The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Poor roads to hit tourism in Dharamsala region Air traffic in Himachal lying suspended after Kingfisher was grounded Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, April 9 The tourist season is approaching in the summer months. Much hue and cry is being raised regarding the non-availability of air traffic between Delhi and Dharamsala. However, besides the lack of air connectivity, the poor road infrastructure especially in the Dharamsala tourist circuit is likely to imperil the tourism industry in the area. Almost all roads leading to Dharamsala and Palampur areas, tourist places for the summer season in Kangra district, from adjoining states of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir are in a bad shape. The Nagrota-Mubarakpur national highway is the gateway for tourists coming to the Dharamsala area from Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar areas. It is dotted with potholes that can make journey even in SUV vehicles a nightmare. The stretch of the road leading from Mubarakpur to Dehra is in the worst shape. Every year the PWD used to carry out patch work on the road before the start of the tourist season. However, this year no patch work has been done and the road has been converted into a nightmare for the tourists. Sources in the PWD said that funds for the repair of the road had been sanctioned. However, since work for reconstructing the road had not been started yet, it was unlikely to be repaired during this tourist season. The 50-km road from Mehatpur to Amb in Una district is also in a very poor state. The road was supposed to be an express highway and work for its construction was entrusted to the Chinese company, Longjian. The company is waiting for release of funds from the government to construct the road. However, the issue of imposition of a heavy penalty on the company for delaying the work is probably delaying the construction work of the road. The road was vital for religious tourism in Una and Kangra districts as it leads to famous Hindu pilgrim places, the Jawalamukhi and Chintpurni temples. Religious tourism in the area would pick during April at the time of Navratras starting from April 11. The road leading from Dharamsala to Mcloedganj is also in a very bad shape. At places, roads have given away to sliding. The work for the repair of the road is going at a very tardy place. The areas where the road has slid are likely to result in traffic jams during the tourism season. Inquiries from the department of PWD revealed that no budget was available with the department for the repair of the road. A project worth Rs 12 crore for the construction and the strengthening of the road was sent to the Union Government but it has not been sanctioned as yet. Similarly, other small roads in the area are crying for repairs. However, these are unlikely to be repaired during the coming tourist season due to paucity of funds, the sources here said. Politicians of all hues are making statements that lack of air traffic in the state was hitting tourism industry. The air traffic in the state has been lying suspended after the sole service provider to the area, Kingfisher, was grounded by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). However, to ensure a good tourist season during the coming months, the government should also concentrate on improving the road infrastructure. The state government has been making statements regarding bringing in mono rail and escalators to the main tourists spots of Himachal, including Shimla and Dharamsala. However, the current state of roads in the state illustrates that maintaining roads is still a challenge for the government.
	Conducting Exams for Disabled Persons Policy for equal-playing field holds promise, Himachal takes initiative Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, April 9 The policy for conducting examination for disabled persons who cannot write due to visual and other impairments, formulated by the Union Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment recently, will go a long way in ensuring their proper economic and social rehabilitation. Himachal Pradesh is the first state where aggressive advocacy for the implementation of the policy is yielding results. Himachal Pradesh University has initiated steps in this direction and the State High Court has issued notices to the government and others in the matter while taking suo motu cognisance of a letter written by Ajai Srivastava, Chairman of Umang Foundation, a public welfare trust. The policy is meant for all academic and recruitment examinations for persons with disabilities. The main focus of the policy is on providing equal opportunity to the disabled and use of new technology in conduct of examinations. Blinds and other disabled are entitled to engage a writer for the examination. The