The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

22 students receive prizes
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 1
Twentytwo students who had won prizes in an inter-school drawing and painting competition organised by Pidilite Industries last week were honoured at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, here today. Students from 28 schools of the district had participated in the competition at the Guru Nanak Khalsa High School for Boys, Gujjarkhan Campus, on November 20.

The first prize winners in the juniormost category (Class III to IV) were Gagandeep Kaur and Jugad. Second prize went to Devleen Singh. Third prize was shared by Prerna and Arshdeep. Navreet and Sareena won the first prize in the second category (Class V to VII). Japnoor and Pawan were declared second, and Jaspreet and Geetika stood third.

In the third category (Class VIII to X) Ankita and Lipika won the first prize. Tanpreet and Jashanjit were declared second. Gaurav and Mankaran stood third. In the last category (Class XI to XII), Richa and Jasmine won the first prize. Nidhi and Maninder were declared second, and Roop stood third. Mr Gagan Arora from Pidilite Industries organised the function.

Students hold rally on AIDS Day
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 1
World AIDS Day was observed at the Civil Hospital here. The awareness function was organised by the District Health Department. Mr Surinder Dawar and Mr Nahar Singh Gill, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, were the guests of honour on the occasion. Ms Santosh Bhatia, District Mass Media Officer, said a poster-making competition on AIDS awareness was organised in which students from Sargodha High School took part. Five winners were given prizes.

Earlier, an AID awareness rally was flagged off from the Civil Hospital in which more than 500 students from Master Tara Singh School and Sargodha High School participated. The rally culminated near Jagraon Bridge. An exhibition was also organised at the hospital and people were given AIDS awareness literature. Lectures on the killer disease were delivered by Dr S.N. Tiwari, Ms Santosh Bhatia and Mr Karamvir Goel.

International AIDS Day was also observed at Government High School, Salem Tabri. A quiz was organised on AIDS by science teachers Mr Sukhdev Singh and Mr Davinder Singh. Ten teams participated in the contest. Prizes were given to the teams who came first and second. Mr Ranjit Singh, Principal of the school, spoke on AIDS and gave prizes to the winners.

Meanhile, a meeting was held at Dr Kotnis Acupuncture Hospital, Salem Tabri, here in collaboration with Lions Clubs Ludhiana Royal to observe World AIDS Day. Advocates, doctors and other citizens participated in the meeting.

Rana Surat Singh, an advocate and Zone Chairman of Lions Club, said all sections of the society should form a front to fight the AIDS by creating awareness. On this occasion, Dr Sunil Lakhotra, Director, Rishi Harmilap Nursing Home, said one should not be scared from AIDS patients. Senior doctor from Municipal Corporation, Dr Charanjit Uppal, said AIDS was a global problem. Developing countries were not taking it seriously and it was spreading fast.

Dr Inderjit Singh, Medical Superintendent of Dr Kotnis Acupuncture Hospital, said AIDS spread with unsafe sex, infected and unsterilised needless and infected blood and the masses should be told about the protection. Dr Kuljit Singh Bhalla presented a vote of thanks and said now people were aware about the disease and many village, panchayats had passed a resolution making it mandatory to get AIDS test before the marriage.

AIDS awareness week will also be observed at Dr Kotnis Hospital with the cooperation of Lions Club Ludhiana Royal to spread awareness about AIDS.

CULTURE

Bonanza of Latin and bhangra beats
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 1
“Remixes can be both good and bad. There are so many beautiful songs sung by the popular singers like Gita Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Mangeshkar sisters. Now that they are being remixed, the present generation is atleast aware of the eternally beautiful songs. That is the good side. The flip side is that some songs in the ‘remix’ just get killed,” said Mohini Singh from Mumbai. Mohini was talking the media this afternoon. She is in the city to perform tonight.

“If Madonna can adorn her hands with mehndi, we can make our Punjabi music internationally known. Already bhangra beats have gained immense popularity. Tonight for the first time, I am going to mix of the beats of bhangra with Latin beats. Both Latin and Punjabi music have amazing thumping beats and can make everyone dance. Punjabi rhythm has gone global. I love coming to Ludhiana as people have understanding of music and are really outgoing people.”

Mohini Singh, an Indo-Brazilian by birth and the songs sung by her topped the charts. The songs sung by her ‘Ishq chandi hein, Ishq sona hai from Bibi No.1 Akheian se goli mare - from Dulha Raja and the ‘Babuji Remix’ has shot her into limelight and has made her a great favourite.

Talking to the mediapersons this afternoon at Friends Regency, Mohini Singh said,” After a long and hard struggle, I was given a break by Bhappi Lehri in a non-descript film called Military Raj but I got noticed. Finally the songs sung by me are popular. I am giving play back for Bipasha Basu and singing in Ram Gopal Verma’s untitled film. My other song will be from Sohni Mahiwal and yet another song is being composed by Nadeem Shravan — the famous music directors.”

“Music is in my blood as my mother is Brazilian whereas my father is Punjabi. I knew from my childhood that singing would be my vocation so I started learning classical music from Pandit Sukhdev Chaturvedi. I feel the more you study music the more you need to learn. Now that I have reached certain position, I would like to help some upcoming new singer as I know what is to struggle.”

She said that she liked Suriya of yesteryears as she had a lovely voice. She said, “Present day singers are so lucky as there is so much of technical assistance given them during recording of songs. But earlier the singers had to sing in one take. That showed the mastery of yesteryear singers.”

