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Raining misery
A file photo showing the Lal Ratan Cinema road, Jalandhar, submerged in rain water.
— Photo by S.S. Chopra
Job-oriented courses gaining popularity
A panoramic peep into the
history of Punjab
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Students of Rashtriya Andh Vidyalaya rejoice as they play musical instruments in their room in
Vasant Vihar, Jalandhar. — Photo by S. S. Chopra
Children taking part in a show organised by the Indian Institute of Fashion and
Creative Dances in Jalandhar. — Photo by S.S. Chopra
Ex-services league seeks separate pay commission
A hairy tale
Punjabi poetry book released
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Rains may offer a welcome respite from sweltering heat, but for the city residents the rains are a grim reminder of the city’s poor, almost dysfunctional drainage system, reports Anuradha Shukla
Every time the clouds hover over the sky, it’s nightmarish for city residents. Reason: Come rains and the city gets waterlogged. The worst-affected areas include the interior parts of the city. The areas that bear the brunt are Central Town, Guru Nanak Pura, Chugitti Chowk, Jyoti Chowk, Basti Adda, Shakti Nagar, Football Chowk Adarsh Nagar, Ladowali Road, Adda Hoshiarpur Market, Bhargo Camp colonies, Bhagat Singh Colony, bus stand, District Administrative Complex, 120-Foot Road, Greater Kailash, Seth Hukum Chand Colony, Basti Sheikh, Basti Gujjan, Basti Danishmandan, Damoria Pull, low-lying colonies on the Tanda
Road.
The bus stand is nothing less than a slushy puddle during the rains. It is difficult even to enter the bus stand as one has to wade through the water to get there. “It is nothing short of a nightmare to go to the bus stand during the rains. Puddles of dirty water greet you,” says Preeti, a college student. “The ongoing construction work makes the matters even worse. Potholes further compound the problem,” rues Colonel Manvir Singh. “The water logging at the bus stand is so bad that many a time the passengers prefer to hire a rickshaw even if they have to walk a few steps,” says Rajan Sharma, a resident of Hardial Nagar. During the rains, the affected areas are literally cut off from the main city, rues Sharda Verma, a homemaker. The worst part is that the same story is being repeated every year. Hardly any initiative from the authorities’ side has been taken in this regard. In fact, as the city residents rue, there is “callous indifference” of the officials in this regard. The water logging throughout the city stretches even to the so-called posh areas like the Cool Road, Model Town and Garha Road. Often vehicles are left stranded on the roads. For the drivers of two-wheelers, it’s the worst-possible time. “If you are on a scooter, you get nicely splattered with muddy water. Sometimes, the dirty water gets into your mouth and eyes,” rues Pritam, a teacher. “When it rains, it is tough time for us. We have to wait for hours for the water to settle down to reach back home from school,” says Kamlesh, a school student. The stagnant rain water creates yet more problems, apart from traffic chaos. It washes away the freshly-laid tar coal on the roads, says Bakshinder Singh, a resident of the Cool Road. Though the problem of poor drainage system has been brought to the notice of the Municipal Corporation authorities, it seems to have gone unheeded. To add to the residents’ woes, the Sem drain of Kala Sanghian village flows to areas like Great Kailash, Seth Hukum Chand and Basti colonies. Also missing in the city are rainwater harvesting systems, which exist only in place like Guru Gobind Singh Stadium. The officialspeak, however, says an altogether different story. The Mayor, Mr Surinder Mahey, when contacted, said that the sewerage disposal link up of the city was being upgraded. The waters supply of the city would be shut down for the whole day on June 30 to link the sewerage line with the new disposal system installed at Phulriwal village. The Garha road disposal system, which was more than 30 years old, had now been upgraded to increase its capacity. The disposal plant had been installed at the cost of Rs 22 crore. A new water treatment plant at the cost of Rs 80 crore was also coming up to treat the water before letting it go into the Sutlej, he added. The main sewerage lines of the worst-affected areas like the Basti area, 120-Foot Road, Mahavir Nagar would be connected to the new disposal system to ease out the waterlogging problem. The Mayor said the MC was thinking about making it mandatory to install rainwater-harvesting systems. As the first step, the big parks of the city would have the system installed, and soon the installation would be made mandatory at specified spots. He said the drive to clean up the drains was going on at war-footing, and the work on clearing the berms was likely to be completed over the next ten days. With this, the problem of water logging was likely to be mitigated, he claimed. Well, it remains to be seen if the claims hold good. As of now, for the city residents the rains auger a rather bad time.
