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No couples’ day out in city
CITY men usually like to plough a lonely furrow, when it comes to outings. They would rather not take their wife out for evening jaunts and social functions. Does this reluctance stem from the traditional mindset or is it sheer convenience or is it a reflection of a chauvinistic society?
Mr Kiran Kumar Verma, a Medical Representative, tells us to imagine this scenario — a couple, staying in a joint family, goes out for dinner. They are happy. But the seeds of potential discord have been sown — not between the couple on an outing but between other couples who have stayed back home. The couple’s younger brother has to fend himself against the charges of his wife, who is seething with anger. She says her husband is indifferent to her; he doesn’t take her along for outing! “What I mean is that in a joint family system, there’s less scope for individual pursuits. There’s yet another aspect to it. The lewd comments that louts loitering in the city chowks pass on women are disgusting. Who would like to take his wife out to face these verbal assaults?” he asks. Then there’s the feeling that a woman’s rightful place is home and hearth. She’s supposed to stay within the confines of home. Perhaps, this feeling spills over to relationships too. “There is a trend among men folk not to take their wife out. Perhaps, our social customs enjoin this, at least partially,” says Ms Madanjit Kaur, a homemaker, hastening to add that she, personally, cannot grudge her husband on this count as they “do go out together”. The role of not-so-busy yet ever-busy aunts and uncles, who love to act as the barometres of morality, is rather interesting here. If a youngish woman and man are standing at roadside, tongues start wagging rather eloquently, we are told. And the conscientious aunts and uncles begin their analyses of “standing together factor” till every possible permutation and combination of the relationship is exhausted. It’s a rather interesting exercise — only the subjects of this exercise feel “disconcertedly uncomfortable” during the process, reveals one such subject. Ms Harpreet Kaur, a young lecturer, takes a candid look at the social injunctions against ‘getting a tad too friendly with your wife’. “It’s a typically traditional set-up. You may call people friendly, but the flip side to it is that they are pesky. And they revel in shooting down reputations. You may be taking walk with your spouse, but the good folks will eye you suspiciously and all sorts of spicy stories may start doing rounds,” she remarks. The ma-in-law effect, too, cannot be discounted. Generally, the insecure ma-in-law is reluctant to let her son go out with his wife. “There’s the tedious process of seeking permission from all elders, who have their own little list of suggestions and advice. It’s almost like discussing the minutes of a meeting. By the time you are through with it, the very charm of going out is lost,” explains Ms Harpreet Kaur, adding that her observations are based on what she has seen in society as a whole. Marriage has never been about companionship in our society, an octogenarian avers. “This talk about husband and wife going out to enjoy smacks of westernisation. Do you have to make a public show of your togetherness? It seems undignified,” says this octogenarian. However, there are some who feel marriage is more about companionship and less about two strangers trying to slog it out together to keep some abstract social norms intact. “Not taking my wife out with me is unthinkable. We have a whale of a time together in the evenings,” says a software expert, Mr Rohit Sahni, adding with a twinkle in his eyes, “I think in my circle most of my friends have no hassles about being seen with their wife at public places!” Dr H.S. Mann, a city-based sonologist, says, “My
wife and I go out frequently. It comes very naturally to us.” But, he adds, there are social and historical reasons for the reluctance of men folk to go out with their wife. “The rural roots are still very strong here. Then the influence of the Lahore- culture can also be discerned in our social mores and customs. We have not yet yanked off that past. Men here are very protective towards their women, even if it means denying the latter some rightful things,” he explains. Perhaps, at some level the arrangement works well for women also, who would rather not trade their privileges (accruing from a patriarchal set-up) with a few hours of a pleasurable outing. But it’s a feministic streak that prompts a college student to say: “I wish a day would come when you would ask me why women are reluctant to take their husband out with them!” |
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Romance is out for the young, too
ROMANCE. A hush-hush word. And an unwelcome terrain. Parents frown on it. Youngsters have no time for it. It’s like a vestigial remain of some mushy, slushy era where lovers dawdled over sweet nothings. The verdict is simple: romance is out. Are we fast-forwarding to some zombie age of shrivelled emotions in circa 5000 AD? Nope. It’s our very own city of year 2004. And our very own city folks have chucked the very word “romance” out of their lexicon.
