The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

High on Hope

Hope and faith allow one to dream and think big. Children at Nari Niketan may not have what most of us take for granted, our families, but they retain hope. Minna Zutshi brings forth the dreams and aspirations of these children

“When happiness eludes us, we try to squeeze in small joys into our life, and we try to dream big… Dreams signify hope, triumph of life over death.”

Theirs is a different world. They have seen the seamier side of life at a very young age. Some of them were abandoned by their families even before they had known what a family is all about. Others saw and experienced floundering of relationships at an equally young age.

Most of them are strangers to the warm snug homes and close-knit families (read doting grandparents and protective parents who fuss over their kids).

Yet, these children at the Pushpa Gujral Nari Niketan in Jalandhar have not given up on life.

They may not view life with rose-tinted glasses, but they have their dreams intact.

Surprisingly, there’s not even a trace of rancour or bitterness when they talk of what they have, and what they desire.

For little Geeta, a Class I student, a simple stroll in Jalandhar’s Nikku Park is enough to warm her heart. “The park is so beautiful. I like it,” she sallies. Shahrukh Khan (no, he’s not Shahrukh uncle for her; he’s just Shahrukh) is her favourite actor.

Many of these girls have a dream of a good innings in the glamour world. Tanya and her sister Pooja want to be airhostesses. Pooja has another dream — to pen a book.

“Isn’t it nice when people write big, fat books? It sounds great,” she says, her eyes shining with conviction.

Most of these children have their dreams anchored in reality.

Rubina, who has done a diploma in art and craft, wants to be financially independent, just as Bindiya, who is in Plus Two, aspires to opt either for nursing or for the job of an airhostess.

“What is primarily important for me is to be financially secure. In fact, I want to have enough money to be able to help this home that has given me so much,” she says.

For Moti, a girl with saucer-shaped eyes, nothing is comparable to the joy of being able to play with her friends.

An impish smile lights up her face when she says, “I study in UKG. I will be a doctor when I grow big.” Her favourite pastime is playing hide and seek.

And, she conveniently throws a challenge to her friends to trace her when she’s in hiding!

The newest ‘addition’ to the Nari Niketan is Archana, a chirpy three-year-old, who was found abandoned. Of course, she has no memory of her family.

When asked about her parents, she draws a blank. She hardly seems to miss what she has barely known. It has been just a month since she joined the niketan but she has already adjusted well in the set up, besides being the centre of attraction.

According to Col R.C. Mehandroo, Director, Pushpa Gujral Nari Niketan Trust, these children have an amazing zest for life.

“It’s all about the affirmation of the beauty of life.”

A look at the children and there are no second thoughts about it.

800 years of Sultanwind

The ancient village where followers of Prithviraj Chauhan settled and that nurtured brave soldiers and numerous militants too, moves towards development, albeit slowly. Varinder Walia and P. K. Jaiswar trace the history and passage of time for the village

A painting depicts Bhai Manjh, follower of Guru Arjan Dev, who tumbled into a well but saved the wood that he was carrying for ‘Guru ka langar’.
— Photo by Rajiv Sharma

How could anyone ever turn the clock back in Sultanwind? How could members of main communities living in a 800-year old village ever go back to being nails and flesh — of the same finger? Drive through Sultanwind now and see how. That dark phase is not even a blip on anybody’s mind.

Named after “Pir” Sakhi Sultan, Sultanwind is four centuries older than the city of Amritsar. Situated on the old Golden Temple road, Sultanwind was once a Muslim-dominated village before Partition. The ancestors of the villagers, who were followers of king Prithviraj Chauhan, fought valiantly Mohammad Ghori before settling down here.

A number of mazars in the village periphery show that a large number of Muslims who lived there left for the newly-created Pakistan after the bloodshed of the Partition.

Guru Arjan Dev visited Sultanwind to rescue his follower Bhai Manjh after he had tumbled down a well while bringing wood from a forest.

