Depicting women’s role in social milieu
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, May 30
Literature comes out from inside and nothing can dim the urge to pen one’s thoughts on issues one feels deeply. Surjit Bhatia, a former geography professor in local Government College for Boys and an octogenarian, has proved this by publishing his 31st book, “Dhiyan Dhiyanian”.

The book, which contains essays, talks about the traditional role of women in Punjab. Talking to this correspondent, Mr Bhatia said: “Woman’s primary role is procreation and to raise a family. The essays in the book deal with a girl child right from her being in uterus, to a baby to a newly married woman to a mother and then a mother-in-law.”

But when asked whether the girl’s role was not limited to that of a house-maker, as women were becoming career conscious, he said: “That is why families are falling apart. Divorce has no business in a Hindu or a Sikh marriage.”

On dowry, Mr Surjit said the issue of dowry was a serious one and the society had to come together to fight it. He said: “Girls should refuse to marry dowry seekers. We are happy that many women are finding courage and refusing to get married to dowry seekers.”

He said: “I do not appreciate literature that is not according to our social milieu.”

He taught geography after doing his Master’s in Geography from Lahore in 1945 with his being the first batch of postgraduate students.

He loved literature from childhood and appeared in Giani examination in 1943 and topped it.

He started writing in 1972 and his first book was “Suraj Ek, Rut Anek”. He retired in 1982 as Deputy DPI (Colleges).

Surjit said he had collected a lot of material from folk songs about Punjabi girls and had depicted these in his book.

Career guidance centre inaugurated
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 30
“Lack of proper guidance, particularly for job oriented technical courses, is troubling students. Because of ignorance about many new courses, students cannot decide upon various career options and hence suffer a lot,”said Mr. Ashok Mittal, president, Lovely International Trust, while inaugurating career guidance center of Lovely Institutes, Phagwara at Surya Kiran shopping arcade, Ghumar Mandi, here today.

Mr Mittal said in a press note that faculty members from Lovely Institutes would be providing complete information and guidance about various courses viz, MBA, Law, BEd, physiotherapy, architecture, pharmacy, engineering, MCA etc.

Dr Sanjay Modi, Director, Lovely Institute of Management while addressing parents and students, said students must verify eligibility conditions, fee structure and employment opportunities of various technical courses, before deciding to join a stream. The guidance free of cost will be given to students about various courses.

Mr Harpreet Singh, coordinator of the centre, advised the students not to be misled by highly attractive but fake claims of certain educational institutes providing various degree affiliation . He advised the students to check genuine affiliation and credentials of the college before getting admission.

The function was attended by faculty students and parents. A website and online inquiry system on www. lovelyinstitutes. com was also launched on the occasion.

Summer c(r)amps for kids
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 30
Summer camps are the in thing in the city. A couple of years ago, some institute started this concept with an idea to give children a chance to explore their hidden talent in various fields during the vacation.

These institutes charged hefty fees from participants claiming that they had to make payments to instructors who were hired from outside. The idea worked and these institutes made a lot of money in the process.

Initially, there was a debate as to whether the children should relax during the summer vacation or get out in the hot weather to acquire some new skills. Probably the parents favoured the second idea.

Soon the idea of holding summer camps became popular. A large number of schools, individuals and institutes are cashing in on the craze these days.

Many teachers have hired rooms and started classes in dance and music. Some schools are conducting classes in skating, puppet making, tie and dye, gymnastics, personality development etc. The minimum fee charged is around Rs 200.

“Almost all my acquaintances are sending their children to summer camps. I feel sorry for the kids as they are losing out on their interactions with grandparents besides being devoid of relaxation time. It has become hectic for them,” says Ms Sakshi Minocha, a mother of two school-going children.

But the race to make children learn as many things as they can during summer camps goes on.

From Schools
US teacher given warm send-off
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 30
A warm send-off was accorded to Ms Diana M. Ballas, a teacher, from the USA, after she finished her eight-week teaching programme at MGM Public School . A workshop was also conducted by her here today. Ms Diana interacted with the teachers and made them aware of the latest teaching technology and how to create a healthy relationship between the teacher and students. She also gave tips to teachers on handling slow learners to gifted students, high achievers and students with behavioural problems. She was presented a memento by the director, Mr Gajjan Singh Thind.

