The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

What a way to treat your kids!

Vicky a 24-year-old, almost bedridden due to muscular atrophy, is a victim of his father’s cruelty for poor helpless boy sits on the bed, helplessly watching his muscles wasting away, his hold on his actions getting lesser and lesser.

He is a very intelligent boy trapped in the body that refuses to listen to his command. His resentment against his father over-rides his anger than against the cruel fate which has dealt him such a cruel hand. He has studied till class XII. His memory is phenomenal. He said, “It was on 30th March, 1998. Anita and her husband came to hit my mother. My father was with them.

I loathed myself for I could not get up to defend my mother. Hearing the cries of my mother, my uncle and aunt, who live close by came in and tried to help my mother, but my father slapped me and my mother too. My uncle and aunt managed to stop the fight, but after that they were not allowed to enter our house." Anita is the other woman who came into Surjit’s life five years ago. Ever since that time the life for Kumud, and her sons, has become hell. From a loving kind, husband, he has turned into a monster who beats not only his wife but his handicapped children too. The boys cannot bear to see their mother getting beaten.

So they shout and the father grows more violent and hits them with chappals also Kumud, fed up of his husband’s brutalities, and due to paucity of funds took her case to Ashi, the social organisation that solves marital dispute. The case was earlier reported in The Tribune. On one hearing, Surjit had said that he had broken off with Anita, but the wife had produced some diary pages of Surjit. The whole diary was full of ‘Anita’. Surjit was zapped and did not know which way to look. Finally the chairman of Ashi, sent a letter to Anita to appear before them. That has created a lot of frenzy in Surjit’s mind.

He created a lot of hullabaloo in the house and threatened his wife with dire consequences if she did not withdraw the application. Her neighbours have been very perturbed about his savage behaviour and informed the members of Ashi. The Ashi members, worried about the safety of the children, visited their home today in B.R.S. Nagar. Financially Surjit seems to be well off. He has paint business and is doing well but talking to the children one was shocked to know of his depravity and, meanness. Vicky was very put off with his father. He said, “From yesterday, he has been threatening my mother with all sorts of dire consequences. He has been beating all of us. Can you imagine he has stopped giving his money for food? We eat one meal a day. He gives my mother Rs 1500 a month only. Sometimes, he brings fruits, but now I dislike him so much that I don’t eat any of it." Was he always like this?" No earlier he was very loving and kind. But even since Anita has come into his life, he has changed. He hates all of us. Now even when he gets me anything to eat, I don’t. With the result, I am getting weaker." The boys stay at home in one room watching television all the time. The father has forbidden them to enter the drawing room. They can be taken out for a drive or a physiotherapist can be called, but why a real father, whose blood runs in their veins, is acting like a tyrant is beyond understanding. Mrs Pappo Abnash, one of the active and concerned members of Ashi, was horrified on seeing the boys. She said, “We worship Shiv ling made of stone also.

Why cannot this man find God in his own handicapped children? He seems to be devoid of humanity she was so touched by the boys’ plight that she has promised to send nourishing soup for them.” Mrs Ruby Fernandes, another member of Ashi, also felt very strongly about the issue, she said, “How can he behave so heartlessly towards his own children. I am shocked that he does not provide them nourishing food. He cannot order milk for them when he is spening so much money on the other woman.”Mrs Sarbrinder Grewal, a very serious worker of Ashi said, “The man should be asked to give them enough money for their maintenance.” Kumud, the wife, is almost going crazy with worry as how to feed her children. She desperately needs a domestic help because the boys have to be helped in every way. “What am I do with Rs 1500? I think he wants us to die a slow death.” — AA

CULTURE

Kiran teaches nuances of Odissi

LUDHIANA, Oct 2 — Outstanding as a performer and brilliant at choreography, Kiran Segal stands out as a leading exponent of one of the oldest classical dance forms of India, Odissi. Kiran is one of the few dancers who projects the traditional aspects of Odissi dance in her work. Unfortunately, the viewers were deprived of a chance of watching her perform last night at Christian Medical College and Hospital as she was running high temperature.

Her dance performance would have been a befitting ‘finale’ to the month-long programme of culture and dance sponsored by the Ludhiana chapter of SPIC-MACAY.

Despite sweating profusely, she made her appearance on the stage with her two students Sudha and Sukanya. There was a lecture-cum-demonstration programme. Giving information about Odissi dance, she said, “The origin of Odissi dance dates back to the second century BC. In olden times, there were traditional temple dancers who devoted their life to God. From the 11th to 15th century A.D., Orissa was attacked a number of times by neighouring states, which put a stop to this Mahari tradition, which meant no more traditional temple dancers. Since the temples of Odissa were raided very frequently, gymnasiums were set up to train boys in martial arts so that they could protect their temples. Our classical dances have their roots in religion so before any dance performance, we start with manglacharan which includes pushpanjali, bhumi pranaam and vandana.”

Her two students performed a few steps to show the above mentioned mudras. She involved the audience by asking them what they were performing. The students then danced to a shlok and she asked the students to interpret it and tell her which God’s vandana had they been performing. Kiran, then, asked the girls to demonstrate the basic steps of Odissi dance — chowk, tribhang, etc. Later Sudha and Sukanya presented 10 incarnations of Lord Krishna. They danced Geeta Govinda which was written in the praise of Lord Krishna in the 12th century in Sanskrit.

Through their actions and movements, the girls showed Matasya, Tortoise, Wild Boar, Dwarf, Narsimha, Parsuram, Ram, Balram, Budha and Kalgidhar avatars — the last of them the man on the white horse. While showing these incarnations of Lord Krishna, the girls showed the tandav aspect of Odissi dance. Later Kiran invited a few boys and girls to come to the stage and try out the basic exercises of Odissi. The students responded enthusiastically and enjoyed performing the exercises. Kiran said, “Now whenever you see Odissi dance, you will remember these exercises. If out of a hundred students, even two become interested in Odissi dance, I will think it to be a good beginning.”

