The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Government Primary School sans water, toilets
Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, August 31
Government Primary School in Bartana, near here, lacks basic facilities like water, toilets, playground, and electricity.

Though the government has repeatedly made claims regarding providing potable water, toilets and other facilities in every school, yet all this school has in the name of water is a dry tank, that too tapless.

Teachers told this correspondent on condition of anonymity that lack of adequate funds came in the way of providing basic facilities in the school. They said the tank was constructed through donations made by them, but was now in a dilapidated condition for want of maintenance. They added that they had installed taps in the tank four times, but some anti-social elements had stolen these.

To quench their thirst, students have to go to a nearby gurdwara, where, they say, they are sometimes scolded.

The absence of toilets adds to the woes of the students, forcing them to make use of bushes and a small nullah nearby for the purpose.

However, when it rains outside, they are left “high and dry”.

The teachers lamented that the school did not have a boundary wall. They said the only gate on the premises was the property of the Googa Mari temple, which remained open till late in the evening, and hence they could not lock the gate.

The school has four rooms, of which one is at times used by the panchayat for sheltering baraatis. This room has no electricity.

"We have to vacate the room when some marriage takes place, thus affecting the studies," the teachers said.

The other rooms are also in a dilapidated condition. Cracks in the ceiling speak volumes about poor maintenance. “When it rains heavily, water seeps through the cracks, forcing us to abandon the classes,” students lamented.

Interestingly, a small ground of the school is also used the main way to the temple.

The marriage season is an added distraction for the school. It is a custom for the baraatis to pay obeisance at the temple before the departure of the baraat with the band party playing their instruments on a high pitch, thus adversely affecting the school functioning .

The teachers recalled an instance when some students went out of their class to dance with the baraatis. “It becomes very difficult to control the tiny tots. You can’t resort to corporal punishment to discipline them,” the teachers quipped.

The school authorities said they would approach the authorities concerned in this regard.

Various attempts by this correspondent to contact the Nagar Panchayat authorities proved futile.

Fun and frolic at Activity-2002
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 31
Fun and frolic marked the conclusion of Activity-2002 at Tagore Theatre, here today, in which over 2,000 students participated.

A number of events organised were Mr and Ms Activity, Indian group dance, activity antakshari, speaker of the year, quiz, style act, treasure hunt.

Students were made to look for various things like a five-paise coin, grey hair, glitter on their face or empty packs of chocolates in the treasure hunt competition.

Many students could be seen with tattoos on their arms and hands.These students were taking part in the tattoo-making competition. ‘‘We are otherwise not allowed to wear tattoos in school, but this way we can get ourselves tattooed without the school authorities objecting to it,’’ said a participant.

Though the flower arrangement competition was open to three categories but the participation of girls in all three categories was more than that of the boys. Vegetable carving and Little Chef also attracted many participants. The Ad Mad contest was also a hit with all students.

Pallavi of Government Model School, Sector 18, bagged the first prize for tattoo-making competition. In debate, Rahul and Gaurav of DAV, Sector 10, got the first prize in category A and Devashish and Udit of St. Stephens got the first prize in group B. Two students of Satluj Public School, Suruchi and Amanpreet, got the first prize, in hair styling and bindi designing, respectively. Gaurav of DAV, Sector 10, has been made the speaker of the year. St. Stephen’s got the prize for group dance and group western dance.

The events in Activity-2002 were categorised under five different heads for students of Class I to XII.

Activity 2002, the largest school fest Chandigarh has ever experienced, opened amidst much fanfare here yesterday at Tagore Theatre, with 35 schools participating in various competitions on the inaugural day.

Digikore Activity of Hyderabad, which is organising the two-day fest, has over 40 events listed on its agenda.

The fest featured film songs contest, in which 10 school teams from Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula took part. Other events included Western music contest, quiz, poster and card making contest, poetry recitation, essay contest, nail polish design and hair styling and the preliminary round for Mr and Ms Personality contest.

There was an overwhelming response to the quiz contest, with 60 teams participating in the preliminary round at the junior level and more than 100 teams participating at the senior level. In the afternoon, the Indian group dance competition drew good response.

The competitions were organised in five categories — A for students of Class XI and XII, B for Class VIII, IX and X, C for V, VI and VII, D for I, II, III and IV, while category O was open to students from class I to XII.

