Trained for a smooth drive

The first Indian woman engine driver in Australia, who was in Ludhiana recently for a vacation, shares with Kanchan Vasdev the ups and downs of her high-pressure job

SHE was fascinated with trains during her childhood and desired to drive one in her lifetime. Today 34-year-old Manndhir Rajput drives one with ease. She is the first Indian woman to become an engine driver with the New South Wales Rail Corporation, Australia.

Originally from Jalandhar, she immigrated to Australia six years ago after getting married to Sukhminder Singh Rajput from Ludhiana.

“After clearing an aptitude test, I underwent rigorous training and was finally on the tracks,” says Manndhir, who enjoys her stint with the Rail Corporation.

A postgraduate in English, Manndhir first opted to teach in a school—a vocation liked by both by her parents and in-laws. No wonder her parents could not believe her when she told them over the phone that she had been selected as a driver.

“They thought I had gone crazy. My mother even wanted to know whether I had undergone some body-building course to enable myself to pull a train,” she says, breaking into laughter.

Her love story with the trains started when she joined the New South Wales Rail Corporation in early 2003 as a guard. She came across an advertisement in a newspaper and applied for the job. “I phoned them immediately. They asked me a number of questions and I was called for an interview,” she adds.

She was appointed as a rail guard. Managing the train as a guard, made her want to realise her childhood desire to drive a railway locomotive and she finally managed to do it in September 2005. Now, she single-handedly manages one of the local trains. Incidentally, local trains are a means of transport for the majority of people in Sydney.

“The very feeling that lives of 2500 people, travelling in the train, are dependent on you makes you do your job very carefully. It also means a lot of stress. But if you cannot manage this challenging work properly, driving a train is not for you,” she says.

This is the reason the Rail Corporation always suffers from shortage of drivers, as not many people are able to cope with such stressful work, she adds.

“You have to forget everything when you are in the driver’s seat. It is just the machine and you. If you make a mistake, it would not spare anybody,” she says.

Trained to handle both electrically and manually operated trains, Manndhir works for about eight hours in a day. Looking back, she says she cannot forget the first day she drove the train. “I started it well but it stopped running after a few seconds. The entire system closed down for some minutes and there was panic all around. But I managed to restart it within a few minutes. Since then there has been no looking back.”

Her journey from a schoolteacher to a train driver was not very simple. When she was training, she had two kids to look after. And she could be called any time during the day by the Rail Corporation for her training.

“I had strong support from my husband. A policeman with the Operational Information Agency of the New South Wales Police, he never let me lose my determination. There were some moments when I thought I would give up but he offered me tremendous support and that kept me going. The children too have been brought up mainly by him. Today, whatever I am, it is all because of him.” she says.

Chinese and Indians favour science
Richard Garner

CHINESE and Indian pupils in the UK are most likely to study for a science degree, while youngsters from Bangladesh and Pakistan prefer business or the law.

When it comes to children with a black Caribbean background, though, a course in the arts or a humanities subject is their most favoured route. They are also more likely to stay at home and study at one of the newer universities (former polytechnics).

Medicine is most likely to attract students from the Asian communities.

These are the findings of the most detailed research into the university options being pursued by the country’s different ethnic groups, published jointly today by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Physics.

"Indian and Chinese students show a strong preference for science at A-level compared to other ethnic groups," it says.

"In contrast, black Caribbean students reveal a strong aversion to both physics and chemistry—even at an early stage." It adds: "There is a significant attrition of numbers of black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students at the first hurdle—GCSE to A-levels—often even before students have the chance to specialise." The figures show that significantly higher proportions of Chinese and Indian pupils achieve a science A-level than the white population.

This holds good for both boys and girls, it adds, although young Chinese males are three times as likely and Indian boys twice as likely to study science as young white males.

Indian students are three times as likely and Chinese males four times as likely to achieve three or more science A-levels. The figures are similar for girls.

When it comes to higher education, Indian and Chinese students are still more likely to opt for chemistry than white students—Indians twice as likely and Chinese three times. In physics, though, only the Chinese have a higher take-up than whites.

The report acknowledges that one of the reasons for the poor take-up of science by black Caribbean youngsters is their lower attainment levels in the first place.

"It is worth noting," it adds, "that groups such as black Caribbean and black African students are most likely to attend a post-1992 university (former polytechnic) where chemistry and physics courses are relatively rare.’ Dr Sean McWhinnie of the RSC speculated that one of the reasons for the higher concentration of black Caribbean youngsters in newer universities could be that they stayed at home during their studies because they came from poorer communities.

The report adds that—despite the higher percentage of those eligible studying science from the Chinese and Indian community—science at university is still dominated by white, particularly male, students.

Even when black Caribbean youngsters have opted to take a science degree, they are likely to fare worse at university than white students, it adds.

"For white students, 53 per cent of those studying chemistry and 54 per cent of those studying physics obtain a first or upper-second class degree," it shows. "This compares with 36 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively, for black Caribbean students.