existing rules in Himachal Pradesh are archaic and in the examinations conducted by the HP Education Board and HP University, it is very difficult for the disabled candidates to get a suitable writer due to certain pre-conditions. The new policy has removed the criteria like educational qualification, marks scored, age or other such restrictions for the writer. Instead it says, “The invigilation system should be strengthened, so that candidates using a writer do not indulge in mal-practices like copying and cheating during the examination.” All educational institutions except schools in the state provide only half an hour extra time to blind candidates. The new policy provides one hour extra time for such students for a paper of three hours duration under the norm of 20 minutes extra time in one hour. The focus in the policy is on the use of new technology in conducting examination. It reads, “Persons with disabilities should be given the option of choosing the mode for taking the examinations - in Braille or in the computer or in large print or even by recording the answers as the examining bodies can easily make use of technology to convert the question paper in large prints, e-text, or Braille and can also convert Braille text in English or regional languages” Further, the examining body should also provide reading material in Braille or e-Text or on computers having suitable screen reading software for open-book examination. Similarly, online examination should be in an accessible format and websites, question papers and all other study material should be accessible according to the international standards laid down in this regard. The candidates will be entitled to have “objective type questions in the written examination instead of descriptive type paper as the visually impaired students are given alternative questions where visual input is involved in any question.” Ajai Srivastava was the first to take up the matter with the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and the Vice-Chancellor of HP University for implementation of the policy. The university constituted a four-member committee under the chairmanship of Suresh Kumar, Dean of Studies, for making recommendations on the policy but there has been no response from the government. Now the high court has asked the Principal Secretary (Education), HP University, YS Parmar Horticulture University, CSK Agriculture University, HP Education Board, HP State Public Service Commission and National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, to file a reply within six weeks.
	Claverham Faculty visits Pinegrove School Ambika Sharma Tribune News Service Solan, April 9 Pinegrove School, Subathu, had the privilege of hosting Sarah Garland and John Harrold from Claverham Community College, Battle, East Sussex, UK, under the Connecting Classrooms Programme earlier known as Global School Partnership Programme (GSP). Connecting Classrooms is an educational initiative run by the British Council to encourage cross-cultural exchange at the school level to facilitate learning for students and staff. Pinegrove School, Subathu, and Claverham Community College, UK, had established partnership in August 2010 and have exchanged works on numerous projects, including those of teacher exchanges and environment protection. The CCP is a powerful way of introducing global issues to young students, helping them to broaden their horizons and understanding. Garland and Harrold have made the visit under the DFID Reciprocal Visit Grant given by the UK Government for a teacher exchange to review the project work completed so far and to plan projects to be taken up in the coming term. The teachers will attend Pinegrove for a whole week and interact with teachers and students. At present both schools are working on a project on Peace and Conflict which has been integrated into the curriculum in both schools in social science, art, dance, science and English. Both schools are committed to a sustainable partnership looking forward to the future and are aspiring to tackle all challenges for a positive learning outcome, including student exchanges, to take place in 2014.
	650 examined at dental camp Tribune News Service Solan, April 9 A two-day dental check-up camp was organised at Elin Appliances, Baddi, where 600 employees of the company and 50 local residents were examined by a team of doctors for various tooth ailments. The camp was organised in association with the Bhojia Institute of Life Sciences, Baddi. A team of doctors led by Dr Meenakshi Singh checked the patients. Various facilities, including scaling, temporary filling, tooth removal and general check-up were available at the camp. JS Kang, the Head of the unit, said such health check-ups were part of their routine health plan where employees and local residents were checked for various ailments.
