The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

The hike in gold prices has not dimmed its glitter for Doaba people, particularly NRIs , says Varinder Singh

Gold ornaments continue to be favourite among women in Doaba region. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

Gold is glittering. This shine, however, comes with a price tag, which is stretching beyond the common people’s expectations with each passing day and is even zooming out of their limits fast.

The unabated shooting up of gold prices, however, has failed to dim the spirits of the people of Doaba region of Punjab, particularly NRIs and women, who want to have the precious metal as long as they have the money to buy it.

Though the mind-boggling upward spurt in price has limited the sphere of buyers and has virtually restricted gold as a commodity of a chosen few, the lust for gold is still unending among common women, and those who want to hoard the precious metal in the hope that its sale, later on, could add some more money to their treasures.

While almost everyone knows that gold prices are touching a new high everyday, but most people, even jewellers and those dealing in the metal, were more or less confused about factors responsible for the price hike. Almost one and all are busy making their own guesses and calculations, but the crux of this guesswork and mind-boggling calculations make one believe that there are no chances of any let-up in the upward journey of gold prices, at least in near future.

Those dealing in gold, and experts contacted by Jalandhar Plus come out with a piece of advice in unison — buyers should go in for purchase of bullion at this point of time as there are no chances that gold prices would come down ever again for ‘shortage’ of the metal in the market.

Investigations by Jalandhar Plus have revealed that hike in gold prices has hardly discouraged middle class as well as hoarders. Such people either think or have generally been advised that they would be in a better position if they kept on buying gold — for personal use or for profit-making purposes — as there has hardly been a downward trend in prices of gold for the past over three months. Gold was priced around Rs 7200 (22 carats per 10 grams) and around Rs 7200-8400 (24 carats per 10 grams) about three months back. Though prices keep fluctuating daily, nowadays this precious metal could be purchased at prices ranging between Rs 8600 and Rs 9600 respectively, which means that within this short period there has been an astronomical price hike of around 20 per cent.

“Though the number of customers has come to a half during this period and though there is a general slump in the market, there has hardly been any difference in quantum of sales as those people, particularly women, who can afford are buying more gold nowadays. Though, the number of people selling jewellery has undoubtedly increased, the sale of bullion has either increased or is stable at the old scales,” said Mr Gopi Chand Kapur, a Hoshiarpur-based gold dealer, who has a vast experience in the trade.

Mr Ramit Bhandari from Jalandhar’s Kalan Bazaar situated Bhandari Jewellers, has some dim hopes about a reversal in prices. His estimates are that if the present international gold situation continues, the prices of the precious metal could also touch the highest mark of Rs 13000 (24 carats, 10 grams) in the next six to eight months.

“Actually, gold prices are linked with dollar rates, and if dollar rates come down, the prices of gold also come down,” said Mr Bhandari.

“Entire international gold market is regulated from the US, particularly by big sharks, who are running their syndicates from Chicago, New York and even from London (UK). They are in a position to fluctuate prices according to their designs and can create scarcity of the metal in market anytime, and this can push up prices as per the will of the syndicates,” said Mr Kapur, adding that “gold trade as a free trade in India” had also contributed to an increase in prices. “As anyone can deal in gold now, almost every second or third person is doing it, as the sale-purchase has been made easy. This is also a factor responsible for the price hike,” said Mr. Kapur.

Trade sources also revealed that comparatively small gold syndicates, running from Mumbai, New Delhi and Ludhiana, were also in a position to manipulate stocks and prices of the commodity in the national market and they did it quite often. “Everything is on computer. Virtually, entire trade. So, bulk sale-purchase on computer has its impact on prices. The impact has been there, if one observes it carefully,” said an insider.

Mr Balbir Raj from Deluxe Jewellers at Model Town in Jalandhar, however, has a different opinion. He maintains that only need-based customers were purchasing gold from the market. “Sellers are more than genuine purchasers,” says Mr Balbir Raj.

Despite slightly different views, almost all gold dealers and experts give a common piece of advice that echoes the prediction of Mr Kapur.

“There is no chance of gold reversing to its earlier position. There is hardly any hope that prices will come down. So, one should go and lay one’s hands on the precious metal as soon as possible,” says Mr Gopi Chand Kapur.

Not only gold, the silver prices, too, have been registering uneasy jerks. If a kilogram of silver was priced at Rs 23000 on Thursday, it came down to Rs 18000 on Friday and again shot up to Rs 20000 on Sunday. “Silver prices are up because of shortage of the metal in the market and a sudden increase in demand, created by a hike in the utilisation of the metal in motor parts and auto-industry,” says Mr Kapur.

