Rangoli contest marks Teej
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 2
“Shivlingam”, “Ganesha”, “kalash”, dancing figure with earthern lamps in both hands, peacocks, swastika, fish deer, sun and kite — These were some of the rangoli patterns made by students of Kundan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, on the occasion of Teej celebrations organised by the Home Science Club of the school here today.

Such patterns made out of saw dust, flowers petals, pulses, dyed rice and poha were adorned with accessories such as coins, floating candles, flowers, Ganesha idols, coconut, glitters, mirrors, beads, bamboo sticks with colourful gota wrapped around it, lamps seashell sippis, ghungroos and even ladoos.

As many as 90 students from the senior section and 60 from the middle section participated in the rangoli and mehndi competitions. Preeti, a student, had made “Shivlingam” in grey colour made out of dyed rice. It was decorated with a garland of marigold flowers.

Radhika and Vidushi, had made a beautiful dancing figure that carried lighted earthen lamps in both her hands. In mehndi, girls had themselves made different patterns on of their hands. The hall was decorated with swings, flowers, phulkaris and “charkha”. The guests were served ghevar, kheer, pure and dhokhla.

Among the mehndi participants from the senior group, Isha Hans of Class IX stood first. She was followed by Minky of Class XI and Shweta also of Class XI. Shruti of XII, Saru of Class IX and Sheenam of Class XI were given consolation prizes.

In the middle section, Aaina from Class VIII, Aditi also from Class VIII and Sugandha Chopra from Class VII received first, second and third prizes, respectively. Tanvi and Palak from Class VIII and Parneet from Class VII won consolation prizes.

Among the rangoli participants from the senior section, Ritika Sood and Neha Bansal from Class XII stood first. The team of Upasana and Sanya from Class XI were declared second. Anthia and Shruti from Class XI were declared third. The team of Priyanka and Shivi Bansal from Class XI won consolation prizes.

In the middle section students, Harsimran Kaur and Ehsa Vij from Class VIII won first prize. Sheena and Niharika from Cass VIII were declared second. Kriti Ahuja and Palak Goyal from Class VIII stood third.

Ms Vijay Laxmi, an artist, Ms Renu Chopra, a textile designer, and Shivani Aggarwal, also an artist, were the judges of the events. Ms Roop Ranjan Dharni, home science teacher, organised the contests. Ms Neena Khanna, Principal, gave away prizes to the students.

CULTURE

Cultural feast for Ludhianvis
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 2
A cultural event under the auspices of the Ek Koshish International was held at Nehru Sidhan Kendra here today. This one-day event started with a song and dance competition, “Bachhe man ke sachhe”. Students from different schools presented dance and “antakshri” items.

The second round, “Sada Virsa Sade Geet”, was based on traditional Punjabi folk songs, giddha and bhangra. The item was organised by the Ek Koshish Ludhiana West and artistes from different cities of the state participated in this event.

“Mahila Antakshri” was organised for members of various ladies club of the city. The event was a presentation of the Ek Koshish Ludhiana South.

“Shayron Ki Mehfil” followed, with poets sharing their thoughts. Those who participated were Afzal Manglori, Shabnam Sultana, Nitika Jain, D.K. Sachdeva, Jagannath Shahji, Chaman Lal Bhatnagar, Gurcharan Narang, Rajneesh Verma and Sam Nusrani. This event was presented by the Ek Koshish Ludhiana North.

The Rang Manch Nagri presented “Janch Partal”, a play based on Russian comedy play “The Govt-Inspector” written by Nicholai Gagole. This event was presented by the Ek Koshish Ludhiana Main.

The mega event of the day was “Yaddein Kishore Ki”. This was a tribute to legendry singer Kishore Kumar. Singers from different corners of the state came and paid their tributes to him by singing his all-time great songs.

Breaking barriers through art
Mahesh Sharma

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 2
Though it is a commercial art for people, she takes it as self sustaining and endless pursuit of art for bringing her metaphysical and hypothetical ideas closer to the physical universe. Her unconventional and unorthodox approach has already fetched her applause from art lovers in Delhi. But she believes that her success is inadequate till her imagination reduces the gap between commonly held views on the role of art in human life and its access to a common man.

Aman Birdi, a post-graduate in English and a school teacher, aspires to convey novel messages to masses through her creations. She says, "Life is too short so we must encash every moment. Running after material or physical aspects of life is like following shadows which can never be caught."

Commenting on her earlier achievements Ms Birdi said,"Attracting a large number of visitors in a metropolitan city like Delhi is of course thrilling, but appreciation by those whose worries about subsistence are over did not mean so much to me. I look forward to be appreciated by those, whose life is depicted in my creations." Though her creations had been appreciated and had fetched her good money at Sajawat-2001 at Pragati Maidan New Delhi, Ashoka Hotel exhibition-2003 and Gymkhana club Faridabad, she wants to win appreciation from common man.

With distinctive style of brush work she gives prominence to her characters and their surroundings. The attraction of figures is further emphasised by precision in contours punctuated with a host of colour combinations, costumes, flora and fauna.