“In this fast-paced life, who has time to get sentimental? Romance sounds so unromantic,” quips a youngster, trying to sound mature. His friends chip in to say that it is an inconvenient exercise, unless it’s a quickie kind of romance. “Yes, some of my friends are involved with girls. But I think it’s more about having good time together and less about a serious commitment,” remarks a young computer professional. As an afterthought he adds that for a time-strapped guy who is hard up, romance is a distant dream. Girls have their own interpretation of the “short on romance and long on flirtation” phenomenon. “It’s strange. Guys have the time to make passes at girls, but when it comes to a long-term relationship, they withdraw,” sniggers a girl, pleading anonymity. A young homeopathic practitioner feels that romance has much that goes against it. “The family usually is not very supportive. Parents seldom like if their daughter shows any romantic inclination. They are
scandalised,” she remarks. Romance is riddled with problems, feel many youngsters. “Unless a boy is well off, he cannot even think of it. He’s sure to be shown the door by the girl, if she’s not comfortable with his financial status. For all the talk about women’s lib, a boy’s financial status is the deciding factor,” says Mr Pankaj, a young executive. “Even if all things work out well, moral policing is sure to scotch a budding romance. The sight of cops sends the youngsters scurrying back home,” says Ms
Nimisha, who is into event management. She adds that there is hardly any place where the youngsters can sit together and chat without any intrusion into their privacy. Another girl, in her rather interesting analysis, says, “You are what your city makes you. If there had been a clear, sparkling lake or a snow-smooched mountain here, things may have been different. Youngsters may have been more inclined towards romance, in the true sense of the word. But hot, muggy days and a gruelling schedule in a fast-paced world can only make for an efficient executive and not an ardent lover.” “If youngsters ape Bollywood down to its show of outlandish gestures, it does not mean that romance is alive. It only means that the youngsters are watching the movies diligently,” says Prof Sarla Bhardwaj, a poet and critic. “Romance is more like a gentle breeze that refreshes you, particularly when you are saddled with the sheer weight of living. You don’t have to be young and nubile to have a romantic feeling. A couple married for four decades may have more romance in their relationship that a young couple on the threshold of marriage,” she adds. |
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Born there, studying here
REALISING that their children may loose their precious Punjabi cultural background one day, a worried lot of NRIs hailing from Doaba region of Punjab and settled in different parts of the globe, have started turning homewards. A large number of them have
admitted their wards to some Jalandhar- based educational institutes with the hope that their kids will not only shine in academics, but will also be able to imbibe their ‘native’cultural spontaneously. Learning the languages -- Hindi and Punjabi --is also an issue for it is almost impossible to do so in a foreign environment.
What is more interesting and laced with a bit of irony is that even a few foreigners (particularly from non-English speaking countries like Germany), have developed a craze for sending their children to Jalandhar with a dual purpose— to improve their English and to enable them to have a feel of an atmosphere of stringent discipline, which is unlike the academic ambience prevalent in their own countries. And, it is not that these ‘foreig’ kids feel out of place here. In fact, they enjoy the educational atmosphere here, which, according to them, is far more discipline based. “My New Jersey-based parents have sent me here to learn Indian culture. Almost every common student in the USA is weak in maths. My parents wanted me to have a good grounding in the subject. The other factor which prompted my parents was that they wanted me to study in a more discipline-oriented atmosphere. Though my dad is a Punjabi, my mom, who is an American, was more anxious to ensure that I stay connected to my cultural roots,” says the New Jersey -born Raj, a student of the local CT Public School. “To keep me away from cultural pollution, my mom decided that I should study in Jalandhar,” said Harinder Pal, a student of Class IX of the same school. He is a third generation New York- based NRI. His grandfather was a senior official with the UN headquarters in New York. According to Mr. S.S. Ahluwalia, the Principal of the St. Soldier Divine Public School here where about 70 wards of NRIs are studying, what forces Punjabi NRIs to direct their kids homewards is a fear caused by the vast difference of cultures. “For instance, dating is a commonly accepted practice there. But none of our people want their girls to go on dates. In the West, it is considered to be backward if a girl student doesn’t date. So much so that authorities at certain schools there bring it to the notice of parents of those students who don’t go on dates. This is almost impossible for Punjabis to accept and it is one of