Buying-selling cycle

Some of the people are even selling gold and gold ornaments with hope to buy back the yellow metal again once prices start a southward journey.

“Majority of the people are either selling it at high prices or exchanging it with new gold. But selling spree decreased when the prices shot up in the last three or four days, as people were expecting to reap more dividends, expecting that the prices will breach the mark of 10k,” says Mr Vishal Chouhan of R.K. Jewellers in Kapurthala.

“Presently, the mentality of people is to sell now and buy later. The random buying in the market has evaporated,” he says.

“The buying is only being done for marriage or ceremonial purposes,” he adds.

— Arun Sharma

Loving life the ‘Lovy’ way
By Anuradha Shukla

Eyes just reach her body and get arrested in their own judgments, not going beyond to reach her heart and mind. Despite those lonely moments when she asks God why He made her like this, Lovy Bajaj, who suffers from stunted growth, has her spirit soaring high. Her zeal has made her what she is today, an executive in a renowned multi-national company.

As she smiles and her big eyes light up, her warmth speaks through her determined friendly voice. Her nature and spirit make one forget about her body, challenged for layman, but for her friends. Working as a coordinator in a bank in Jalandhar, Lovy Bajaj is also pursuing her MBA from Symbiosis, Pune. Getting here was not easy as she recalls the humiliation she faced when interviewers asked her to walk in front of them during one of her job interviews. The incident made her more determined to fight the odds.

“The companies look for presentable personalities. This is the hard fact of the modern corporate world. Making a place for someone like me is not easy. It does affect my confidence, but when I think of the 12 surgeries my father got me through just to make me stand in the initial years of my life, everything becomes clear, the crying stops, I cannot give up and must become an inspiration for others” she says.

All people like her would like the world to do for them is be supportive and not pity them as nothing could hurt them more, views Lovi, whose younger brother also suffers from similar physical condition.

Lovi, who hails from Amritsar and lives in a rented room in the city, wants to reach higher in the corporate world in HRD administration or operations field.

All she prays for is an understanding employer and congenial work environment.

Abandoned girls celebrate life
Unique Home, run by Bhai Kanahiya Charitable Trust, in Jalandhar takes care of these children
Tribune News Service

New life on this earth requires love to nurture. It needs support to survive in this world with the belief that he or she is loved and cared for. The story, however, is rapidly changing for the girl child, especially in the so-called “progressive” Punjabi society, which has fast turned the tools of repression towards its own daughters making them unsafe even in their mother’s womb.

No one wants the baby girl anymore and for an unwed mother, the odds are too tough to enable her to own her own child and live with dignity in this society.

The “out of wed lock” children, especially the girls, are thrown out in garbage or are usually found wrapped in plastic bags near thorny bushes or slushy water rivulets through out the state.

But no harm can come to those whom the mother Nature decides to save. Besides Her, some of the human beings have also come forward to give a helping hand to these needy abandoned infants. Bhai Kanahiya Charitable Trust is one among the organisations initiated by such people with the motive. The Trust runs a Unique Home for the abandoned girl children in the Model House area in Jalandhar.

These babies here find the lap their parents never planned to give them and the loving care from the care-givers.

Not knowing their exact birthdays, religion or their identity, these babies here are not deprived of celebrating these occasions. The only religion they follow and what they know of, is the love for humanity.

The Home being run by the society and headed by the Trust member Bibi Prakash Kaur, the soul behind the institution, looked after the preparations for celebrating the birthdays of all her 52 ‘Betiyan’ aged from 18 to 20 days old to 30-year-olds, here on Monday.

The babies aged below five years are 25 in number. The two 30 years olds brought up by the Trust, Aka and Rajinder, have decided to devote their lives for bringing up more girls like them.

As for the day, Parakash Kaur washed the floors of the Home in the morning and directed the drivers to bring the children from Lepers Home near Devi Talab Mandir and the blind children from the Institution for the Blind Children in Dasuha to the Nakodar Road venue for the collective birthday celebrations in the evening.

The blind and the children from the Lepers Home enjoyed the day as their own birthday, says Bibi Prakash Kaur. “The food cooked was especially as per the desires of the blind and leprosy patients.”

“The blessings which come from these pure hearts are all that my ‘Betiyan’ require for a fulfilling life”, says Prakash Kaur.

The day coincides with the birthday of Dr Pritam Singh, a homeopath who was closely associated with the Home, she says. The girls from the Home are taught in good schools of the city and encouraged to take up a career.

