The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

St Soldier school celebrates 10th anniversary
Our Correspondent

Mohali, December 18
Junior Jingles, a cultural show by tiny tots, was presented as part of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of St Soldier International Convent School (SSICS), Phase VII, here today.

Students of Class I presented a Hawaian dance followed by another dance number “Chandu ke Chacha ne”.

Among the items were “Birdie and banyan tree”, “A world without colours” and “Fitness freaks”. “Shaguna da vehra” by students of KG depicted a typical Punjabi wedding and enthralled the gathering.

A fete was also inaugurated. Inter-school competitions were held at the school yesterday.

Students from local schools and from Chandigarh took part in various contests like mock press conference, dumb charades, volte face, rangoli and flower arrangements.

The results: mock press conference: Guneet Kaur Virk (SSICS) — I, Saurabh Dutt (Mount Carmel School) — II and Naveen Pathania (St Soldier School, Chandigarh) — III.

Volte face: Mankirat Kaur (SSICS) — I, Manisha (Mount Carmel School) — II and Navdeep Singh (SSICS) — III.

Flower arrangement: Jonnathan Ivan Charles (Mount Carmel School) — I, Ritu (Guru Harkrishan Public School) — II and Anshul Monga (Mount Carmel School) — III.

Dumb charades: Mount Carmel School — I and SSICS — II.

Rangoli: Swami Ram Tirtha Public School — I, SSICS — II and St Soldier School, Chandigarh — III.

Neha group enthrals
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 18
The dance performance by Neha Group was the main highlight of the weekend cultural show at Plaza, Sector 17 on Saturday. Punjabi and western dances were presented gracefully.

Apart from Bhangra and gidhha they also performed on the songs like “Anakh jatti di” “long gawan aayi haan” Churi jo khanki haathon mein, ‘vaada na tod’. The performance on ‘Tutan wali chaan’, and ‘Kanak de rakhi’, drew appreciation. The performance on ‘Nau saas di ladai’ was very interesting.

The show was anchored by Mr Khyali and organised by the Department of Tourism Chandigarh Administration and the Oasis Events.

City students excel
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18
City students have won top three positions in the fourth semester of B. Tech (Mechanical) examination and top slots in the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) examination held by Punjab Technical University. Over 10,000 students from 40 colleges across Punjab appeared in the examination, whose results were declared this month.

Vikram Karwal scored 91.88 per cent to stand first, Vipul Sharma stood second with 87.18 per cent and Puneet Bansal and Kushal Verma shared third position with 85.76 per cent.

Even in the fourth semester examination of the CSE stream, city students got top honours.

Ruchi Arora has stood first with 88.63 per cent marks, Bharti Gupta second with 87.88 per cent, Sahil Kishore third with 86.88 per cent and Gaurav Bagga sixth with 85.88 per cent marks.

Cultural show by Lawerance school children
Our Correspondent

Mohali, December 18
A cultural show was presented by students of Lawerance Public Senior Secondary School, Phase VI, here today as part of annual day celebrations. Students of Class VIII gave a dance performance while those of Class IX presented an item highlighting problems of people and how the modern generation takes ups these challenges and finds easy solutions to them.

A play, “Andher Nagri Chaupat Raja”, by students of Class VIII focused on how a good and wise ruler can rule a country well but a foolish one cannot. A play on Saint Kabir was also staged.

Among the items were Bengali and Haryanvi dances and Bhangra. Students also presented drills and aerobics.

Chief guest, Raghunath Sahai Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Development could not be present at the function and had to be represented by local SDM, M.L. Sharma.

Thematic show by school pupils
Our Correspondent

Mohali, December 18
The pre-primary section of Ajit Karam Singh International School presented a colourful thematic show on the premises of the institution in Phase XI here today. Children enacted various stage shows of the Universal Studios, Florida, the most popular among them being the Disney musical “Elves and the shoemaker”. The Disney characters Goofy and Micky enthralled the children and their parents.

The school was tastefully decorated for the occasion with lights and manequins.