the major reasons that the NRIs prefer to send their children back home,” says Mr. Ahluwalia. Yasmin and her younger brother Farooq have come all the way from Germany to fulfill their dream of learning English and finding a future in medicine. “My only objective to come here is to study English in a proper manner and this is difficult to attain in a non-English country like Germany,” says Yasmin. Taechin, a student from Thailand whose brother has been sent by their parents to the USA for studies, feels that Punjab, particularly, Jalandhar, was a better place for a serious learner like him. Same is the case with Gurminder Kaur, a Phillipines- born student, who was sent here to study and learn Punjabi culture. He was of the view that getting fully attuned to one’s roots was an uphill task in a foreign country, particularly in a country like Phillipines where a miniscule Punjabi community is settled. Yasmin, Taechin and Gurminder Kaur are students of the CT Public School. Sunpreet from California and Lovepreet from Canada, maintain that since they were born in a foreign land, they were not aware of their cultural background and had scanty knowledge of Punjabi and Hindi. Narrating how Taechin landed in his school directly from Thailand, Mr. Manbir Singh, the CEO of the CT Public School, said that during a visit to Thailand he met Kuldip Kaur Hansra, a Punjabi woman, who was running a English teaching academy there. It was due to her efforts and persuasion that parents of Taechin agreed to send him to Jalandhar instead of the USA. “Now they are happy at their decision. Before the admission of Taechin, Kuldip Kaur Hansra visited the school and expressed her satisfaction over the academic environment here. Taechin wants to complete his studies here with us,” said Mr. Manbir Singh and his father Charanjit Singh, who is the chairman of the school. The intention of their parents was to not only keep them near to their roots, but also save a few of their precious years. “In Canada, fetching a Bachelors law degree takes almost eight years as compared to five in India. Moreover, as compared to almost all Western countries, education is much cheaper here and curriculum is more intense. In the West, the education system is more flexible, which sometimes spoils kids. None of the NRIs desires this,” says Dr. Daljit Singh, the head of the Law School of the GNDU. “Actually, the new generation of Punjabi NRIs, have distanced themselves from their cultural base. This is evident from a number of foreign-based NRI girls marrying foreigners. But, in fact, this trend does not find the approval of the previous generation of Punjabis. They tried to imbibe the culture of the countries they were settled in and
failed. The futility of acquiring another cultural identity became evident to them over the years that they spent in foreign lands. So, of late, people of that generation yearn to link their wards to their original roots in one or the other way. The psychology behind sending their children back home has its seeds in a feeling of alienation which has gripped middle-aged Punjabis settled abroad,” observes Dr. Kamlesh Duggal, the Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of the Guru Nanak Dev University here. |
Long, unscheduled power cuts bedevil residents
LONG and frequent power cuts, sleepless nights and increased level of pollutants, Jalandhar residents have had a bad time this summer. Never had they experienced such long and sustained power cuts, at least in the past five years. This is all thanks to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) that could not foresee the increasing demand of power vis-à-vis the supply, rue the residents.
So grave was the problem that the city residents were forced to hold dharnas to show their resentment. Farmers held rail blockades and industrialists protested against the “injustice” meted out to them due to erratic power supply that had brought down the production levels to an alarming low. An hour’s rain almost daily and relatively cool weather in the past one week, however, has brought some respite to the residents. Power cuts have now come down to one or two hours a day. But for the residents it was a real tough time when power cuts extended to eight hours a day. Says Ms Jaswinder Kaur, a homemaker, “It was a dreadful time for me. My one-year-old baby would start howling during the extended power cuts. I had to keep fanning him the whole day.” Mr Mankaran Bhandari, an exporter of hand tools, said that even though power situation had improved to some extent in the past few days, cuts of one to two hours’ duration were still being imposed. These cuts were apart from the “weekly power off” every Thursday, he added. He said this forced him to keep the factory closed every Thursday, as it was not economically viable to use generator the whole day. “Such an off was reasonable during the power crisis. But now the crisis is more or less over. There should be relaxation in the cuts now,” he said. Another resident, Dr Vishal Thatai, who is a homoeopath, said this summer the power supply had been rather bad. He said though an inverter was installed at his dispensary near Guru Ravi Dass Chowk , it stopped functioning after two hours. He said his patients found the heat unbearable