The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Moulding tiny thought into pieces of art
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 22 — Ever seen shape of an earthen mould develop when the gentle hands of a quality designer moulds them during the continuous process, beginning from a plain mould of earth to a fine artistic piece?

Quality hands with thoughtful minds can be seen toying with children in the summer workshop at Durga Das Foundation for the summer school. The hands of Anahita Uberoi and Sita can be seen gently moulding free pieces of tiny thought into interesting shapes and postures.

Uncontrollable energy to fight and run moulds into vigorous but beautiful dancing, shapeless talking turns into speech controlled presentation, with natural understanding and even mimicry Sita, currently based in New York, and Anahita, also a New York theatre product currently in Mumbai, are managing the workshop of the Durga Das Foundation, clearly reflecting a different but worth praising effort towards involving children in theatre and dance.

Anahita says, “Instead of making up their (children) minds for anything that parents thought was suitable at tender age, their minds should be exposed to a million things. They should be allowed to make a correct choice themselves.”

When asked on why theatre and related activities had seen a major boom in school and college extra-curricular activities over the past few years, Anahita said the media boom made a very big difference. Because of television, movies and theatre, opportunities in this field had increased. She said in a number of cases parents themselves were giving a lot of chances to their wards to see if they had any future of success in the field.

Anahita said children started growing inhibitions along with their age. At a tender age, they were free and could manage finding ways of freedom, which could be useful in future.

Anahita said she was born into theatre. Her mother introduced her into Marathi theatre. She, however, managed work in New York. Anahita said one movement in Mumbai theatre was coming in of English language but English was merely a language and the theatre expression was Indian.

Sita also comes from Broadway Theatre, New York. She has been caught during her vacation. This, however, is not her first experience with children.

Sita is currently voyaging into new theatre and has been associated with the leading light in dancing, Shiamak Davar.

Sita says younger children are more open to trying out new innovations. The seniors are more rigid. The workshop also attempts giving specialised aspects of theatre and dance but not in the form of a strict classroom teaching curriculum. In fact, no presentation is planned at the end of the workshop.

Sita has also worked with Shiamak Davar and conducted classes for children in public schools in New York.

Mr Atul Khanna, director of the Durga Das Foundation, said Vikram Kapadia would also land in the city for a workshop on May 25.

Anahita is all set to feature in a Hindi feature film being made by Rahul Bose. She had tied up with two directors recently for a runaway hit theatre show in Mumbai.

Sita has a long and varied dance background, having been a member of the original jazz company of Davar. Her dance drama class uses music and games of personal expressional through body and voice as well as group effort and fun. This is at teaching fundamentals of dance such as rhythm, body coordination, usage of space, self expression and most importantly, joy of movement.

Anahita continues the history of her mother Vijaya Mehta, popularly known as the grandmother of Marathi theatre. Both of them have a long list of performances in different categories.

Librarians, DPEs hold joint meeting
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 22 — Presiding over a joint meeting of librarians and DPEs of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Chandigarh at the DAV College, Sector 10 here today, Mr B.S. Kushwaha, Secretary-General of the Federation of College and University Physical Education and Library Associations of India (FEDCUPELA), criticised the lukewarm attitude of the Union Government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) in not meeting their pending demands like the career advancement scheme, pay fixation at Rs 14940, CAS for assistant librarians and assistant DPEs, declaration of librarians and DPEs as teachers in view of the verdict of the Supreme Court and the Tamil Nadu High Court, starting of refresher courses at the academic staff colleges and extension of the December, 2000, deadline by another five years.

He urged the Union Government and the UGC to rectify the mistake made by them earlier by disrupting the parity with the teachers.

He said the first All-India Conference of FEDCUPELA would be held here on June, 17 and 18. Giving details of the conference, Mr I.B. Verma, organising secretary, said the two-day conference would discuss issues like the leadership role of the librarians and the DPEs, need for library orientation of students and the role of the UGC in the development of academic libraries and physical education.

