The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Enthusiasts throng Gadari mela Folk artistes weave a magic spell on concluding night Minna Zutshi Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 31 As hundreds converged on the Desh Bhagat Yaadgaar Hall here last evening during the concluding night of the “Mela Gadari Babeyaan Da”, the sheer force of community participation in arousing the social conscience came to the fore. Without any wordy speeches or verbose pontification, the message was driven home. “Tolerating injustice goes against the grain of the Gadari Babas’ land”. During the mela, folk artistes from various parts of the country, including Gujarat and Rajasthan, tried to bring out through the vibrant medium of folk theatre the struggle of the have-nots, whose muzzled voices strive to break free of shackles. Unlike most other melas where the presence of women is an aberration, this mela had a sizeable number of women and children who watched with rapt attention the stirring plays and music items. If the folk theatre from Jaipur was dedicated to the significance of “The Right to Information Act”, the musical rendition by Surat-based Charul-Vinay was about salvaging the remnants of individual worth from the dead weight of traditions. Playwright Kewal Dhaliwal’s “Tapas” depicted the sad days of terrorism, when human values were given a short shrift. With the presentation of the play “Jung Jari Hai”, the audience was reminded of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s supreme sacrifices. The plight of deserted NRI wives was the theme of Prof Sarabjit Aulakh’s “Gilli Mitti Da Butt”. The play “Bus Hun Hor Nahi” told the story of gutsy women raising their voice against oppression. During the wee hours today, however, the presentation of the plays was interrupted when a few of the audience members objected to the staging of Dr Sahib Singh’s play “Kala Ilam” on the plea that it was “vulgar”. Later, following the intervention of the Desh Bhagat Yaadgaar Committee members, the presentation of the play was resumed. Mr Amolak Singh, the committee trustee, while assuring the audience that the play had been passed by the committee members, said “Kala Ilam” mirrored the grim reality of the society, and ignoring that reality smacked of prejudice and narrow mindedness. He added that the play was a telling commentary on the patriarchal norms that forced a woman to enter into an emotionally-scarring matrimonial alliance. Interestingly, the programme drew people from various sections of the society. Mr Pritam Singh, a teacher who had come all the way from Ferozepore, said, “Folk idiom, in its varied forms, is potent enough to strike a responsive cord with one and all. As shown during the mela, the folk theatre is a powerful medium to depict the assertion of the human dignity against the crude mechanisations of the market forces.” The mela’s charm was in its direct appeal to the courage of the common people and the playwright Gursharan Singh mesmerised the audience with his reality-suffused plays, added Mr Jagtar Singh, a dairy worker from Goraya.
	Mystery shrouds undertrial’s death Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 31 Mystery continued to shroud the circumstances that lead to the death of Imrit Singh— an undertrial at the Central Jail, here on Sunday, even as his body was handed over to his family after a post-mortem examination at the Civil Hospital today. Imrit Singh, hailing from the Khanauri area of Sangrur district, had been lodged in the jail since October 16 in a case of cycle theft. The police on Sunday said that Imrit had hanged himself to death with the help of a rope in one of toilets of the jail. The incident was detected when an inmate went to toilet and found the body, the police added. Though the exact reasons behind the death of Imrit Singh could not be ascertained, it is said that he was psychologically disturbed over circumstances leading to his imprisonment. But allegations are rife that Imrit was beaten up by the jail staff on Saturday. The post-mortem process was completed by a panel of doctors at the Civil Hospital. The entire exercise was video-taped in the presence of the magistrate and two brothers of the deceased— Shankar Singh and Subhash Chander as per guidelines. The district authorities maintain that the jail authorities cannot be indicted for the incident at this stage. The a magisterial probe has already been ordered into the case. Only after the completion of the probe would the facts come to the fore, the authorities added. “Nothing can be said till the report is received,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
	Now a sugar-free sweet Divali Anil Jerath Tribune News Service Phagwara, October 31 The craving of diabetic patients to gulp down mouth-watering delicacies may be satiated this festive season. A few innovative halwais here have introduced sugar-free sweets. But a word of caution here: some halwais are reportedly using saccharine under the garb of sugar-free powder to fleece the health conscious people. Further, the doctors say that these sugar-free delicacies could be free from sugar but not from high calories. The owner of Sudhir Sweets said he had introduced sugar-free ‘burfi’ in the market that has immense demand from the figure conscious customers , besides the diabetic patients. He claimed that sugar-free pills were used for preparation of these sweetmeats. “For the time being, we have introduced only sugar-free burfi, but very soon we shall be selling sugar-free rasmalai and moongi dal burfi.” He added that they were experimenting with the manufacturing process of the sugar-free sweets to give the customers the same taste as that of the sweets prepared using sugar. On the cost front, he said sugar-free and other conventionally prepared sweets were sold at almost the same price. The owner of Novelty Sweets here said sugar-free sweets were good for diabetic patients, but health enthusiasts were just deluding themselves with the false belief that eating these sweets would not add to their weight. “Of course, these sweets are free from sugar, but there is other rich content in them— like ghee, khoya and kishmish. Moreover, sugar-free mithai customers have to compromise with the taste,” he said.