The Director-Principal of the school, Mrs Jasmine Kalra, said the theme conveyed a message to all parents to give quality time to their children. She said that time investment in children worked like the potter’s wheel to produce individuals who were morally, ethically and socially balanced and grew up into good human beings.

From Schools
Tiny tots showcase talent
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18
The annual sports and cultural function, “Rhythm and Beats”, of St. Joseph’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, was held today on the school premises. Tiny tots of pre-KG took the audience to the Arabian fantasy land with their splendid performance. The next item was the celebration by fishermen, rejoicing after a great catch. A “dandia ras” by the little ones enthralled the audience. The shimmering pom-poms and the skilful display of bamboo and lazium were other major attractions.

Celebrated: Christmas was celebrated at Chandigarh Baptist School, Sector 45, with great fun and frolic. The classrooms were tastefully decorated by students with streamers, buntings and balloons. Carol singers from different schools of the city, including St. John’s, St. Anne’s, Carmel Convent, St Mary’s School, Sacred Heart as also the host school, sang Christmas carols. Later, sweets were distributed among the students and teachers and other staff members were given gifts.

Annual function: Saupin’s School, Sector 32, celebrated the annual function for Classes III to VII at Lecma Air Force Auditorium, here today. The UT Home Secretary, Mr Krishna Mohan, presided over the function. It was a morning of dance, drama, music and poetry.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and two other plays were enacted with aplomb by the young children. Aerobics, puppet show and fusion dance were beautifully choreographed.

Workshop held: The Punjab and Chandigarh Council of Education Administration and Management (PCCEAM) in collaboration with DAV Model School, Sector 15, organised a one-day conference-cum-workshop on “Teaching strategies in present times”, here today.

As many as 125 teachers from Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali participated in the workshop. The President of PCCEAM, Prof S.L. Sharma, also the course Director of Institute of Correctional Administration, presided over the event.

COURTS

Lok adalat settles 584 cases
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18
As many as 584 cases of motor accident claims, civil and criminal matters were settled at a special lok adalat at the district courts in Sector 17 here today. A sum of Rs 54.55 lakh was awarded in 29 motor accident claim cases and Rs 1.88 lakh recovered in 1,235 summary cases, Ms Neerja Kulwant Kalson, Chief Judicial Magistrate-cum-Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Chandigarh, said.

She informed that over 800 general cases and 2,350 summary trials(challans) were taken up by 17 Benches of the adalat. Officials of insurance companies were present to settle compensation cases.

Mr Justice Amar Dutt, Executive Chairman of the State Legal Services Authority, UT Chandigarh, Mr Sant Parkash, Member-Secretary of the Authority, and Mr RS Baswana, Additional District and Session Judge also visited the adalat.

Booklets, free of cost, highlighting the aims and objectives of the authority were distributed.

Brigadier gets Rs 10,000 compensation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18
Holding Citicorp Maruti Finance Limited, Chennai, and its local associates responsible for deficiency in service, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has awarded a compensation of Rs 10,000 to a retired Brigadier.

Acting on a complaint of Brig Naginder Singh, a resident of Sector 36, the forum, besides awarding compensation for “mental and physical torture” to him, also awarded Rs 2,000 as the cost of litigation.

The Brigadier borrowed Rs 1.60 lakh from Aggarwal Rajiv and Associates, SCO 124-25, Sector 34-A, an associate of Citicorp, for the purchase of a car in February, 2000. The loan was to be paid in monthly instalments of Rs 3,712 each.

However, by January 31,2003,the complainant paid the entire outstanding amount to the firm.After payment, the complainant asked the firm to issue the no-objection certificate (NOC) and Form 35 in duplicate to him so that the endorsement of the hypothecation could be removed from the registration certificate of the vehicle.

Terming the non-issuance of these documents as “deficiency in service”, the Brigadier served a legal notice on the company. Even repeated reminders to the company failed to do anything and the complainant could not sell his car for want of documents.

Taking exception to the fact that the NOC and Form 35 were handed over to the complainant after one year and 10 months, the forum said the deficiency in service was of “grave nature”

Film Review
Shah Rukh proves his class
Rama Sharma

After weaving the rustic magic in 'lagaan', director Ashutosh Gowarikar once again has created the vintage village albeit minus the same potency in 'Swadesh'. The film is not in the class of chartbusters which sets a new trend .

