J A L A N D H A R

Abandoned by parents, disabled kids being mothered at Home
Jalandhar, December 2
Abandoned by their parents owing to their physical and mental disabilities, as many as 43 children are being nursed in a warm shelter at the Mother Teresa Home being run by the Missionaries of Charity at Green Model Town here.

Village teacher invited to international conference
Kapurthala, December 2
A teacher from the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Maseetan, Kapurthala, has been invited to participate in the World Innovative Teachers Conference to be held in the US next year after he won a prize in Asia-Pacific meet of innovative teachers held at Seoul, South Korea this month.

Seminar tries to understand poetry
Jalandhar, December 2
A seminar on ‘Understanding poetry’ was organised by the Post-Graduate Department of English at Kanya Maha Vidyalaya here today. Teachers from various colleges across the state attended the seminar.

Teachers attending a state-level seminar on ‘Understanding Poetry’ organised at KMV College in Jalandhar on Friday. — A Tribune photo

One held for abducting, raping girl
Phagwara, December 2
The police today arrested a person on charges of kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl from Rehana Jattan village in the subdivision. According to police sources, the arrested person has been identified as Niranjan Singh, a resident of Rawalpindi village in Phagwara.

City paediatrician gets IAP fellowship Jalandhar, December 2 Dr Anil Sud, a well-known paediatrician of the city has been awarded a fellowship by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, the apex body of paediatricians of the country. He was awarded “for achieving academic and clinical excellence.” Dr Anil Sud

Abandoned by parents, disabled kids being mothered at Home
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 2
Abandoned by their parents owing to their physical and mental disabilities, as many as 43 children are being nursed in a warm shelter at the Mother Teresa Home being run by the Missionaries of Charity at Green Model Town here.

Every child being raised in this home has a story. One-and-a-half-year old Marina was abandoned by her parents outside the Sacred Heart School in Maqsudan this April after probably realised that her legs were getting deformed and she might not be ever able to walk.

A-year-old Roshni who has thalaesemia was found carefully wrapped in winter clothes outside the Mother Teresa Home last February by a volunteer. The parents of the cute cherub probably thought their child would not live long and did not want to spend their time and money on her treatment.

Mentally-challenged Jobina was put in a carton and delivered to the Home by a person who said there were items of need inside it. When the volunteers opened the carton, they found that a peacefully sleeping child.

It’s a contradiction in terms. While uncompassionate parents had the courage to desert their “Children of lesser Gods”, the volunteers in the Home have done yeoman’s service by devoting their lives for them.

One such volunteer is Ms Basanti. She came here all the way from Jharkhand to render her services to these children. Working in day and night shifts, about a dozen such women are mothering these children who are now totally dependent on them.

The dormitory where these little children sleep have colourful toys hanging from the ceiling. Their beds have been neatly laid and each one of them has been provided with a quilt with baby prints. The elder children sleep in an adjoining dormitory.

“The children start getting up around 4.30 a.m. Then, we make them sit one-by-one on the potty chairs. Every child is then given a bath and fresh clothes” a volunteer said. “The little ones are fed milk and the rest are made to take breakfast. It takes us almost four hours to accomplish the whole task. After that, the children play with toys out in the sun or are taken out to a park where they enjoy a lot interacting with nature”, another volunteer added.

The kids are put to sleep after their lunch. In the afternoon, it’s time for the children to undergo physiotherapy by two visiting experts. “These special kids special treatment, for most of them have physical and mental disabilities,” Sister Joseleena, a caretaker, said.

A few teenage girls living here are also trained to dance by Taranjeet, a student from the MGN School, who comes to the Home daily to take her class, Taranjeet said even before she goes to her own place. “I simply enjoy being with them”, Taranjeet said. “Besides her, there are many visitors who spend their time with the children and try to train them in various activities,” Sister Joseleena said.

“Two girls from the Home, who have moderate disabilities, are even attending St Joseph School where they study in a special class,” Sister Rosebella, in-charge, Mother Teresa Home, said, as she showed drawings and paintings made by them in the school.

Sister Rosebella added that the centre was taking care of the younger children only and after these boys and girls grow up, they will be sent out to other Mother Teresa Homes that induct youngsters.

Village teacher invited to international conference
Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, December 2
A teacher from the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Maseetan, Kapurthala, has been invited to participate in the World Innovative Teachers Conference to be held in the US next year after he won a prize in Asia-Pacific meet of innovative teachers held at Seoul, South Korea this month. The meet was organised by Microsoft.

Mr Sita Ram Bansal, declared a Socially Useful Productive Teacher at JNV Maseetan, was chosen along with 14 other teachers from over 5000 contestants, who participated in the Microsoft Innovative Teacher Leadership Award 2005.

A total of 113 teachers participated in the meet from Australia, New Zealand and 13 Asian countries including India. Mr Bansal, who hails from Madhopur village in Jalandhar district, was trained under Technology for Education Teacher Training programme.

This program is a part of Project Shiksha, which is India’s implementation of Microsoft’s partner pact in learning initiative. Mr Bansal is said to have explained his work to the judges in Hindi.

Seminar tries to understand poetry
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 2
A seminar on ‘Understanding poetry’ was organised by the Post-Graduate Department of English at Kanya Maha Vidyalaya here today.

Teachers from various colleges across the state attended the seminar. Addressing the delegates, Dr S.K. Bhatia, Professor, Department of English, Guru Nanak Dev University, said poetry could be interpreted in various ways but any understanding of poetry without taking in view the mind and psyche of the poet was incomplete. Though the general approach towards the poetry of Keats is romantic, Dr Bhatia took up a different view and explicated on a psychoanalytic approach towards Keats.

The professor also delved into the Keatsian concept of negative capability. “I find it akin to Eliot’s concept of extinction of personality”, he said.

Dr Tejinder Kaur, Professor of English, Correspondence Courses, Punjabi University, explained the importance of criticism in poetry. “It is not a negative activity. A critique can be theoretical, as it provides various critical tools which deal with the analysis of a work.” 

One held for abducting, raping girl
Tribune News Service

Phagwara, December 2
The police today arrested a person on charges of kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl from Rehana Jattan village in the subdivision.

According to police sources, the arrested person has been identified as Niranjan Singh, a resident of Rawalpindi village in Phagwara.

Earlier, the family of the girl had lodged a complaint with the Sadar police station against the accused for abducting the girl. Section 376 had been added to the earlier FIR for rape.

Niranjan Singh was nabbed from Rehana Jattan village when he was planning to take away the girl from Phagwara to Ludhiana, the sources said, adding that the accused had allegedly confessed his crime.

The accused was produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate, Phagwara, who remanded him to a day’s police custody.

The girl has returned to her parents.

City paediatrician gets IAP fellowship
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 2
Dr Anil Sud, a well-known paediatrician of the city has been awarded a fellowship by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), the apex body of paediatricians of the country. He was awarded “for achieving academic and clinical excellence.”

Dr Sud, who is currently the Vice-President of the Punjab unit of the IAP, has been conducting seminars and workshops for doctors and paramedical staff regularly in addition to organising rallies to highlight importance of vaccination and breast feeding. Dr Sud will receive the fellowship on January 5 next year.