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Young World
Police DAV Public School hosted a cultural extravaganza for a group of seven students and two teachers from Sollentuna International School, Sweden, currently on a 12-day visit to their campus under an exchange programme.
The IX grade students, Nurjan, Guljan, Adam, Amanda, Linu Natalia, Dennis, Reva and their teachers, Ms Gagan Gautam and Ms Brigitta have come from Sweden to study teaching-learning process followed in Indian schools and to have a feel of Indian culture, tradition and family system. The evening provided them an opportunity to have an interface with Indian dance and music. The programme started with Ved mantra recital and welcome dance, followed by qawwali and a folk song by Milanpreet. Somali Vij mesmerised the audience with her footwork and expressions as she performed Kathak. Ms Gagan Gautam from Sweden apprised the audience about Swedish culture and tradition and appreciated the close-knit Indian family system. The vibrant hues and intricate embroideries fascinated the Swedish guests. They danced together with the Indian group on stage and performed bhangra. The Swedish students sang their national anthem. The programme was attended by Mr Rajan Gupta, ADGP, PAP. Visit to helipad
To impart practical knowledge about means of transport, Delhi Public School organised a trip for the little ones to a helipad. They got an opportunity to interact with the pilots. They were very thrilled to watch it take off and land. They were told about the abilities of helicopters to land and take off from ships, roof tops and mountains as these did not require a runway. They were told that it could help in air dropping supplies and reaching inaccessible areas. Singing contest
Refreshing the memories of Punjabi singer Surinder Kaur, a singing contest was organised by the Language Department at SD Phularwal Girls Senior Secondary School, Preet Nagar, on Tuesday. Kanwar Bahar of HMV College won the first prize. Rajwinder Kaur of Lyallpur Khalsa College stood second. Aarti of the host school and Bhawna Kapoor of St Joseph Convent School were declared third. Manpreet Singh Bal, District Language Officer, congratulated the winners. Anti-polybag
campaign
Cadets of the Army wing of DAV College have launched a drive against polythene on the campus. Convincing the students against the use of plastic bags, they are stressing on the use of jute bags. The cadets also visited the apahaj ashram and distributed sweets and fruits to the inmates. They also participated in a blood donation drive for patients of dengue, thalasemia and blood cancer. Capt S.K. Tuli and Lt Sameer Sharma of NCC Army wing organised the events. Army induction
A team from Lintas India Pvt Ltd visited Lovely Institutes to promote career options in the Indian Army on Tuesday. The programme began with a lecture by Lt-Col Anupam Aggarwal, during which he gave a brief introduction of the Indian Army, career prospects, its offers and other exciting aspects of the establishment. A video documentary was also shown highlighting the various avenues of Army open to the aspirants who want to choose it as their career. The film also showcased the enthusiasm, sense of pride and enhanced social recognition associated with the life of an Army officer. In a presentation, Ms Vishwanath, regional coordinator, detailed about various entry schemes and career opportunities in the capacity of Army officers. A discussion round allowed the interested students in interacting with the visiting team and seeking answers to their queries. An invitation was also extended to a selected few interested students to come down to military establishments and have a firsthand experience of the military life on Saturdays or Sundays. Literature regarding military services was also distributed among them. English play
A cultural evening was organised for the students of Class III who presented a play titled “The Pied Piper of Hamlin”, wherein all 200 children enacted, danced and sang in four scenes of the show. The play reminded of a bygone era where the people of Hamlin were troubled by rats and the Pied Piper relieved them of their misery. The parents of the students also attended the show. They were welcomed by the Headmistress, Ms Aneela Kinder. School games
Students of Dayanand Model School, Model Town, have proven their mettle in the recently concluded Punjab School Games held recently. A total of 38 boys have been selected for the state-level teams and six boys will be participating at the national level. In table tennis, three boys have been selected for the state and national-level teams. In lawn tennis, five students grabbed first position in the district and two boys have been selected in the state team. In cricket, six boys have been selected in the state team ad one at the national level. In shooting ball, three boys and six girls have been selected to play at the state level. In archery, four boys bagged the first position in the district level. In roller skating, one player as been selected to participate at the national level and seven boys have been selected to play at the state level. Six boys have been selected at the state level for netball. In fencing, eight boys and three girls have been selected at the state level and one boy has been selected at the national level. Ms B.Manuja, Principal, congratulated the players and wished them good luck. Inter-school festival
A two-day inter-school festival is being organised by Citizens’ Welfare and Protection Council at DR Jain National Senior Secondary School on November 17 and 18. Teams from various schools of the district are expected to participate in a variety of events including music, theatre, fine arts, public speaking and folk dance, said Prof Anoop K. Vatts, general secretary of the council.
