The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Resentment over proposed fee hike in PU
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 19 —What will be the fee structure in Panjab University for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the forthcoming session?

The increased amount of fee structure is in tune with charges in Guru Nanak Dev University which is enough to show concern. One vital related aspect largely being ignored in arguments is additional enhanced rates for amalgamated funds, sports fee and various other charges.

The Panjab University syndicate at its meeting in March decided that the fee structure as existing in Guru Nanak Dev University be accepted for implementation. The agenda for the special meeting says that “the said recommendation of the Syndicate has also to be approved by the Senate”.

The meeting of the special committee on Wednesday ended without any decision pro or anti the decision amidst heated discussions. This was followed by walking out of Prof Rabinder Nath Sharma, Mr Anmol Rattan Sidhu, a fellow and Mr Dayal Pratap Singh Randhawa, a student leader.

One of the questions asked was if the Senate and the Syndicate announce the acceptance of the proposal of the GNDU rates, why was the issue brought for discussion to a committee which was a lower body. The fee hike is pointed out as exorbitant compared to the existing structure.

Sources point out that it has been reiterated repeatedly that the government was willing to release grants only if PU followed fee structure of GNDU. One side argues that the university did not have an alternative. The other side says that “education should be saved from being mauled in the government circles which did not have a direct relation with its functioning except financial”.

When questioned that the agenda clearly showed that the item had been cleared by the highest body of the university, including the Senate and the Syndicate, it was pointed out that the bodies were not shown glimpses of the actual papers prior to this meeting.

The Vice-Chancellor has also passed orders that fee and funds for courses not existing in GNDU should be revised by a special committee.

The meeting saw widespread differences against the implementation of the new fee structure. The difference of opinion was also supported by college principals including that of a local college.

The university charges Rs 45 per month for science, arts and commerce undergraduates. The rate in GNDU for the same classes is Rs 160 per month. An M.Phil student (excluding psychology) student pays Rs 75 per month in PU. The rate for the same course in GNDU is Rs 1,000 per month.

A number of postgraduate courses costing Rs 50 per month in PU are Rs 250 per month in GNDU. The Bachelor of Pharmacy in PU costs Rs 60 as tuition charges here. Charges for the same course at Amritsar are Rs 20,000 per annum.

The proposed list also shows that the university continuation fee in PU was Rs 20. The same in GNDU was Rs 250. The students holiday home fee in PU was Rs 20 as compared to Rs 30 in GNDU. A few other areas showing a proposed hike include house examination fee and re-admission fee .

The student community has shown anger over this. Apart from the student council President Mr Dayal Pratap Randhawa, Bhupinder Singh ‘Bhuppi’, a presidential candidate of the Haryana Students Association, condemned the proposed “massive hike”. He referred to the student body’s ‘indifference’ to react to the situation earlier. Bhupinder has threatened another agitation in case the fee hike was not withdrawn.

The Panjab University Teachers Association in a separate press release has also condemned the fee hike on various grounds. It has asked “all like-minded individuals and organisations to come forward in protesting this hike in fee”, the release added.

COURTS

Bail for two in beating case
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 19 — A city court has granted bail to Harvel Singh and Happy, who were booked on the charges of beating up a tenant, Mr Ajay Kohli, his brother, Mr Anil Kohli, and a friend, Mr Vipan.

Holding that the accused had not been specifically named in the FIR, not had it been mentioned that the two of them had pushed the complainant from the top floor of the house, the UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.C. Godara, directed that they be released on furnishing bail bonds of Rs 10,000 and a surety each of the like amount.

The prosecution, however, contested the bail application on grounds that on April 10, Harvel and Happy came to the room of Anil (Harvel’s tenant). Anil was accompanied by his brother Ajay and friend Vipan. Harvel asked Anil to shift to another room, saying the present room had to be let out to someone else. When Anil resisted, a quarrel initiated.

Harvel allegedly beat up Anil and he was joined by Happy and about five other persons. One from among those five pushed Anil, who fell to the ground from the top floor of the house.

The prosecution stated that the charges against the accused were of a serious nature and hence they should not be granted bail.

The Judge, however, kept in mind the fact that names of the applicants had not been mentioned in the FIR.

CULTURE

Another feather in this lensman’s cap
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 19 — Mr Prem Sharma’s entry — After the day’s toil — won the first prize in the amateur category of the National Photographic Contest-2000 in Ranchi recently.

During 1961, his photographs were displayed in Moscow in the Hall of Columns of the Trade Unions and on the premises of Komsomolskaya Pravada. At the age of 30, this achievement inspired him to produce more and more excellent pictures.

By dint of hard work and vision, he showed his worth as a freelance photographer. His photographs on various subjects were published by national newspapers, periodicals and magazines, besides regional newspapers. He is still keeping his hobby alive.

He has widely travelled in the Northern Himalayas and captured magnificent and thrilling pictures. Wandering among the woods and fields, he finds solace, peace and pleasure.