Guru Hargobind stayed here during his marriage. Other prominent religious figures who visited the place included Baba Budda Ji, Bhai Gurdas Ji, Bhai Bahlo Ji, Bhai Salo Ji and Bhai Bidhi Chand.

An old tree of “Karir”, where the sixth Guru tied his horse, still exists in the gurdwara.

But the gurdwara, now under the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), is not properly maintained.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh had constructed two “burjis” (minarets), on the old Golden Temple road. This was how the adjoining village Doburji was named. However, both the ‘burjis’ – the grand landmarks, have been demolished.

Long ago the present city of Amritsar was a dense forest. Several villages fringed the forest. Many legendary and mythological references are attached to this land owned by adjoining villages of Tung, Sultanwind, Gumtala and Gilwali.

Dr Guravtar Singh, who belongs to this village, claimed that the land of Sultanwind started from Gurdwara Dukh Bhanjni Beri (in the Golden Temple premises). The location of the Golden Temple was a low-lying area with a big pond surrounded by dense jungle. It was next to the city of Lahore, then the capital of Punjab. A highway connecting India to some central Asian countries also ran through this piece of land.

The price of real estate here has, of late, increased manifold. The price of land, which had crashed during the peak of militancy, is once again picking up. A PUDA approved Kanwar Enclave, named after slain Khalistan Commando Force Chief, Kanwarjit Singh Sultanwind, is fast coming up. The upward swing of land prices is mind-boggling. At present, it is between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 per yard.

Interestingly, there was hardly any takers for the land when the gun-totting Kanwarjit Singh was alive.

Following the restoration of normalcy, real estate business has seen an unexpected swing. The village that provided a sanctuary to the terrorists has become much sought after by the colonisers these days. A number of terrorists belonged to this village. Militancy became the reason for the non-development of the region.

The village is divided into 12 “patties” (zones). These include Patti Mansoor, Patti Balol, Dadujalla, Bhainiwal, Malka, Sau, Sultan, Pandora and Shaho Ki. The area was recently brought under the Amritsar South constituency. Earlier it was under the Jandiala constituency.

According to a rough estimate, the village has a population of about 40,000, and has 25,000 registered voters.

Sultanwind came under the Municipal Corporation in 1972. However, there is nothing to show in the name of development.

Interestingly, immediately after World War I, the British government made the labyrinthine lanes of the area “pacca”, as a reward for the bravery shown by the villagers during the war. The Chitti Gali was completely marbled. It is in a bad shape now. The four-km long stretch was never repaired. It is marked by large potholes.

Since the village is located across the Sultanwind canal, it got deprived of development.

Recently, the Punjab government decided to construct a gate and repair the road in the memory of late Lance Naik Gurmit Singh, killed during the Kargil War.

The authorities started the construction with much fanfare on April 14 this year. However, the work progressed further than the platform for the gate.

According to information, the corporation passed a grant of Rs 26 lakh for the purpose. But the completion of work still seems to be a distant dream.

The area is now marred by water seepage that has clogged the village damaging residences and important building like Gurdwara Atari Sahib where the sixth Guru is believed to have stayed.

Waiting for development

The literacy rate of the village is low. However, few educated persons who have brought laurels to Amritsar feel concerned about the lack of development of their ancestral village. Mr Sum Dutt Vasudeva, Additional Advocate General, Himachal Pradesh, and Dr Guravtar Singh, a government veterinary officer, who belongs to this village said there had been no development worth its name since Sultanwind village was included in the Amritsar Municipal Corporation.

The road connecting the village to the city as also with Daburji village on the main GT Road (Amritsar-Jalandhar Road) is full of potholes. Neither is there any water supply scheme nor any sewerage system.

Dr Guravtar Singh said heaps of domestic waste could be seen littered in the main bazaar and drains remained full of filth. “There is neither a dispensary nor any library.

The corporation as well as the state government has completely overlooked this village since it ahs no godfather,” he rued.