Theme party

Chanda Mama Playschool children enjoyed a theme-based fruit party on the last day of school here on Monday. The children were given first hand experience of seeing and tasting a wide variety of summer fruits. The sense of taste along with the visual appearance of fruits interested children. Everyone recited two lines about each fruit.

Art and craft workshop

A workshop in art and craft was held at Kiddies’ Paradise School from May 23 to May 29. The workshop was sponsored by Fevicryl and more than 30 teachers from different schools participated. Ms Naresh Sharma, an artist conducted art classes. On the final day an exhibition of art and craft articles was held. The aim of workshop was to bring inherent talent out through art and the response was tremendous. Navpreet Kaur bagged the first prize whereas Radikha and Priya bagged the second prize while Kanwal came third.

Pool party

Nursery and KG students of Shishu Vatika, BVM, Sector 39, Chandigarh road, Ludhiana, has a pool party recently. The pool was made attractive with balloons, boats, balls and tubes.

The tiny tots enjoyed by playing with paper boats. They were also motivated to save water. Water toys were thrown in for the children. At the same time, they were given information about water-transport system. Children recited poems related to rain, water and fish. The Principal, Mrs Ranjeet Kaur, said to give knowledge through fun activity was the motive behind such celebration.

Educational trip

Keeping in view the importance of science and technology in the modern age, the school Principal, Mrs Aneeta Kundra, of Baba Isher Singh (N)Senior Secondary School arranged a trip to the Science City on Sunday for the students and teachers of classes IX to XII.

Students viewed the good health gallery explaining DNA model containing slides of spirogyre and skelton. They enjoyed revolving chair explaining law of conservation of angular momentum. They saw planetarium, laser show that gave information regarding primary colours and found the shark show informative. Illusion experiments like ball fixed in a square mirror box were also shown. Thrill ride and conversion of 2D into 3D were other attractions. The science city has provision for boating also which students enjoyed in the evening.

B’day celebration

Baba Isher Singh (N) Senior Secondary Public School, BRS Nagar, organised a birthday party here on Sunday for the kindergarten students. Students whose birthdays fell in the months of April and June were celebrated together. All students came in colourful dresses and danced and sang songs. Birthday babies cut cake along with their class teachers and school Principal. Toffees, sweets, etc. were distributed on the occasion.

Calligraphy competition

A calligraphy competition was organised at Guru Gobind Singh Public School here on Sunday. As many as 316 students participated in the competition. The idea behind the competition was to encourage students to write well. Principal Manjit Kaur congratulated all students for participating in the competition.

HEALTH

Complex heart surgeries performed on children
Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, May 30
As high a number as eight children out of 1000 are born with a heart defect. Facilities to rectify such defects among kids were earlier not available in the region but since last one year, Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, chairman, Cardiac Sciences, at Sigma Newlife Heart Institute and his team here, have performed 35 major cardiac surgeries to set right heart problems of children, most of whom were below 10 months of age.

Dr Bedi, who also worked at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Sydney (Australia), told Ludhiana Tribune that most recent surgery conducted by his team was on a 4-month-old baby Ridham Vatta, son of Mr Rajender Kumar of Talwandi Bhai, Ferozepore.

The child suffered from a condition called ‘Tricuspid Atresia’. In this condition, one of the four heart valves is absent and there is a large hole in the heart.

Using a new beating heart technique, an operation — cavo-pulmonary anastomosis — was performed. After the operation, the baby, was quickly on road to recovery. The other members of Dr Bedi’s team were Dr Raman Pal Singh, Dr Bhupender Sengar and Dr Brajesh Badhan.

Dr Bedi has already presented corrective surgery technique earlier in an international conference in Paris. He explained that in small children the surgeon had to scale down all his movements as the baby’s tissues were very fragile and friable.

“In cardiac surgery on kids, we use an imported wearable microscope called a ‘loupe’ which magnifies tissues four times.”

The surgeon stated that one of his patients - King Kamaljeet of Teja Singh Swatantra Senior Secondary School, Shimla Puri in the city, stood first in his class after a complex surgery.

With timely surgery, the children grow in a normal manner and enjoy a healthy life. They can take up any active profession.

If a child develops symptoms like failure to grow, difficulty in breathing or bluish discoloration, he should be immediately taken for medical consultation, Dr Bedi added.