In 1957, the Prime Minister of India, Mr Jawaharlal Nehru, said to Mr Prem Sharma and Mr Parmanand Sharma, while giving them handful of toffees, that their work was excellent and the whole world should know it. They were talking about the pictures and manuscript on Spiti. No one knew that the book, whose preface was to be written by Pt Nehru, would be banned. Pt Nehru was impressed by the photographs clicked by Mr Prem Sharma and the manuscript by Mr Parmanand Sharma.

Pt Nehru contacted Asia Publishing House and the book Men and Mules came to existence. But after the death of Pt Nehru, the book was banned due to certain road maps. This book was based on the Spiti Valley, in which all the pictures were clicked by Mr Prem Sharma.

The first prize in the professional category went to Ms Trupti G Naik’s entry. An exhibition of the awarded and selected photographs will be held at Ranchi on October 15.

Even before the UGC and different cultural academies and zones came into being, it was left to the dedication and commitment of a few individuals to promote and protect Indian classical arts. It was due to the services of Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Gandharva Vidyalava, Morris College, and Akhil Bhartiya Kala Mandal that the demands for music and dance teachers and accompanists even for the universities were met. On the same lines, in 1956, Pracheen Kala Kendra came into being. Today it goes to the credit of their hard work and vision that the UGC recognised their diplomas as equivalent to a university degree for all employment purposes. The institute functions as a major examining body for 3,700 affiliated institutions and has around two lakh students on roll for whom it prepares syllabi, provides training and conducts examinations.

What sets this institute apart is the fact that when other institutes of classical art forms are dying due to lack of public support and funds, the kendra has spread its branches not only across the length and breadth of the country but it has opened branches in Tashkent and Singapore. The role played by artists like Pandit Ravi Shankar in the sixties in popularising classical music is being promoted by the kendra today.

Indians settled abroad feel a great need to preserve their cultural values in alien lands. In different lifestyle, they find little space to accommodate and transfer their culture and tradition to the younger generation. This responsibility is left to institutions like the kendra, which provide a clear-cut guideline for coaching and chalk out a time-bound syllabus in the local languages to enhance acceptability of art. They also conduct examinations for these institutions by providing affiliation to them.

Not only this, the teachers of these institutes are provided training under an exchange programme at their Chandigarh branch. It began in 1996, when the Government of Mauritius sent four students to India to learn Indian classical dances. One each of them was sent to Kathak Kendra, Delhi, Kalakshetra, Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, and Kala Mandal, Baroda. The girl trained under Ms Shobha Koser in the kathak dance started working as a dance teacher at Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moka, Republic of Mauritius. Last year, when Ms Koser was invited by MG Institute to give a lecture-cum-dance demonstration, the authorities there found that their teachers were in great need of advanced training when compared to the performance of Ms Koser. Thus began a series of advanced teachers training programme at Pracheen Kala Kendra. The teachers are sent by the Government of Mauritius to get training at the kendra. This year, three teachers came from MG Institute, namely, Ms Amrita Anooj Prabhunath for kathak, Mr Kishan Ramma for vocal and Mr Subhash Dhunoochand from Reunion for instrumental music. The programme is going to be a regular feature.

Whereas in Mauritius the government provides a lot of support to Indian classical arts, in Singapore it is due to the effort of individuals that the flavour of Indian tradition is preserved. Since the area is dominated by South Indian migrants, the Karnatic style is more popular there. Pracheen Kala Kendra was asked by institutions like Stampord Arts Centre, and Nritalaya Aesthetics Society, whose Director, Mr K.P. Bhaskar is a renowned exponent of classical dance, to provide affiliation to these institutes and chalk out a syllabus in Karnatic style of music and dance. Due to the predominance of South Indians, the classical arts are very popular in Singapore. In each institute, there are about four to five hundred students. Ms Koser was invited to perform kathak at Nrityalaya and in the South Indian temple. It goes to her credit that kathak is gaining a place of eminence in these Southern-dominated communities.

The success of the kendra lies in syllabus two factors. One is adapting the syllabus to the needs of the local culture. For example, the kendra designed its syllabus in Bengali for Bengal and introduced Nazrul Geeti and Rabindra Sangeet as a part of curriculum there. In Orrisa, it conducted seminars to provide classical status to Odisi music and the syllabus was provided in Oriya. The other never loses sight of its endeavor to provide a platform to the upcoming artists. Under its Baithak programme, numerous artists have found a stepping stone. They see to it that tradition remains an unbroken lineage.

— Vandana Shukla

After 100 successful shows, Court Martial looks forward to 300 more
By Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 19 — Their zeal can find logic only in passion. And had it not been for the Court Martial team’s spirit of sheer commitment to theatre, the much talked about play, which features almost everyday in the engagement columns of all dailies, would not have crossed its 100th show.

