot of youngsters possess these knives. “I have about six such Swiss knives and all of them have different number of knives and combinations. It does notmake any difference to me whether it is original or not. Anyway the original ones are not affordable, I am just fond of collecting this utility item”, comments Anand, a B.Com student.

So those of you who love travelling or are fond of collecting items, get yourself a Swiss knife, which is compact, a good, convenient and multi-purpose tool.

SOCIAL MIRROR
Women keep their wits longer

WOMEN keep their wits for far longer than men, according to a study of ageing at a Dutch University. In word and number tests among 85-year-olds, women showed faster and more accurate responses than men. Women also fared better than men on memory tests. These results were obtained despite the fact that the men in the study were better educated than the women.

Researchers at Leiden University have concluded that biology rather than sociology contributes to the difference. They said that women live longer than men, therefore their brains must remain more actively alert. Six hundred 85-year-olds participated in the study, which drew from people from among those who were married, widowed and forever single.

Who’s more satisfied ?

A recent survey revealed that 71 per cent of the women aged between 45 and 55 were ‘extremely satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’, and the most dissatisfied were men aged between 35 and 45, only 46 per cent of whom were content. However, the survey also found that Australia had become a nation of stressed, spendthrift credit card junkies, worried that surfing the Internet would replace real-life experiences.

The results came from the 10th annual ‘Eye on Australia’ survey of 500 persons aged 18 or more which shows how Australians’ lives and consumption habits have changed since the first survey was done 10 years ago.

Seventysix per cent of the respondents said that technology was improving their lives, but 79 per cent were concerned about the amount of time children spent on computers and felt it would make it harder for them to relate to people face to face. Eightyfive per cent were concerned about the rising gap between the rich and the poor, but only 44 per cent agreed that there was less equal opportunity in Australia than there used to be. Only 49 per cent agreed that the future was likely to be better than the past. (WFS)