Later, talking to reporters she said, “I have been to many countries and have performed in almost 40 countries around the globe. NRIs feel nostalgic and appreciate my performance, whereas foreigners are fascinated by my attire and my dance steps. I think our modern generation is suffering from an inferiority complex that is why they love everything western. They know more about western dances and their singers than our own. Basically it is not their fault, as they are never taught about classical dances at the School level. If the schools take a lead and introduce a classical dance or an instrument in the school curriculum, it will go a long way in generating interest in our ancient dances and musical instruments. SPIC MACAY is doing an excellent job. More organisations like this should come up. I felt deeply for the soldiers so I went to Dras to entertain the troops. I have just come back from a whirlwind tour and I am going out again.”

Kiran’s parents, Mr Kameshwar Segal and her mother Zohra Segal were leading dancers and choreographers in their time and it is from them that Kiran has imbibed the gift of composing and choreographing her own work.

Yesterday’s programme left art lovers with a feeling of sadness for the cultural bonanza that had lasted for a month, had come to an end.
— AA

People who worked tirelessly to make SPIC MACAY a success

The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Among Youth brought a month-long cultural programme for the students of colleges and schools of the city to make them appreciate the richness of their culture and to make them aware of our cherished arts.

SPIC MACAY brought artists who had won name and fame all over the world. The greatness of the artists was that they came without remuneration, just for promoting Indian culture and arousing the spirit of enquiry in youngsters about their culture.

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the Wadali Brothers, Raja and Radha Reddy, Kiran Segal, Gurmeet Bawa were some of the illustrious artists who were on a tight schedule and performed in three to four cities of Punjab.

Needless to say, members of the Ludhiana Chapter of SPIC MACAY worked day and night to look after the artists. When they decided to hold their cultural bonanza under ‘Virasat Punjab 2000’, their first job was to contact educational institutions where the artists would perform. SPIC MACAY (Delhi) had arranged for the artists.

Now it was the job of the core group of SPIC MACAY — Ludhiana Chapter to take care of the nitty gritty. Some troupes had a large number of participants, since the groups had come from all over India, their dietary needs were different. Their transport, train tickets, stay, all had to be arranged by the core group. The Ludhiana Tribune profiles the people who worked hard to make the programmes a success. All the members had their own hectic working schedules and yet they took out time to be at the beck and call of the artists and offered them warm hospitality. What made them leave their respective jobs and devote hours to SPIC MACAY?

Dr M.A. Zahir, Dean, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, is the president of SPIC MACAY (Ludhiana Chapter) “We have organised 26 programmes of renowned artists and have gone to more than dozen schools and several colleges and PAU. It gave me immense satisfaction to see students taking keen interest in out ancient culture and dances. I think my energies and time was well spent,” said Dr Zahir.

Mrs Manjit Sodhai, ex-principal of Government College for Women, Ludhiana, who is the vice-president of SPIC MACAY, said, “My heart filled with joy when all the great artists whom I had seen on television appeared in person on stage. We had to work very hard to coordinate the programmes, to look after their comfort, but everything was worth it. Seeing, the performances of these great artists, I felt good and at peace with myself. I am sure all those people who have had a chance to attend any of these programmes must have felt enriched. Our efforts have not been in vain.”

Dr Ishita Arora, the coordinator, had to do a lot of running ground really ran helter-skelter to co-ordinate the programmes. At times, there were last minute cancellations as the Chhau Purulia, to be held at GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sidhar, had to be cancelled on account of Dasehra holidays, so there had to be an alternate site. The programme was rescheduled at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Police Public School, Phillaur.

On what motivated her, she says,

“I have been co-ordinating SPICMACAY (Ludhiana Chapter) since 1980. It is not only my obsession, but an important aspect of my life. I have a desire to expose the youth of this industrial city to their priceless heritage though this forum and I think we did succeed to a large extent.”

Anita Rai, a social worker and general secretary said, “As an ardent student of Indian classical music and dance, my desire for preservation and popularisation of India’s musical and cultural heritage is greatly satisfied by working for SPIC MACAY. I have been expanding my energies for SPIC MACAY. It has given us the right kind of platform to save Indian classical music and dance by taking it to the students.”

Nilam Kapur, a dedicated member said, “I have been actively involved with SPIC MACAY for the past ten years. I have tremendous faith in the power and capabilities of youth when they are channelised in the right direction. Working for SPIC MACAY gives me great satisfaction as it helps us to bring our culture close to modern generation. I cherish the moments spent with the talented artists.”

A doctor, by profession, Parveen Sikka, was also found present at every function. He helped selflessly, for according to him, “It is always easy to replace the old this with the new, but it is always hard to preserve the old. So I wanted our culture to be presented in full glory before the younger generation.”

Prof Rajiv Sehgal, Lecturer in Psychology, Government College for Women, Ludhiana said, “Working for SPIC MACAY has given me immense pleasure. I had watched a Kathak performance by Birju Maharaj that got me interested in classical dances so I feel happy that our efforts bore fruits.”

“Culture forms the roots of every civilisation and to see its roots eroding was very painful for me, so through SPIC MACAY, I tried to make a little contribution to help in bringing forth these cultural programmes” said Prof M.S. Toor of PAU.

The aim of SPIC MACAY was not to turn the students into artists but to make them familiar and proud of their ancient culture. To sustain their interest, the members of SPIC MACAY have decided to meet on the first Wednesday of every month at 4 o’clock at Students’ Home, PAU. They plan to arrange programmes of local artists.
—AA