EDUCATION

With brush in hand, kids translate dreams on paper
Tribune News Service

Shankar’s on-the-spot painting competition, organised in collaboration with Pragyan School.

New Delhi, December 2
A sheet of plain paper and brush of colours is all it takes to translate a fancy, a wish or a dream into a picture that speaks. From the six year old who aspires to be an ice-cream wallah to the 16-year-old who flies in the skies in a self-built air craft, the dreams are varied, but the expression remains flawless.

At least 4,000 children on a bright Sunday morning painted the images from the mind into discernible pictures. As part of the annual Shankar’s on-the-spot painting competition, organised in collaboration with Pragyan School, these children let loose creativity that expressed aesthetic sensibilities.

While a confident few were ready to take home the prize, the perfectionists seemed immersed in getting the picture right. A Taj Mahal maker had a toy train maker for a neighbour, the money on one sheet was smiling sheepishly at the fairy on the other.

To salute the creative genius, there are three categories of prizes. Cash prizes of Rs 3000, Rs 2000 and Rs 1000 will be awarded on the basis of merit. The coveted Satish Chandra memorial award of Rs 10,000 will be given to a lucky one chosen by the jury. In addition, there are 150 prizes consisting of gift hampers sponsored by the Delhi Press and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

Shankar’s on-the-spot painting competition, an annual event here, started in 1952. The on-the-spot painting competition is now a regular event attended by thousands of children from the C Capital and its suburbs.

Under the aegis of ‘’Shankar’s’’, a political magazine by famous cartoonist K Shankar Pillai, a competition called Shankar’s International Children’s Competition was organised in 1949. It invited paintings and writings from children in India. The following year the competition was thrown open to children from all over the world.

Today, the competition has grown and about 1,60,000 entries are received from over 130 countries.

Teachers resent junior’s appointment as Principal
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, December 2
Handing over charge of the Principal of the BPS College of Education, Khanpur Kalan, to a junior teacher of the college has reportedly spread resentment among senior teachers of the college. They have urged the Director of the Higher Education Department of the state government to intervene in the matter.

It has also been reported that the new officiating Principal is the wife of a senior officer of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak. The management committee of the college has also reportedly not been taken into confidence while making this appointment.

The BPS College of Education is one of the half a dozen girls’ education institutions being run by the management committee of Kanya Gurukul, Khanpur Kalan, where 5,000 girls from Haryana, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are receiving education in different professional and academic faculties.

The post of the Principal of the College of Education has been lying vacant for the last many months. Despite advertisements, the post remained vacant for want of an eligible candidate. The management committee reportedly handed over the acting charge of the Principal to one senior teacher of the college.

But just after a few days the newly appointed officiating Principal reportedly proceeded on long leave and handed over the charge of the Principal to a junior teacher of the college, Sumitra Devi. She reportedly has teaching experience of eight to 10 years and is stated to be junior to six teachers of the college with an experience of 15 to 20 years.

The senior teachers have pointed out that according to the rules of MDU and the department, the seniormost teacher of the college should hold the officiating charge of the Principal. Handing over the charge to a junior teacher was a clear violation of the rules.

They categorically remarked that such actions brought resentment in their wake and bred inferiority complex among the senior teachers besides creating indiscipline among the staff members. They alleged that Sumitra Devi had been given the charge of the Principal because she was the wife of a senior and influential officer in the university.

CULTURE

GLITZ & GLAMOUR
Anu’s tips for your precious trinkets
Smriti Kak

While the Capital played host to one jewellery show after another, providing connoisseur’s ample opportunity to indulge themselves, there are many who might be a little curious about the ways to maintain their precious booty.

Jewellery designer Anuradha Chhabra of ‘Jewels by Anu’ has been thoughtful and generous in sharing some tips to take care of the jewellery. “People buy clothes or other goods, they are aware of the care that they have to take in order to maintain them in a good condition. However, as far as jewellery is concerned, most people seem absolutely unaware about ways of taking care of their precious jewellery. It is assumed that the jewellery will continue to look the same even years after its purchase, despite not having taken any care of it,” says Anu.

