Amritsar, August 14
Despite volatile political situation in Pakistan, as many as 42 dignitaries, including 12 parliamentarians and office-bearers of SAFMA (South-Asian Free Media Association), from across the border have arrived here to participate in the two-day “11th Hind-Pak friendship festival”, which began yesterday. Over the past one decade, this small gesture of holding a candlelight vigil at zero line has helped in diluting hostilities between India and Pakistan.

No one could have imagined that a small gesture of the Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, founded by noted journalist Kuldip Nayar and Satnam Manak in 1996, would ultimately dispel darkness on both sides of Wagah. It was the candlelight vigil on the midnight of August 14 that launched the Hind-Pak Dosti Manch years ago.

Later, the Lahore-Amritsar and Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus services heralded a new dimension to the “people-to-people contact”. These gestures even resulted in skyrocketing the property prices in both Amritsar and Lahore. This augurs well for the economy of the Punjabis (East and West Punjab) that represented the composite culture of the united Punjab that existed before partition of the country. Artistes from India and Pakistan also presented plays, “Kissa Bhagat Puran Singh”and “Yatra : 1947”, to depict the tragedy of the country’s partition in which more than 10 lakh people were butchered.

General secretary of Hind Pak Dosti Manch Satnam Manak said SAFMA secretary general Imtiaz Alam would be leading a delegation of writers, journalists and traders from Pakistan. Folklore Research Academy president Ramesh Yadav said many MPs of the Left, including Mohammad Salem, Alka Kshatria and A.R. Sahin, dignitaries from Germany and other countries would be participating in a seminar on the Indo-Pak relations, scheduled to be held here tomorrow. Rajya Sabha member from Haryana Tarlochan Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal general secretary Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa have also confirmed their participation.

Amritsar, August 14
“With increased participation in political affairs, the women in Pakistan have started raising their voice against illegal customs and traditions. The possible comeback of former Pak Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to her homeland would give impetus to this movement as she is all set to sweep the forthcoming elections,” claimed Uzma Bakhari, Pakistan People’s Party’s member parliament from Lahore, who was in Amritsar today to attend a seminar organised recently by the Hind-Pak Dosti Manch.

Talking to The Tribune, she said public sentiment in Pakistan was in favour of Bhutto and her party would repeat its performance of 2002 elections.

The party was riding on a popularity wave, she said. She further said her party was in favour of taking stringent measures to tackle terrorism and both neighbouring countries should be united in their fight against the menace. “Pakistan is a target of terrorism and it is paying a price for waging a war against it. There have been a host of suicide attacks in the country during the past four months,” she said.

Mohammad Parvez Malik, MLA from Lahore of PML (Nawaz Sharif) claimed it was during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure as Pakistan’s prime minister that the peace process achieved breakthroughs by working out a programme with former Indian Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “There is a strong feeling in both countries that the budget should be spent on welfare activities instead of splurges on defence equipment,” he said.

Gurki Samina, PPP’s MP said even though her constituency touched Amritsar’s boundary, people on both sides had strange views about each other and the solution lay in greater people-to-people contact. Meanwhile, the need for free trade across the Indo-Pak border and reflection of public sentiment in the foreign policies of the two countries was highlighted at the seminar. The seminar was organised by the Folklore Research Academy and Punarjyot, in association with Safmat and Saf, on the topic “Indo Pak relations - challenges and possibilities”.

Speakers pointed out that the only way to take the peace process forward was by letting go the painful past and this assumed greater significance in view of the changed territorial situation. The need of the hour was to focus on the welfare of the general public instead of propagating hate, the speakers said. The need for relaxation of visa norms was also emphasised upon by the speakers, who sought setting up of a sub-office in Amritsar.

The speakers included veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar, Dr Shavinder Singh Sandhu, director Punarjyot, Abdul Rashid Shaheen and Choudhary Mansoor Ahmed.

Amritsar, August 14
Residents of Nikka Singh Colony in the Putligarh area are up in arms in against construction of a room to set up a new tubewell in the middle of the children park. They allege that the department concerned was deliberately trying to usurp the space used by children as a playground.

Residents here rue that with the construction of the new room, no space would be left for entertainment as there was no other park in the area.

Sunder Sharma, a resident, said recently a major political party even held an election rally in the park. He said the party flags, buntings and banners were left in the area along with disposable water glasses. He said workers did not bother to clear the area after the rally which caused resentment against the party. He alleged buses belonging to private schools were being parked in the area during night.

Master Gurcharan Singh said recently the corporation began digging a new tubewell, besides constructing a room in the middle of the park for this purpose. Residents alleged that a room already existed for this purpose and there was no need to construct a new one. Employees of the department concerned were using the tubewell room and the space under the overhead tank for residential purposes, Singh added.

However, Surinder Chaudhary, local councillor, has said the department was sinking a temporary tubewell so that the old one could be repaired. He said after the tubewell was repaired, the new one would be dismantled.