Dr Guravtar Singh was one of the two doctors from the country to have participated in the regional training of meat inspection in Asia held at Veterinary Management Institute in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Supreme sacrifices
The villagers made Sultanwind proud by making supreme sacrifices in all the fields –World Wars, Jaiton Morcha, Morcha of Guru Ka Bagh or freedom struggle.
Over 1,38,000 Indian troops fought in Belgium and France during World War I, many of them Sikhs. The marble slab outside the police station displays that 135 residents of this village participated in World War I. Out of them, seven had sacrificed their lives.
In the first battle of Ypres at Flanders in 1914, a platoon of Sikhs died fighting to the last man, who shot himself with his last cartridge rather than surrender.
Sikhs still made up a disproportionate quantity of the forces that India gave to the war effort. Sikhs again fought on a number of fronts, where Sikh units were largely deployed.
The British government established a police post as reward for the bravery of the villagers who had participated in World War I.

The story of Bhai Manjh
Bhai Manjh whose real name was Teertha used to do the seva by bringing wood as fuel for preparing langar. He was a staunch devotee of Pir Sakhi Sultan and had two mazaars of the pir at his residence. He was one of the rich zamindars of the area and was also the head of the village.
However, after listening to the spiritual discourses of the fifth Guru, he razed down the two mazaars. Despite opposition by the residents of area, he did not abandon the path shown by the Guru.
One day, while carrying wood he tumbled into a well following a storm. Guru Arjan Dev found that despite his predicament, Bhai Ji had saved the wood from getting wet. The Guru honored his disciple by saying: “Manjh is beloved of the Guru and the Guru of the Manjh”.
However, the ancient well in which Bhai Manjh had tumbled has been covered with a marble structure at the cost of its historicity.
Guru Hargobind visited this village when their barat stayed here on its way to Baba Bakala from Guru Ki Wadali and had tied his horse to a killa (wooden nail) that turned into a tree.

Viva la Radio — work is fun for FM jockeys
Shaina Chawla

Gone are the days when we would switch on the radio sets and a lady with a soft monotonous voice would welcome you.

Nowadays, when you switch on the radio, a fresh, lively voice with foot-tapping music in the background beckons you.

With the growing popularity of FM channels in the country, radio jockeying has become a hot career option for the youth.

Adding the pace of their lives, this field gives them the chance to get fame in lesser time and also adds to the pocket money.

The FM trend was started by private companies in the metros.

Seeing their popularity, Prasar Bharti too widened its FM service, after incorporating many changes. Now, many All India Radio (AIR) stations have their own FM channels called ‘FM Rainbow’.

The popular ones in north India are the Delhi, Kasauli, Chandigarh and Jalandhar FM stations.

Due to changes in the AIR’s FM channels, youngsters too want to get into the field.

Anchoring has turned to radio jockeying, mature and soft voices are being replaced by young, friendly voices.

Another thing with FM channels is that they employ casual anchors. So the person has to work for 10 to 12 hours a month only. This makes radio jockeying a part-time profession and attracts youngsters.

An MBA student and an RJ with FM Rainbow, Neetu says, “I was a listener first. Then I though that I too can talk on the radio. I tried, cleared the audition, and became a RJ. I’m getting my creative satisfaction and enough pocket money.”

Unlike metros, small cities like Jalandhar provide any part-time jobs to youngsters.

This new trend of RJs has thus provided a platform to the youth to show their creative talents even as they study or work.

Ikwinder, another RJ with FM Rainbow says, “After finishing my BAMS, I started working in a hospital. But due to my interests, I also got into radio. Now, I’m doing both the things, side by side. Radio lessens the burden of my regular job. It breaks the monotony.”

Most are happy with the lone FM channel in the city. But some complains are there. They say FM Rainbow is too governmental and only people with command in Punjabi are given preference.

But with chances that private FM channels too will jump into the fray, the situation is likely to change.

