A picnic for the aged
Tribune News Service

PINJORE, July 24 — More than 200 senior citizens , above the age of 65, were taken on a picnic to Pinjore today by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO), as part of its programme to celebrate the 'Year of the Older Persons'. Mr N K Jain, Home Secretary, UT, and Chairman, CITCO, flagged off four buses, carrying the senior citizens, from a hotel in Sector 17 .

Last year also CITCO had organised a similar picnic at Pinjore.

These citizens were first taken to Sukhana Lake and then to Pinjore Garden. Though the picnic was intended to be a fun and 'masti' trip for the seniors, it turned out to be a come-sit-and-eat trip, where they first had the eats and then were asked to get back immediately to the buses.

Once at Pinjore, these senior citizens were not to be found out in the garden because of the sultry weather. They stood in queues inside a restaurant , waiting to be handed over their lunch packets . Even the plans for an afternoon of 'Shayari' did not materialise because some of them were eager to get back to their homes and did not want to stay out late. In fact most of them did not even go out for a walk in the Mughal Garden.

But a handful of excited and energetic senior citizens did manage to have their little poetry session outside, under the shade of the trees. "This group of about 200 is obviously difficult to manage, especially because of the fact that one has to deal with those who have already passed the prime of their lives and now are set in their habits and nature. Otherwise the effort to get all of these people out of their homes to spend some time here has certainly been done in all sincerity", said Col P C Verman, President, Chandigarh Senior Citizens Association.

Added 66-year-old Mrs Surjeet Kaur, of Mohali, who was accompanied by her husband, 72-year-old Mr Krishen Singh: "I stay with my family, which consists of my children and grandchildren and this has been a nice change indeed. Otherwise one is always involved within the family, so coming out here like this and that too with my husband has been fun".

But there were many who did mention that if small details like arranging for a doctor to accompany the 200 senior citizens, or taking care of providing some sort of entertainment had been made the trip could have been more enjoyable. A 71-year-old Brig Ramesh Chandra said: "They should not have made us stand like 'boys' and 'girls' in queues for lunch. We should at least have been served on tables, some respect for our age".

Another senior citizen, Mr A S Sidhu, said: "It is always interesting to get together with your own age group like this. I quite appreci ate this whole idea behind organizing this trip, since in our country this kind of a platform does not exist and that too for people of our age".

Interestingly, when these senior citizens were being spoken to by the TNS, none of them wanted to speak of all that they "endure" once they are back in the "environment that is generally hostile towards the elderly". All these 200 odd senior citizens seemed to be enjoying the change in environment and the space provided to them to make new friends.

Said 94-year-old Mr Jamuna Das, the oldest senior citizen present for today's picnic: "I was here last year as well and this year also I am enjoying it thoroughly". Living alone in his Sector 15 residence, with his only child settled in the United States, Mr Das said that this gave him an opportunity to have fun and make new friends. Added 74-year-old Mr R S Sood: "Most of my friends are already accompanying me for this picnic, but one does get to make more friends and widen one's circle".

Later in the evening, the senior citizens had been slated to visit the Sukhna Lake again. But this trip was cancelled at the last moment.

Before the commencement of the trip, five senior citizens above the age of 85 years were also honoured by Mr N K Jain. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Satish Chandra, Managing Director, CITCO, said that the aim of this trip was to put some interesting moments in the life of these citizens.

The daring assault on Point 4297
By Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

CHANDIMANDIR, July 24 — Rifleman Hari Krishan of 17 Garhwal Rifles preferred to remain at the scene of an intense battle for capturing the strategic Point 4927 in the Batalik sector than be evacuated to the base camp, though he was seriously wounded.

The 26-year-old soldier, who hails from Bainoli village in the Chamoli district of Uttar Pradesh, said he did not want to endanger the lives of stretcher-bearers who wanted to take him away for urgent medical attention. He received injuries after being hit by shell splinters while attacking one of the bunkers at the peak, also known as Hump I, II and III, on June 30.

"I felt that the first priority was the removal of casualties as I had seen many personnel losing their lives during the retrieval of bodies later on," he said while convalescing at Command Hospital here today.

Narrating the sequence of events, he said, "We were ordered to capture the peak which was heavily fortified by the enemy. For some days earlier, little enemy activity had been reported, giving the impression that infiltrators might have retreated. Nevertheless, our artillery continued to pound the target."

"On the night of June 29, we were asked to make the assault and accordingly, a company of 80 men, besides three officers, including an artillery officer, was assembled. Our orders were to make the assault at night and we started the ascent at about 8.30 p.m. after having dinner."

"The ascent, with 16-to-17-kg-backpacks, was slow and arduous but we made good speed and managed to reach a ridgeline near the peak by about 2.30 a.m. While we were on our way to the top, Bofors guns were shelling the peak to wipe out any resistance."

"Everything was very quiet and there was no movement in the bunkers which we could see against the skyline. Our officers decided to launch an attack with medium machine guns (MMGs), rocket launchers (RLs) and automatic grenade launchers (AGLs)."