Lethargic attitude of Indians towards life has been depicted well .But the film saunters many times as editors' scissors goes amiss.One would wish the spread should have been shorter and striking. Poverty treated with a touch of A R Rehman's music here is slightly romanticised. Neverthless, the pace should not be accepted as a focal point here.See it for the vintage India which is romantic as well as grim in its overview.

Reality is packed with a zest which is alluring and somewhat touching.

A weaver is not allowed to sow crop because this violates the varna system. However, he tolerates the wasting away of his family members without raising a voice because he has no support. Sheer starkness of poverty is spotlighted with a refreshing stroke.

A story treated umpteen times on the commercial and the art canvass has not much to declare here . It is only made interesting by Shah Rukh Khan who weaves a spell which is scarce to come across these days .His expressions are understated ,befitting a NASA scientist who works on satellites but can enjoy the stars twinkling in the electricity-deprived Charanpur.

Shah Rukh khan whether in his luxury-loaded carvan or trying to ascertain the length and breadth of a 'dhoti' delights the villagers as well as viewers. The fun grammar here is apt- neither too much ,nor entirely missing .Rustic humour flows in measured tones.

His unsuppressed charm does not fail to lift the movie from the mundane. Newcomer Gayatri Joshi rims with desirable ironical gestures . She has sensitive face and a certain penchant for camera.

In the second half, the pace wobbles and reality overshadows drama and we are left looking for the seasoning. But it should be seen because it peeps into the village life with an effect which might not linger on but is sure to give a one or two jolts to the city-bred youngsters who pursue status and glamour as a matter of fact. Sometimes we all need to rise above the self.

Without overstressing, or much melodrama, King Khan comes out as a mature post-'Veer Zaara' wizard. If 'Veer Zaara' proved him as an actor of calibre, here he proves his class. TNS

Two Hindi plays staged
Our Correspondent

Mohali, December 18
Two Hindi plays were presented by the local Adakar Manch at Tagore Theatre, Chandigarh, today. The plays, “Show must go on” and “Khali seep” were produced by Thespian Theatre Group and were the 15th presentation of the Adakar Manch, which presented one play each month.

The director of the plays, Vijay K. Giri, said the play “Show must go on” was based on lines of Shakespeare in which he almost said ‘natak hi zindgi hai, zindgi hi natak hai’. “Khali seep” showed that a sister was ready to sacrifice everything for her brother, while he walked out of her life once he got a good job and a life partner.

The plays are written by Girish Bakshi.

His poetry inspires optimism
S.D. Sharma

Chandigarh, December 18
“Poori hundi hai udon jeevan thi tasveer, jad Maznu di peed cho’n paida hon Kabir.” Blending romanticism and ethical essences Prof Nirmal Dutt revealed radical new vision in his poetic renditions today. He was interacting with the litterateurs at a special programme ‘An Evening with Prof Nirmal Dutt’ by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademy today. A well-read literary thinker and critic he maintained that literature was the best strength of spirit against all odds. Endowed with a vision Dutt is a versatile poet having command of poetry in Hindi and Urdu. His poetry promises optimism and he has profound belief that the genius of ‘Waris Shah’ Shiv Batalavi and other legendary poets will reappear. Dutt is among the few litterateurs whose creations are translated into other languages and equally applauded. His each couplet, especially, ‘Tappas’ is in itself a poem complete with its own metaphor and a thought like “Jadon mann ne faqiri keeti mundran di lorh na payii”.

His poetry was fresh, fragrant and fragile crafted around the elements of situation, emotions and self being, all weaved in the native idiom with a close proximity to the real life. He captivated the audience with eloquent oration and amusing satires exhibiting his imaginative intensity as “Mein tamaam taare uthakar garibon mein baant doo’n, kahin ek din vo Khuda nizaam de mere haath mein”.

Earlier, academy secretary Madhav Kaushik introduced the Punjabi poet.

