Parents up in arms against school’s merger
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 21
The weekly sabha at Dev Samaj Bhavan, Sector 36, was disrupted, here today, when agitated parents of students studying in the junior wing of IS Dev Samaj School, Sector 21, descended at the venue to lodge their protest against the merger of the school.

With a view to mobilising opinion in their favour, the aggrieved 100-odd parents approached those present in the puja hall. “Before we could put across our thoughts and feelings, the manager of the school, Ms Satyawati, came charging at us and told us that no talk could take place on the temple premises. Soon, she began shoving us and tension began to build up as those present at the puja left through another door,” a parent said.

This was followed by a “gherao” of Ms Satyawati by the parents who manhandled her while she hit a couple of parents. “She pushed me out of the hall and hit the mother of a student. This agitated the parents and things got a bit out of hand,” a parent claims.

At the venue, students also accompanied their parents to lodge a silent protest. Carrying placards demanding answers to the mid-session merger and claiming inefficiency of the UT Administration besides charging the management with spoiling their future, students witnessed all that transpired at the venue.

The parents are opposing the merger of the model school with the senior secondary school on grounds that students with English as their medium could not study with those of a Hindi-medium school. “No good school will accept our children mid-session. Could they have not waited for another year,” they asked. They also lodged a complaint of misbehaviour by the manager with the local police.

Meanwhile, Mr Vikas Dev, a member of the management and witness to the drama, later, said over Rs 84,000 had already been deposited to get an approval of building plans for the building of the junior school. “As soon as the approval comes and a building is constructed, both schools will run simultaneously on the premises,” he said.

Non-committal on the merger, he said he could not comment on it all by himself. “Members are away for a meeting at Delhi. They will give details when they return,” he added.

At IS Dev Samaj Senior Secondary School, the Principal, Ms Sumati Kanwar, said they had worked out the details of the merger. “We are ready to open the school tomorrow. A time-table for the new classes has been drafted and all students and teachers have been accepted. The police has been asked to keep an eye on the activities when the school reopens. Hopefully, there will be no trouble,” she claimed.

In her statement, Ms Satyawati said she was at the receiving end at the sabha where parents gheraoed her and pushed her around. “The decision of the merger stands firm and as far as we are concerned, the junior wing Principal, Ms Urmil Sharma, stands suspended,” she said. 

Top models to walk the ramp
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 21
The annual fashion show will be organised by the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) on July 23. With the stage already set, all remains is the final walk by 10 top models of the country. To be displayed are 13 lines put together by 100 students, who have created the garments as part of their passing-out project work.

So come July 23 and the passing-out batch of Fashion Design students will showcase their creations, which will further be sported by models of the order of Femina Miss India World-2002 Shruti Sharma, model-turned-actress Apporva Jha, Tina Chhatwal, Maheshwari Thiagarajan, Udita Goswami, Simran Sachdeva, Laxmi, Divya Jaitley, Jaishree and Chinmaya Shetty.

As for the collection, it has been inspired by the impact of sun signs on the human personality. The theme-based show will be choreographed by Priyanka Singh. A run-up to the glamorous show will be held tomorrow.

Venturing into the twilight zone
Parbina Rashid

Chandigarh, July 21
Mangal Dhillon’s love- hate relationship with Chandigarh still plays a very important role in his life, but this time it is not the bitter sweet memories of his first love, first heart break or the first taste of success that has brought him to the city. He is here in search of supernatural happenings for his ongoing project “Beyond Logic.”

“The concept of Beyond Logic or ‘Tarq Ton Pare’ (the original Punjabi version) was hatched in 1996, but the search for the unusual took me a long time to bring the serial to the final stage,” says Mangal Dhillon as he makes himself comfortable in the coffee shop of Hotel Mountview. In this visit Mangal has found two such cases for his serial. During the past six years this actor, director, producer has shot 35 episodes.

The concept of “Beyond Logic” would not be something new for the “X-Files” viewers as Mangal follows the same trend and would be leaving the ultimate decision and comprehension to the viewers, but he denies being influenced by the English serial. “I was intrigued by the mystery of life and death and this is what inspired me to take up this venture,” he says. He also plans to write a book on the experiences he has collected in this connection

Though the viewers have a long wait to endure to witness his brushes with supernatural happenings, in the meantime they can sample the bravery and spirit of Sikhism through his other two projects - “A day at Golden Temple” and “Greatness of Sikhism”. Both the projects are bilingual- Punjabi and English.

“A Day at Golden Temple” is a documentary describing the scenes at the holy temple from daybreak to night while the other one is a docu-drama capturing the vigour and humanity aspects of Sikhism,” he says. The former one is about to be released in September this year while the latter is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

Mangal, who has been working for Sikh history and religion, has produced some outstanding documentary like the “Great Khalsa”. If you are wondering what made him take this sudden plunge into spiritualism after working as a successful villain for so many commercial ventures, he just says it is a call from the above.

“After the terrorism period I by chance had come across a booklet called ‘Punjab Hindu Sikh Problem: causes and cures’ which made a deep impact on me,” he says. This was his turning point which inspired him to present true history of Sikhs and spirit of Sikhism. However, this call from above seems to be coming to an end as the actor plans to renew his association with commercial films after a short while.

“I have already signed Feroze Khan’s ‘Jaan Nasheen’ in which I would be playing a negative character as usual,” he says. Another project that he has signed recently is Kalpana Lazmi’s ‘Kyon’ about which the artiste is doubtful. Besides those he is planning to work on his incomplete project ‘Shahadat’ and get on with his new venture “Sach ke ru ba ru.” Both the projects are semi-commercial in nature, says Mangal. “Sach ke ru ba ru is based on the loneliness of an old couple that suffers from empty nest syndrome,” he adds.

From finance to art
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 21
It has been a different experience for Ritu Ahuja as an amateur painter. From being a student of Business Administration , busy learning the theories of finance, to the world of art, she has had to make a big changeover.

Her paintings that were put on display today at the Gymkhana Club here have a Victorian bent, albeit with well-defined meanings. So the paintings of this local lass enables you to experience the spontaneity , leaving you agape at the wonders of nature.

The works, mainly replicas of great artists like Raphael , Boucher and Brocilli , give a glimpse of the self-taught potentialities of the artist. With minor alterations to the colour schemes, the backgrounds are generally well co-ordinated in monochromatic tones of green and the approach to reach the subject is absolutely fresh and aesthetically sound.

Ritu, who had begun painting as a hobby and had plans of carrying on with the family business, has now embraced art as a full-time occupation.

“The human species seems to be the only one that tries to associate a meaning with every phenomenon, probably because of its intellect,” says Ritu. “Is intellect not the biggest hazard as much as it is an asset?”, asks the artist. “If one still insists, he may derive his own meaning, make his own discovery and enjoy the accident,” she adds as she leaves the decision on the observer. But the truth remains that once you look at her works, all your reasoning deserts you, hypnotising you to feel the beauty of her creations.

The exhibition, which was inaugurated here by the HUDA Administrator, Mr Arun Kumar Gupta, was open for public viewing only for the day.