at times. But there’s relief in the offing for the residents. Coming to the aid of the residents, the PSEB has launched Rs 50-crore project under which five new sub-stations will be installed in the peripheral parts and one sub-station will be upgraded. This Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Project (APDRP), being funded by the Central Government, is aimed at ensuring that the ever-expanding city does not face any power supply problem, at least for the coming five years. Giving this information, Mr O.P. Sharma, Chief Engineer, PSEB, Jalandhar Range, said that five additional sub-stations were expected to come up by March 2005. These included 66 KV sub-stations at Chuggitti near Pathankot Bypass, Kot Sadiq on Kala Singhan Road, Chara Mandi on Nakodar Road, Patel Chowk opposite Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyalaya, and industrial area near Sodal Mandir. Besides, the capacity of the existing 66 KV sub-station at Children Park near Hans Raj Stadium would be doubled in the next six months, he said. He added that two more 66 KV sub-stations had been planned in Jhandu Singhan and Khajurla. The PSEB has also geared itself up to check power thefts in the city. Mr U.C. Saroa, Deputy Chief Engineer, said that power thefts to the tune of Rs 108.17 lakh had been detected in the past four months. He said that as many as 21,501 connections were checked, out of which 2,555 connections were found tampered with. He said that the board had already made a recovery of Rs 121.4 lakh in the current year, which included some recoveries of the previous year as well. |
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People’s Concern
Constructed in 1974 to cater to 400 buses and 20,000 passengers, the bus terminus is presently handling the traffic of 2,600 buses daily. The buses ply between various states, including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan. The very entry to the terminus is a testing task, particularly during rainy season. The commuters have to wade through sludge and knee-depth water to board a bus. As the terminus is situated three feet below than the ground level, it gets converted into a temporary pond during the rain s. There is no proper drainage system. Even the building of the terminus is a leaking, dilapidated structure. “It takes just a few bursts of shower to make the rain water come gushing through the cracks in the roof. The passengers can be seen running for a safe shelter,” a bus conductor reveals. When contacted, General Manager, Punjab Roadways, Mr Parneet Singh Minhas, admitted that there was shortage of funds for the maintenance of the bus terminus. “There has been no budgetary allocation for its maintenance since 1992. As the state government plans to construct an ultra-modern ISBT here, our request for the release of funds for maintenance was not approved,” he said. The terminus story does not end here. There’s much more. The toilets at the terminus stink. It is difficult to stand even for a minute near these toilets due to the foul smell, says a commuter. What’s more, the private contractor here asks the people to shell out Rs 2 every time they avail of the toilet ‘facility’. “No action has been taken against the private contractor, who is openly minting money in connivance with the authorities,” alleges Mr Karnail Singh, a local resident who commutes between Jalandhar and Ludhiana. Departmental sources reveal that the contractor earns more than Rs 5000 daily. The virtual absence of cold drinking water at the terminus leaves the commuters parched during summers. On a sweltering hot day, the commuters are forced to buy soft drinks. The buying of the soft drinks again is something that is not exactly a buyer’s choice. Though Rs 6 is the maximum retail price (MRP) for a 300 ml bottle of soft drink, the shopkeepers here charge Rs 12 per bottle. Many of these shopkeepers have encroached upon the major portion of the platform by putting up makeshift shops to sell their wares. The student community has its own grouse. They say that bus drivers are biased against them. Most of the bus conductors tell them not to board a bus till it is packed with passengers. The only ‘fault’ of the students is that they hold monthly bus passes. “There is a lot of inconvenience to girl students. If we have a bus pass it does not mean that we don’t have a right to board a bus with other passengers,” says Ms Kamaljit Kaur of Jandiala village. The only relief to the commuters is the news that tenders for construction of a modern ISBT at the cost of Rs 12.60 crore have already been allotted by the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB). The proposed bus terminus will have all basic facilities for commuters, besides banking counters, shopping plaza, ATM counters and restaurants. However, till then it’s a journey from a hell for the commuters! |
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Stinking, garbage-littered streets breed disease
THE tall claims of the local Municipal Corporation authorities notwithstanding, heaps of garbage can be seen in most of the localities here. The old part of the city, where garbage is often left to rot, is worst affected. Residents are forced to put up with putrid smell emanating from the garbage.