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Job-oriented courses gaining popularity
Gone are the days when students pursuing courses like Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Sciences were considered intelligent ones. The more intelligent aspirants would go for medical or engineering courses and the most intelligent would take a shot at IAS.
Now, with the coming up of a plethora of job-oriented courses offered by various universities, the students find a varied range of career options to build their bright future. According to a survey conducted by Jalandhar Plus in Kapurthala, it is found that a considerable number of students from this district opt for job-oriented courses like Bachelor of Sciences Information Technology (BSc IT), Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA), Bachelor of Commerce (B Com) Professional, and Bachelor of Science (B Sc) Economics. Sukanya, who applied for BCA, said that she wanted to make her career in a field related with computer, which had become part and parcel of our life nowadays, she added. The number of students applied for seeking admission to pursue BSc (IT), BCA, B Com (Professional) and B Sc (Economics) courses in Hindu Kanya College of Kapurthala every year exceeds the available seats of 45 in each course. The other colleges of the district, including Nawab Jassa Singh Ahuluwalia Government College (Kapurthala city), SD College for Women, Guru Nanak Khalsa College (Sultanpur Lodhi) and Government Colleges of Bholath, Begowal and Nadala, have also been witnessing the same situation. The principal of Hindu Kanya College, Mrs Gulshan Yadav, said that the number aspirants for theses courses this year had increased more than the previous year. One of the main obvious reasons for that might be that the students had become more aware about their careers these days, she added. Admission for different courses in this college was started on June 15 as per Guru Nanak Dev University schedule and the number of applicants for the above mentioned courses exceeded to the existing 45 seats within four-five days. |
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A panoramic peep into the
history of Punjab
Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s name has been etched in golden letters in the annals of the Indian history. Known for his secular approach, the Maharaja played a pivotal role in spreading the Khalsa rule from Punjab province to Afghanistan, and liberation of many parts of northern India from Afghan rulers. The good news is that the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama, in his summer palace, has recreated the life of the legendary Maharaja. Through rare pictures and mannequins, the panorama re-creates the glimpses of various battles (spread over 40 years) fought by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Interestingly, this panorama is larger and technically superior to that at Kurukshetra. Second of its kind in the country, this panorama has been constructed by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), Kolkata, under the aegis of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of India, with a grant of Rs 5 crore. The panorama is spread over 20 kanals of land in the “protected area” of Ram Bagh, while the main structure extends over 2500 sq metres. The round-shaped building has an inner diametre of 39 metres. The paintings were prepared at the NCSM, Kolkata. These were first photographed and then digitally enlarged and mounted on a vinyl base. The paintings were created after consultations with historians, who stressed on the need to have the “most authentic” pictures of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. However, it was not easy to depict the life of the Maharaja, the battles he had fought against his enemies and the portrayal of Darbar-e-Khalsa in true perspective. Dr Radha Sharma, Head, Department of History, and the then-Chairperson, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Chair, Guru Nanak Dev University, and many historians were consulted for this purpose. The observations made by Dr Sharma to remove distortions in the paintings make an interesting reading: “Gorkhas have shorter stature as compared to the Sikhs. Gorkhas were using small khukris compared to the long swords by the Sikhs. Ranjit Singh’s army size should be bigger.” She was instrumental in depicting Darbar-e-Khalsa in its true fashion by quoting various historical pictures and references. The valuable suggestions made by the historian helped in depicting in original manner the famous “Battle of Hazro” fought to capture Attock. Interestingly, Prince Khark Singh was initially missing from the scene of the “Battle of Multan”. However, the historians like Dr Sharma suggested that the battle would be incomplete without his presence. The suggestions were accepted immediately. The marriage scene of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also “corrected” by Dr Radha Sharma. Another diorama has been recreated from the famous painting of Schofft, a German painter, who depicted the Maharaja supervising the gold-plating of the Golden Temple. The secular image of the Maharaja was aptly projected in another painting showing him supervising the gold-plating of a temple after capturing the Kangra Fort. The main panorama hall has around 400-foot painting of overlapping digital images joined seamlessly by a digital process. It depicts six major battles won by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The scenes depicting the birth, childhood and marriage of the Maharaja, and treaties made by him to spread the Sikh rule to Afghanistan are shown in the eight dioramas. These include the conquest of Lahore in 1799. After this victory he was formally acknowledged as the Maharaja of Punjab. He later took possession of Amritsar in 1802. Then there is the scene of the capture of Kangra in 1809 at the instance of Sansar Chand, the ruler of Kangra. Maharaja Ranjit Singh attacked and freed the Kangra Fort and the Gorkhas took to their heels. This scene is followed by the conquest of Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar (Battle of Naushera). The scene of Maharaja Ranjit Singh crossing the turbulent Attock River on horseback to infuse courage into his soldiers confronting Afghans is also eye-catching. Fakir Aziz-ud-Din, minister of the Afghan ruler Wazir Fateh Khan, had handed over the fort in exchange of a principality that had infuriated Wazir Fateh Khan. He attacked with a huge army and seized the fort. The forces under the Maharaja crossed the Attock, and this crossing was followed by an intense battle. The Afghan ruler was routed in the battle. The Attock Fort was assumed to be the “gateway of India”, and its capture meant the freedom of northern India from the clutches of the Afghan rulers. Then there is the depiction of the conquest of Kashmir in 1819 when the Sikh army defeated Afghan ruler Zabbar Khan. It also shows the capture of the Multan Fort, situated between Sutlej and Ravi, by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1818. The last battle of Peshawar depicts the soldiers using modern weapons. A diorama depicts the famous “Ropar Meeting”. The historic meeting between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Lord William Bentinck, Governor General of India, took place on the bank of the Sutlej under a pipal tree on October 26, 1831. Ostensibly, the Governor General met the Maharaja to show to the world that he and the Maharaja were friendly. Various boundary issues were settled between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the British. The scene depicts the Maharaja and the Governor General coming from different directions on the newly-constructed boat bridge. Then Maharaja Ranjit Singh crosses over to the elephant of Lord William Bentinck. Another diorama is about the acquisition of Kohinoor from Shah Shuja. In yet another eye-catching scene, Maharaja Ranjit Singh has been shown crossing the turbulent Indus to reach the other side. Another diorama is about the modernisation of the army, and the European officials Allard and Ventura inspecting the modern cavalry and infantry. At the entrance to the main panorama, a visitor comes across the most-attractive Darbar-e-Khalsa (Court of Khalsa) of Ranjit Singh. The scene is the replica of a rare picture adorning the walls of the Lahore Fort. Similarly, the scenes of the famous battles fought by the Maharaja were based on historical portraits, and the facts were accessed from reliable primary sources. Special care seems to have been taken to depict the soldiers of the Maharaja’s army and their weapons. The dioramas depict the simplicity of the darbar of the legendary Maharaja as compared to the Mughal darbars where kings and nawabs were inaccessible to the masses. The touch-screen computer installed alongside the darbar helps visitors to identify the important Sikh generals and courtiers of the Maharaja. The light and sound system in the panorama brings the mannequins to life. The five touch-screen computers installed in the panorama give the information about the life and history of the Maharaja. The lighting system has been installed to corroborate with the seamlessly-attached digital image. For example, a scene of smoke and fire emanating from the walls of the Multan Fort after the attack of the Sikh army is presented vividly. In this battle, Akali Phula Singh had embraced martyrdom. The maintenance of this centrally air conditioned panorama hall needs expertise related to various fields. The foremost requirement is to keep the building dust free, lest it should harm the sensitive equipment installed, especially the computer systems. The foreground of the building has been developed as a garden. The construction of the building was meticulously planned so that not even a single tree was uprooted.