LIFESTYLE

Five elements showcased in fashion show
Swarleen Kaur

Fashion is a creative statement. Imparting an elegant look to the user is satisfying as well as painstaking task. So when students of Fashion design of JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Sector 35, Chandigarh showcased their collection at their annual fashion show it became quite clear that their efforts have borne fruits. Ramgarh Fort, Panchkula, on Saturday came alive with skills of budding designers sprinkled on clothes in all possible forms and hues .

The theme of the fashion show “Om-The Jeevan Chakra” was based on the five elements of life - air, wind, fire, earth and water.

The show began with the beats of “Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” It presented the traditional garment — saree — symbolising the five elements. Chiffon, crepes and crushed tissue was used extensively in the collection.The students used colors of green, mauve, peach, orange, red browns and golden here.

The next round based on earth titled “The golden sand” displayed the sarees in all shades of earth. Colors like olive green, blackish brown, leaf green, dark brown effectively highlighted the element. Accessories like tulsi beads threads, wires, dry twigs made the collection wonderful.

Hues like blue, light turqoise, sea green and light mauve presented the water element very well. The funky cuts and silhouettes, which came alive on georgette, chiffons, glass tissues, crepes lycra, were outstanding. Beads and sea shells were used very creatively. This round was titled as “The blue lagoon”.

The show concluded with “The jeevan chakra” round showcasing the fusion collection. Inspired by the cycle of birth, this round presented an array of colors using Indo-western and traditional silhouettes visualizing different stages of the cycle.

Fabrics ranging from soft drapes like crepes to thick denims and rich brocades and silks were used to enhance the designs. The outfits had a lot of embellishments like sequins and mirror work.

Jeet Brar choreographed the well-managed show. Delhi-based models sashayed down the ramp, exhibiting the students talent competently.

Dancing enchantress
Aditi Tandon

No sooner do you blink your eyes than Shovana Narayan has reinvented herself. Fiercely purposeful and genuinely inspired, the doyen of Indian classical dance was in Chandigarh on one of those routine visits for SPIC MACAY. Her presentation, however, was not routine by any standards. It was sparkling fresh and all inspiring just like her belief in the power of kathak to tell old tales in contemporary moulds.

In her command, Maithili Sharan Gupt's "Yashodhara" came alive like never before as she mesmerized the students of St Kabir School with her classic interpretation of Buddha's philosophy and its impact on his wife Yashodhara.

Through what is truly a lecture-demonstration, Shovana Narayan took the students through the 2300- year-old history of kathak in less than an hour.

Her strength lay in her exposition sourced from texts as rich as the Natya Shastra and the Mahabharata and references as unique as Jodha Bai's fondness for kathak and Abul Fazal's records of katkakaars and keertaniyas.

Educative as ever, the danseuse literally stormed into children's hearts with her interactive sessions on the Indian classical dance forms, the meaning of yoga and its relation with dance, the possible blending of academics and arts and finally the structure of kathak as it has evolved.

"Our land is rich with eight forms of classical dances, among which the Santriya from Assam has been recently included," she informed her young audience, telling them how Shiva danced to the mridamgam despite being God, and how Krishna played the flute to perfection despite being a philosopher and statesman.

Referring to "yoga" as the quintessence of dance forms, Shovana said, "The word comes from "jug" which is a blend of mental, physical and spiritual aspects of existence.

Dance is the ultimate form of yoga in which concentration teams up with aesthetics to weave wondrous patterns."

She told the students of how kathak was among the first dances to originate in North and Central India and also of how it attained its characteristic features like unique rhythmic patterns and sounds that enable a dancer to generate exclusive sounds.

The dancer also had the students identify various sounds she generated with her ankle bells, including those of horse gallops and peacock's stately "gait".

She used murdas to weave patterns of birds and animals in the air, and these her young audience instantly identified.

Inviting applause with every act, Shovana broke the stereotypes associated with classical dance and had the students and teachers craving for more.

Her recital was more about the joy of kathak than about its grammar. As Shovana's imagination spilled from her acts of grace, one knew exactly why she is the celebrated and awarded dancer that she is.

Aiding her in her recital today were Pt Jwalaprasad on vocals, Shakeel Ahmad on tabla and Vijay Sharma on sitar. TNS