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Disease diagnostic laboratory
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From Schools and Colleges
UGC to hold student exchange programmes
Inter-school contests organised
Students to visit Punjab Vidhan Sabha
150 students receive prizes
‘Dabbawala’ comes calling
Shop till you drop
From an artist’s oeuvre
Fancy footwork at play
Passing Thru
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If you thought youngsters have a yen only for partying and freaking out, it’s time to do a reality check. Book-reading is fast becoming a favourite pastime of the city youngsters, reports Minna Zutshi Words pierce the inner recesses of the heart. And they shape conversations and interactions. There’s nothing sacred about these words, yet they have an aura of sanctity about them, especially as they come from the pen of famous authors. These words create an alcove where characters come alive at the flick of a page. Welcome to the world of book clubs peopled by teenagers. “The world of books is a magical zone. Take Harry Potter, for instance. You want to be part of Harry’s world. It’s so enticing. Each morning, we want to wake up in a world that teems with magic,” says Guneet, a Plus Two student of Apeejay School. She’s a member of the book club at Browser here. Already their club has 30-35 members, who meet at least thrice a month (usually on Saturdays). They have nice sessions of mental calisthenics. It’s not only books that they discuss, but also they do a bit of psychological juggling. Characters ‘inhabiting’ various books are scrutinised, analysed, and “personality”a tags are attached to these characters. “We usually play word-games, in which fictional characters are discussed and explained. These sorts of games are interesting as well as invigorating,” says Nimanniyu, a Class X student. There can never be a moment of boredom when you have so many fictional characters, which at times seem more real than real-life characters, vying for your attention. It’s often that the value system of the fictional characters comes under a scanner, and in the process, the values of the youngsters are projected on to the characters. “Being selfish is not always bad. Why attach any negative value to selfishness?” asks Guneet, who finds Ayn Rand’s “Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged” good reading. Sometimes, the discussion veers around the authors. “J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, is an epitome of womanhood. She’s a gutsy woman,” quips Nimanniyu. Interestingly, Indian Panchtantra and Jataka tales come a distant second in the reading list of these youngsters. For juniors like Saahas and Isha, both Class I students, story books like “Jack and the Beanstalk” hold charm. “We like colourful books with lots of pictures,” sallies Isha, while taking a handful of salty snacks from her little bag. Book reading is a “distinctly pleasurable” activity for these kids. The visual appeal of the books, the joy of shared (and sometimes not-shared) snacks, the ‘we-don’t-care-what-seniors-discuss’ attitude — they enjoy each moment of their meetings in Browser. “The club is fun. And it gives us a different perspective on life. It is a good experience in learning the art of articulation. Many of us at the time of joining the club were afraid of expressing our views, but now it seems we just want an opportunity to speak out our mind,” remarks Ojaswee, another member of the book club. Jauhar, a Class X student of Guru Amar Das School, vouches for all this. After all, there is nothing like a good book when it comes to expanding one’s mental horizon!
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Disease diagnostic laboratory
non-functional
Even though the issue of avian influenza has triggered alarming bells throughout the country, the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory catering to this region stretching as far as New Delhi, has been virtually non-functional for the past several months.
The regional laboratory, which caters to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and New Delhi, has been undergoing renovation at a very slow pace owing to which the entire set-up is lying disrupted. The laboratory equipment have been hurdled in the animal post mortem room, due to which disease diagnosis on dead bodies of animal seems practically impossible to be carried out. Some of the latest equipment, including a laminar air flow machine and autoclaves that were recently bought for diagnostic purposes, are also lying dismantled in the laboratory. In fact, none of the electronic gadgets seemed installed on either of the two floors of the laboratory due to the renovation work that has been on for more than one and a half years. The employees of the lab said the renovation work was progressing very slowly, as there had been delay in payments some time back. The huge government poultry farm in the same complex of the laboratory has been long evacuated. The only animal available for testing purposes is the pigs that are in abundance and in overgrown sizes. The laboratory, which was earlier functioning for the state, was given the status of regional laboratory in the year 2001. The laboratory is currently being headed by Joint Director of the Animal Husbandry Department, Dr H.S. Sandha, who has nine doctors, technicians and other staff to assist. The post of a parasitology specialist has been lying vacant for long. Dr
Sandha, however, claimed that even as renovation was on, there was no problem in taking samples from birds and packing them to be dispatched to high-security Avian Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.