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Sufi singers from Pak to perform on Nov 10
Sufi singers and scholars from Pakistan are likely to take part in a seminar on “Punjabi Sufi poetry: relevance and uniqueness” scheduled to be organised by the Department of Punjabi at Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya on November 10 and 11.
The participants will dwell on “Relevance of Sufi poetry in modern era”, “Gurmat poetry of Baba Farid”, “Diversity in the writings of Bulleh Shah”, “Writings of Sultan Bahu and Shah Hussain” and “Punjabi life style in Sufi poetry”. Sufi singers from Pakistan taking part include Javed Bashir Ahmad, Amir Ali, Akbar Ali, Asif Ali, Waris Ali, Zahid Ali and Amanat Ali. Pakistani scholars who would present papers on Sufi poetry will include Mr Fakhar Zaman, chairman of Punjabi World Conference, Mohammad Ashraf, Saeed Ullah Cho, Aizaz Ahmed Azer, Ms Nasreen Anjum Bhatti, Kanwal Mushtaq and Alzaaz Hussain Shahid. The keynote address will come from Dr Jaswinder Singh of Department of Punjabi, Punjabi Univerisity, Patiala. An evening of Sufi singing will be organised on the first day of the event. There will be three technical sessions, one on the opening day and two on the second day.
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Two gems of education,
architecture
Two great educational institutions, Aitchison School, Lahore, and Khalsa College, Amritsar, may have ended up in two separate countries by the Radcliff Line in 1947, but they still share a common architectural heritage.
The design of the two educational institutes is identical, right down to graphics and layout. The two buildings were designed and built by Sardar Bahadur Ram Singh, who successfully blended Sikh and Muslim architectures to produce two gems for education.
The students of the Aitchison School visited Khalsa College for the first time after the Partition. They were stunned to see that the majestic building of Khalsa College was identical to their own. A new dimension was added to India-Pakistan relations when staff and students and of the 120-year-old Aitchison College, Lahore, met the students and faculty of the 114-year-old Khalsa College, founded on March 5, 1892, by the then-Lt-Governor of Punjab, Sir James Broadwood Lyall. Aitchison College was established on November 3, 1886, six years before Khalsa College. The foundation stone was laid by the then Governor-General of India, Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Earl of Dufferin. The college was named after Charles Umpherston Aitchison, Lt-Governor of Punjab.