	Fine imposed on convicts to help stop ragging, says Kachroo Vishal Gulati Shimla, April 9 The fine imposed on four convicts punished for the 2009 ragging death of medical student Aman Kachroo will be used for anti-ragging campaign in educational institutions, the victim's father said recently. “The amount will go to the Aman movement so that in future no other student can become a victim to a horrid incident of ragging anywhere in the country,” Aman's father Rajendar Kachroo said. Aman died of injuries suffered during ragging by the drunk seniors in Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital in Tanda in Kangra district on March 8, 2009. Upholding their conviction by a trial court, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on April 4 directed the four convicts to cough up an additional fine of Rs 90,000 each. “Every penny we have been getting for the Aman Satya Kachroo Trust for the past four years goes into supporting campaigns against ragging," he said over telephone from Gurgaon. A Himachal Pradesh High Court Bench of Justice R.B. Misra and Justice Surinder Singh rejected the convicts' appeal seeking relief and enhanced the fine from Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 each. Giving a clear-cut verdict against ragging, the court observed: "A young medical student had died consequent upon violent and repeated slapping by the accused people which is inhuman and is a blatant breach of human rights." Expressing sympathy with the victim, who was the only son of the parents, the court said: "His life had gone for a song. Their barbarous act was a dastardly act for a youth who was none else than their college mate." The court also ruled that the amount realised from the convicts should be released to the next of kin of deceased as compensation. "We also feel that the life of deceased cannot be compensated in money but at the same time the accused persons should also realise that they have been sufficiently atoned for their misadventure." The Bench also dismissed prosecution's plea of seeking enhanced punishment under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on charges of murder, not under Sections 304 II that deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Showing no leniency with the convicts, the judges observed that "the proved circumstances on record clearly establishes that the accused persons being medicos were fully aware and had the knowledge that the repeated blows/slaps on the side of the head could cause death". "They are not layman but are having the full and complete knowledge of physical anatomy despite that they gave repeated blows to the deceased on the vital part of the body i.e. the head, proves a case against them for the offences punishable under Sections 304 II, 352, 342 read with Section 34 of the IPC and not under Section 302 of IPC," said the judgment. Ajay Verma, Naveen Verma, Abhinav Verma and Mukul Sharma, who were convicted by a trial court in Dharamsala Nov 11, 2010, spent three years and five months in jail before the state government waived their remaining seven-month jail term in August last year. Kachroo is currently monitoring the National Ragging Prevention Programme on behalf of the University Grants Commission. — IANS
	‘Run for fun’ marks World Health Day Our Correspondent Kangra, April 9 Hundreds of medical students of Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, took part in the “run for fun” event, organised in connection with the World Health Day on the college premises recently. Besides students, paramedical staff and faculty members also participated in the event. The event was organised by the Central Students Association and sports society of the college. The event was flagged off by principal Dr Anil Chauhan. He stressed on creating a massive awareness regarding hypertension. Dr Anil Chauhan said the most common chronic illness in the world was hypertension and this year the World Health Day was being observed on April 7 to mark the anniversary of the establishment of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Dr Chauhan said that this year’s theme was high blood pressure, commonly known as hypertension, a silent killer. He told participants that one in three adults worldwide had high blood pressure. He said 70 million Americans and 1 billion people worldwide had high blood pressure. The global burden of hypertension was rising to affect 1.5 billion persons by 2025, he added. Dr Chauhan said the ultimate goal of the World Health Day-2013 was to reduce heart attacks and strokes. He also distributed prizes among the winners of the event. Munish and Roha, MBBS students, bagged the first prize among boys and girls respectively. Dr Gaurav, a postgraduate student at the college, bagged the first position among the postgraduates. Ritu,a Nursing student and Dr Negi, a faculty member, secured the first position in their categories, respectively. Akshay Kumar, president, CSA, Shiv Brat, sports secretary and Dr Munish Saroch, sports sdviser were the organisers of the event.
	State to spend over Rs 20 crore on sports Our Correspondent Bilaspur, April 9 The state government would spend Rs 20.71 crore on sports in the state this year. This was stated by Ram Lal Thakur, Chairman, State Planning Development and 20- Point Programme Implementation Committee, while presiding over the concluding function of a sports tournament of all industrial training institutes ( ITIs) at the government ITI at Nihal recently. Thakur said the state government was giving a special attention towards technical education as this was the key to end unemployment among youths. He said 395 ITIs are functioning in the state for the cause. He said sports played an important role in the life as these were essential to keep the body and mind healthy. He lamented that the former BJP government not only abandoned all sports projects in Bilaspur, but also shifted some of these to other places, including the Rs 5 crore hockey astro-turf and synthetic track project. Thakur said he had discussed these projects with the Chief Minister and he would ensure that these projects restarted with help of the state and the Central governments as Bilaspur could provide facilities for all kinds of sports. Meanwhile, he urged the girls to fight against female foeticide and dowry. Earlier, principal Kuldip Chadha said 335 trainees from 14 ITIs had participated in the sportrs and cultural tournament. The Deputy Directors of Education, Bir Singh Negi and Pritam Singh Dhatwalia, were also present on the occasion.