Dr Namrta Joshi, a mass communication lecturer at the Guru Nanak Dev University’s regional campus here, says, “Radio jockeying is a happening career option for the youth. But unlike the big cities, we don’t have private FM channels. If a private channel comes to the city, it will surely give chance people more comfortable speaking English or Hinglish.”

“Even though many a youngsters are running after radio jockeying, they must be aware that its entirely different from public speaking. So they must learn the technicalities of radio jockeying,” she adds.

Gurwinder Singh, a software professional and a radio anchor, says, “Radio jockeying is not as easy as it seems. It requires hard work to prepare scripts and because you have to go live on the air, you have to take a care about your presentation. Voice modulation is also an important factor. Having a good voice is not enough”.

Hence, if you too plan to become an RJ, then start working on your voice and presentation.

Maybe one day, you too would get the chance to be on AIR.

Young World
I-Day, Janmashtami celebrated
Tribune News Service

Students of Innocent Hearts School celebrated Independence day and Janmashtami. Director of the school unfurled the national flag with the students presenting a guard of honour, a PT show and patriotic songs. To mark Janmashtami, a nritya natika was performed.

The 59th Independence Day and Janmashtami was also celebrated in the premises of the CT Public School. Chief guest on the occasion was chairman of the CT Institutions, Mr Charanjit Singh Channi. The students, divided in houses, presented skits, group songs and dance performances.

Sanskriti KMV School celebrated Independence Day in school campus. Students of pre-nursery hoisted the tricolour. A programme was presented by students of the Pre-Primary Wing. In an inter-house patriotic solo song competition, Minal Jain, Damanpreet Kaur and Kanupriya secured prizes.

Celebrations were also held at the Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya. The students decorated the principal and the staff with national flags.

Similar function was organized at the Police DAV Public School. A cultural programme was presented by the students. Ballon, the symbol of freedom, were also released. Janmashtami celebration were also held in the school with a small play.

Eklavya School in Model Town and Nakodar Road too celebrated Independence Day and Janamashtami at its campuses.

Both the schools were decorated with national flags, and the cradle of Lord Krishna was also decorated.

In the pre-primary school Model Town, the Director, Ms Seema Handa, hoisted the national flag. The students sang the National Anthem followed by a patriotic song.

In the senior school at Nakodar Road, Ms and Mr Ramandeep Johal and Ms Poonam Kalra were the guests of honour. Arav Kalra (Class IV) gave a speech on the importance and significance of Independence day.

Declamation contest

DIPS, Karol Bagh, on Saturday celebrated Vanmahotsav with a declamation contest on ‘Save Environment, Save Mother Earth’. The contest was organised by Pahal, an NGO. Anubhav of Class V won the first prize. Professor Lakhbir Singh, president of Pahal, distributed certificates among the students. The students also planted several neem trees in the campus. School principal Sarvesh Doel urged the students to grow more trees.
Students of DIPS, Karol Bagh, plant neem saplings in the campus

Students of DIPS, Karol Bagh, plant neem saplings in the campus.

Saplings planted

Students and staff of Apeejay School, Rama Mandi, marked Vanmahotsav by planting 125 saplings, including 20 medicinal plants, in the school campus. Also present was the regional manager of Punjab National Bank, Jalandhar, Mr A.R. Mishra.

Poetry competition

A Hindi poetry recitation competition was held at MGN Public School in Urban Estate II for students from class V to VIII. The judge was Ms Anita Verma, a senior Hindi teacher of MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar. The winners were Anmol Singh (Class VII), Harinderpal Singh (Class VIII) and Subhmani Kaur (Class VIII).

Teej Utsav

Banarsi Dass Arya Girls College in Jalandhar Cantonment, celebrated Teej Utsav to mark the monsoon. Students and teachers enjoyed rides on swings. A mehandi contest was organised by the Cosmetology Department. The winners were Meenakshi, Harpreet and Gurjit.

University toppers

The students of Prem Chand Markanda S.D. College for Women have topped in the cosmetology and dress designing and tailoring course.