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Education camp for special
children
In order to bring children with any form and degree of disability under the ambit of elementary education and to provide them relevant education in the most sensible environment, a camp was organised in Kapurthala on Wednesday.
Mr Sameer Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated the camp, which was third in the series of camps organised by Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan, Punjab, to identify the children with special needs (CWSN) in district Kapurthala. “In these camps, all children between the age group of 0-18 years have been covered. These include children going to school, out-of-school and children with even 10 per cent of disability,” informed Dr Deepak Anand, coordinator of the camps. The children and their parents are provided meals at the camp free of cost and their travel expenses are also reimbursed under the project. Elaborating on the project, Dr Anand said the government had adopted a zero rejection policy. He added, as a part of the policy, the government was holding assessment and identification camps under which CWSN were judged by the experts. Thereafter, on the recommendations by the experts, learning aids and other devices would be provided to the children free of cost to facilitate their studies, he said. Children with severe form of disability were recommended for enrolment to special schools and even recommended for surgery or any other form of rehabilitation like therapy also, he added. The children, who are hearing impaired, speech impaired, visually impaired, Ortho handicapped, mentally challenged, cerebral palsies and other chronic diseases, will be covered under the camps, he further said. According to information, 763 disabled children were identified in the district last year, while the number of children has been increased to 2,861 in the current year. Seven specially trained teachers have been posted in the district for these children.
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From Schools and Colleges Sanskriti KMV School organised its annual fete on the campus on Sunday. The school wore a festive look as its campus was decorated with colourful flags, balloons and buntings. Stalls for different games like ‘Ring the thing’, ‘Lucky dip’, ‘Hit the box’, ‘Shoot the balloon’, ‘Hit the bull’s eye’ and tambola were arranged. The visitors also relished snacks and other eatables. Students also enjoyed dancing to the tunes of various latest hits on the DJ. Raffle draw was taken out on the spot and gifts were presented to the winners on the spot. Red Day In an effort to teach students about various colours, Seth Hukum Chand S.D. Public Senior Secondary School, Kapurthala Road, organised “Red Day”. The students came dressed up in red colour and they brought different articles, fruits and vegetables of red colour. The students who got the maximum red colour objects were given away prizes by the
Workshop Lovely Institute organised a workshop on “Prakriti, pravriti and parivartan” for the female members of Gymkhana Club on Sunday. Mr H.R. Singla, Director General, Lovely Institutes, stressed on the need of developing positive attitude and coping with change in personal and professional lives. The workshop was divided into two sessions, the first one focused on “positive attitude” which was taken up by Ms Gaganjeet and the second was based on “change management” by Ms Puneet Sikand. Self assessment exercises were also undertaken for evaluating personal profile of participants.
Swimming pool A unique swimming pool was inaugurated in the primary branch of Apeejay School on Friday last. The 48x24x5.8 feet pool was inaugurated by Ms Sushma Berlia, Vice-president of Apeejay Education Society. Ms Aneela Kinder, headmistress, said the school had proposed to start training camps for its students soon.
Competition Students of Department of Mass Communication of Doaba College bagged the first prize in report writing and the second prize in choreography at third national media festival organised by the Amity School of Communication and Event Management at Noida. Kiranpreet of BSc (electronic media) II of Doaba College won the first prize in report writing. The team comprising Rishma, Komal, Amrita, Kiranpreet, Richa, Nidhi and Amriti got second prize in choreography.
Chinese language Mayor World School has decided to introduce Chinese language for its students from the coming session. Stating this, Ms G. Bindra, Principal, said that the language had been offered keeping in view the rampant trade openings in China. She said the school was already offering French and German languages for its students as optional subjects. (Compiled by Deepkamal Kaur)
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UGC to hold student exchange programmes
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to develop effective link-ups between top Indian universities and reputed foreign institutes so as to hold student exchange programmes with them.