	Welfare schemes fail to reach farmers Rajiv Mahajan Nurpur, April 9 The agriculture schemes launched by the state government for the benefit of farmers have failed to bring desired results in Nurpur development block, thanks to almost all vacant posts under different categories in the Agriculture Department. Nurpur is one of 15 blocks in Kangra district where most of the posts in the Agriculture Department have been lying vacant for a long time. The other agriculture blocks in lower Kangra district- Fatehpur, Indora and Nagrota Surian- are also facing acute staff shortage. The agriculture development block (ADB) office in Nurpur has been catering to the needs of thousands of farmers of 52 gram panchayats of the area. The farmers are facing a lot of inconvenience in getting farm input and field guidance in absence of field as well as office staff. Inquiries reveal that the state government had sanctioned the post of a subject matter specialist (SMS) to run ADB office, which has been lying vacant as the SMS has been transferred to other location a few days ago. There are two sanctioned posts of agriculture development officers (ADOs) at Nurpur and Rehan but both have been lying vacant. Similarly, sanctioned post of an assistant ADO is vacant here. The government had sanctioned nine posts of agriculture extension officers (AEO) at Nurpur, Rehan, Panjara, Talara, Chowki, Pargana, Jonta, Sadwan and Jachh, out of which seven posts have been lying vacant. Only two AEOs are shouldering the responsibility of gigantic ADB of Nurpur that includes 52 gram panchayats. One AEO is looking after the office and the other is busy with the field job. The local kisan sabha has taken a strong note of the ongoing staf crunch and said all government sponsored farmers’ welfare schemes and programmes are on paper only as no extension programmes for guidance of the farmers are being organised for a long time. The kisan sabha has urged the state government to appoint requisite staff. Meanwhile, local MLA Ajay Mahajan said he would take up this issue with the Chief Minister and the Agriculture Minister. BD Sharma, Deputy Director Agriculture Department, Palampur, admitted that the department was facing problem in lower Kangra areas. “ A detailed report relating to the poor staff strength is being prepared and soon it will be submitted to the higher authorities,” he asserted.
	Rs 3,836 cr to be spent on education in state: Pathania Kangra, April 9 During the current financial year, the state government will spend Rs 3,836 crore to strengthen the education system in the state and an agriculture-based industry would be set up on priority providing best value of agriculture and horticulture products of farmers and orchardists. Stating this at Rirkmar village in the Shahpur constituency, Himachal Road Transport Corporation Vice-Chairman Kewal Singh Pathania said the state government was focussed on the all-round development of all regions of the state. Pathania said the state government had completed its 100 days in power. Virbhadra Singh as the Chief Minister of the state had taken a lot of decisions for a balanced development of all regions of the state in this period. He said the state had adopted the poll manifesto as its policy document and it was being implemented in letter and spirit. Pathania said besides free travel for government school students in HRTC buses, the government was planning to provide unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 per month to Class XII and above qualified unemployed youth of the state under the Kaushal Vikas Allowance Programme. He said the state had 8 per cent literacy rate in 1948 that had touched 100 per cent now after Virbhadra made primary education compulsory in the state in 1985 and a free education scheme for girls was also implemented by the Congress government. He said the present government was eager to improve quality of education in the state. It had also reopened 248 schools from April 1, which were closed by the previous BJP government. He said the government was also focussed on women empowerment. An amount of Rs 21,000 was enhanced to Rs 25,000 under the Chief Minister Kanyadan Yojna. Besides, for inter-caste marriages an amount of Rs 25,000 had been enhanced to Rs 50,000. He said to encourage farmers, one village in each Assembly constituency would be brought under the purview of the Chief Minister Ideal Agriculture Village Programme. — OC