Mr Sultan Ahmed, vice-presidents of the group, while talking to Chandigarh Tribune said the winners would be invited to Bangalore for the grand finale.

Following are the winners of the main events that took place today: debate; category A — Rahul and Gaurav from DAV College, Sector 10.

Category B — Devashish and Udit from St. Stephen’s School, Sector 45.

Quiz ( Seniors): first — Manas and Visav from DAV College, Sector 10, Second — Hriday and Sanyan from Gyan Jyoti Public School; third — Nikhil and Charanjeet from St. Stephens School, Sector 45.

Junior category: first — Avijeet and Abhishek from St. Stephen’s School, Sector 45, second — Razak and Nishu from St. Stephen’s School and third — Eshan and Karan from St. Xaviers, Sector 44. Mad Ads - St. Stephen’s School

Indian film music: first: Kandhari Public School, second: St. Stephen’s School, third: DAV Sr. Secondary School, Sector 8. Western music first: Government Model School, Sector 19, second: St. Stephen’s School and third: Gyan Jyoti School.

Indian group dance: first: St. Stephen’s School, second: Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 41, third: Sri Guru Gobind Singh School, Sector 35.

Inter-house contests at DAV-15
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 31
Enthusiastic hands expertly moulded figures out of clay, while other students created patterns out of bright colours on the polished floors during VIBGYOR 2002 — an inter house competition held at DAV Model School in Sector 15 here today.

As many as 300 participating students were divided into six houses at three levels — senior, junior and subjunior. The competitions included dumb charades, just a minute, flower arrangement, salad arrangement, floor decoration, solo song, solo dance and public speaking.

The chief guest, the Superintendent of Police (Operations), H.S. Dhaliwal, was welcomed by school principal, Ms Rakesh Sachdeva.

The results of sub junior group in order of merit are:

Drawing: Akansha, Arun and Navneet, Ankit Kalia (consolation); clay modelling: Vidya and Sahil Kochar (both first), Navdeep and Kamaldeep, Gautam and Pranay (consolation); declamation: Ridima, Askshit and Marshit (both second), Aditya, Krishna and Shubham (all three third); solo song Jasmine and Sakshi (both first), Piyusha and Pragati; solo dance: Kirandeep and Maneesha (both first), Pragnya and Priya (both second) and Sandhaya, Vindhya (consolation).

The results of the junior group in order of merit are:

Dumb charades: Munish, Lokesh and Aruna (all three first), Chandni, Malvika and Nidhi (all three second), Neha, Kanchan and Ravneet (all three third); buy well sell well: Ayoosh and Ravish (both first); best out of waste: Akansha, Rome and Manjeet, Ishita (consolation); clay modelling: Rahul, Shiv Dev and Abhishek, Neha (consolation); painting: Gurinder, Nancy, Navdeep, Kavina (consolation); solo dance: Ritika, Rini and Anurag (both second), Swati (consolation); rangoli (NR): Pooja, Sakshee and Maghna, Anuj (consolation); rangoli (religious): Amanpreet, Shimona and Poorva, Harpreet (consolation); declamation: Prashant, Manikaran, Nishant Garg and Divya (both third).

The results of the senior group in order of merit are:

Dumb charades: Munish, Palak and Anshu (all first), Saurav, Shubham and Rajan (all second), Raveena, Kirti and Aneesha (all third); just a minute: Heena and Gurnoor (all first), Shilpi and Monalisa (all second); salad decoration: Kumud, Priyanka and Navreet (both second) and Pinky, Tanvi Kapoor (consolation). salad dressing: Kanika Narang and Prerna (both first), Kulbir and Christeve; flower arrangement (dry) Maninder, Japsimran, Megha, Tselan (consolation); flower arrangement (fresh) Muskaan and Cherry (both first), Neha Kapoor and Bondina, Neha (consolation); Mehandi: Shivani, Sakshika and Ankita Jain, Neetu (consolation). rangoli (NR): Nidhi, Atamjeet, Richa (both second), Ruby and Nishtha (both third), Rashi (consolation); rangoli (religious) Mamta and Sapna (both first), Vidhi, Manpreet and Shikha Kanda (both third); gift packing: Kamlesh, Ekta and Mahek, Priyanka (consolation).