Artists honoured at sabhyacharak mela
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 1
The much-awaited Devki Devi Yaadgari Sabhyacharak Mela, jointly organised by the departments of Punjabi and English, began on a colourful note today. The first part of the programme was presided over by Dr Mr Amarjit Singh Dua, Dean, College Development Council, Guru Nanak Dev University. The chief guest Mr Ramesh Kapoor, Dean, College Development Council, PU, inaugurated the cultural programme by lighting the traditional lamp.

The highlight of the function was “Dhee Punjab Di” contest in which 18 participants took part. The contest was highly appreciated by the audience. The programme was attended by all members of the mela managing committee, including the President, Mr Narinder Kumar Jain, Mr Surinder secretary, Kumar, Mr Baldev Raj Ji Jain, Mr Hira Lal Jain, Mr Ajit Kumar Jain and Mr Raj Kumar Jain.

The chief guest of the second part of the programme was Mr Surinder Kumar Dawar, MLA. It was presided over by the Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill. The authorities honoured the distinguished TV and film artists, including Nirmal Rishi, Pammi Bai and the renowned the Punjabi poet Ravinder Singh Bathal. Miss Rati Brar, Miss World Punjaban 2003 added to the glory of the programme with her presence. Three old students of the college — Vijay Sharma, Parveen Singla and Sandeep — were honoured by for excelling in the professions, other than teaching.

On the second day of the mela, inter-college competitions in dance, giddha choreography and histrionics will be held on the college premises.

Amanpreet Kaur of BA-II won first position in the “Dhee Punjab Dee” contest while Ravneet Kaur (plus two) and Reetika (plus one) were adjudged first and second respectively.

An evening of ghazals
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 1
An evening of ghazals — ‘Kehkashan’ — was organised by Adeeb International at Punjab Bhavan last evening. The best ghazals of well-known Urdu writers of the last three centuries were sung by the local artistes. The programme no doubt started with ghazals of Meer but to give a more colourful flavour to it, a singer sang ‘ghazal ka saaz uthao, bahut udaas hai raat’ penned by Firaq Gorakhpuri.

Then Mir’s ghazal ‘hasti apni hubaab si hai ‘ followed by Mirza Ghalib’s ghazal ‘har ek baat par kehte ho tum ke tu kya hain’ evoked good response from the audience. Daag’s gazal ‘kehne deti nahin muhan se’ was followed by a ghazal ‘dogaz bhi zameen na milli kuye yaar mein’ of last Mughal’s Bahadur Shah Zafar. Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s gazal ‘ajeeb rang mein abke bahar guzari hein’ was also received well by the audience.

The Urdu lovers had unforgettable time listening to ghazals that have withstood the passage of time by the best Urdu ghazal singer like Mirza Asad Ullaha Khan, Iqbal, Jigar Moradabadi, Hafeez Jalandhari, Ahmed Firaz, Hafeez Jalandhari, Rabani Bhakshi and our own Sahir Ludhianavi. His nazam ‘do boond sawan ki’ thrilled the audience.

The audience was given the explanation of some of the couplets and information of the writers and the finer points of their writings. Mr Kewal Dheer, president of Adeeb International, organised the evening.

The programme ended with the presentation of Ibne Insha’s poem ‘insha jee utho aab kooch karo’.

The singers who rendered these ghazals were Randhir Kanwal, Ravneet, Rakhi, Rajnish and Arun Vasudev. The lighting and sound arrangement was done by Nona and Sandeep. Before the start of the function, tributes were paid to DSP Krishan Gopal Dewaan, who had passed away a few days ago.

A cop with poetic leanings
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

THE last thing one would expect from a policeman is poetry. Nonetheless, Parwinder Bhammipuri, a Constable with the Punjab police, is a born poet. Writing Punjabi songs, poems and ghazals is his domain.

While in college, he used to write short stories and poems for the college magazine. He has learnt to play harmonium and aspires to be a singer as well. In his songs, Bhammipuri attacks various social evils like the caste system and female foeticide, besides striving to create “clean” lyrics, which can be enjoyed along with family members. “Ki hoya si je mein dhi si...enna dun kyon la ditta...kyon jamman ton pehlan hi...mera khura khoj mitta ditta...” and “Mein haan dharat Punjab di lokon...minu ehi maraan ne...kujh lut layi mein bahar de dushman...kujh lut layi gaddaraan ne...” are fine examples of literary creations of this sensitive soul.

A music album of the CTC music company with Bhammipuri as a lyricist has already been released. Another album, titled “Guldasta,” is in the pipeline. Regarding his inclination towards writing, he says his endeavour is to provide the people “something different.” He abhors vulgarity in music video albums. “What really surprises me is the single-track approach of Punjabi lyricists. Most of them are obsessed with the female body and liquor, as if there was no other subject to write on,” he maintains.

Born at a non-descript Punjab village, Bhammipur in Ludhiana district, he derives his inspiration from his surroundings. Many a time, even commonplace things prompt him to write. Since he is posted in Chandigarh, he finds time to write only when he goes to his village. There, the natural environs inspire him to be at his creative best.

Interestingly, besides writing, he has performed well in several other areas. For instance, he has been a good athlete and football player. When he was a college student at Dhakha, he revived the local Babe Shaheed Memorial Football Club. He also participated in a state-level football tournament.

Later, when he joined the police force, he switched over to athletics and participated in 800-metre and 400-metre relay races. The shift was necessitated as there was no provision for playing football. Even now, he coaches the interested youths of his village whenever he visits the place.

Gurdas Mann is his favourite Punjabi singer, followed by Babbu Singh Mann. Another aspect of this multi-faceted personality is that against all odds, he succeeded in marrying the girl of his choice. Though he had to face tremendous opposition and a long legal battle for this inter-caste marriage, he did not succumb to pressure. He is now a happily married man and a proud father. He wants his son to carve a niche in the field of sports, as sportspersons get name, fame and money.