Major Mazhar Pervez Akhtar, Senior House Master, Aitchison College, was extremely excited to meet the Principal, Dr Daljit Singh, and students of Khalsa College. However, he expressed surprise over the decrease in the number of students at the college. The main purpose of the visit of students and staff of Aitchison College was to collect information on Ram Singh, who had designed both the educational institutions. They were also desirous to know the whereabouts of Sardar Ram Singh’s family. Mr Onkar Singh Sandhu, president, Ramgarhia Foundation, immediately contacted Mr Jasbir Singh, a national cricket umpire and great grandson of Sardar Ram Singh. Aitchison College is a boys boarding university-preparatory school in Lahore. The college owns 186 acres in the city and surrounding area. Taking advantage of spacious campus, Aitchison is well-equipped for all kinds of sports activities where international teams come to practice. Compulsory participation in games has been a strong tradition. Physical development and good health of boys is part of good schooling. Games are supervised and there are regular opportunities to play formal matches within and outside the college. Boys take advantage of this broad-based curriculum in activities like debates, where they have represented Aitchison College and Pakistan at the world level many times. Sardar Bahadur Ram Singh Sohal, MVO (Member of Victorian Order), is considered a great inventor in Sikh architecture. He rose to become the Principal of the prestigious Mayo School of Arts, Lahore. His woodcarving had impressed even Queen Victoria, who invited him to England in 1891 for designing a Darbar Hall in her Palace. Impressed with his art and craftsmanship, Queen Victoria honoured him with the Order of British Empire (OBE). He was given a warm send-off by the Queen. Thus, Ram Singh was promoted as the Principal of Mayo School of Arts, Lahore, on his return from Britain. Later he was honoured with other awards, including Keser-e-Hind Award (1902). He was given the titles of Sardar Sahib (1904) and Sardar Bahadur (1909). He rose to the highest position on the strength of his potential and hard work. None of his successors have been able to surpass his work. Sardar Ram Singh was born at Rasul, a non-descript village in Gurdaspur district in 1858 in Ramgarhia community. His father Sardar Assa Singh was a carpenter by profession. He was picked up as an intelligent student of arts and craft from a wood-carver’s shop where he worked on daily wages. Specimens of Ram Singh’s art, particularly his design of a monument in Indian style, attracted the attention of the top ranking European architects of the day. The jury adjudged Ram Singh’s design as the best, and recommended him for the highest award. Ram Singh then started to work as an architect in addition to his duties as the Principal. Almost all important buildings such as the Senate Hall, Panjab University, Foreman Christian College; Aitchison Chiefs College and the museum attached to the Mayo School of Arts, Lahore, were designed by him. He invented Indo-Sarcenic style of architecture which is a mixture of Indian traditional and Mughal style of architecture. Perhaps, the best of his designs in this new style is the historic building of Khalsa College, Amritsar.
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400 medical posts lying vacant
Even as the Ayurvedic and Homeopathic systems of medicine are gaining importance worldwide, these two systems are being ignored in Punjab.
Although the state government claims to promote Ayurvedic and Homeopathic systems, a good number of posts in both Ayurvedic Department and Homeopathic Department have been lying vacant for several years now. This has hampered the proper working of the departments. As many as four hundred posts, excluding those of the class-four employees, have been lying vacant in both departments. Holding the Director of the Ayurvedic Department (who is an Allopathic doctor), responsible for this, Mr Jaswant Singh Jalal Usma, Chairman, Medical Cell, and member, Working Committee, SAD (1920), in an open letter to Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and Health and Finance Minister, Mr Surinder Kumar Singla, has urged them to take effective measures in this regard. He has also urged them to initiate a vigilance enquiry into the delay in implementing the new service rules. The posts of joint director, deputy director, superintendent pharmacy, 16 posts of Ayurvedic doctors in 19 districts, 15 posts of senior physician (SMO) in 17 Ayurvedic health centres, 122 posts of Ayurvedic medical officers, 110 posts of Ayurvedic pharmacists, 171 Ayurvedic nurses (midwives), besides 10 ministerial posts, have been lying vacant. When contacted, Dr Vipin Chander Sharma, Joint Director Health, Ayurveda, expressing his deep concern over the situation alleged that bureaucrats and Allopathic doctors were not interested in promoting the Homoeopathic system of medicine. He alleged that the present arrangement by the state government was against the national health policy. He said the government should redraft the present-day service rule of 1963, which had become obsolete. He said if the government really wanted to promote these two systems of medicines, it should give the additional charge to the persons concerned with Ayurveda.
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A story of riot victims
On the 22nd anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that followed late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s murder on October 31 and continued till November 3 in different parts of the country, the novel “Kaal-Katha” becomes a relevant study of the historical tragedy.