70 awarded diploma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 31
The National Institute of Technical Education organised a function ‘First Udaan’ in the auditorium of the Food Craft Institute, Sector 42, here today, where certificates and diplomas were awarded to the 70 outgoing candidates of Air Hostesses/Flight Stewards and Travel & Tourism Courses.

Girls of airhostess training course started the programme with a prayer — ‘Itni shakti hamein dena data’.

Mr V.K. Janjua, MD, Punjab Tourism Development Corporation and the Special Secretary Tourism, Punjab, was chief guest and awarded certificates and diplomas to the students.

Speaking at the function, he said that new generation would benefit by this facility and could secure its career in this industry. As the tour and travel industry was the biggest industry in the world so chances for employments were also high.

Mr Alok Shivapuri, Principal/ Secretary of Food Craft Institute, presided over the function. In his presidential speech he stressed on the adoption of professionalism in life. Mr G.L. Kaushal, director of institute, assured the students and parents for providing quality education as per the international standards and assured giving full-employment assistance to the qualified and talented students.

Mr R.S. Gautam, executive director, presented vote of thanks to the chief guest, presiding officer and students assured all possible support to the outgoing batches. The programme was anchored by Mrs Preeti Mishra.

CJ can’t restore work: BCI
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 31
The Bar Council of India (BCI) today criticised the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice (CJ), Mr Arun B. Saharya, regarding the restoration of work to three high court judges.

The Vice-President of BCI, New Delhi, Mr Adish C. Aggarwala, addressing mediapersons, said the Chief Justice was under obligation to explain the reason for the restoration of work to the judges, allegedly involved in the PPSC recruitment scandal. He asserted that even the Chief Justice of India had no power to restore or withdraw work from the judges and only the Law Ministry and MPs could initiate impeachment proceedings against the judges.

He said it was important for the CJ to explain the reason as the public had forgotten about the recruitment scam and had one thing on mind — why the CJ had earlier withdrawn work from the judges and now restored it. He also demanded that the inquiry report regarding the judges should be made public so that lawyers and the public could know the facts. He also welcomed the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association to boycott the court of the CJ.

He said the CJ had no power to withdraw work and if he had taken the decision then, there was no need to restore work now. He said: “The CJ can at the most take the decision of not allotting work to the judges but cannot withdraw it.” The CJ could submit the report to the Law Ministry which in turn could initiate impeachment action against the judges.

He said he was not against the decision of the withdrawal of work from the judges but the right procedure should have been followed. The BCI had not said anything when work was withdrawn from the judges as the decision was in “mass interest”.

CULTURE

FILM REVIEW
David Dhawan at it again
Sanjeev Singh Bariana

‘Chor Machaaye Shor’ (Jagat, Chandigarh, and KC Panchkula) is a situational comedy that bears the trademark stamp of the director David Dhawan. Go minus the expectations of finding any ‘art’ on the screen or any piece that provokes inner reflections and you will not be disappointed with his slapstick formula.

Bobby Deol has done a decent role of a burglar who is arrested after he steals a crores-worth diamond. He hides the diamond in a building before he is arrested. He has to spend just two years in jail which he thinks is peanuts because the rest of the life he will roll in wealth.

The day he is released he goes straight to the spot where he has kept his diamond. He discovers that a police headquarters has come up at that place. He poses as a cop and joins the police team which works under of Paresh rawal.

Paresh as the police chief and Om Puri as Deol’s “new colleague” who is for-ever suspicious of him have given marvellous performances. Shekhar Suman in about half a dozen different roles, including at least three of females, is creditable. Rajpal Yadav as a “fellow crook” is also good.

Slick editing to sustain a suitable pace typical to a situational comedy is good. But music by Anu Malik is not impressive, nor are the lyrics.

‘Agnivarsha’(Batra) is a graceful adaptation of the script of Girish Karnad’s well-known play, “ The Fire and the Rain”. The presentation can best be understood in its ‘artistic’ interpretation.

Using baser human instincts of “love and revenge’ as the background, Arjun Sajnani in the director’s chair has drafted an impressive presentation. Jackie Shroff and Nagarjuna have good roles. Amitabh Bachchan appears in the role of the ‘rain god’. The film also features Milind Soman, Prabhu Deva, Raveena Tandon and Sonali Kulkarni.

It is the story of a village in the grip of a drought. A “maha yagya” has to be organised to please the rain god. The inner differences of the cast serve as the backdrop.