"Despite heavy firing, there was no retaliation and the impression gained ground that the enemy had indeed retreated. Finally, the order to occupy the bunkers was given at about 4.30 a.m. and we started moving again. It was at this time that the enemy guns opened up. A fusillade of bullets from well-concealed guns in the hill greeted the advance party. The accurate fire, besides taking down some of the men in the front, also pinned the rest of the party down."

"The remaining men took whatever cover they could find and returned the fire. But the enemy was too well-entrenched to be dislodged. It appeared that the artillery shelling of the areas had made little difference. Infiltrators had also positioned a heavy machine gun (HMG) on us which fired with frightening frequency," he recalls.

"I was only 300 meters away from the enemy positions and was pinned down when the enemy shelling began. Shell after shell landed where we had taken shelter and at about 9.30 a.m. I was hit by a shell splinter which went through my left calve. Some of my comrades tried to stop the bleeding with a field dressing but it had no effect on the gaping wound as the splinter had torn off a large chunk of flesh from that part of my body. There was nothing anybody could do and I was carried to a temporary defence position to be carried to the base camp."

"The firing continued all day long and there was some respite as night fell. Stretcher-bearers wanted to carry me but I said casualties had the first right. I spent the whole night and the next day hearing the fierce exchange of fire and was finally carried down to the base camp on the night of June 31. Here my wound was attended to."

"Gangrene had begun to form in my wound. I was airlifted in a chopper to Kargil where I was operated upon. The wound needed grafting which was done by taking some flesh from my right thigh. Even after so many days, I cannot move about," he said.

"My only regret was that we could not take the peak that day and in view of heavy casualties, the attack was called off. I was very happy that the peak was finally taken by our personnel on July 7. Otherwise, I had promised myself that I should have another shot at evicting the enemy," the brave soldier said with determination writ large on his face.

Ambassador of Indian culture
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 24 — Irwin E.N. Chauhan, who served as an IAS officer for 35 years, and later taught yoga to more than a thousand persons at the Crossroads Community in Bellevue and in his modest Eastside home in the USA for nearly 20 years, passed away peacefully at the PGI, Chandigarh, on the evening of July 21 only two days after he had completed 84.

When his daughter Mrs S. Dass brought him here from the USA in July 1998 for giving him personal care, The Seatle Times titled an article on him “a yoga teacher prepares for the final journey home. “ And this really proved to be his final journey.

Nearly blind with diabetes, which ultimately consumed him, Chauhan never looked exhausted. He energetically carried on his mission here by interacting with people via discourses, yoga and meditation camps. In March 1999, he surprised everybody by organising five-session yoga programmes at the Young Women’s Christian Association, Sector 11, where despite his age and shaky legs, this Master yogi lectured and demonstrated therapeutic yoga for the old.

Born in Beawa (Ajmer) in Rajasthan in a Rajput family, Chauhan inherited the love for music from his maternal grandfather Raghbir Singh who was a sitar player besides being a mystic. It was Chauhan’s love for music which made him work with the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. It was for the same reason that he came in close contact with General Cariappa after composing a few marching tunes for the Indian Army in 1949. He composed a number of march-scores which, he claimed, were popular even today in the Army. It was music that took Chauhan to distant lands of the Himalayas on an assignment to study the music and tribal songs of Kinnaur. Later, a book on music of Kinnaur was published by the Government of India. This venture enabled him to specialise in ethnomusicology.

His first passion in life was the classical guitar for which he was well known. He became a worldwide concert artiste. This feat was made possible with his American wife Jean, who is a flute player. Together, they staged five Indo-American festivals in the Crossroad neighbourhood, an area they chose because of its mixed culture.

A self-appointed ambassador of Indian culture, Chauhan left for the USA in 1980, five years after his retirement as Director, Census Department, Haryana, in 1975. Beginning his career as a Junior Magistrate in the Indian Administrative Services in 1940, Chauhan discharged his responsibilities in various capacities. He was also Deputy Commissioner of Rohtak.

A gold-medallist biologist, Chauhan had studied yoga and its therapeutic aspect which, he claimed, transcended all systems of western medicines. As a teenager, he was attracted towards yoga after listening to Swami Sivananda’s lecture. He was of the view that the Vedas need to be introduced worldwide in modern terminolgy as the wisdom present in the Vedas can be the greatest saviour of the sinking humanity. Though not seen in traditional robes with rosaries around his neck and incense floating around him, Chauhan was a mystic.

Survived by his wife and a generation of three children and grand-children, Chauhan will continue to survive by a long trail of lasting memories. With his demise, a vacuum has been created.

International study at Harike
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 24 — Harike wetland in Punjab, one of the six wetlands of international repute in India, has earned the distinction of being the first such wetland in the country to be selected by the Ramsar Bureau for an economic valuation. The valuation will be conducted by Wetlands International, an NGO, and the Council of Science and Technology, Punjab.