The misery of the 1984 riot-widows and their children has been successfully depicted in “Kaal-Katha” (literal meaning: the story of a particular period), said to be the first novel on anti-Sikh riots. Dr Ajay Sharma, who is already credited with four novels, has penned “Kaal-Katha”, recently released and well-noticed novel in the Hindi literary circles. “Kaal-Katha” is a philosophical interpretation of
the Punjab problem. The novel presents the comparative study of 1984 riots and the report of the Nanavati Commission. While it is a mix of fiction and reality, it deals more with reality as compared to fiction. In nutshell, the novel may be termed as a commentary on social and economic life as well as political ideology of last about two decades of Punjab in particular and north India in general. This is what Professor Harmahendra Singh Bedi, Dean Languages, Guru Nanak Dev University, feels about Dr Sharma’s fifth novel. The plot of the 152-page novel revolves around Beejee, the character of an aged Sikh woman whose husband was killed in anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur. Beejee had to migrate with her little son to Jalandhar after her husband’s killing. She starts suffering from depression as the scenes of the riots keep haunting her. The News Editor of a newspaper asks Dr Akash, a part-time journalist, to write a special news-item on the plight of the migrant Sikhs after interviewing some of them when the Nanavati Commission Report is made public. Dr Akash interviews Beejee, who tells him how her male relatives from Punjab could not even attend the funeral of her husband in Kanpur due to the fear of being killed in the riots. Thus, the novelist describes the miseries of the riot-widows through Beejee. At the same time, he does not forget to mention the militancy in Punjab and the politics behind both militancy in Punjab and the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other parts of the country on October 31 and thereafter. In eminent Hindi critic Kirti Kesar’s words, “The anti-Sikh riots were the biggest historical tragedy after the massacre in 1947 during the division of the country, and Dr Ajay Sharma has successfully penned it in his novel.” Jalandhar-based Dr Sharma has already created a niche for himself in the field of Hindi literature, especially in Punjab. One of his novels “Basra Ki Galiya” (Basra Streets), the plot of which deals with the invasion of Iraq in 2003, has been included in Guru Nanak Dev Varsity’s MA Part I (Hindi) curriculum.
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HP Singh elected GND University
body chief
Dr H.P. Singh, Senior Medical Officer, Guru Nanak Dev University, was elected as president of the Guru Nanak Dev University Officers Association at the election held here.
In a straight fight, he defeated Mr J.S. Walia, Director, Press and Publications, with a margin of 30 votes. Dr H.P. Singh got 76 votes, while Mr Walia was polled 46 votes. In an interesting contest, Mr Amarjit Singh Bai and Mr Balkar Singh Sandhu polled equal votes (59) for the office of secretary. The returning officer, Dr M.D. Singh, declared Mr Bai as secretary for the first six months. Mr Sandhu would act as secretary for the remaining period of six months. Mr Mukesh Sharma, Executive Engineer, was declared elected as vice-president with 81 votes. He defeated Mr A.C. Sood, Superintendent (Accounts), who got 37 votes. The office of joint secretary was won by Mr Kuljeet Singh, Superintendent (Conduct), who secured 62 votes. He defeated Mr H.S. Tina, Assistant Engineer, who got 56 votes. Mr Naresh Nandan Singh, Programmer (University Library), was elected treasurer with 62 votes. He defeated Mr Suman Kumar (Superintendent), who secured 54 votes. Mr Ravi Sharma, Superintendent (vehicles), Mr H.S. Randhawa, Deputy Director, Campus Sports,
Mr Manjit Singh, Superintendent, Mr Paramjit Singh, Deputy Registrar, Mr Mohinder Singh, Superintendent, and
Mr Narinder Singh Oberoi, PA, were elected executive members of this association.
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Only child popular
Campaigns to check the population explosion are heading the right way. The ‘only child’ concept is becoming increasingly popular. People seem to be satisfied with that kind of family structure as it spells convenience and comfort in more ways than one, including the monetary factor. This concept of a single child in a nuclear family is also changing societal trends.
