The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

The first day at school
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Tiny tots in colourful gear, lugging turtle-shaped bags and Tupperware bottles with parents in toe is a common sight at most nursery school gates. Yet, in spite of all the positive thoughts and preparation, which go into equipping children for their first day at school, the scene at the gates and in the classrooms is often chaotic. The first separation from home is resisted as teeny-weenie lads and misses bawl, throw tantrums and refuse to let go of their mother’s ‘pallav’. All the enthusiasm of new clothes, new school accessories and new loving teachers is forgotten as the kids resist being taken into the unfamiliar building.

Certain schools, like Strawberry Fields Kindergarten, understand this anxiety and have devised their own methodology to deal with the challenge. The moment admission is confirmed, parents are given a detailed personalised letter which shares with them tips on what to do and how to contribute in making their child’s first school experience a unique and happy one. This is followed by an orientation camp where teachers share their perspective and address all concerns, which parents may have. The first week at school is planned down to the last detail. Parents are allowed to sit in the classroom and accompany the child to the washroom, sand pit, swings, kitchenette, music room and activity areas. Although teachers and assistants are in control and the day’s charter is planned out, the parents are part of the process.

Says Mr Atul Khanna, Director, Strawberry Fields: “Having a new batch of children every year it reaches us some new lessons. We keep refining ourselves in terms of our behaviour and responses and also in the way we plan our physical and educational areas. The idea is to have happily adjusted children.”

So, children in their first week at Strawberry Fields had a monkey man come in as also a balloon seller who doled out big, colourful and differently-shaped balloons to all the children. There is foot-tapping music, introduction to piano lessons, lot of colouring, animated story-telling, puppet shows and playing in the sand pit to keep the novelty factor high.

Dance camp: The two-week long Sanjivni Spring Dance Camp organised by the Sanjivni Kidz Club concluded with fun and gaiety on the campus of Sanjivni Preparatory School, Sector 11, here today. About 25 participants from various schools in the city took part in the camp.

COURTS

HIGH COURT
Order to speed up investigation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30
Taking serious note of the delay in probing criminal cases, Mr Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that there was definite need to develop and follow a “better mechanism for implementing the right to speedy investigation”. The Judge has also directed the filing of affidavits by officers not below the rank of secretaries for ascertaining the mechanism being followed in the states of Punjab and Haryana, besides the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Issuing the directions on a petition filed by Mr Ram Ditta of Hisar district seeking directions for handing over to an independent agency the investigation of a case registered at Adampur police station under Section 304 of the IPC, Mr Justice Goel observed: “Section 173 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires that investigation should be completed without delay. This section advances the objective of speedy investigation as envisaged under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. But it has been noticed that a grievance is being raised in a large number of cases about the delay in investigations. To redress such grievances, directions are being issued in individual cases fixing time limit for the completion of investigation. This can be substituted by a better mechanism for implementing the right to speedy investigation by strengthening, monitoring and adhering to a schedule, for the completion of investigation, which may have been laid down or which may be laid down”.

The Judge further observed: “Needless to say that there is a definite need for such a mechanism. There is also a need to have an in-house mechanism for redressing the grievances arising on account of apprehensions expressed by the victims regarding unfair and partial action of the investigating agencies. No doubt this court examines individual cases, but every one is not able to approach the court and by taking suitable steps unnecessary litigation can be avoided which would provide relief to the citizens as well as the state....

The Judge concluded: “I consider it proper to ascertain the mechanism being followed by the states of Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Let affidavits of officers not below the rank of secretaries be filed on this aspect of the matter. A copy of this order should be sent to the Advocate-Generals of Punjab, Haryana and the standing counsel for the Union Territory of Chandigarh. A copy of the order should also be sent to the Home Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh”. The case will now come up for further hearing on May 24.

JBT teachers

Allowing a bunch of writ petitions filed by JBT teachers working on regular basis, Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the state of Haryana and other respondents to consider the case of the petitioners for promotion to the posts of Hindi, Punjabi and Sanskrit teachers.

Pronouncing the orders on petitions filed by Mr Balwan Singh and others, Mr Justice Gill ruled: “The question of promotion of the petitioners shall be considered from the date when their juniors were promoted. This exercise shall be completed within six months of receiving the judgement’s copy”.

28 nominations for Bar elections
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, March 30
Twenty-eight advocates have filed their nominations for various posts of the District Bar Association (DBA) which goes to poll on April 12.

Those who have filed nominations for the post of president are: Mr N.K Nanda, Mr S.P.S Bhullar, Mr Rajinder Mahajan, Ms Kulwant Kaur and Ms Anita Ahuja. For the post of Vice-President, Mr Karam Singh, Mr Munish Chaudhary and Mr Sajal Kossar have filed nominations while Mr A.S. Gujral, Mr N.K. Kapil and Mr Ravi Kant have filed nomination for the post of secretary.