The Tribune team, during a survey, found the areas of Dhobi
Mohalla, Old Subzi Mandi, Pacca Bagh, Central Town and Bagh Barian reeked of foul smell. The residents complained that they had to put up with filth and stink, which were not only a nuisance but also a health hazard. The situation worsens during rains. In areas like Boota Mandi, Abadpura, Model House, Kartar Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Bagh Barian and Guru Nanak Pura (West), the rainy season is what the residents dread. The residents blame Municipal Corporation for turning a blind eye to their problems. Mr Major Singh, a resident of Model House, said safai karamcharis of the area seldom did their work regularly. “Though I have been residing here for the past 10 years, yet I have rarely seen the safai karamcharis of the area doing their work. There should be a check on their activities by the supervisor concerned,” he said, adding that though several complaints regarding the problem had been submitted to the MC authorities, but it was of no avail. “The MC authorities get posh localities, including Model Town, New Jawahar Nagar and Mota Singh Nagar, regularly cleaned off garbage. But in case of slums and underdeveloped localities it is another matter. These localities seem to be the neglected backwater of the city,” Mr Raman Kumar of Dhobi Mohalla rued. The garbage problem was brought all the more into focus in the recent past when gastroenteritis spread in some slum areas, including the Bhargo Camp. More than 500 gastro-afflicted residents had to be hospitalised. Though the mixing of sludge with the drinking water was cited as the reason for the spread of disease, senior health officials were quoted as saying that heaps of garbage had compounded the problem. The MC has the strength of about 1000 safai karamcharis against the requirement of 2800 safai workers, according to the available information. “To ensure better cleaning of roads and streets, we have signed agreements with mohalla welfare societies, wherein the latter employ part-time safai sewaks for two hours. We provide a monthly sum of Rs 1200 per safai sewak to these societies,” Mr Ved Vyas, MC Assistant Commissioner, said, adding that sometimes there could be delay in the lifting of garbage due to the breakdown of
vehicles. Mr Vyas suggested that the residents came forward with their complaints. He added that a strict action would be taken against the erring safai
sewaks. |
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AWWA is one big family
EVEN as army men remain deployed for securing the nation's front from enemies' attacks, their wives do not sit back. They make it a point to do their bit for the betterment of the families of martyred soldiers and handicapped jawans. Army Wives' Welfare Association (AWWA) is in the forefront when it comes to providing financial and moral support to the jawans and their families. "Nobody can look after them the way we do, for we can feel their pain and suffering," is the refrain of members of the AWWA, Vajra Corps, Jalandhar Cantonment. The AWWA, Vajra Corps, has become almost synonymous with the rehabilitation of the jawans and their families. Its work includes helping the jawans in getting monetary assistance from the welfare wing of the army, providing assistance to their family in securing a job and arranging for education and marriage of the children of martyrs and other jawans. The association members also assist the handicapped jawans in obtaining the allotment of a petrol pump or a gas agency. It is not just the affected families that get the support of the association. As many as 250 families of the army men currently deployed with the Vajra Corps at Jalandhar Cantonment are being provided vocational training at minimal charges at the Vajra Vocational Sainik Institute (VVSI). The AWWA, Vajra Corps, also runs stitching, embroidery, computer and beautician courses. The idea is to help women become self-reliant. The association has also started a school "Asha" where mentally and physically challenged children of the jawans are taught basic concepts using audio-visual aids. Says Ms Jasjeet Sandhu, coordinator of the AWWA, Vajra Corps, "It becomes mandatory for us to look after the families of the jawans. Otherwise, they will remain worried about them when they are on the front. Under such circumstances, they may not be able to perform their duty well." Four nursery schools for tiny tots of the jawans are being run in the Cantonment under the aegis of the AWWA, Vajra Corps. Children of the association members also enjoy the benefits of free toy library, free mobile library and the AWWA bookshop from where they can purchase books on "no profit-no loss" basis. The association also organises a series of activities, including puppet shows, parties, and poetry recitation, story telling and painting competitions for the children. Fortnight-long summer camps are held for training the children in co-curricular activities during the annual vacation in schools. The association members run a shop "Priyadarshini" where they sell traditional handicrafts, including phulkaris of Punjab, Mysore silk pieces, Banarasi saris and chikan work from Lucknow. The funds thus collected are incorporated into the welfare funds of the AWWA, Vajra Corps. There's also the facility of learning car driving at minimal charges at the Vajra Driving School managed by the AWWA, Vajra Corps. Various personality development courses and series of talks are organised from time to time, during which experts from various fields are invited. These experts deliver lectures on health, hygiene and nutrition, seasonal disorders, pregnancy, gynaecological disorders and baby care. The members with an interest in art and craft can participate in flower arrangement, candle making, home decoration, painting, cookery and knitting contests that are frequently organised. In fact, these days the AWWA, Vajra Corps, members are all geared up for the AWWA week scheduled to begin from August 17. |
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A Durbar that courts the common man
THE Khula Durbar is a unique institution set-up by the district administration. It makes Jalandhar stand out among other districts of the Doaba region as one that attends to the common man first and foremost. It has not only proved to be a strong deterrent against the usual indifference which greets a common man in almost all government offices, but has also helped in containing violence arising out of petty day- to- day family squabbles.