“There is literally no one with whom I can converse with or complain to. Things are entirely different when there;s no support,” feels Archana Kochhar, a graduate. Managing on her own, Archana longs for support in the form of a friend. “We can’t be that frank with parents as we could be with a sibling,” she opines. If you’re feeling low or distraught, you still have reason to smile if you’ve someone close to share your feelings with. But it’s not possible without a brother or sister. “Merely their words during the hard times heal the wounds. It’s good to see all sharing a healthy relation with each other,” says Bhavna Sharma. How many times can one meet his or her cousin? They might not be able to give you that much time. A single child would not quickly develop his extrovert qualities as the quest for good friends starts a little late. He normally ends up playing games on the computer or reading books. “As an only child you get undivided attention which leads to pampering but I felt there is something missing every time,” says Rohit Kapila, a private company employee. If one has brothers or sisters, one can even bank upon them during an emergency. “I remember my friend, who would borrow his elder brother’s car while going out on a date,” he says. For Pankaj Pahuja, a businessman, there are many sociological reasons leading to the change. Parents want their ward to live lavishly. And no one has much time for kids anyway. “Peer support is must. But the way things are going it’s good to have only one child. If we look behind there are many factors like high admission fees and a demanding lifestyle, which force us to stick to the latest trend,” he says. It’s getting more difficult to raise another child because of constraints on time and finance limitations. Clinical psychologist Dr Jaswinder Kaur says people hardly get the time to spend with their kids. “Though the ideal family comprises siblings, now it’s changing,” she says. “It’s amazing that sometimes young couples ask whether even one child is
required,” she says. The trend also seems to be catching on in Bollywood. Many stars like Aamir Khan, Govinda and Akshay Kumar have only one child.
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Clean-city drive on Naya
Morcha beats
While activists of the Naya Morcha, Punjab, beat drums to awaken residents of Jalandhar about the “lackadaisical approach” of the Municipal Corporation towards the sanitation and the development of the city and to caution them against “prevailing corruption” in the civic body, the Mayor and the Commissioner initiated a fortnight-long cleanliness drive in the city.
With drums (dhol) tied around their necks, the activists of the Naya Morcha, Punjab, led by its president, Mr Arun Sharma Pappu, and Mr Kamaljit Singh Bhatia, an Akali leader and former councillor, converged in front of the civic body gate and started beating drums. They also carried placards highlighting the civic problems in the city. They shouted slogans against Mayor and officials of the MC. “The Mayor preferred to enjoy a trip to the UK instead of staying in the city when it remained in the grip of dengue recently. Now, since the Assembly polls are around the corner, he has started a cleanliness drive. Sanitation has taken a backseat. Heaps of garbage, stray animals can be seen everywhere. Moreover, the MC remained embroiled in a number of scams during the past four years,” alleged Mr Pappu, adding, “We will expose corrupt practices prevailing in the MC at every cost.” Mr Bhatia alleged that the residents of the city were suffering due to the “indifferent attitude” of the MC officials. Interestingly, Mayor Surinder Mahey and Commissioner Satwant Singh Johl kick-started a cleanliness drive at the same venue and almost simultaneously. Mr Ashok, president of the Nagar Nigam Safai Union, Mr Harkishan Singh Bawa and Mr Desh Deepak, both councillors, also participated in the drive along with many senior officials of the civic body. Armed with brooms, Mr Mahey, Mr Johl and others presented a good show as they started sweeping the road, which, of course, inspired their subordinate staff and, to some extent, certain residents of the area. As they marched ahead on the GT Road, they also made an effort to remove some temporary encroachments. Walking on the GT Road, Mr Mahey and Mr Johl appealed to shopkeepers to contribute to the drive by collecting discarded material and garbage in bags that would be removed by the MC staff. Mr Johl said that groups of safai sevaks would be pressed into service and they would clean different areas daily.
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