Photography by Anil Mehta, lyrics by Javed Akhtar and music by Sandesh Shandilya deserve a special mention. The film is a Dream Productions presentation.

WESTERN FILM REVIEW
Signs of conflict between self, beyond
Rajiv Kaplish

CHANDIGARH: What more would Mel Gibson have wanted after the runaway success of “What Women Want”? A complex role which would reveal unseen sides to him as an actor. What would producer-director Manoj Night Shyamalan, who earlier had a string of successes, have desired after the debacle of “Unbreakable”? A monster hit to re-establish his image as one of Hollywood’s most-sought-after young filmmakers.

When the two came together, the result was “Signs” (Kiran), a supernatural thriller, that explores the mysterious real-life phenomenon of crop signs and their effects on a man and his family.

Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) who, though an Episcopalian minister, objects to the idea of anyone calling him Father. He has been devastated by a traumatic personal experience. His younger brother, Merrill Hess (Joaquin Phoenix), has his own share of melancholy which is the outcome of his failed career as an athlete. Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin) are the two children of Graham who are carrying the weight of what has happened in the family on their shoulders.

Their lives change when Graham discovers a message — an intricate pattern of circles and lines — carved into his crop. The corn grown by him on his farm has turned out to be a crop of intrigue. With their private world colliding with the outer world, members of the dysfunctional family set out on a journey of self-discovery.

Inspired by “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, “The Birds” and “Night of the Living Dead”, “Signs” deals with human emotions which are triggered by a supernatural event. The story, not the protagonists, is the “leading actor”. The tension in the thriller comes out of its restraint. Shyamalan, like Alfred Hitchcock, believes that more than anything else, it is imagination that can strike a chord with the viewers.

But whereas this subtle handling of the theme might have gone a long way in ensuring the film’s rampaging success with Western audiences, it might prove to be its fatal “flaw” here. It was amply clear from the response to the Friday show where viewers, who had come in droves, didn’t seem to have taken too kindly to the funereal pace of the film.

Dr Atmajit invited for reading session
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 31
Dr Atmajit Singh, a local playwright, has been invited by Prithvi Theatre for a special reading session on his play ‘Kamloops Di Machhliyaan’. The play reflects his existential musings. The session, which will also include a special reading of ‘Panch Nad Da Paani’, another play by Dr Singh, will be held in Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai, on September 2.

‘Kamloops Di Machhliyaan’ also happens to be one of the six works chosen by Sahit Upkram for translation into Hindi and further publication. The same play has also been selected for the Siri Ram Centre for being staged in the last week of October. Mushtaq Kak, artistic director with the centre, will prepare the production.

Written in 1996, the play is based on real-life situations of members of the Indian community settled in Canada. Through various case histories of people caught up in the web of their own decision to leave their homeland and search for moorings in alien lands, the playwright has struck the right chord with his readers.

In fact, Dr Atmajit has a strong point to bring home the relevance of the play’s title. He said, “While on my visit to Canada, I had a chance to visit a place along the riverbank in Kamloops. I came across a strange phenomenon there. Salmon, a fish found in the Fraser, dies in a painful manner. After being born on the riverbank, they spend life in the ocean for four years. However, as and when the fish are close to their end, they start moving towards the riverbank in millions. It is a tough journey for them, but they undertake it in their urge to die where they first came into existence.”

He added after coming in contact with many Indians settled abroad, he felt that they were also one among those fish, who long for their roots. It was this feeling which engendered the play. After being enacted all over Canada in 1996, the play was first published in 1999. Its second edition came in 2002. Now, translated into Hindi by Tarsem Gujral, the play is slated to be translated into English by Ms Pushpinder Syal, a Professor in English at the Department of English, Panjab University.

Meanwhile after being presented at the national festival of theatre organised at New Delhi by the National School of Drama (NSD) in March 2001, ‘Main taan ek sarangi haan’ the controversial play by city-based play-wright will again make its entry in the national scene.

Written by Dr Atmajit Singh, the play, a sensitive story of betrayal, love and longing in the life of three lead women characters, has been invited at the national festival of theatre being organised at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai on October 20.

Not just that, the play is also one of the 10 productions which have been invited for being staged at another national drama festival being organised by the Dramatic Progressive Cub, Pune. This festival will begin on October 22.

Meanwhile, the play will also be staged in Tagore Theatre on September 16 and 17.