On the face of it, the 100th performance of a play might not sound too strange a fact, but in actuality it is much more than that. Very few would know that this is the first play of its kind in the entire North to be staged in continuation from the day of its first screening, January 21. With the platinum jubilee being celebrated here in Tagore Theatre yesterday, the team, headed by director Sudesh Sharma of the group called Theatre for Theatre, still has a long way to go...for another 300 performances are yet to come.

What makes them go on? “It is an experiment which we think will be successful. We are here to create an audience for the dying art of theatre in Northern India. This is one place where theatre artists can’t feed themselves unless they are into a parallel profession. We wanted to garner respect for theatre. So we decided that this play by Swadesh Deepak which focuses on communalism and also touches upon many other emotional aspects will be screened 400 times in a row. The objective was to see how many people turn to appreciate our work. And we are happy to tell you that the city has not disappointed us. They have even come to watch our play in rain and storm,” informed director of the play, Mr Sudesh Sharma.

The project is all the more commendable in view of the fact that Mr Sharma and his team of about 24 actors are progressing against major financial constraints.

Says Mr Parvesh Sethi, who plays Col Surat Singh, the presiding officer during Court Martial, “When we decided upon the number of performances, the biggest difficulty we faced was that of arranging a place to stage the play. Tagore Theatre was chosen for the first performance, then the 50th and an odd two or three in between, but that was too expensive. Then we met Punjab Arts Council officials who gave us this place but asked an advance deposit of Rs 40,000, which we are yet to pay.”

Money remains to be paid and there is no help whatsoever from the Administration. With no cultural funds to back them, the Court Martial team is surely going to face a tough time. The members have already spent Rs 50,000 from their own pocket just to revive the dying art. The team has also evolved an interesting method to generate funds. In the beginning of the performance they declare that anyone who identifies with their cause can leave grants for them in any shape. There has been some response, although too subtle to describe.

Says Mr Sharma: “We have collected some money but that is almost negligible. The Administration must rise to the occasion and help us in making theatre as respectable as it is in the South, Maharashtra and Gujarat.”

Problems apart, Court Martial is going on and the response is tremendous. The team was especially invited by ex-servicemen for staging the play on the occasion of ex servicemen’s rally. On yet another occasion when there was no electricity, people insisted that the play be performed. “That day we staged the play in candle light,” says Mr Sethi, adding, “This means people are sensitive to what we are trying to convey.”

Indeed they are. And the credit, apart from the commitment to stage the play, goes to its powerful script written by Ambala-based playwright Swadesh Deepak who has tackled the human problem of jawan Ramchander (played by Rajiv Mehta, Rocky and Surinder in rotation) very deftly. The story focuses on communalism which is still ruling the roost. It also talks about how Ramchander is goaded into killing a man after his self esteem stands shattered at the hands of Captain B.D. Kapoor (played by Anurag Sharma) who keeps humiliating him.

The script talks about how Captain Kapoor avenges himself after he loses in a race to jawan Ramchander on one of the Raising Days of the regiment. Ramchander keeps bearing the brunt but when he reaches the saturation point he shoots, causing the death of Kapoor’s friend. Then begins Ramchander’s court martial where his counsel (Capt Bikash Rai played by Zulfiqar Khan) tries to explain the circumstances in which the death occurred.

The panel is presided over by Col Surat Singh (Parvesh Sethi) who is known for dispensing justice. In the end justice prevails and it becomes known that Ramchender was driven mad due to animal behaviour meted out to him by Captain Kapoor. Kapoor loses on all accounts and commits suicide after he fails to bear the weight of his own conscience.

ARTISTES

Director Sudesh Sharma: An employee with Haryana Roadways, Sudesh has been into active theatre for the past about 20 years. In 1984 he founded the group, Theatre for Theatre with a view to gather fresh talent. Himself an actor, he has earned repute for his roles in Sukhi Pattan, Media and about 75 other plays. He has directed 15 plays.

Rajiv Mehta as Jawan Ramchander: Working as a senior accountant with Accountant General, UT , Rajiv has been into active theatre since about five years. He was most recognised for his performance in Umesh Kant’s Gadhe ki Baraat. Apart from that he has about 50 performances to his credit.

Parvesh Sethi as Col Surat Singh: For Sethi, the senior most theatre artist in the city, theatre is life. This August he will complete 57 years of age and 50 years in the field of theatre. He has also earned tremendous respect for his making-up skills. In Court Martial also, he is giving make up. With a number of foreign tours to his credit, Sethi, senior manager, Haryana Finance Corporation, shows no signs of retirement.

Zulfiqar Khan as Bikash Rai: Zulfikar is best known for tapping the talent of slum children of Sector 25 and introducing them to theatre. Currently he is running a school for slum children. This school gets funds by selling off monthly trash which some people leave with Zulfikar.

Anurag Sharma as Captain Kapoor: Anurag plays Captain Kapoor who keeps humiliating jawan Ramchander who defeats him in a racing competition. In real life, however, Anurag is a serving custodian of civilisation — a lawyer.

Other artistes: Tej Bhan Gandhi as Major Ajay Puri; Manpreet Singh as guard and subedar.