The study has been funded by Ramsar Bureau, an Iran based international organisation involved in the conservation of wetlands all over the world, under the Ramsar Small Grants Funds. The objective of the economic valuation is to quantify the values and functions of Harike wetland in concrete monetary terms, employing market values, contingent valuation and surrogate pricing of benefits transfer methodology. The ultimate goal of the study is to assist or to pressurise the Government of Punjab to develop a resource management policy on the endangered Harike wetland, based on an economic valuation of its resources.

No comprehensive studies have been carried out so far on economic valuation of wetlands of India, except for a study on Keoladeo National Park in 1996 even as the Ministry of Environment and Forests has identified economic valuation as a high priority area to assess the contribution of wetlands to the economy of a state or a country.

Harike Lake is a shallow water storage reservoir created in 1953 by the construction of a barrage at Harike at the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas. The triangular lake has headworks of Rajasthan, Ferozepore and Makhu feeder canals and has 13 islands, The wetland is spread over an area measuring about 41 sq km and is internationally known for its contribution towards wildlife resources. It is also popular for being a very important place for migratory birds. As many as 210 species of birds have been reported to have been visiting the area at one time or the other during a year. According to observations made by the Punjab Wildlife Department, more than 20,000 birds flock to this wetland every year and most of these, including rarely seen ones such as Anas Fulcata, Arthya Marila and Oxyura Leucocephala are from distant places like Siberia and China.

But a number of factors have endangered the life of the wetland, which like any other such body, has a greater scope for development of the area around it and is of great significance to the state from the economic and tourism point of view.

According to Mr Ritesh Kumar, Junior Technical Officer of Wetlands International based at New Delhi, besides problems on the surface, the major problem was that of people who did not know the importance of the wetland. " In fact the problem is that unless and until the viability of an object is presented to the bureaucrats in terms of money, they do not realise its importance and such an attitude becomes a hindrance in the way of conservation measures at the proposal stage," said Mr T Venugopal, Director (Environment), of the council. He said the bureau had sanctioned an amount of Rs 11.3 lakh for the study and it would involve scientists and sociologists from the council as well as the Wetland International, who would remain stationed in and around the sanctuary. They would talk to farmers on the merits and demerits of the waterbody to make a final report on it, which in turn would be sent to the Bureau.

Listing the problems and benefits of the water body, Mr Satnam Singh Ladhar, a Senior Scientific Officer (Environment) with the council, said due to neglect on the part of all concerned with the wetland, its area, which was 41 sq km in 1993, has shrunk to 28 sq km and its water storage capacity had decreased from 67,900 acre feet in 1952 to 14,740 acre feet in 1990.

A major problem is the prolific growth of hyacinth which has engulfed about 75 per cent of the wetland area. Similarly, encroachment by farmers and effluent released from tributaries and drains has done tremendous damage to the lake, which could generate considerable income for the State Government, if developed properly. In addition to benefitting the residents directly by providing them with fish, fodder and fuelwood, the wetland is a 'natural treatment plant' for polluted water released into it by different tributaries falling into it and it also is a major source for recharging the ground water. It could be more beneficial if properly developed. He said the conservation measures could include containing of hyacinth, which was a major threat to the life of the lake by using it for making of paper and biogas.

Mr Venugopal said the study, to be presented to the bureau, would enlist its exact monetary value. The bureau after that was likely to take up the case of conservation with the State Government.

Solar eclipse and natural calamity
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 24 — Is a solar eclipse harbinger of a natural calamity?

"No", say the scientists maintaining that it is nothing but a natural geographical event which takes place due to the definite movement of planets along their orbits.

To dispel all apprehensions about the harmful after-effects of a solar eclipse in time for the next solar eclipse, a complete one, on August 11 and which would be visible in a narrow belt passing through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, southern parts of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication and the Haryana State Council for Science and Technology have formulated a programme to popularise science in general and astronomy in particular through a variety of activities about this rare event.

The scientists maintain that the August 11 solar eclipse, a rare phenomenon, would be partially visible in other parts of the country.

The Haryana State Council for Science and Technology today organised a state-level training programme for resource persons from various districts of the state at the ICSSR Hall of Panjab University.

These resource persons would fan out to all districts and organise debates, quiz contests, poster and slogan competitions on the theme of "solar eclipse" so as to create the needed awareness about this natural geographical event.

These programmes would be held from tomorrow until August 2.

"We have to allay misapprehensions of people at large about solar eclipse as a harbinger of a major natural calamity. It is far from a sign of divine retribution. Scientifically speaking, it is a natural geographical phenomenon which occurs due to planetary movement.

"This is what we have tried to emphasise upon resource persons so as to make them understand in detail the scientific facets of this astronomical feature. We want these resource persons to give out this information about the solar eclipse to the general public so that it does not identify the occurrence of a solar eclipse with some bad or inauspicious omen," says Ms Sumita Singh, Director, Science and Technology, Haryana.

"We must inculcate among general masses a scientific temperament through the application of various scientific theories on events which are otherwise taken as miracles or supernatural happenings," adds Ms Singh.

Earlier details of the orientation course were explained to the participating resource persons. They have also been given kits of scientific explanation of solar eclipse so that they could explain to people in general and school students in particular. These resource persons would work under the overall control of the district education officers in Haryana.