EDUCATION

Hostel entrance dons green look, courtesy inmates, warden
Gayatri Rajwade
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25
The entrance to the place gives you the feeling as if you are visiting some resort. Pleasant and spic-and-span, the place is charming with sprigs and shoots peeking out from the gently undulating patches. The view is refreshing with its neatly laid-out stones, bricks, shrubbery and comfortable benches.

Conservation and care are the guiding principles behind the transformation of Savitri Bai Phule Hall, Women’s Hostel No. 5, at Panjab University into a sparkling place, which is tended and cared for by girls.

When Ms Veena Sachdeva took over as the Warden of the hostel three years ago, she put up a notice asking if anyone was interested in sprucing up the hostel grounds. “The idea was to involve the girls as they would then feel responsible for the maintenance too,” said Ms Sachdeva. There was no response initially till, Jaspreet Kaur, a PhD student in the Botany Department, came up to help.

With funds in short supply, recycled waste was used to develop the grounds. Bits and pieces from broken bathrooms, cracked mirrors, bricks, left-over construction materials have all been put together to create settings that are dotted with greenery, pathways, curious nooks and crannies and even a small pond lined with broken pieces of blue tiles.

According to Ms Sachdeva, “Apart from the stones which we got from outside, seeds and plants came from my sister’s house and our gardener got us a few. However, the credit for developing the place goes to Jaspreet who has treated the hostel like her home”

Jaspreet, who is in the middle of her thesis, is quite modest about the compliments she gets. “There is always a time to do something if you really want. Ms Sachdeva treats the girls like her daughters; she is always there for us, encourages us, always mustering funds for us to continue.”

Karamjit Malhotra, who is doing her doctorate in history, affirms this. “Every time the funds dried up, the work stopped. But the enthusiasm remained.”

The staff, from the gardener, security guards and attendants all worked together without any extra pay, working in the sun, laying the rocks, removing the bramble along the edge of the building and planting bougainvillea to embellish the dividing boundary between the car park at the back and the hostel.

The effort to make the hostel garbage free has finally fructified with the vermi-culture and vermi-composting unit, which was set up in 2002. The process underwent several changes and finally found shape under the little hutment constructed with a concrete base on which the decomposing process takes place. All organic waste generated by the kitchen is converted into manure and is used in the kitchen garden which grows lady’s finger, red chillies, mint, tomatoes, salad leaves, coriander and cucumber which in turn is used in the mess.

All non-recyclable garbage generated is collected every day and sent to a recycling unit in the university.

Stone benches made by a mason at throwaway prices, thatched hut for girls to relax, a wooden jhula from a craft fair, mud bells and potted plants all appeal with their precise and neat placements. The backyard is now being tackled with the same excitement as the front of the hostel.

Jaspreet attributes it to the love, dedication, discipline and patience which Ms Sachdeva has liberally sprinkled amongst the girls.

The love is apparent, the bathrooms spic and span, the mess area separated from the canteen and each floor scrubbed and spruced up.

And Ms Sachdeva, what does she have to say? “The girls are my family and the hostel their and my home.” 

Hamara School
A school known for results, discipline

Nav Bal Niketan Model School, Sector 29-B, Chandigarh, is an institution known for good results, discipline and motivated batch of trained, experienced and caring teachers. The school has always shaped the children in such a way that they become proud and productive citizens of our nation. If we see the records of the past 20 years then the toppers in the middle standard examination of the UT Education Board are mostly from this school. The excellent achievements of the school are the result of team work under the able guidance of Principal Srishta Mahajan.

Not only in academics, the school provides a wide range of sports activities like aerobics, yoga, karate, skating, badminton, cricket and volleyball. It believes in striking a balance between academics and co-curricular activities. Special cultural programmes are held to identify the need and interest of all children. Every year students are taken out on excursions to religions and historical places for recreation and broadening their horizon.

Earlier, the school was being run from a residential building in Sector 20-A. Now it has its own double-storey building in Sector 29-B, Chandigarh. Special medical camps are organised to improve the hygienic habits of the children. English classes are arranged to improve the spoken skill of the students.

