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Students make candles, schools money
Chandigarh, November 6 More business is in the offing with Gurpurb round the corner. Students of these schools are busy building up stocks of candles for sale outside gurdwaras. With the Divali “bonanza” as their benchmark, they maintain that their record can only get better after this. After exhausting 1.5 quintals of candles on Divali, students of the vocational and Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan scheme from Government Secondary School, Sector 45, are gearing up for the sale of another one quintal of candles. “We had put up a candle stall in Burail on Divali. All our candles sold like hot cakes since these were reasonably priced. On
Gurupurb, we will set up shop outside the Sector 34 and Sector 20
gurudwaras. We have already earned Rs 9,000 and expect another Rs 5,000 from the Gurpurb sale,” says the Principal, Mr Sham Lal Sharma. Students of the school prepared the entire stock in two months. By next Divali, the school plans to teach them the art of packing candles in cardboard boxes so that the price can be raised a little. “This time we sold all candles in plastic packets only. We improved upon last year’s earning of Rs 8,000. While we give the students a part of the earnings, greater satisfaction comes from the fact that we have taught them a skill forever. As of now, we are satisfied with our achievement,” he maintains. The two-day Divali fest at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, earned them a whopping Rs 24,000 through various channels of which Rs 12,000 came from stalls of eatables put up by the Home Science Department. The Principal, Ms Kuldevi Yadav, is ecstatic with the way things went. “We organised the fest with the items made by students of vocational courses. Herbal products and mehndi designing by our students earned Rs 2,500 while another Rs 2,500 came in from the sale of candles, decorated earthen pots, tray and cushion covers among others. Another Rs 7,000 was earned through stalls of games,” she said. With backing of the Parent-Teacher Association, the fest proved to be a thumping success. “We want to go slow which explains why we did not go in for bulk production. The decorated ‘diyas’ proved to be the most sought after items. Next time we will have greater focus on ‘diyas’ and candles,” she said. With Rs 17,000 already under their belt from the sale of 2.5 quintals of candles and other items, Government Model High School, Sector 25, has prepared another one quintal to cater to the demand on
Gurpurb. “We get bulk orders but accept them only when the students have some free time to prepare these. Though we had made three quintals of candles thinking these would be enough, small candles were all exhausted by Divali. For
Gurpurb, our students had to make more stocks,” the Principal, Ms Devinder Kaur, says. The “preparations” by enterprising kids of these schools are only improving as the demand for their products is rising in the market even as they pick up entrepreneurial skills. The schools, too, are cashing in on this demand by training more and more students every year.
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For well-behaved kids, be role
models, says expert
Mohali, November 6 The main topics of the lecture included ways to improve the child’s behaviour, and inculcate discipline. She strongly spoke against corporal punishment as this made the child obstimate. She also advised parents to follow the rule ‘Do as I do’ rather than ‘Do as I say’, thus teaching values to students by setting an example. She mentioned ways of tackling stress and went on to say that there were no perfect parents or perfect children and all depended on how one learnt to deal with the problems. The program concluded with an open house during which Ms Sarda answered queries on eating habits, aggression and hyper-activity among children.
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Founder’s day celebrations at Vivek school
Chandigarh, November 6 The food court had stalls by various eating joints games stalls by students and EVA, Parents in Partnership included–hop and win. The visitors danced to the tunes of a DJ. Tattoo making, know your future with astrology and tarot cards at Kismat stall, lucky draws, herbal plants like sweet tulsi, scholastic books counter were quite an attraction. Camel rides, candy floss, balloons and dress up your doll- etc. stalls offered something to everybody.
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Jagjit Singh opens sports complex
Chandigarh, November 6 On this occasion young students of music and dance classes at the SFWS Children’s Club, organised a short programme attended by Jagjit Singh and parents of the participants. The sports complex has facilities for soccer, lawn tennis, basketball and will have a swimming pool for young boys and girls, not only from the school but also for students from other schools. According to Mr Atul Khanna, Director of the Durga Das Foundation, “We do not want sports to be an add on activity. For us, it is part of the school curriculum, as important as say languages or arithmetic. Giving sports equal emphasis and breaking gender prototypes, we want every student to play a game of his or her choice and in a sub-conscious way to allow the sporting spirit to shape his overall character.” Jagjit Singh said that he would hope to see international players emerging out of complex grounds. Later, he surprised the soccer teams by joining in their game for a few minutes and also lobbed a couple of balls across the net at lawn tennis practice.
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Best yet to come, croons Jagjit Singh
“The best is yet to come from the repertoire of my musical creations”, professes the ghazal king, Jagjit Singh, a musical genius who strode like a colossus on the Indian musical scene with the release of his maiden album ‘Unforgettable’ recorded with wife Chitra Singh way back in 1976. The couple had no parallel in the realm for decades when Chitra desisted to perform, entrusting Jagjit Singh to carry forward the tradition of excellence in musical arts. He gave a new dimension to ghazal singing, inducing innovative blend of tradition and modernity which brought its expanse worldwide.