Essay writing contest results
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, May 22 — The local Generation Saviour Association yesterday announced the results of an inter-school essay writing competition organised in connection with World Tobacco Day on April 27. As many as 200 students had participated in the competition. Mr Amteshwer Kaur, President of the association, said the winners would be given prizes at a function to be held on the Panjab University campus on May 31.

Shivalik Public School, Phase 6, here won the overall trophy for the best performance in the competition. The following are the winners of different groups:

Group A (classes VI to VIII): Jaspreet Kaur 1, Kirti Gupta 2 and Ropan Kiran 3; group B (classes IX and X): Jagjeet Kaur 1, Komal 2 and Kaveri 3; and group C (classes XI and XII): Sandra 1 and Pooja 2.

Jacob pays surprise visit to night school
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 22 — The Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), today paid a surprise visit to the night classes at Sector 25 Government High School here this evening.

Accompanied by the Adviser to the Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, the Home Secretary, Mr M.P. Singh, and the DPI (Schools), General Jacob, who returned to the city only yesterday after his visit to the USA, evinced a keen interest in the theatre workshop for children enrolled in the Night School.

Night schools are running in four schools of the city and the Sector 25 Government High School was the first one to introduce these classes for slum children. The classes are being conducted in close coordination with the Youth Technical Training Society, an NGO run by Mr Vineet Khanna. The YTTS provides teachers, books and even eatables to the students, besides giving them bags, note books and books.

At the instance of General Jacob, the Education Department has decided to introduce double shifts in 24 schools, including 10 new ones. Of these, four will become operational before the summer vacation start on June 1.

General Jacob announced that Indian Oil Corporation had decided to invest Rs 25 lakh for the construction of "Sulabh Shauchalyas" in slums and other colonies. Water coolers would also be provided in various schools.

He talked to the teacher conducting the theatre workshop. He also interacted with those attending adult literacy classes. The Administrator wanted that all slum children should be able to get admission to night schools so that they could be imparted basic education. He wanted more NGOs to join the movement against illiteracy.

CULTURE

Sa re ga ma Punjabi audition tomorrow
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 22 — The audition for the second schedule of the Sa re ga ma Punjabi will be held at the Government Museum and Art Gallery Auditorium in Sector 10 here on May 24.

According to episode director Jagmeet Bal, a team of the Zee TV network will conduct the preliminary audition to shortlist the upcoming artistes in the male and female categories. Sixteen participants in each category will be selected who will vie for top honours in the different episodes of the programme to be judged by eminent personalities of the music world.

The main purpose of the programme, the first schedule of which is being telecast on Alpha TV on Sundays at 8 p.m., is to provide a platform to young artistes and revive the rich musical heritage of Punjab. The shooting of the second schedule will be held at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, in July, he said. He was overwhelmed by the response to the first schedule shot in Mumbai last month.

Paintings on Khalsa
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, May 22 — A mobile van displaying prize-winning paintings made by students from various schools of Delhi to mark 300 years of the Khalsa arrived at Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, here today.

The students were given a conducted tour of the van. The exhibition organised by the Lalit Kala Gallery in Delhi showcasing artistic talent and the students’ perspective on the establishment of the Khalsa, was held following various art competitions and workshops organised in the schools by the gallery.

Appreciating the handiwork of students, Mohita, a student of Class X, said certain paintings were replica of the time and place of the Sikh movement, giving insight into the Sikh culture. The school announced a two-day workshop on May 27 and 28, to be conducted by Dr Irfan A Rizvi, Dean of Organisational Behaviour and Communication, Institute of Integrated Learning and Management, Delhi.

The programme is aimed at helping participants develop skills to enable them to effectively participate in group discussions, interviews and presentations. The first day will cover aspects of self understanding, career goals and evaluation of communication skills and the second day will detail all aspects of group discussions and presentations.