Injuries no damper on morale
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 15—Keeping with the high traditions of valour in the Indian Army, Lance Naik Rajesh Kumar of the 15 Field Regiment kept fighting the enemy in the Kargil sector even after he received multiple injuries on different parts of his body in a blast during an assault on July 20.

Rajesh Kumar, hailing from Sohar village in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh was part of an assault party formed to take back a mountain point from the clutches of the enemy. Subsequently, the party, equipped with six 105 mm guns, started its onward march on the morning of July 20. The exercise continued without any disturbance from the other side till 2.30 p,m.when a shell exploded when the party was just 100 m short of the objective, thus injuring Rajesh Kumar and three of his comrades.

Recalling the events of that day, Rajesh Kumar, who received splinter injuries in his chest, lower abdomen and face, said," Everything was going fine for long and we were advancing without any hindrance from the enemy, positioned at heights in bunkers and who could easily target us. Suddenly, heavy firing and shelling engulfed the area.we responded and fired only 10-15 rounds when a shell aimed at us missed the target and exploded at a distance. But it did the damage with its splinters and I and three of my colleagues were injured in the process.

"The next problem faced by our colleagues was evacuation of injured colleagues from such a difficult terrain where enemy was targeting us from heights whenever we tried to move a bit further. As the darkness enveloped the valley, we were shifted to Leh with the help of a chopper and were subsequently at Srinagar on the same day. Then we were shifted to the command hospital on August 2," quipped Rajesh Kumar.

the brave soldier, who is recovering fast feels elated as members of his family and other relatives pay a visit to him at the hospital. "I am encouraged by my family members who are proud of me and my performance during the action." Rajesh, who has small land-holding in his village asserted he was willing to go back to the front if need be as soon as I recover fully well."

Accidental entry into modelling
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Aug 15 — "Commercial cinema is certainly not for me. I just cannot see myself running around trees. And imagine being public property and losing your privacy just because you are a film-actress", said model-turned-actress-and now MTV VJ Mini Mathur, who was in town yesterday to host a rain-dance event at Funcity.

But aren't these familiar words, mouthed by most television actresses aspiring to be seen eventually on the big screen? "Not me. I would like to put my education to good use, and right now I am enjoying every minute of veejaying with MTV. A complete roller-coaster ride I am having", Mini asserted, who is an MBA in marketing.

Coming from a family of chartered accountants and bankers, Mini had a very accidental entry into the world of modelling when while working in an advertisement agency in Delhi she was picked up as a model. "I have been basically doing a lot of 'face-campaigns', since I feel vertically challenged for ramp shows", Mini laughed, while talking about her modeling days. She also said that being "beauty with brains" she had to struggle harder than most models, "since it is not acceptable to most people that you can not only look beautiful, but even be a thinking person".

Just recently chosen as a VJ, she said: "My life has been far from predictable, since I have not only been doing television but also theatre". Mini was seen on the Delhi theatre scene in two productions of theatre group 'Chingari — Lorca's 'House of Bernarda Alba' and Moliere's 'Misanthrope'.

On her serial 'Khwaish', on air on Sony, in which she plays a model, she said: "I am certainly not playing myself in the serial, even though I play a super-model. But that is what I enjoy about Khwaish, since the role has many shades to it". She was earlier seen on Zee Television in 'Tanaaf' and 'Vakalat'.

For somebody who has done television shows like 'Khoobsurat', a TV show based on beauty, and also travel based shows, Mini Mathur has her heart set on "simply having a blast".

"Live shows are something which take a lot of your energy, because on camera I can actually polish my style. And since I am into both these things, I do not get bored and this keeps me going", she added.

Married to a film-maker, who she simply did not want to name, Mini's future plans include getting into productions and making films on travel and wildlife and "may be someday teach scuba-diving somewhere".

Meanwhile, at the rain dance held at Funcity on Saturday night, it was 'wet-time' for the revellers, who went all out to get themselves drenched and jive under the many sprinklers there. And the hot and humid day seemed just right to dance away the heat under the simulated rain.

With more than 250 people, of all ages, dancing to the tunes of 'Oh Carol', 'Saulwaan Saal', 'Boom-Boom-Boom' and many other disco numbers, the rain-dance party surely seemed to have struck the right chord with all those splashing in the puddles of water everywhere!

Spreading awareness of literacy
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 15 — It was an Independence Day celebration of a different kind, where young ragpickers got together today morning to spread awareness about the benefits of literacy, at the Janata Colony in Sector 25.

The children of 'Asha', a school for ragpickers, which is jointly managed by Yuvsatta, Aruna Asaf Ali Trust and Theatre Age, today staged a Hindi play, 'Anpadh Ghasita Ram', extolling the virtues of education for both women and children.

The school, incidentally, not only stresses on formal education but also informal education in the form of theatre workshops, conducted by Zulfiqar Khan of Theatre Age, which has been associated with street children for many years now. Training in craftsworks to those girls who work as maids is also given at 'Asha'. With 30 children, this school is run within the colony from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

And it was indeed an experience to see these children, who work primarily as ragpickers in the streets of the city, put up a hilarious play to attract a large crowd. And 'Anpadh Ghasita Ram' not only talked about literacy, but also threw subtle hints at the audience about family planning and the empowerment of women.

On the occasion, Mr Pramod Sharma, President, Yuvasatta, appealed to the people to "donate" old newspapers ('raddi') every month to the school to generate an income for these children. He also added that people could also help 'Asha' by donating old clothes and toys for the children.

Social activists Ms Sheila Didi and Ms Oshima Reikhy were also present today.