She adds: “One should make it a point to maintain the jewellery, that for generations it looks as bright and new. Jewellery is a piece of art. If it is well-maintained and looked after, its beauty will increase with age.”

Anu’s prescription advises, “some jewellers may advise you to get broken jewellery exchanged, but remember maintaining existing jewellery is much cheaper than replacing it. One should, on their own, get the jewellery washed, cleaned, checked (to see whether any diamonds have come loose or any joint is on the verge of breaking) and polished. This should be done at least every six months.”

Weakening of the joints in jewellery over a period of time is a natural phenomenon, especially so in case of hand made jewellery, says Anu. So, to save yourself form both fretting and spending money on repairs and exchanges Anu offers, “don’t wear your jewellery to bed, in the shower, when cooking in the kitchen, specially when kneading flour”.

She adds: “Water from the tap is usually hard and is not good for jewellery, avoid spraying perfume on your jewellery. The chemical reaction may discolour it”. Further, the prescription offers, “if you are getting hand-made bangles for yourself, have them filled in with wax this increases their strength”.

“People presume that a piece of jewellery will last them a lifetime. If it does not, then we believe that it is not a quality product. Jewellery, like everything else, has a life. Depending on its craftsmanship and the technology used, once it has lasted its time, it will begin to fall apart. The best thing you can do is to look after your jewellery and maintain it so that its life can be extended to cover many generations,” says Anu, who has been awarded ‘The Jawahar Lal Nehru Award’ in recognition of outstanding services to society and excellence in the chosen field of activity.

Wooing sensitive customers

‘Skip Jump and Play’ from Weekender

For the consumers who not just know what they want, but can also dictate the success or the failure of a brand, children are not too easy to please. Weekender has made an attempt to woo this “sensitive” genre of customers with their latest collection.

The ‘Party Collection’ has a range of printed tees, embroidered shirts and zipped jackets for the party animals. The ‘Enchanted Wood’ collection has ornamental designs in different pint techniques, cotton viscose knits and printed corduroy and the ‘Burning Scooter’ collection is all about a club look with emboss effect and reflective piping.

Glamour with a contemporary feel

Model in AJ’s women wear.

Amarjyot Sing Anand now has deigns on women. After having dictated the dress sense of men, AJ (its stylish to shorten the name) now has come up with a collection for the women.

The cuts says AJ are, “traditional with bridal, trousseau and party wear making up for the main part. Scintillating Indo-Western saris, chic kurtis, Pataila salwars, Aligarh salwars are all part of the collection”.

Junior Bali's Bollywood trek

Nana Patekar, Sharbani Mukherjee, Suchindra Bali with his mother Vyjayanthimala at the Waves cineplex in Noida.

The film Aanch, which was premiered at the Waves, in Noida among other things, is the launch pad for Vyjayanthimala’s son Suchendra Bali. The film also stars Sharbani Mukherjee, last seen in some music videos (after Border, that is) and is directed by Rajesh Kumar Singh.

The star cast descended on the Waves along with Nana Patekar, who also stars in the film and Vyjayanthimala. The cheering and excitement over the stars talked of how hard they had worked the expectations that both the fans and they themselves have from the film.

Mr and Miss Teen finals on Dec 21

Aspirants at the Mr and Miss Teen India contest.

The Mr and Miss Teen India 2003, organised by the Alee Club, saw a bunch of hopefuls putting their best foot forward during the screening round. The contest, which judges the aspirants on the basis of their IQ and personality and their awareness about HIV/AIDS, will have the finals on the 21st of this month.

Aspirants, boys and girls between 13 and 19 from the NCR, were screened on the basis of a questionnaire. The judges were Femina Miss Personality Aanchal Gulati, Choreographer Sambita, anchor Pallab Bose and educationist Ratna Sethi.