	VMRT extends medical facilities to residents Our Correspondent Palampur, April 9 Vivekananda Medical and Research Institute (VMRT), a multi-specialty hospital set up by a private trust in collaboration with JP Group of Industries, has extended a number of medical facilities on reasonable rates to residents of this area. The institute is a dream project of Shanta Kumar, who had laid its foundation stone in 1992. In the first phase, the institute is providing 24-hour medical facilities in radiology, medicine, surgery, gynaecology and obstetrics, paediatrics-neonatology, critical care. It is the first medical institute in this region, which is installed with a 16- slice CT scan. At present, the VMRT has 60 functional beds with dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) neonatal ICU, with most modern operations theatres and labour room. It has been providing 24-hour ambulance services to the needy. The Vivekananda Medical and Research Institute is also empanelled with the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna of the Central Government. In the past six months, the hospital also organised several medical camps in far-flung villages. It has also launched special health programmes for women. An advanced laparoscopic surgery camp was also organised by the surgical team of Dr SC Kaushal under the guidance of Dr Jagdish Chander, Director, Professor, Minimal Access Surgery, New Delhi, where a large number of patients got benefitted during the camp. The hospital plans to expand up to 250 beds soon along with superspecialty services like orthopaedic and joint replacement and neurosurgery to serve people of the state.
	Ban on polythene goes up in smoke Ravinder Sood Palampur, April 9 Despite a ban on the sale and use of polythene in Himachal Pradesh, the ban was openly violated by shopkeepers during the five days of the Holi Mela last week. Not only during the Holi Mela at Palampur but also in other parts of the region, polythene was openly used and sold during various melas. Though the state government has given powers to various lower-level officers to conduct frequent check on its use, hardly any one bothered to exercise their powers. In the present scenario, it looks that the ban has remained confined to papers only. Polythene can be seen scattered in several markets in the region. Fruit and vegetable vendors, general merchants are still using it without any hesitation. Besides, milk and bread is also being supplied in polythene packs from the adjoining states. Official sources revealed that in the past six months only few offenders were fined by the state agencies for the violation. In the absence of administrative will, there is none to implement the notification issued by the state government. After the Assembly elections in November last, the sale and use of polythene in the state has gone up as the administratiion failed to take action against the violaters. KB Rahlan, spokesman of the Palampur Welfare and Environmental Protection Forum, says the lack of initiative on the part of administration, polythene is still in use in the state.
	Empowering rural women through technology Balkrishan Prashar Chamba, April 9 Dr Jatinder Kishtwaria, Professor and Head of the Family Resource Management Department at HP agricultural university Palampur, who hails from Chamba, has devoted over one decade of her career for empowering and development of tribal and non-tribal rural women of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand through science and technology. She has designed ergonomically tested technologies (tool kits), which reduce drudgery and ill-heath, thus adding significantly to women’s contribution in agricultural productivity. Now, this technology have been adopted by the Department of Agriculture and further being distributed to various women groups across the state benefiting about 3,000 families through the ‘Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna. Further, she has also empowered women self-help groups and NGOs through various technologies and vocations as ‘home stay tourism’. Dr Kishtwaria was invited by six countries - Australia, Bhutan, China, Mexico, Pakistan and the USA - to present her work and share views as a chairperson in conferences. Also, a Central Government-sponsored project worth Rs 2 crore has been bagged by her for empowering youth in the hospitality industry for seeking self-employment. She has been honoured by various agencies in recognition of her outstanding contribution for women development through science and technology and has also nominated by the university for national award in this field. She was working on women-related projects right from 1986 when she began her career at this university. She worked on a project related to Scheduled Cast women in villages. Later, she also carried out intensive research on issues of ‘gaddi’ tribal women of Bharmour and visited remote villages like Chobia, Kugati, Tundah, Harchoo, Pulan, Palan, Khani and Brahmani of the Bharmour tribal region to collect research data. Dr Kishtwaria realised that women contribute a lot through their work in household and farming but it goes unnoticed for want of proper evaluation. She also imparted training in household tourism to self-help groups of the Sangla valley in the Kinnaur tribal area. A Canadian NGO gave her a consultancy to work for the development of women of far-flung villages in Pithorragarh, Almora and Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand.
