Sunday, July 16, 2000		Scene Stealers

Carry on, Jeev

ONE advice which Jeev Milkha Singh never forgot was from his mother, Nirmal Singh. When he was in his early teens, she told him that if he spent just four years of his youth on plain hard work he will be comfortable for the rest of his life. The Arjuna awardee and master golfer went into an overdrive and picked up the basics of golf by just watching his father play. Without any real practise or training, Jeev won the British sub-junior open championship and followed it up by winning the American Express tournament. He was awarded a month’s free coaching abroad. His mother accompanied him to the coaching camp as he was barely in his teens.

Nirmal recollects with pride the laurels which Jeev brought back from then onwards . Apart from other tourneys, Jeev won the junior golf championship at Aberdeen twice as an amateur. He also got a golf scholarship to America where he completed an undergraduate course in business administration. Nirmal, though happy with his performance, says that her son has still not realised his full potential. "For two days he plays a very good game but he spoils it the third day because he lets doubts and negative thoughts to creep in. He needs a sport psychologist. Even Tiger Woods has one," she avers. Incidentally, Nirmal used to be a volleyball player and was in the national side.

HERS is a face that has graced many a magazine and book cover, including one penned by Khushwant Singh. The years haven’t changed Kamna Prasad’s charm and she continues to be sought after in Delhi’s elite circle of movers and shakers. To keep herself gainfully occupied, Kamna works as a director with the NGO Sulabh International and also edits its magazine.

However, the tall, attractive Bihari’s real passion is popularising Urdu poetry. She has edited many books on the subject, including one on Ghalib and another on Kabir. Every year in March she holds a mega event called Mushaira Bahaar in which top poets from India and Pakistan participate. About herself, Kamna says that if she has achieved any success it is because "I am focussed and positive. It was not easy, but I built up an emotional support structure for myself. And, positive thinking helped." In fact, the hallmark of Kamna’s personality is her helpful nature. Her friends from IP College remember her for going out of her way to help every one, including the college dhobi and others. About the future, Kamna lets out a sigh and recites Ghalib’s immortal couplet: Hazaron khwaishae aisi ki har khwaish per dum nikle / Bahut nikale mere armaan lekin phir bhi kum nikale.

THIS young institution is fast becoming a part of life for people from different strata of society. Its role is multi-dimensional and during the last five years it has added many feathers to its cap. Says Raj Liberhan, who runs the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, "It is team work and nothing else." But despite the humility, the fact remains that the centre has become the meeting point for people from diverse backgrounds and is fast emerging as a healthy rival to the sedate IIC just across the road.

The centre is not just a watering hole for the rich and the famous. Its main activity is preserving and enriching the environment. Tree plantation drives and activism on pollution-causing activities are part of its agenda. It has recently taken the initiative to involve corporate houses in restoration and conservation of endangered monuments.

Besides, the centre’s calendar is full of cultural and academic events. Most of the time, the centre asks its members and their guests to pay for attending cultural events. There are activities even for children. It recently held theatre, communication, creative writing and even a mathematics workshop for them. The charm of the centre is that it has some thing for everyone and is not unnecessarily high brow.

A very popular UP bureaucrat was once posted as a district magistrate of a western district of the state. The official was known as one who never rejected anyone’s application. Once a widow went to him to ask for help in finding a groom for her daughter. The official appeared to be listening intently to the woman and after the mandatory two minutes absent-mindedly called his bachelor SDM and ordered him to "do the needful".

— Belu Maheshwari