In fact, the foundation to fame for Jagjit was laid in his childhood at Sringangarnagar. He learnt classical vocal from Pandit Shagun Chand Joshi and Ustad Jamal Khan of the Senia gharana before going
under tutelage of Sohan Singh of the Patiala Gharana. “I am still an ardent admirer and follower of late Amir Khan Saheb though I was not fortunate enough to meet or listen to him personally,” disclosed Jagjit Singh after the inaugural ceremony of the Vivek Sports complex at the Strawberry World School, named after his son, Vivek Singh. Like any aspiring artist having no godfather in the music or film industry I had to face all ordeals but the fact of being a trained musician in classical stream kept me afloat during my days of struggle. But I still perform “riyaz” with religious commitment to survive the hard-earned position or stardom, as you may call it, and unlike many lucky ones who turn idols overnight, he says in a lighter vein. For me the quality of my music albums or performances matters most besides the organising body, their objectives are of utmost importance than their quantity, claims the maestro. With decades of my association with aficionados of my music I have established a bond of affection with them and their appreciation is my only inspiration which inspires me to accomplish more. The City Beautiful can boast of an ideal and receptive audience as I had always witnessed at the Durga Das Foundation and other concerts. Simply knowing “swaras” does not help unless you render them at the right frequencies. So both Chitra and me sing and compose music at home after analysing the potency of lyrics, whosoever may the poet and I wish to record music exuding tranquility, passion, pain, delicacy of thought and soulful sentimental feelings. The potent thematic essence with simple couplets and ‘tallafuz’ (pronunciation) and adequate musical treatment are of paramount importance to give expression to the soul, sense and sensibility of the ghazal. This applies to the devotional folk or film music too. I have just completed recording of a devotional ‘Shri Ganesh’ playback for films Kask, Chauser and a film on Shiv Kumar Batalvi in the making. On his disciples he said all were doing well. |
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‘Sham-e-Ghazal’ echoes with Rinku’s melody
Having established her credentials in light and film music at the national level by winning the prestigious “Sa Re Ga Ma” contest, upcoming performer Rinku Kalia successfully vied for laurels as an accomplished female ghazal singer in the region, next only to versatile Ratnika Tiwari.
Rinku featured as star performer in “Sham-e-Ghazal” organised by the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) in association with the State Bank of Patiala, and the BSNL at the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTR) auditorium here. Armed with mellifluous voice and booming confidence, Rinku took the centre stage only to mesmerise the audience with a popular ghazal “Dhal gya chand chalo so jayen...” penned by a legendary Pakistani poet. Rinku gave a majestic start to the concert with an immaculate rendition of the ghazal weaved in raga “Yaman” and set to “dadra taal”. She rendered “Rasme ulfat nibha gya koi...” in acceptance of an emotional obligation as themed in Daag Delhvi’s lyrics, which is close to her heart as it put her in the final of the Zee TV’s national talent competition. Another ghazal “Chand angrayian le raha...” was well received for its romantic and melodic content. After philosophical composition “Ye Mauzsa...” by Qateel Shefai set to music in raga “Jog”, Rinku displayed her versatility with rendition of Wali Hasan’s “Muasam aayenge, mausam jayenge…” singing three “antars” in different ragas with the dominant “Pahadi”. She maintained the same pace in poet Rehbar’s “Anjaam se vaakif hai…” composed by Varinder Bachchan. Her encore performance included ghazals like Sudershan Faqir’s “Vo kagaz ki kashti…” immortalised by Jagjit Singh, “Ranjish hi sahi…”, “Jhuki jhuki si nazar” and many more. But she brought the pathos and pangs of love in the renditions of Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s poetry of protest, be it “Raat gyi kar...” or “Yardiya...”. Earlier, broadcaster Vijay Vashisht explained the cultural history of the ghazal, which flourished during the Mogul reign. Sushant Sharma, Dinesh Raheja, Swaran Singh, Subhash Nayak and Avtar Singh accompanied the artiste. Chief guest Pawan Kumar Bansal, MP, accompanied by Padmabhushan Dr Sardar Anjum and M.L. Koser lighted the traditional lamp. |
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Book on Bengal Sappers released
Chandigarh, November 6 Activities today included the Officers’ Mess function, in which a coffee table book on the Bengal Sappers was released and the unveiling of a marble bust of Col William Lambton, a noted surveyor who had initiated the longest measurement of the earth’s surface from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari in 1802. Golf and lunch for all dignitaries at the JCOs mess were also organised. A ceremonial parade and the wreath laying function to honour martyrs, besides other functions, would be held tomorrow. From a modest beginning in 1803 when a company of Bengal Pioneers was raised by Capt T. Wood to provide parties for breaching obstacles and scaling walls, the BEG has evolved to emerge as one of the Army’s most distinguished establishments. From the rugged Hindukush to the battlefields of Europe, from the deserts of Africa to the swamps of Malaya, from Persia and Mesopotamia to China, the Bengal Sappers have proved their mettle under trying conditions, as a tally of 80 Battle Honours and 11 Theatre Honours bear testimony to the fact and also makes it among the highest decorated groups in the world. |
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