	Election of sarpanch annulled Bilaspur, April 9 Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ajay Sharma has rejected an appeal of Urmila Kaushal, sarpanch of Mehri Kathala, against the earlier decision of the SDM, declaring her election as sarpanch null and void. He has maintained that the earlier decision was valid under the law. The DC has directed the SDM of Ghumarwin and the District Panchayat Officer to hold fresh election to the post. Earlier, the election of Urmila, a prominent BJP leader of the area, was challenged in the court of the SDM, Ghumarwin, by a voter. The voter had alleged that the president she had given “wrong” information regarding a encroachment case against her while standing in the elections. — OC
	Himachal diary Jayashri Ramnath of ‘Life of Pi’ fame enthrals audience A renowned Indian Classical Carnatic vocalist, Jayashri Ramnath, popularly known as Bombay Jayashri, enthralled a young audience with her melodious vocal recital at the Gaiety Theatre early this week. The programme evoked enthusiastic response from the youth due to her association with the recent Hollywood hit “Life of Pi”. She shot into limelight after her song from the film “Pi’s Lullaby” was nominated for Oscar. Starting with Hansdhwani, she rendered a number of ragas and also threw light on the various aspects of the Carnatic music. She was accompanied by KJ Dileep on violin and Sumesh S Narayanan on the mridangam. In an interactive session that followed the performance, artists engaged schoolchildren in demystifying musical instruments and ragas. The programme was organised by the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY). The Chief Secretary, Sudripta Roy, was the guest of honour at the programme at which Purnima Chauhan, Director of the Himachal Institute of Public Administration, was also present. Roy applauded the performance of the artists and the effort of the SPIC MACAY to popularise classical music among the young generation. The young audience included students of Laureate School, Bharari, and DAV Public School, Lakkar Bazar, welcomed and introduced the artists in the historical Gaiety Stage. A cultural ambassador of India’s rich heritage, Jayashri, has performed extensively across the world and she has the rare privilege of being the first Carnatic Classical performer in the Opera House in Durban and the Russian Opera House in Helsinki, Finland. She has been exploring the therapeutic and healing value that music can generate and working closely with institutions caring for autistic children to help open up their senses through the medium of music. Her training in Hindustani Classical system has helped her in this musical odyssey. Her research into music has been unending and, besides her musical performances, she has been conducting workshops all over the world and holding interactive sessions with schoolchildren to kindle their interest in Classical music. Her contribution and involvement with schools is her way of giving back something of what she has gained. Her very limited foray into film music has drawn a new class of listeners into the world of classical music. World Health Day GVK EMRI Company, which runs the 108 free-ambulance service, has been organising campaigns to create awareness among people about health-related issues from time to time and also releasing data generated over the past two years. On World Health Day on April 7, it focussed on high blood pressure, the theme for the day. It has provided services and attended to more than 2.66 lakh emergencies till date, which included around 12,000 cardiac related emergencies. Out of these 2,019 emergencies pertained to high blood pressure. A noteworthy feature was that the incidence was far higher for women. As many as 1,231 emergencies involved females and only 788 cases pertained to males. During the campaign, it was stressed that high blood pressure was preventable. It can be controlled by reducing salt intake, eating a balanced diet, avoiding the harmful use of alcohol, regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy body weight and by avoiding tobacco. Reducing salt to less than 5 gram per day (the equivalent of about one teaspoon) curtailed the risk of a stroke by 23 per cent and reduces the general rates of cardiovascular disease by 17 per cent. Hamirpur lad shines A local boy has brought laurels to Hamirpur district and his parents by completing his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ranchi, recently. Rohit Thakur, hailing from Chabutra village under Sujanpur tehsil, has already got placement in a two-wheeler company, Hero’s Motor Cop as a management trainee. The boy received his early education from Sainik School Sujanpur and Him Academy Public School, Hamirpur. Later, he completed his BTech degree from the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur. Rohit gives credit for his success to his parents. His mother is a school teacher and his father retired from the IPH Department recently as an assistant engineer. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