People’s Maharaja
The entrance to the panorama sums up the towering Maharaja in a few lines written in Punjabi, Hindi, English and Persian. It reads: “Maharaja’s Standing order: Always keep the wellbeing of the subjects and promotions of state revenues under watch, Give primacy to the cause of prosperity of the country and ensure the happiness and comfort of the people by your good behaviour”. The fascinating life-size wall paintings of the Maharaja catch the eye of visitors entering the panorama. There are about 10 such paintings of the Maharaja in the building. These paintings show him in different sitting postures, riding horse and holding a darbar with his courtiers. Mired in controversy
The former Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, had laid the foundation stone on November 18, 2001, at New Amritsar to mark the bicentenary of the coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Though the improvement trust had earmarked at New Amritsar three acres of land for this purpose, yet the proposed site was shifted to the “protected area”, raising many eyebrows. The Punjab Government had de-notified part of the historic Ram Bagh, the summer capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, to pave the way for the construction of the panorama in the memory of the Maharaja. In the notification, the 20-kanal “protected” area has been rendered “unprotected”. Earlier, under the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1964, section four, sub-section three, the entire Ram Bagh was declared a protected area (728 kanals, three marlas) in 1997. However, the heritage lovers say that the protected area of Ram Bagh should not have been disturbed. This amounts to the violation of the Ancient Monuments Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, which prohibits construction within a radius of 100m from the parametres of the protected sites. Meanwhile, the handing over of the panorama has been hanging fire. Moreover, the delay has also raised the fear of malfunctioning of electronic and costly equipments installed in the panorama. A caretaker, on the condition of anonymity, said the costly equipments could produce defects in the system due to their non-use. Further, the life-size murals had started wearing off, he added. |
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Giving a new vision to
their dreams
It is an altogether a different way of living for over 30 hostellers of Rashtriya Andh Vidyalaya at Virsa Vihar here. Confronting similar problems related to vision impairment, they have found friends among each other.
Together, they do computer related works, play musical instruments, sing songs, listen to FM Radio, gossip with one another and have fun as they move out to the markets closeby in the evenings. While most of the students and hostellers have been to home to spend their summer break with their families, the Jalandhar Plus team met a few boys who have stayed back to continue with a month-long computer course being especially run for them at Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyala. These boys who are of the age group 18 and above have already completed their education from the institute and are currently pursuing higher education from local colleges. Baljinder Singh has completed B.A. final from Lyallpur Khalsa College. A resident of Raipur Banna village near Beas town, he has been a hosteller here since the last more than 10 years and plans to stay here for another two years till he completed MA in Punjabi. A bright young chap, he is very fast at using computers. “I do this with the help of a software that reads out command for me”, he demonstrated in his room. Baljinder lost his vision while he was barely one and a half years old. “Fine crystals of a broken glass piece fell into my eyes, damaging them instantaneously. I began my school late. I studied in a normal school for two to three years. But then I had to learn Braille which was not taught anywhere near my home. I was told about this institute which was offering free education, lodging and food. Though I had problems in adjusting to begin with but soon I was comfortable”. His close friend, Joginder Singh has been here for the past 12 years. Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, he, too, has completed BA final from Lyallpur Khalsa College and wishes to do MA in music. “But my only contention is that I do not have enough money to pay the fees and the college here does not offer any concessions or special facilities for disabled people like me”, he lamented. “We all have been doing graduation from Lyallpur Khalsa College as its management has been supportive enough to provide notes in Braille or recorded form and provide us writers during examination. The management of HMV College, too, has been kind to us by offering computer classes. But our only regret has been that the colleges offering courses in music that are much relevant to us have not been cooperative”, he added. Another hosteller, Jaswinder Singh from Gurdaspur, too, has been doing BA-I from Lyallpur Khalsa College. Very fond of classical and vocal music, he has been leading his group in all music shows of the institute. Nagar Mal, a 28-year-old inmate, is doing Plus Two from the institute. The most interesting fact about the institute is that it has been started by Mr Atma Ram, who himself is visually impaired. He said that the institute that was started in 1982 was being run solely on donations. He said that he was managing another school for hearing and vision impaired girls on Khambra Road. |
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Young World
Nine days after Punjab Technical University started the counselling for B.Tech, B. Pharmacy and B.Arch courses, nearly 1700 seats were filled till Thursday evening. The day was also the last day of counselling for all reserved category seats. Beginning with Sikh minority quota, the process continued for backward class, border and backward areas seats and finally two days were kept for the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe categories. While 295 seats for SC and ST categories were filled till Wednesday, 240 seats were filled till Thursday evening. This left nearly 1400 seats of the category vacant which would now be converted into general category seats, the counselling for which would be started on Saturday. No counselling is scheduled for Friday when most of the senior officials of the university would be busy with academic council meeting to be held at Phagwara. Dance show
Kids taking training at the Indian Institute of Fashion and Creative Dances participated in a dance, fashion and choreography show organised at a hotel here on Thursday. Donning their best party wears, they hip hopped to the tunes of their favourite latest Hindi and Punjabi pop numbers. Little girls and boys also participated choreography items presenting songs, including ‘Kajara re’, ‘Mar udari’ and ‘Chhote chhote shehron mein’. Workshop
Science teachers from the government schools falling in Jalandhar East-4 and Kartarpur blocks are participating in the 10-day workshop being organised by the Education Department at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Ladowali Road, that will conclude on Friday. The participants are learning various teaching modules, paper setting and checking methods. A separate workshop is also being organised for teachers from elementary schools of Jalandhar East-4 block at the same venue. New faculty
A former professor of IIT Kanpur, Dr Bhupinder Singh has joined as a faculty member at the Lovely Institute of Education. A gold medalist in M.Ed and the member of Indian Science Congress and All India Association of Educational Research, Dr Surinderjit Kaur Bawa, too, has joined the same institute. Mr Ashok Mittal, President, Lovely Institutes, and Mr H.R. Singla, Director General, have welcomed the new faculty. |
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Tanushree Dutta to visit city on July 2
Tanushree, whose maiden visit to the city is being facilitated by Flying Cats, an airhostess training school, would be sharing secrets of her success and entry into Bollywood during an interactive session at the Gymkhana Club. Flying Cats claims to be the only institute wherein people from the world of fashion, glamour and Bollywood are working in collaboration with aviation and hospitality stalwarts for training students in aviation, tourism, hospitality sector, Ms Aditi Srivastava, spokesperson of the institute, said. She said the uniforms of the students have been designed by Ashley Rebello and fabricated by Siyaram Mills under the brand, Oxemberg. Similarly, ‘Flying Cats Film’, a movie on aviation and hospitality, has been shot at Paris, London and Kualalampur with the current Miss India Amrita Thapar and actor Zulfi Syed. Ms Ritu Kochhar, the institute’s director, said she planned to hold celebrity workshops with a panel including Maliaka Arora, Aditi Govitrikar, Zulfi Syed, Amrita Thapar, Cory Walia and Ashley Rebello. |
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Ex-services league seeks separate pay commission
Indian Ex-Services League Punjab and Chandigarh, led by Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) J S Mand as its vice-president, sought the setting up of separate pay commission for the defence personnel during a meeting of Defence Parliamentary Standing Committee held here recently. The meeting was chaired by Mr B S V Patil, MP.