“These girls are the example of the fast depleting moral values of our society”, says Prakash Kaur. “The result of the cowardice of some people is suffered by these babies who are thrown in bushes or drains. But these are welcome in this home”.

Her only plea is to all those enjoying a public platform to voice either through their singing or any other art form to first make a plea to their audiences not to kill the girl child.

Underground parking lots: a long way to go
Tribune News Service

The construction work of the underground parking lot on the GT Road remains stalled due to an electricity pole at the site. — A Tribune photo

An ambitious project of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation to construct underground parking lots along roadsides on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis seems to have proven a damp squib.

While the construction of a basement parking just outside the Company Bagh has been going on at a slow pace, the work on another one on the GT Road, just outside Narinder Cinema, seems to have got stuck up, even as a 15-foot deep trench was dug up at the site almost five months back. Other sanctioned projects of the sort such as those outside Hotel Radisson, a park near Hotel President and on the Nakodar Road on the backside of some private hospitals are yet to be started.

A 15-foot deep trench that was dug up at the site outside Narinder Cinema lies as it was for the past several months, as no construction has begun there. This project which was formally inaugurated by the Minister of Local Bodies, Ch Jagjit Singh, nearly nine months back, is yet to take off as an electricity pole at the centre of the site is yet to be shifted by the PSEB. The trench is currently being utilised by hundreds of birds which have bored into its walls and made it their habitat. This has led to much inconvenience to the visitors and the employees of a private bank, showrooms and a petrol pump closeby. Since most of the visitors park their vehicles in the little space available for them outside the bank, the narrow passage between the trench and offices often gets clogged.

While Mr V.K. Talwar, Technical Consultant, MC, said the payment in this regard had been made to the PSEB and the corporation was waiting for an action by the board.

Mr K.K. Vohra, SE, PSEB, said that he was aware of the request, but owing to other priorities related to power problems in the season, it could not be looked into as yet.

Mr Talwar said that A.N. Constructions, a Delhi-based company, had been asked to complete the work of the Company Bagh parking lot by June 30 this year, but there were chances that it could get delayed by some time. He said that other projects had been sanctioned to a Jalandhar-based company, Merchant Constructions. He added that the contractors working on the project had been asked to construct the lots and in return take payment from the users for 9 to 11 years depending on the cost of construction, before transferring these back to the corporation.

Circus show enthrals city residents
By Deepkamal Kaur

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: The tusker may be gigantic, but it sits lightly on the girl.
— Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

Four motorcyclists riding on a globe, trapeze artists swinging high upside down, a spectacular fire dance, a couple skating on high speed on a small round table, an elephant pedalling a tricycle, a dog couple wearing goggles taking a stride while holding one another with forelegs, big Australian parrots performing on glass stands and the dwarfs dressed as jokers engaged in funny acts.

This is how a 100-member circus troupe is enthralling visitors during three shows being organised daily for the past four days on the campus of Khalsa Senior Secondary School on Nakodar Road in Jalandhar.

Men, women and children from Nepal, Bangladesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Punjab are members of this troupe. While most of these are performers with commendable skills in various balancing acts, over two scores of men have simply been engaged only for training purposes, taking care of birds and animals, and doing welding works for designing and repair of equipments used in the shows.

The show begins with the artistes doing somersaults in the air while jumping on a spring mat. Girls even pass through rings as they perform the item. Soon, four Pumerian dogs come and sit on four chairs kept for them. They perform varied feats such as climbing up the ladder and sliding down, rolling a drum by pushing it from behind and walking around carrying an umbrella in forehand.

Then came Tinku, an elephant, carrying a girl in her folded up trunk. Tinku turned around while standing on a small round table. On a command given by his trainer, Mr Rathore from Rajasthan, it stepped down and then sat on the table. It got up and the girl put her foot in its mouth. She then turned upside down leaving her hands at which the elephant swung her all around.

Tinku again came back after an interval and picked up specific numbers plates, as asked by the children sitting amongst the audience.

A black horse, too, came in as it strolled on his hind feet. There were other feats during which performers drank red colour water and spit out green colour frothy liquid. Karan Singh, 28-year-old dwarf, dressed in polka dot green dress sporting caps also made the audience laugh as he performed funny acts and beat other fellow from behind with cricket bat.

There, of course, were some faux paus. As the four motorcyclists, including two girls and two boys, readied themselves inside the globe, two of them could not start on time as they failed to show spontaneity.

Another mistake was committed when three girls were spiralling around while being hung through hooks. As they were being brought down, a hook of one of the girls got out but she quickly managed to cling onto another pole.