Dr V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-chairman of the commission, said this during an interaction with The Tribune last Friday. He was here as a chief guest on the occasion of convocation of the Apeejay College of Fine Arts. Dr Pillai said the UGC was in the process of identifying top universities and colleges all across the world, especially most preferred destinations that included US, Canada and Australia. He said that this way the UGC would facilitate the students get a vast experience, training and knowledge. The Vice-chairman added that this would also help the students interested in moving abroad for higher education, as they would be able to get the right direction. He said there had been numerous incidents in which the students had fallen into wrong traps and wasted their precious time and money. In return, he said the Indian universities and colleges would have foreign students keen in taking higher education from here. When asked about the coming up of a private university in Punjab, Dr Pillai said it was a good step until the state government ensured that all requisite norms and regulations were followed by the authorities. He said that the Lovely Institute authorities had applied for recognition with the UGC. The application was still being processed, he added. Dr Pillai added that the institute would have to fulfill rigorous norms laid down by the UGC to get recognised. He cited the example of Chhattisgarh University, which did not follow adequate standards and had to face action by the commission. He said the commission had forwarded a list of requisite standards to be followed by private universities so as to be approved under the state Act. On the issue of raising the share towards higher education in the Central Budget, Dr Pillai said the UGC had written to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development to allocate 1.5 per cent of the GDP for higher education from the current share of 0.4 per cent.
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Inter-school contests organised
Students from various schools of the district participated in chart-making, article-writing and poster-making competitions at Arya Senior Secondary School for Boys, Bast Gunja, here on Tuesday.
The topic of the competition was based on the World Year of Physics that has just concluded. In scientific article writing contest, Shikha of Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, stood first. In poster-making contest, Pooja Verma of Shiv Devi Girls’ High School was declared the best. Meanwhile, NSS volunteers of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Ladowali Road, took part in tree-plantation and cleanliness drive during a camp held here on Tuesday. Mr M.L. Aeri, Principal, DAV College and Prof Lakhbir Singh, President of NGO Pehal, planted the first sapling. As many as 100 tree saplings were planted on the school campus. Mr K.K. Aery, school principal, and Mr R.P.S. Multani, NSS programme officer, were also present during the camp.
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Students to visit Punjab Vidhan Sabha
Students of MA (Mass Communication), Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus, Ladhewali, will visit Punjab Vidhan Sabha and the Parliament to witness the proceedings of Budget Session on February 24 and 27, respectively.
Dr Kamlesh Singh Duggal, Head of the department, said this in a press note on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a lecture on “Latest trends in business applications” was organised at Guru Nanak Dev University College on Tuesday. Dr Ashish Arora, lecture in management, DAV College, exhorted the students to become knowledge managers using plenty of data available through various sources rather than becoming “software coolies”. A quiz was also held on the topic in which Ritika of MBA, Navpreet of MBA and Jaspreet of MCA stood first, second and third, respectively.
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150 students receive prizes
As many as 150 students of Dayanand Ayurvedic College here received prizes during their annual award presentation ceremony held at DAV College auditorium on Wednesday.
University toppers, and winners of cultural activities and sports events received prizes from the chief guest, Mr Ashok Gupta, Deputy Commissioner. Dr S.K. Sharma of Patel Hospital presided over the function. Dr Raj Kumar Sharma, Principal of the college, read the annual report. On the occasion, the students organised a cultural show. The cultural programme showcased various music, dance and drama items, in which the students exhibited their artistic skills.
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‘Dabbawala’ comes calling
Away from home, fed up of eating tandoori rotis available in dhabas and yearning for some soft homemade chapattis? Go in for a “dabbawala”, who will deliver sizzling hot food right on your table by lunch time. The opening up of a number of corporate offices, showrooms and educational institutes in Jalandhar has paved way for expansion of “tiffin business” here.