The Khula Durbar, a twice- a-month affair, is organised with the dual purpose of speeding up the process of delivery of justice to people and for exerting psychological pressure on officials of different departments in order to make them deliver the goods. That as many as 550 of a total of 658 complaints received by the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, have already been redressed during the last six months shows that the scheme, a brainchild of the Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Ashok Gupta, has worked. According to those who have attended the Durbar, things have started moving forward even in the indifferent officious environment which, otherwise, virtually grounds a common man for days and months. Interestingly, the Khula Durbar, where any common man from any part of the district can drop in with his or her grievance concerning the working of any government office, has not only cast a dramatic and a positive effect on the working of officials, but has also helped in containing family violence to a great extent. “The quantity of complaints against government officials have been declining over the last one year or so and this is largely because the problems of the people are being solved at the level of different departments and their officials. Now people come and say that they don’t have to wait for long for getting their work done. What works as a psychological weapon is the fear among officials that they would have to explain the delay on their part publicly in the Khula Durbar. “We have made an interesting observation about its functioning. No official wants to be summoned in the Durbar. Similarly, since the response time has seen a sharp decline, cases of family violence and other petty crimes have witnessed a steep downward trend. For example, if a newly wed woman comes and alleges harassment at hands of her in-laws, we immediately get a case registered against the accused. In most of the family dispute cases, though people file their cases in the fit of rage in the Durbar, most of them prefer to settle their cases on their own or at the panchayat level as the erring party realises that a case would be registered against them without any delay,” said Mr. Ashok Gupta, the Deputy Commissioner. He said any resident, who felt that his genuine work was being delayed or he was being harassed in one or the other manner in any of government offices, could join the Khula Durbar, organised at the office of the Deputy Commissioner on every second and fourth Wednesday of a month. Remedial steps would be taken immediately after the filing of a complaint by the person concerned, he added. According to available data, a whopping 60 per cent or more of complaints related to family violence or petty family disputes arising out of matrimony or division of property. |
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Craze for swanky cars catches on
PEOPLE of this cash-rich heartland of the Doaba region love to spend money on adorning their vehicles with the latest gadgets ranging from very costly hi-fi digital audio-video music systems to dashing floor lights.