In cosmetology, Sonia topped the university with 95 per cent marks followed by Jyoti with 93.5 per cent, Navneet with 93 per cent, Rajbir with 90.5 per cent and Banisha with 90 per cent marks. In dress designing and tailoring, Rajni bagged the first position in the university with 530 marks out of 550. Suman stood second with 527 marks.

The courses were introduced in the college last year under the dual degree scheme in Fashion Designing, Internal Application, Cosmetology, Office Management, Computer Application and Communicative Skills.

The college Principal, Ms Kiran Arora, congratulated the students on their performances.

Phagwara schools break taboo
Anil Jerath
Tribune News Service

Illustrations by Sandeep Joshi

Nineteen-year-old Preeti (name changed), along with her boyfriend, went to a private abortion clinic in Phagwara some time back. She was seven weeks pregnant and very embarrassed. “The feeling of shame and guilt was worse than death,” Preeti later said.

“Me and my boyfriend didn’t have any clue about unprotected sex. I wish we had studied a bit about it because that entire feeling of landing up at the abortion clinic still haunts me. I don’t feel like living anymore,” the college student said. She had borrowed money from a friend for the abortion.

There are hundreds of Preetis in the region for whom the issue is no longer whether to have sex or not, but more importantly, how to protect themselves from its unwanted consequences, particularly pregnancy.

Precisely for this reason, introduction of sex education in Phagwara schools is a God-sent gift for girls and boys alike.

With pre-marital sex becoming more acceptable for the younger generation and abortions becoming a common thing in the region, experts feel girls will benefit highly from this programme.

Agreeing with the statement, Jaswinder Kaur, principal of a local school, said, “We can’t help it if the times have changed and moral values have declined. Therefore, sex education is essential, not just for girls but also for boys. While we can’t go around with moral policing all the time, we can definitely help make the young generation aware about unsafe sex.”

Even the medical fraternity has welcomed the move to introduce sex education in schools.

Dr Meera Bedi, a gynaecologist, told Jalandhar Plus: “Educating children about sex and its effects should start early, ideally by the age of 12. By this age, children start to experience hormonal changes in the body and there is need to make them aware of these changes.”

Dr Bedi said schools play an important role here as, according to her, most children hesitate to talk about sex with their parents.

“Kids these days try to get information from the Internet or the TV. Now, half knowledge is dangerous and children end up getting the wrong information, which in some cases ruin their lives,” she added.

Dr Bedi herself has taken an initiative in this aspect and visits city schools to impart sex education. “We start from Class V or VI,” she said.

While talking about the rising cases of pre-marital sex and abortion by teenagers, she said, “These days, we find many young girls coming over to private clinics for abortions. They are ignorant about the implications of legal abortions and consequences of pre-marital sex. Because of advancement in technology, young girls opt for abortion, ignoring the aftermath of this act, like chances of infertility.”

It is harder for young people in the city to obtain reproductive health information and family planning services, leading to a higher risk of unwanted pregnancy.

On the other hand, most parents are not only unwilling to discuss sex with their children, but also feel angry if it is suggested that they share information on birth control.

“Nobody in our family can even say the word ‘sex’ aloud. Forget discussing about sex, we can’t even use this word,” Anupama, a student, said.

Psychologist Brajesh Kumar said, “If a particular thing is a taboo in your house, like alcohol, your child will always be curious about it. Ideally, parents should discuss in a healthy atmosphere with their kids everything under the sun, including sex and ill-effects of alcohol and tobacco instead of just banning them.

Ruby makes name in martial arts
Neeraj Bagga

MARTIAL SPIRIT: Ruby demonstrates her skills by breaking of ice slabs in Amritsar.
— A Tribune photograph

Martial arts expert Ruby took on the organisers and floored them when she found the Indian National Flag missing at the Asian Sport For All Associations held in Busan, South Korea last year. She came out the next day to find three Tricolour proudly fluttering at the venue.