Lieut Col (Retd) J S Mand said that the terms and conditions of the services of civilian employees were different from that of the armed forces. Therefore, the pay commission for the two section should also be different. The league putting forward their demands sought the lateral induction of retired soldiers into state police and paramilitary forces. The vice-president of league said due to terms and conditions of the military service and to keep the army young, 70 per cent personnel retired between the age of 35-40 years and at the time of their retirement their wards were not fully settled. He said that in the interest of the nation and the retiring soldiers, the league recommended the lateral induction of retiring soldiers upto the age of 58-60 years in paramilitary forces, state police, private and public sectors which would also help the nation to enroll a well trained and disciplined force into the paramilitary forces. Taking up another issue, Colonel J S Mand also demanded that the old soldiers who fought the World War II for the proud of the country should be given Rs 2,000 as monthly pension till their death. He said all of them were above 75 years and were dependent on a meager pension of Rs 300 per month given by the ex-services league. |
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A hairy tale
They are trendy and hip. And don’t mind wearing attitude on their sleeves. Be it choice of attire or hair colour, they can put any younger to shame, when in comes to making a style statement.
Meet the gorgeous senior citizens who hate to be called old bags. Choice of hair colours is one significant example which shows that age is no bar for these Phagwara residents, who don’t hesitate to experiment, says Azmat, a salon owner. “More and more people above 50 are opting for bright and trendy hair colours. Black is passé. So much is the enthusiasm that they don’t mind taking a tip or two from their colleagues,” adds Azmat. Famous parlours and salons in the city are also witnessing a rush of senior citizens, who are coming to get their manes coloured. Some of the parlours are even offering senior citizens a good discount. “I love colouring my hair to look good,” says 60-year-old Prem Raj Gulati. Hair colour not only defies age, but also reveals a lot about one’s personality, says 56-year-old Rajni Khosla. “It’s very important to look young these days. I prefer branded colours as they give one a quality result,” she adds. Agrees Prahlad Sharma. “I have been using hair colour for the last one year and now I can’t manage without it as it has given me an attractive looks,” he says. |
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Punjabi poetry book released
He transforms the daily happenings and experiences of his life into poetic form to mock at various burning issues of society. As an example, the infamous kidney racket that rocked the Holy City in recent times finds a place in one of his poetries. ‘Kaya-De-Harf’ is the second book of Malwinder after ‘Gair Hazar Paira Di Katha’. Dr S P Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, released the poetry book this week. Speaking on the occasion, he said that the literature was the reflection of the society and it should work to aware and provide a positive direction to it. He said Malwinder’s poetry had that element, which made it a good book to read. Professor Mohanjit, a renowned poet, in the preface of the book, says that Malwinder unfolds the simple incidents in such a way that he transcends from the past to present and sometimes to future, besides conveying the message clearly and amicably. Malwinder creates and used simple words and composed them magnificently and gracefully to produce the impact, Professor Mohanjit says, adding that the social and cultural values are disappearing from the society very fast and Malwinder is aware of this fact. He held the vested interests, politics and narrow-minded religions, responsible for this. Malwinder and his poems are attached to his earth and not to the some heavenly beings. ‘Bhalu’, ‘Je Maa Padi Hundi’, ‘Mitti Chou Ugia Tana’ and many other poems in the book ‘Kaya-De-Harf’ are perfect examples of this, Professor Mohanjit further adds. Small poems with deeper meanings create more impact and this character is very well present in the poetry for Malwinder who had also composed small poems. He also wrote about the thinking of new generations, about home and about relationships. Shiromani poet, Parminderjit, expressing his view about the book said Malwinder does not make heaps of imaginary things, nor he try to be more intellectual in his poetry. He is a poet of human relations, social concerns and various colours of life. |
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Every time the clouds hover over the sky, it’s nightmarish for city residents. Reason: Come rains and the city gets waterlogged. The worst-affected areas include the interior parts of the city.
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Residents of Jalandhar would have the opportunity to have a tete-a-tete with former Miss India and now a film star, Tanushree Dutta on 2 July. She has acted in ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’ and ‘Chocolate’.
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Though, Malwinder is not so old to literary world, yet he has created his own place in such a short span of time. He is different from his contemporary writers and his recent book ‘Kaya-De-Harf’ gives a glimpse of his literary skills.