Parent-teacher meetings are held regularly. The achievements of former students are an indication of the vital role that the school has played in helping them to prepare for their professional life. Jivan Jot, a student of this school stood tenth in the merit list of the UT board examination of the middle standard 2003-04, securing 91.4 per cent marks.

Principalspeak
Emphasis should be on playway, nursery

An institution can progress fast if the staff, management and the people who are attached with it are dedicated and have a will to serve society. Everybody at Nav Bal Niketan Model School is following this path.

The management visualised success through a sound education system with special emphasis on nursery and playway. Learn while you play and play while you learn is the right approach to provide a strong base while a child is in nursery class. A child’s mind is delicate and sensitive. He should be treated with utmost care and patience.

The secret behind the top positions of our students, year after year, seems to be the result of strong and sound base of the tiny tots at the nursery and primary level.

In fact, a good beginning makes the difference. It ensures smooth sailing in the long run and helps the students to make a good career. Every facility provided here is to achieve the aim and groom the children to face the challenging world.

COURTS

Life term for couple for mother’s death
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25
The District and Sessions Judge, Mr M.M.S. Bedi, today sentenced a couple to life imprisonment for killing their mother about three years ago. Kishan Lal and his wife Usha Rani were charged with pouring kerosene on former’s mother — Lajwanti. The couple had a longstanding dispute with the old lady.

An eyewitness, Mr Paramjit Singh, who had rushed the deceased to the hospital, told the police that he had seen them pouring kerosene on the old lady and setting her on fire. However, he later turned hostile in the court saying that he had reached the spot after she had already been set on fire.

The court ruled that the dying declaration before the police and the Magistrate was enough to hold the accused guilty.

Cherishing a dream to touch sky

SHE is cherishing a dream to touch the sky and believes that nothing is impossible in this world. Jaspreet Kaur, alias Jassi, might not be as lucky as Mona Singh of ‘Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi’ but she surely has won quite a few accolades as a freelance anchor.

Recently, she has become a proud owner of jewellery worth Rs 75,000, winning it cool through a game show “Khul Ja Sim Sim’. Of the 150 persons, who came for the audition in the city at DAV College, Sector 10, she was among the 15 to be chosen for their Baisakhi special show.

Jassi has hosted many stage shows, including shows of Punjabi singers Hans Raj Hans and Gursewak Maan. She has performed for Citi channel and Balle Balle channel too. Aiming to try her luck in acting, she is in high spirit.

“All I need is a god break to prove myself and I am sure I will achieve what I want one day”, she said. OC

Rock festival rocks Panchkula
S.D. Sharma

Music has the magnetic charm to soften even the rocks and this manifestation was perceptible as the mega “Rock Battle” for superlative excellence in the realm of rock music erupted at the otherwise panoramic ambience of the “Wah Dilli” complex. Five top rock bands of the region vied for laurels in the first-ever annual competition.

It was indeed a fascinating experience for Panchkula residents as the extravagant event of rock music, open to the general public, rejuvenated the young audience till late Sunday evening.

The high voltage harmonious music emanating from the strumming guitars and swinging singers dexterously articulated by the beats of drums enchanted the audience. The melodious charm was further augmented by the incessant claps and adulations by the jubilant rock aficionados and the lay listeners who too extracted full pleasure from the electrifying dance movements of the artistes floating across the stage fully lost in the reverie.

Opening up the competition the Cryogen group doled out their hit numbers while the Wasted Souls too regaled with hot favourites like Cocaine, Fear of the Dark, Paranoid et al. The other rock bands which spelt melody and grace in the first navik Internet Rocker of the Year-2005 mega competition included The Immortals, De Innovative, Strange Deja vu besides the Croygen and Wasted Souls.

The acclaimed anchor of MTV programmes Gunjan Utreja kept the audience spellbound with his adroit oration skills which was never the less an asset to the grand success of the show. A team of accomplished musicologists, including Dr Rupak Das, Chheti Sharma, Geoff Aronha, and Chandy while complementing the dynamic and vibrant show by the dedicated young artistes adjudged the De Innovative group as the winner of the rock festival.

Gagandeep and Neha Bahl of the Innovative sang with verve and versatility to the able accompaniment of Nirdosh Sobti on lead guitar, Sandeep Sahota on rhythm guitar, supported by base guitarist Namrat Sobti and drummer Vivek Jaspal.