He denied that a room was being constructed in the area and the department was digging a pit so that water which would come out of the tubewell could be accumulated there. He said he would not allow the authorities to destroy the park being used by children.

Amritsar, August 14
The agony of the partition still hovers in the minds of the people especially the two Punjabs. This was proved when the play ‘Yatra - 1947’ was staged here recently by the students of Lahore and Amritsar at Punjab Naatshala.

Directed by Kewal Dhaliwal and written by Ramesh Yadav the play was a combined effort of the students from Lahore and Amritsar as part of the Independence Day celebrations. The event was organised by Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, Folklore Research Academy and Punarjyot.

The story of the play revolved around the long and painful journey of the people, who crossed over India and Pakistan, to save their lives from the hands of the raiders during the India’s partition.

The play also described how the women were molested and abducted during the violence and how the neighbours helped each other to cross the border. During the play, the spectators got emotional, in a scene when a lady tried to stop her sons from throwing a spinning wheel given by her Muslim neighbour and promising that one day she would come back to take it away.

Appreciating the students for their performance, South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) general secretary Imtiaz Alam said,

“The play was a reflection on the partition of India.” Being an honest critic, he said the authorities had never then imagined that there would be so much violence and blood shed. He said, “The citizens of the two countries would never forgive the perpetrators of the crime.” He urged the organisers to make a film on the play and screen it both India and Pakistan.

Ensuring about his support, he said SAFMA would bear the expenses in this regard. He also presented $ 1,000 on behalf of visiting Pakistani delegates to the children for their performance.

Speaking on the occasion Chowdhary Manzoor Ahmed, member national assembly Pakistan from Kasur, said after watching the play he felt as if he was hearing the tale of the partition from his grandmother. “Now the time has come to wipe the tears and hatred from each others mind and turn the gory incidents of past into happy moments,” he added.

Amritsar, August 14
To bring the youth closer to their heritage and roots, traditional folk theatre artistes from Lahore, Inayat Beli and group, staged 'Kissa Puran Bhagat' at the Punjab Naatshala here.

The show was a combined effort of Punarjyot (Centre of Preservation and Promotion of Heritage of Punjab) and The Rafi Peer Group, Lahore.

The group mesmerised the audience with their deft use of nautanki culture in the play. The play was presented in the traditional form of ‘nautanki’.

Pak artistes depicted the falling in love of a young Loona with her stepson Bhagat Puran in the 25-minute play. The audience were spellbound with the performance of Pak artistes.

Mushtaq Hussain gave the music for the play while Usman Khan Peerzada directed the nautanki.

Dhani Ram and Manveen Sandhu, director Punarjot released the DVD of ‘Sanjh 2006’.

Artistes enthralled the audience with their performance of plays like Bulle Shah, Lahore Journey and others.

Since you have started reading this article, I assume that you must have some curiosity in your mind to know something about numbers. No doubt, most of the people have horror in their minds that numbers are very difficult to understand and to know about numbers we have to go through long multiplications and divisions.

Here I want to make one thing clear that numbers rule our lives. From the very beginning of our lives, numbers play a very important role in the form of birth time, day, month and year and these numbers remain with us till death. We use numbers all the time throughout the day. All our earnings and expenditures are also counted in numbers.

Then why not to make friendship with numbers? I assure you that knowing more about numbers and being acquainted with them will not only enrich our lives but also contribute toward managing our day-to-day affairs in a much 
better way.

To take away the scare of numbers out of your mind and to make you more friendly with numbers, I disclose to you some thrilling relations between the numbers.

To look at “37” appears to be a very dull and isolated number. It seems as if it has no symmetrical relation with other numbers.

But if we peep into it deeply we will find a treasure of hidden beauty in it. If we multiply “37” by “3” and its multiples, see how beautiful pattern this number forms.

37 x 3 = 111

37 x 6 = 222

37 x 9 = 333

37 x 12 = 444

37 x 15 = 555

37 x 18 = 666

37 x 21 = 777

37 x 24 = 888

37 x 27 = 999

“37” is also a magical number. You can do magic with it. What you have to do is like this:

1. Write “37” on a piece of paper and keep in your pocket.

2. Ask anyone in the public to assume any number consisting of three identical digits.

3. Ask him to sum up these digits and divide the assumed number by this sum and get the answer.

4. Ask the person, “should I tell you what answer you have got?”

5. Then take the paper out of your pocket and show him that his answer is “37”.

Doesn’t it appear to be magical?

But actually there is no magic in it. It is the property of “37” that when any three identical-digit number is divided by their sum, it always gives the answer “37”.

For example:

Let the assumed numbers be 666

Sum of the digits 6+6+6 = 18

Divide 666 by 18

Answer is 666/18 = 37.

( paulusha.1@gmail.com)