Meanwhile, Ms Savita Saxena, has been elected unopposed for the post of joint secretary according to Mr L.R. Chadha, returning officer. Withdrawals will be allowed till April 1.

Candidates who have filed nominations for the posts of treasurer are: Mr Neeraj Sahni, Mr Phool Singh and Mr Vikas Sagar. Those who have filed nominations for the posts of executive members are: Ms Manmohan Kaur, Mr Anish Babbar, Mr Inderjit Singh, Mr Vikas Bector, Mr Ajay Pasricha, Mr Amit Rishi, Mr R.D. Gandhi, Mr M.L. Batra, Mr Rajeev Gupta, Mr Dalip Kumar Kataria, Mr Harjit Singh Minhas, Mr Ajay Kumar Sapehia.

Weak music link mars love story

‘Kitne Door Kitne Paas’ (Batra) is a clean love story minus the crippling family bondages and estranged lovers who are nothing more than stepping stones hampering the progress of a predictable end.

Fardeen Khan and Amrita Arora make a cute pair. The surroundings too are lovely. However, the progress of action is simpler than the popular travails on a love journey. Music, which is the backbone of love stories, even internationally what to talk of Bollywood, is a weak link and fails to grip or lead one to sway to fond memories.

Fardeen is a rich NRI who is landing back home to get married to a girl whom his mother has selected. On his way he meets Amrita who is also on a similar trip. Both are destined to be married off separately on the same day. Both are introduced to each other on a “note of battle” because of a slight misunderstanding.

During their quarrel both are stranded in Delhi because the connecting flight has been cancelled. They hire a taxi that crosses Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan before reaching home in Gujarat. The journey draws them nearer and of course the end result is love.

The marriage date of both draws near but neither is able to muster enough courage to speak the truth for fear of breaking family commitment for their marriages. Strong family bonds and the fear of society make them helpless.

The film also features Satish Shah (five roles), Tiku Talsania, Nasir Khan, Govind Namdeo, Beena and Ketki. The film has been produced and directed by Mehul Kumar. The music has been lent by Sanjeev Darshan and the lyrics are by Anand Bakshi, Anwar Sahgar and Abbas.

WESTERN FILM REVIEW
Not a block-buster, but Americans will like it
Vikramdeep Johal

Scene from "Black Hawk Down" Chandigarh
On October 3, 1993, an elite squad of US troops stationed in war-ravaged, famine-hit Somalia was rushed to the capital Mogadishu. Its mission was to capture two lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohammad Farah Aidid. Not for the first time, the Americans underestimated the capability of the opposition. Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. What was expected to be an hour-long operation stretched for 15 hours, claiming the lives of 19 American soldiers and about 1,000 Somalis. "Black Hawk Down" (Neelam) is literally a blow-by-blow account of this bloody battle which has almost been forgotten, even though it is not even a decade old.

Being a tribute to the American soldiers who sacrificed their lives trying to bring peace to an alien country, it is an ideal post-September 11 film. There is nothing controversial about the battle of Mogadishu. It is considered to be a politically correct war, well-suited for the tastes of today’s Americans.

Alas, it is not a great war movie. The emotional sweep of "Platoon" and "Saving Private Ryan" is missing. Also lacking is the insight into war and human nature provided by "Apocalypse Now". All that we do have is a series of blood-curdling battle scenes. No doubt these are brilliantly done, with large doses of realism, but their incessant bombardment leaves the viewer exhausted. Certainly not for those with sensitive hearts and eardrums.

The film marks a new departure for director Ridley Scott. One of the most eclectic film-makers in Hollywood today, he has to his credit a classic sci-fi thriller, "Blade Runner", a spectacular Roman epic, “Gladiator” and a breezy feminist film, “Thelma and Louise”. However, this one is not among his best.

There are several characters but not a single protagonist. The cast includes Josh Hartnett, who was eclipsed by Ben Affleck in "Pearl Harbor", and Ewan McGregor, who was eclipsed by Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge". Here both of them are overshadowed by the pulse-pounding combat scenes, hardly getting a look-in.

Significantly, even though there are many images of wounded or dead American soldiers, the movie omits one which was shown prominently by the media at that time: The body of an American soldier being carried like a trophy through a street lined with Somalis. Perhaps this scene of a martyr’s humiliation was regarded as too repulsive to be shown to American audiences.

The assets are Pietro Scalia’s Oscar-winning editing and Hans Zimmer’s wonderful music, which is in fact too good for the film. But in the final analysis, as it is guilty of giving precedence to style and size over substance, "Black Hawk Dow" deserves being shot down by critics.