Dr McWhinnie said the results of the research would be sent to ministers and could be studied by organisations like the Higher Education Funding Council for England, responsible for allocating higher education spending. This would enable them to decide where best to allocate funds designed to help improve the take-up of science at university.

— By arrangement with The Independent

Designer dwellings
Interior designing for homes is no longer the preserve of the rich. The concept of good living is catching up with middle class Indians. They do not mind spending an extra buck to decorate their homes, reports Ritusmita Biswas

When Jay and Sonia purchased a new flat at Bansdroni in Kolkata, they were looking for the very best to decorate their home. A jacuzzi and bistro in the bathroom, imported tiles, branded furniture, exclusive linens and draperies; they wanted it all. And they went ahead and got it spending little less than Rs 5 lakh to decorate their dream home.

If you have been thinking till now that we were talking about only the rich and powerful think again. Jay and Sonia belong to the upper middle class bracket with a monthly income of under Rs 50, 000. What then made them splurge and invest in an interior designer while decorating their own homes? "Well, let us say the major reason that propelled us to have our home interior designed is the fact that we have developed a taste for good living. Both of us have travelled abroad a lot and have been to good places. So, naturally, when we wanted to have our own home we wanted to have the best and nothing else," Sonia says.

And money was not really a big issue. "As it is we have taken quite some amount as loan to buy the house. So a couple of lakhs more would not make the difference," her husband Jay says.

This easy availability of loans is probably the major reason that is driving people to set up designer homes. "In the past, once you built the house, your reserves were almost exhausted. But now it is not so any more. Anyone and everyone can buy a house on a loan. And naturally, they do not mind shelling out that extra amount or borrowing from banks to have the ultimate dream homes," says Ajit Jain, president of the Kolkata Association of Architects, Builders, Interior Decorators & Allied Business.

Agrees Tamanna Surana, an upcoming interior designer based in New Delhi. "Of course, the easy availability of loans is a factor, but for me the major reason that has propelled the growth of the market is the exposure that the Indian people have received thanks to globalisation. The media too has played a vital role in exposing people to good living. We get calls from people asking us to decorate their rooms in a fashion similar to say their favourite character’s room in a teleserial," she says.

Exposure coupled with easy availability of funds have made more and more urban middle class couples to look for interior decorators. Says Utkarsha Mitra, an executive in a multinational company, who had just hired a reputed designing firm to do up his house at Alipore: "I don’t think we are compromising the personal touch in home in any way by hiring interior decorators. We ensured that we had long discussion sessions with our designer so that he decorated our home in a fashion that suited our taste, lifestyle and budget."

Echoing Utkarsh’s viewpoint, Ajit Jain says: "Before embarking on a project, we have long discussions with the prospective client where we try to gauge his taste and assess the kind of life he lives. After all, home should be a reflection of the lifestyle. You cannot design an exotic home for a person who essentially has a simple taste; in that case it would be nothing but a waste."

"Interior designers add that much needed professional touch while creating your personal space," he adds.

However, several people even today opine that hiring interior designers is nothing but a waste of money. Says retired government employee G. M. Kundu: "It is nothing but a passing fad, a false show of status and waste of money. How can anyone know what suits your home the best. The problem with today’s generation is that they want instant gratification. The moment they set their foot in a house, they want perfect space. But by doing this, they lose the simple joys of living. I remember when we bought the first house 20 years back, my wife and I spent our weekends scouting for bargain but excellent pieces of furniture. And it was such a joy for us to see our home get gradually decorated. By hiring a designer, you lose out on that charm of creating your own space."

Kundu, however, misses out on the fact that today’s double-income-busy couples do not have time to go browsing for bargains on weekends. They have too many things on the table for that. This is another reason why these couples go for ready-made, furnished and decorated houses. This means that interior designers are singing all the way to the bank. —TWF

Dan not cut out for MTV

Bestselling author Dan Brown’s ‘pale, balding’ looks stopped him from becoming the pop star he had always dreamed of being.

Brown, who moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s hoping for a break with his Barry Manilow-style songs, before he became a famous author, said his dream of being a pop star were dashed when he realised that people didn’t want to see a "pale, balding geek shaking his booty".

"Do I really look like someone cut out for MTV? The world isn’t ready for a pale, balding geek shaking his booty - not a pretty picture," Contactmusic quoted him, as saying.

—ANI

Suchitra’s brush with art

A top star of the hit serial Chunauti followed by music albums and a dream break opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Naa.

But Suchitra Krishnamoorthy is not easily satisfied. Another side of this multitalented browneyed southern beauty came forth when she held an exhibition of her paintings in Delhi.

"The last decade has just whizzed past. I’ve been on television and in films, released music albums, got married and I am a mother. Now I’ve rediscovered myself as a painter," says Suchitra.

And no prizes for guessing who her great admirer is — husband Shekhar Kapur.

"He wants me to keep painting. And I am doing just that. But I am not saying I won’t do another TV serial or film. Maybe later. Right now, I am enjoying my art," says Suchitra. — NF