	vignettes Old is gold: Five writers receive lifetime achievement award by Shriniwas Joshi The function for granting ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ to five litterateurs who had attained the age of 80 plus by Himalaya Sahitya and Sanskriti Manch concluded on an excellent note. The President of the manch, SR Harnot, a renowned writer himself, saw to it that everything goes hunky-dory. It was an admirably organised event presided over by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh who conferred awards on Ram Dayal Neeraj (93 years), Molu Ram Thakur (85), Satyen Sharma (83), Saroj Vashisht (81) and Sunder Lohia (80) (see photo). Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. The five pen-drivers are fruitfully playing the optional role while greying. A word of praise is for Harnot that he thought about the old; the gold mine of our culture where Ayu Poojan - Age-Reverence- had always been held in esteem. The grand old litterateurs of Himachal were eulogised deservingly during the award-giving ceremony. Here I am portraying them as I happen to know them. Ram Dayal Neeraj is my oldest acquaintance through my dear friend late Raja Tikkoo who had joined the Public Relations Department where Neeraj was editing the departmental journal ‘Himprastha’. He then was young with a clean chin. Today, his face is bushy that suits him. His edited book ‘Himachal ke Lok Geet’ brought out in 1960 has the touching dedication: “To Folk Art, whose footprints are gradually vanishing.” He signed his book ‘Himachali Lok Gathayen’ (1973) and presented it to me. He has a sense of humour, often crude, and his laughter is hearty - perhaps that keeps him young at heart. Molu Ram Thakur was my deputy when I headed the Language and Culture Department. I had great respect for his vast knowledge of the culture of Himachal Pradesh. I owe my success as the Director of the Department to his frank and honest opinion whenever I sought it. I found him to be a person who had imbibed the quote by Shaikh Saadi to a T: “Keep silent or say something which is better than silence.” I often quote on performing arts from his book, ‘Himachal ke Lok Natya aur Lokanuranjan’ published in 1981. Satyen Sharma was also an employee of the Public Relations Department and came in my contact when he was there sub-editing the departmental journal. He is not only the master of the quill but also has interest in music. He can be termed as an authority on music directors that have earned fame and name in the film industry. Though his published work is confined to ‘Barf ke Heere’ - first ever collection of stories of writers from Himachal Pradesh - yet his mellifluous voice is heard in almost all kavi-sammelans where he sings self-composed Hindi songs. These days he is regularly contributing a short column ‘Chayan’ to weekly ‘Himalaya Surya.’ He has not changed his get-up with the advancing age. He is as he was; although age has left its marks on his body, but not the mind. Most decorated writer is Chatty Saroj Vashisht - fingers decorated with rings; wrist with bangles and a couple or more of necklaces. I came to know her through Amla Rai, famed theatre artist, when I found that Saroj’s and my interest in dramatics ran on matching rails. But here let me quote a paragraph on her from ‘Simla-the Summer Capital of British India’ by Raaja Bhasin. Saroj used to live in Regal building during the riots of 1946. She recalls: “My father (Shyamlal Maini) had several Muslim employees and he hid them all. He moved them family-by-family, disguised as pundits who changed into typical Pathan clothes at the border at Wagah. He would drive them himself in his Chevrolet.” She is dedicatedly associated in transforming the lives of jail-inmates these days. Sunder Lohia, a handsome youth, was a name to reckon with among the top story-writers of India in the 1970s. The writings of Himachal are recognised outside the state because of him. His novel ‘Dhaar ki Dhoop’ is widely read. I came in his contact when he was actively associated in advancing the literacy campaign in Mandi district. His social activism gets boost with the choice of words that are always at his command. Tailpiece “Sculpture is a three-dimensional object with a message and painting is an object with a three-dimensional message.” — Bob Bendel