A fad which has caught up among young Jalandharites and also NRIs (who come here during winters) is to equip their jazzy vehicles with the latest costly music systems which come with very hi-fi amplifiers, five to seven inches LCD screens and play-all DVDs. They don’t mind shelling out Rs 70,00 to Rs 1 lakh for this. Fancy fog-cutting lights and floor lights with a price tag ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 7000, depending on whether these are Indian or imported, has also caught the fancy of youngsters. “Nobody really cares about money. The well-heeled city folks and NRI youngsters are ready to shell out anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh to make their vehicles stand out among the vast vehicle population in this city,” says Mr Sanjay Sehgal of the Sehgal Car Experts. He adds every young SUV owner has a desire to fit a small refrigerator in the rear compartment to have a ‘moving’ bar in his vehicle and this costs him Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000. Some car buffs don’t want to move without an on-board Internet facility. Singer Hans Raj Hans is an example. His imported MUV is said to be fitted with a laptop and other gadgets. “Actually, it is a matter of satisfaction. They won’t stop spending money until they achieve what they have been yearning for,” says Mr Sehgal. Rear spoilers, bumper skirting and sun visors, which range from Rs 250 to Rs 5000 are other choices of a young vehicle owner. A few of them even get their vehicles laminated. This costs them around Rs 2500; it makes the vehicle virtually scratchproof. Leather seats are another attraction. “Leather seats come in 32 shades to suit the interior of a vehicle,” says a car accessory supplier. Mr Kuldip Singh, a Model House-based electronics gadget dealer who specialises in car audio fittings, informs that after using VCD and DVDs for a few months, NRIs and affluent people dispose these of to replace them with new models. “It is just like changing clothes,” he adds. Trade sources reveal that some vehicle owners in Jalandhar have even started going in for a ‘full change’ of the interiors of their vehicle. They send their vehicle to Delhi and Ludhiana-based vehicle remodelling units. For this, the vehicle owners have to shell out Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh. And they don’t seem to mind! |
Willow woes wind up ‘magic bat’ industry
THE news does not augur well for sports lovers. Jalandhar sports industry, which gave Sachin Tendulkar the 'magic bat' to become the highest runs' scorer in one-day international cricket, is on the brink of closure.
A drop in supply of mulberry and willow wood has hit local sports goods industry. Incidentally, these two types of wood have made Pakistan a top exporter of sports goods.
Kashmir willow and mulberry wood have been the backbone of the sports industry at Jalandhar since 1948, when the industry shifted base from Sialkot (now in Pakistan) to Jalandhar after partition. Everything went well and the industry flourished till 1988 when the Jammu and Kashmir Government imposed a ban on the export of willow to other states. Another blow to the industry came as a result of the dwindling of mulberry trees in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh during the past one decade. In the absence of any concerted effort on government's part to save the industry, the situation has come to such a pass that more than 50 per cent of the manufacturing units have closed down in the past ten years, while the remaining are surviving at the mercy of either smugglers or middlemen. These middlemen charge exorbitant rates for the supply of willow and mulberry wood, rendering the trade uneconomical. In a fairly recent development, the majority of cricket bat manufacturing units here have partially 'shifted' their manufacturing base to Jammu and Kashmir. They have worked out a profit-sharing arrangement with J&K firms, according to which skilled workers from Jalandhar use infrastructure of J&K units to manufacture bats. Subsequently, the bats are shown as 'sold' to a Jalandhar-based firm by a J&K firm. The 'shifting' arrangement does not work well for all. Many skilled workers have been rendered jobless in the process. They have been forced to opt for jobs which are much less paying and which do not make use of their special skills. "Not all workers can shift base to J&K. For them, there's no option but to call it quits," said a worker, adding that he himself was out of job for a long time due to this 'shifting'. "There has hardly been any supply of Kashmir willow in Punjab during the past six months and 70 per cent of the units have either closed down or migrated to J&K. The remaining units are engaged in exports and are being allowed to import willow from the valley under the quota system. The domestic cricket bat industry is on its last legs," rued Mr Ravinder Dhir, president of Sports Forum, a group of sports goods manufacturing units. He added that all this had far-reaching ramifications, including unemployment and considerable revenue loss to the state. Sports goods manufacturers maintained that in spite of being aware that the industry was in doldrums, nothing had been done either by the State or the Central Government to save it. Mr Dhir said that though four years back, the then-chief minister had assured them of restoration of willow supply, nothing had been done till date. Mr Ramesh Kohli, owner of Beat All Sports, a local firm that supplies 'magic bat' to Sachin Tendulkar, termed the ban as anti-constitutional. "How can states ban inter-state movement of raw material? Following the footsteps of the J&K Government, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration imposed a ban on the sale of cane that is used to manufacture handle of cricket bat. Now we are importing 12-foot-long cane from Singapore. The Central Government should formulate a uniform policy to save the industry, which is facing stiff competition from China and Pakistan," Mr Kohli said, adding that a bat manufactured using Kashmir willow cost much less than that manufactured using English willow. "Amateur cricket players have been worst hit by the ban, as they can no longer buy a bat to suit their pocket," he remarked. |
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INTER-state bus terminus here is commuters’ nightmare. Surprisingly, it caters to more than one lakh passengers who commute daily. It is learnt that the State Transport Department has not released a single penny for the maintenance of the terminus since 1992.