Young world
Students observe Earth Day
By Deepkamal Kaur

Girls at Cambridge International School have undertaken an onerous task of making Earth cleaner, greener and safer. Since April 21, when the Earth Day was observed, the students had been busy with week-long activities on conservation and protection of otherwise diminishing natural resources.

On April 21, the students of Classes — nursery, KG I and KG II, went to the residents of adjoining locality and presented a sapling to each home. They carried the message requesting adults to help them live in a healthy and clean environment with little contributions each day.

On the same day, students handed over pamphlets with suggestions and requests to contribute in their own way for the mother Earth. Students interacted with the people and owners of business centres in Model Town market to express their concern on increasing pollution. Ms Deepa Dogra, principal, said that debates, seminars, quizzes and competitions were being organised till April 28.

3-day workshop

A three-day workshop for parents organised by Eklavya School began on Tuesday. Ms Nilima Shah, an expert in the US higher education and an educator in Montessori and conventional teaching methods from Eklavya School in Ahmedabad, was the resource person. She spoke on ‘Basic orientation on US education’ on the first day of the workshop at Model Town campus.

Ms Shah said that students seeking admission abroad must determine their interests and goals, search for undergraduate programmes in areas of interest and visit some counseling centre. She said that university web page, scholarly journals and professional associations, and professors here could act as sources of information required for the purpose. For finding an appropriate institution, students must enquire about qualifications of faculty, academic admission requirements, length of time required for degree and availability of financial assistance for doing the course.

Workshops on ‘Mind mapping’ and ‘Learning difficulties and disabilities in children’ would be held on Wednesday and Thursday at Nakodar Road campus. Ms Sapna Bakshi, principal, said that the expert would also be available for individual consultations on April 26 and 27 at Model Town campus in the morning for two hours during the workshops.

PU VC’s visit

Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, visited Lovely Institutes on Monday to augment its operations and to discuss further diversifications. The VC was accorded a warm welcome by Mr H.R. Singla, Director General of the institutes. He interacted with the faculty members and took note of the teaching methods adopted by the staff.

In his address, he laid stress on the need to adopt high standards of professionalism, commitment and ethics. He called for a change in approach, attitude and teaching methodology. He assured the institute of increased cooperation and exchange of resources to bolster the educational standards of the institute. He added that the private institutes were better poised for higher growth with increased magnitude of flexibility and autonomy and freedom from the shackles of red tapism.

Conference

The Apeejay Institute of Management organised a two-day conference on ‘Innovative applications of IT and management for economic growth of India’ on Friday and Saturday. The conference was opened by Mr J.B. Goyal, Secretary, Industrial Training, Punjab. Dr M.A. Zahir, Chairman of Synetic Business School in Ludhiana, and advisor of Trident Group, delivered the keynote address describing the new era in terms of four characteristics, including globalisation, technology, speed in communication, information gathering and dissemination and innovation. He said when creativity was converted into reality it became an innovation.

Mr M.C. Munjal, Managing Director of Majestic Auto Ltd, presided over the function. Dr Balram Dogra, Director, Apeejay Institute of Management, spoke about India’s recent economic growth that had attracted the attention of strategic analysts, future forecasters and investors everywhere.

Over 55 research papers were presented in four technical sessions apart from 60 papers that were displayed in the form of posters by delegates. The technical session on computing, networks and man-machine interface was chaired by Dr M. Syamala Devi, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Applications, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The technical session on technology and management was chaired by Dr K. K. Uppal, Professor, University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

CET forms

Plus Two science stream students seeking admission in engineering colleges of the state are busy filling forms of Combined Entrance Test (CET) being conducted by Punjab Technical University on May 28. The forms are being sold on the campuses of university as well as all participating colleges. The last date of filling and dispatch of forms to the university is May 10, Dr M.S. Grewal, Registrar, said.

Dance contest

A dance competition was organised at MGN Public School, Urban Estate, for Classes I to IV in which more that 50 students participated. Children came in bright, designer outfits and danced to the tunes of various numbers.

Among Class I students, Namandeep Kaur clinched the first prize, while Navroop and Jasmine stood second. First position among boys went to Ekamjot. From Class II students, Guneek and Anureet got the top two positions among girls, while Gursahib and Harnoor won prizes in boys’ category.

Among Class III and IV students, Sukhmani Wali and Tanya Mahajan were declared winners.

State education board sells books at ‘higher’ rates

In a case of sheer overcharging at the local Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) book depot, books printed by the board are being sold at prices higher than the rates mentioned on them.