Ruby has not confined herself to any one martial art; in fact she practices many. Karate, taekwondo, wushu, gymnastics and hae dong kumdo (a Korean sword game) are part of her repertoire. She participated in several national and international championships of these sports and carved out a niche for herself.

Now, she goes to participate in international conventions of these games as an official.

Her first martial art sport was karate. She secured the gold medal in the India Karate Cup in 1996 and had acquired silver medal in the National Full Contact Karate Championship a year earlier. She was declared the best karate player and took the gold medal in the National Open Full Contact Karate Championship. She repeated the same result in the 2006 edition too.

The second martial sport she learned was taekwondo. She took the silver medal in the National Women Taekwondo Championship held in Bangalore in 2002. Besides, she attended several courses and camps to train youngsters. She took coaching at the World Taekwondo Academy and International Taekwondo Academy.

She also dabbled in wushu, a Chinese martial art. She claimed the silver medal in the 10th National Wushu Championship held in New Delhi in 2001 and the gold in the fourth Punjab State Men and Women Wushu Championship.

In gymnastics, Ruby participated in the Punjab State Junior and Senior Championship in 1999-2000 and in the Senior State Gymnastics Championship.

She received training in hae dong kumdo, a Korean sword game, in South Korea.

She attributes her success to her family and coaches. She said her coaches Mahesh Verma, Ish Devgan and Shammi Rana guided her through.

Apart from this, she officiated in the All-India Open Martial Arts Championship on karate 2003, the All-India Indira Gandhi Open Wushu Championship 2002, National Taekwondo Championship 2005, besides others.

Kaputhala cagers win inter-sainik school tournament
Tribune News Service

Sainik School, Kapurthala, won the championship trophy at the North Zone Inter-Sainik School Basketball Championship held at Sainik School, Sujanpur Tira, from July 20 to 25. The matches were played on a league basis.

In the first match, Sainik School, Kapurthala, completely outplayed Sainik School, Nagrota, 73-14. Vikram Singh was declared the best player of the match.

In the next match, Kapurthala cagers got the better of Kunjpur team 38-32. In the third match they emerged on top against Sainik School, Gorakhal (Uttranchal) 38-27. Vikram Jeet Singh was the best scorer.

In the last match Sainik School, Kapurthala, thrashed the hosts 39-12. In this match Vishawjot Singh and Dilsher Singh were the best scorers. The backbone of the team was Maninder Singh, who was declared as the best player.

Market Buzz
Bank opens new branch

Kotak Mahindra Bank launched its retail banking branch in Jalandhar. K.V.S. Manian, Group Head – Retail Liabilities, Kotak Mahindra Bank inaugurated the branch located at 37, GT Road. The total number of full-fledged branches in the region is seven. The Bank is already present in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Phagwara and Mohali. As one of the first banks in India offering the facility to purchase and redeem mutual funds on net banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank has extended this feature to the phone banking services. Customers can now purchase and redeem Mutual Funds simply by calling 1800 116022 (north India) and 1800 226022 (rest of India).

New course

Beauty academy Clara International celebrated i8ts 29the anniversary at its Jalandhar branch. The day was marked by several beauty and make-up contests for the students. Regional director of the academy Nidhi Sidhu said a two-year diploma course (CIDESCO) would be started at Clara from an university in the UK. She said in this course, the students would get their first year training in India and would spend the second year in Malaysia.

Retail outlet

My Dollarstore, one of America’s biggest retail chains, was launched in Model Town recently. The store will sell products at an uniform price of Rs 99. Its franchisee here is Sankalp Retail Value Stores. My Dollarstore has 40 outlets across India.

New store

Cotton County recently opened its 100th outlet. The retail outlets are part of the Rs 2,400 Nahar Group and specialises in menswear. Its vice-president Sachin Sahni said the outlet had now began a monsoon offer.

New bike model

TVS Motor Company has launched a new version of the 125 cc Victor GLX with an electronic start option. The bike’s price starts at Rs 42,950. — TNS