The most interesting fact about this “garma garam dabba” is that it can be tailor-made as per one’s choice. Unlike the thali system with a fixed menu, one can ask for suitable changes in tiffin to tickle his taste buds. In case one wants an extensive menu, a larger tiffin with three vegetables, raita, rice, chapattis, salad and a sweet dish, can also be ordered. “If you are fond of rice, you can go in for rice wala dabba and alternatively if you prefer chapattis, you may exclude rice and order cheaper tiffin for the day,” says Mr Anil Chauhan, an employee of a private company, who prefers to opt for one of the “dabbawalas” in the city. The ordinary tiffin comprises two vegetables with rice or chapatti and a sweet dish once a week. The fact that the paying guest system is not very popular in the city, has also made tiffin system a booming business here. Ms Raman, an MSc student from Lyallpur Khalsa College, says, “I am living in a rented accommodation here with my friend and we don’t get time to cook food. So, we prefer getting two tiffins at our place every afternoon”. Dabbawalas agree that their business has picked up in the recent past. Says Sumit Kumar Chadha, who supplies tiffins, “Our family has been into this business for almost the past five years. Our business has now shot up after the staff of corporate offices have started ordering for tiffins in bulk. Our supply also goes to the district courts where lawyers ask for tiffins. The staff of various central and state government departments, including passport office, the LIC, income tax office, sale tax office and excise department, are also our clientele.” Since Jalandhar district has a wide periphery and also has many people commuting daily from satellite towns like Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Ludhiana, most employees do not get their tiffins from home because of easy access to tiffins. Said Mr Manjeet Kaur, working in the District Administrative Complex, “I start from my home at Ludhiana around 7 pm and I have to eat my lunch at 1 pm, the food does not stay fresh. I find tiffin system to be more convenient and tangible”.
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Shop till you drop
It’s that time of the year again. Winter’s taking a bow, the days are getting longer. The sun is back and it is also the time to enjoy the “end of the season” sales. Denizens are flocking shopping complexes to make the most of winter sales with the “will-shop-till-I-drop” attitude.
And why not? After all, most of the expensive branded stuff could be yours for half the price. Says Rekha, a housewife, spotted coming out of a shop with some bags. “My budget does not allow me to buy branded things on a regular basis. So, I wait for the end of the season sales. That is why my domestic budget too remains stable.” But, is the off-season stuff of use in the coming season? “It might not be useful now, but definitely I won’t need to buy the same things at full the cost next winter. I call it smart shopping,” says Jasmeet, an owner of a beauty parlour. Venus, a teacher in a school, feels that products like shoes, jeans and shirts are not bound by seasonal limitations. “I buy such garments at half the price during the sale and wear them throughout the year. I don’t think one should think twice before splurging wisely at end of the season sales,” she says. Mr Ashok Bansal, a government employee, disagrees, “The sale mania burns a big hole in the pocket. Besides, old styles and sometimes defected stuff is up for sale, which is why I stay away from sales.” Strong words these! But no two opinions about how shopkeepers make hay while the sale hoarding shines. And, may we state, no shopkeeper puts up a sale at a loss. Agrees readymade garment owner, Kulwant, “We have to clear stocks. Next year will bring new products and we have to cut down prices to such a level that we neither suffer loss nor earn huge profits.”
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From an artist’s oeuvre
Art is all about visual orientation. It is not necessarily an exact representation of the real-life situation, feels Pawan Kumar, a city-based artist.
“An artist’s subjective experience impinges upon the external reality and the canvas captures that experience-mediated reality. For an observer, it may not be the actual representation of the reality, but for the artist, it is the whole reality and the only reality. It is the reality as he perceives it,” says this artist, who has painted a series of paintings depicting the militancy-ravaged Kashmir. Interestingly, while trying to bring out the pain and trauma of Kashmiris on the canvas, all he relied on was observation. “I hardly talked to any Kashmiri about this. I just visited the Valley and it seemed nature was just waiting to lay bare its pain to me. The shrivelled up Dal Lake, the gardens waiting for joyful visitors — it was all palpable in the air,” he says. Indian mythology is a favourite subject for Pawan, and he draws on it quite often. “I would say my art has some kind of mythological touch to it. And most of my paintings are made when the day is done,” he says. He is not the one for quickies. He says he takes his own sweet time while giving finishing touches to his art. “I paint in acrylic and oil. Thank God, I have loads of patience.” A great admirer of artist Amrita Shergill, known for her strongly individualistic artistic statements, he rues that there is hardly any art culture in Jalandhar. “People here talk only about financial deals and materialistic gains. It’s as if everyone here is on some money-spinning spree. They have no time (and neither any inclination) to stop and savour an artist’s creation. Probably, it holds no meaning for them,” he adds.
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Swimming is a passion for this young champion
Olympics is the dream destination for the young swimmer, Rohit Jamba, who has surprised many with his dazzling performance in the recently held Senior State Games.