	Festive celebrations in schools Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 31 Divali celebrations were organised at Police DAV Public School here. The campus was decorated tastefully with flowers and rangolis. Competitions on card making and decorations were also held on the occasion. Ram Lila was also enacted by the young students during a cultural programme. Another round of Divali celebrations was held at Seth Hakum Chand S D Public School at Kapurthala Road. The competitions organised included Diya Thali, rangoli, and candle making. Sanskriti KMV School also wore a festive Divali look. A book fair was organised on the school premises. The fair had books on short stories, general knowledge, drawing, colouring and other topics.
	Chayvanprash catches West’s fancy Varinder Singh Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 31 As the demand for the time-tested invigourant— Chayvanprash is spiralling in the Western countries, the local DAV Ayurvedic College has come up with a new ‘Bread-spread Chayvanprash’ that will cover up the deficiencies of the body besides satiating taste buds. Keeping in view the taste and eating style of the young generation and foreign consumers, the authorities at the DAV Pharmacy, a concern of DAV Ayurvedic College, and the DAV Managing Committee decided to dish out the concoction changing the contents of the traditional herbal medicine after a prolonged research. The authorities had found that consumers usually abhorred taking Chayvanprash in the shape of a medicine in a spoon. Moreover, to cater to the needs of the Western market, particularly countries like the US and Holland, sugar content in Chayvanprash has been replaced with honey by the chemists at DAV Ayurvedic College, one of oldest Ayurvedic College of the region established in 1898.DAV College started exporting the honey version to these two countries. “We have already exported 20 quintals of our special Chayvanprash to the US and 10 quintals to Holland.
	Allow visa-free trip to Pak gurdwaras, says Wadala Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 31 On the lines of the provision of as many as five passages through the Line of Control to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, veteran Akali leader Kuldip Singh Wadala has urged the UPA-led Central government to ensure opening of a corridor for facilitating visit of Sikh pilgrims to the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. He suggested that the Government of India should take up the matter with the Pakistan government. The proposed corridor, he said, could be provided through the international border near Dera Baba Nanak. Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Wadala urged both governments to allow visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims. “We are not demanding anything new, as visa-free travel has already been allowed from five points situated on the LOC. They can initiate the same process for Kartarpur Sahib,” he added.
	PTU fest: DAVIET champion again Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 31 For the fourth time, DAV Institute of Engineering & Technology (DAVIET) lifted the overall trophy at the PTU’s Inter-College (Final) Youth Festival (2005-06) which concluded here on Sunday. Students from 34 institutes affiliated to Punjab Technical University in disciplines of Engineering, Pharmacy and Management took part in the festival. The Lovely Institute of Management, host of the event, won seven prizes in the festival. The competitions comprised classical dance, rangoli, folk song, group song, classical instrument, giddha, bhangra and miming. The guest performance was by Vaibhav Mittal who played Indian classical music on a Spanish guitar. Mr Avtar Henry, Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Public Health (Punjab) was the chief guest on t he concluding day. The minister distributed prizes to the winners.
	BSP (A) roots for Mandal Report Jalandhar, October 31 The Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar) has urged the Punjab government to implement the Mandal Commission Report in the state. Meanwhile, former MP and BSP leader, Mr Harbhajan Lakha, former Garshankar BSP MLA Shingara Ram Sahungra and former Nawanshahr BSP chief Chaudhary Ram Kishan, who had left the party following differences with senior leadership, have joined the BSP (Ambedkar). The leaders said Mandal Report had already been implemented in some states.