Owners of many schools here have alleged that they bought the books for their students at a price that exceeded the printed rate by Rs 2 to Rs 5. They said the board officials had told them that these books were available from the old stock when the printed price was low and since the rates of same reprinted books had gone up this year, the old books would also be available at the new price.

The administration of these private schools showed that the board officials had not printed any stamp of higher rates on the old books, even as they had given them a receipt that mentioned the new prices. The owners of the schools said that it had become very difficult for them to sell the books to the parents as most of them were asking for a clarification on the matter.

The owner of a private school in Ladhewali said that it had become very difficult for him to convince the parents to buy books with low printed price at higher rates. He said that most parents had to be shown the copies of the receipts given by the board to assure them that the school was not fleecing them while selling the books.

A comparison of the rates printed on the books and in the receipt showed that a book titled ‘Aao Hindi seekhen’ for Class V priced at Rs 7 was being sold for Rs 9. ‘Punjabi path pustak’, a text book meant for Class VI students was sold for Rs 16, while the printed price has been mentioned as Rs 11. Similarly, ‘English Reader’, a text book for Class VI students had been sold for Rs 15, while the printed price is Rs 12. Likewise, ‘Learn your English’, a textbook for Class V students, has been given out for Rs 25, while the printed price is Rs 22.

Owner of another school located in Gujja Peer Road had another complaint, as he said that the board officials sometimes got the books bound. While the binding of books in bulk was done of poor quality, the prices of books were increased by Rs 4, which was not the genuine rate. He said that while selling such books, the school had to face a lot of problem. The school owners, while pleading anonymity, gave proofs of such practices being adopted by the board. Mr S.S. Bhullar, manager of the local depot, said that he was selling old books at higher prices on the instruction of his senior officials. He said that none of the employees had drawn any benefit, as the receipt given to the schools clearly mentioned higher rates. He said that he was aware that the school authorities were facing problem in selling these books further to the parents, but, he added, he was simply helpless. — TNS

‘Art cannot be bereft of message’

Noted sculptor Basudeb Biswas, who is also the Head of the Sculpture Department, Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, in a tête-à-tête with Minna Zutshi talks of his art, his latest experiments with multiple refill drawings (exhibited under the auspices of Art Dot, at Desh Bhagat Yaadgaar Hall in Jalandhar) and his fixation on female form

What’s art according to you?

Art is something spontaneous. It draws sustenance from impressions we gather and the emotions that accompany these impressions.

An artist keeps experimenting with his media. For instance, these days I am making sketches using multiple refills. In this art form, the textural element predominates. As there is no splash of colours, it’s the form that has the precedence.

Does art imitate life? Or can art exist on an independent plane?

Art and life are related at some level. They cannot be disjointed, even if we want them to be.

But an artist has to keep creating something new, even if life does not offer richly-varied experiences.

Is message an essential part of art?

Whether you wish or not, art cannot be bereft of message. Even a vertical line drawn on a blank sheet arouses a whiff of emotion (may be some kind of association, a long-forgotten thought or just an emotional residue of childhood fantasies). Of course, more elaborate drawings may arouse yet more intense emotions.

But message, per se, is not in the medium; it is inherent in the observer. It is dependent on the observer’s subjective experience.

Has being a sculptor changed your worldview?

An artist’s worldview is different, rather uniquely different. We find beauty in all things.

A stone may be the least inspiring thing for most people. But for us, it has a great potential beauty and working on it can be a creatively exhilarating experience.

Why do your subjects centre on female form?

I have yet to fathom the motive that may be operating at an unconscious level.

I guess ever since I started making sculptures, my focus has been on the female form. But I have stayed away from depicting crass sexuality. My forte has been the portrayal of feminine beauty that is an epitome of purity and grace.

You teach in a college. And you also make sculptures. Any role conflict?

Thankfully, I have kept these two roles distinct and not allowed them to encroach upon each other’s territory.

When I am a teacher, the artist in me takes a backseat.

And when I am expressing myself on the canvas, I brook no interference from the teacher in me!

‘Srijan’ for sensitising people

To promote art and culture, and sensitise the general public to the prevalent social evils, various artists and academicians have formed an NGO “Srijan”.

During the inaugural meeting of “Srijan”, Jaspal, who is a painter, said, “Artists should be alive to their social responsibilities.”

Mr Anup Vats, general secretary of the NGO, said, “The objective of ‘Srijan’ would primarily be to organise symposiums, workshops and exhibitions.” The press secretary of the NGO, Mr Sandeep Chahal, said “Srijan” would launch a crusade against social evils. — TNS