With Ian Thorpe of Australia as his role model, the fifteen-year-old Rohit likes to emulate the world Olympian. Rohit, a Class IXth student of Government Senior Secondary School, has also participated in the National Seniors. The Jalandhar boy has won as many as four gold medals in the 1500, 800, 400 and the 200 meters categories in various championships. He has also broken the state record in the 200 meters bagging time of 2 minutes, 10 seconds and 41 fractions. Rohit belongs to the junior category, but has beaten even the senior category police champions at the Senior State Championship held at Ludhiana. Though the police champs are trained in far more advantageous conditions in the city like Bangalore, where they are provided special warm water pools during winters, yet Rohit managed to beat them due to his grit and dedication. This young champ never gives up his practice and training in swimming even during off-season to keep in the best of stamina for his passion. He is a regular at the Sports School Complex here, as he says that the speed and power must be maintained for swimming all the time to prevent slackening. Rohit admits shyly that he is considered a “hero” by his schoolmates. Besides swimming, Rohit likes reading and music. Studies are also as important for this champion as his passion, but he would like to advise all his friends to go for games also and do not stick to their books only. Maintaining a balance is slightly difficult but the benefits are really great as the high level of concentration and calmness in nature can be achieved with the help of games like swimming. For his success in mere five years of training, he credits his first coach his father Ashok Kumar, who taught him the tips of swimming in his village pond. Then on he trained himself in swimming in a small pool in Gakhal in Dhaliwal and then in the more professional environs of Jalandhar. For the future, he would like to get international level swimming coaching in the city like Bangalore, which is the hub of such sporting activity.
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Fancy footwork at play
“The world of shoes or sandals is no more restricted to black or brown colour or to leather, as the designers have experimented with every colour and material to give an adorable look to footwear,” Mr Ankur Arora, a footwear shop-owner in Jalandhar’s Model Town area. “If ethnic Punjabi, Kolhapuri, Rajasthani ‘jutiyan’ fit jell the dresses on occasions like marriage functions and birthday bashes, the sophisticated, fine leather sandals can give you stylish looks,” he adds. Embroidery and stone works are popular these days. People also like thread works with stones or beads fitted in various bright colours on the footwear, he adds. “This colourful bright sandal with embroidery works fits with the lahanga-choli I would wear in the wedding ceremony of my cousin”, says Preetika, showing the Punjabi-design footwear she bought from a shop in the city. “Even the designer footwear matching the dresses are also very much in demand. “People give us a sample of cloth, and we make the required pairs with works matching that piece on order,” he further said. High heels in Punjabi “juti” is the latest fashion among fashion conscious. “Pencil heels give more trendy looks to teenyboppers, though the sale of flat platform has witnessed a downslide,” says Mr Hitkarni Vir Singh, another shop-owner from the area. Elaborating on the materials being used in the footwear collections, Mr Hitkarni Vir Singh said, “From camel, foam leather to imported fabrics, a wide variety of materials are used by the designers.” The office-going lasses prefer soft leather sandals. “I prefer leather sandals, though there are more choices available in multi-hued colours ranging from black to red,” says Ms Palwant Kaur, who works with a multi-national company. The “jhalar-wali” sandals embedded with stones are a favourite among party-going lasses, says Mohinder of Shoe-Rack shop. “Besides the trendy looks, designers also work to give comfortable feelings to the customers,” says Vicky, another footwear shop-owner. “The jutiyaan and sandals with more comfortable cushion base have been introduced recently,” he adds.
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You presented your programme in Jalandhar. How would you rate the audience here?
It has been a wonderful experience to perform here. My father has some very pleasant memories of the Harballabh Sangeet Sammellan. The city surely has a music culture. Are you comfortable with remixes? If you have to reach out to youngsters, it is imperative to make way for remixes. The youngsters should not have the impression that the classical music is something to which they cannot relate. Has your father ever overawed you? I would put it all very differently. When my father’s on stage, he is a completely transformed man. But I do admit that I have my anxious moments when we present a programme together. — Minna Zutshi
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Evolving from black shoes and chappal, today’s footwear collection gives a tough time to fashion conscious who find it hard to chose the perfect pair from among the wide range of bright, colourful and dazzling varieties available in markets.