Chandigarh, October 27
Fun, gaiety and enthusiasm marked the inauguration of the four-day Panjab University Youth and Heritage Festival which began today at the Government College for Girls, Sector 11.

The festival was inaugurated by Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister of State for Finance. He donated a sum of Rs 5 lakh under the MPLAD scheme for creating sports infrastructure in the college.

Dr Upinder Mehra, Principal of the college, Dr S.M. Kant, director, Youth Welfare Department, Punjab University, and principals of other participating colleges and Mr H.S. Lucky, Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, were also present at the inauguration.

Earlier in the day, students of the college took out a ‘Jaago’ to declare the festival open. They depicted the rich culture and heritage of Punjab through ‘jhankis’.

A ‘plaque’ to commemorate the golden jubilee year of the college was released on the occasion by Mr Bansal. Addressing the students, he stated that such festivals should not merely be competitions, but should reflect the spirit of a festival.

“Heritage is a very important aspect of our lives and I am very happy to see that it has been made part of the youth festival,” he said.

He suggested that non-competitive items like group discussion should be introduced and there should be joint festival for boys and girls.

Various events that were organised today included shabad, bhajan, group singing, classical vocal, on-the-spot painting, still-life drawing, clay modelling, creative writing, collage-making, poster-making and cartooning in the morning session. Competitions for ghazal, geet and folk songs were held in the afternoon session.

Prof Yash Pal, a renowned vocalist was the chief guest for the events organised in the morning session while Mr Ashraf Sahil, Director, Doordarshan, Chandigarh, was the chief guest for the events held in the afternoon session.

Shabad/Bhajan: Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (I) and MCM DAV College Sec-36; (II).

Group Singing: MCM DAV College Sec-36; ( I) and Government College for Girls, Sec-11; ( II).

Classical Vocal: Govt. College for Girls, Sec-11; (I) and MCM DAV College Sec-36, (II).

On-the-Spot-Painting: Jyoti Bist, Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sec-26; (I) and Rupinder Kaur Government College for Girls, Sec-42; ( II).

Still-Life Drawing: Vandana, Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (I) and Bharti, Government College for Girls, Sec-42; (II)

Clay Modelling: Sapna Vohra, Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (I) and Simran Deep, Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sec-26; ( II).

Essay Writing: Noshin Kapoor, Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (I) and Deepshikha, MCM DAV College Sec-36; (II).

Short Story Writing: Sirjana Singh, Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (I) and Simratreen, Govt. College for Girls, Sec-42; (II).

Poem Writing: Supriya Bhatt, Government College for Girls, Sec-42; (I) and Srishti Sehgal, MCM DAV College Sec-36; ( II).

Collage-Making: Ariyala Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (I) and Navdeep, Government Home Science College Sec-10; (II)

Poster-Making: Manpreet Kaur, Government Home Science College, Sec-10; (I) and Swarleen, Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (II).

Cartooning: Saroj, Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sec-26; (I) and Arshdeep, Dev Samaj College for Women, Sec-45; (II).

Ghazal/Geet: Priyanka Singh, MCMDAV College Sec-36; (I) and Sumedha, Government College for Girls, Sec-42; (II).

Folk Song: Pallavi Bhajnani, MCM DAV College Sec-36; (I) and Uma Patiyal, Government College for Girls, Sec-11; (II). 

Banur, October 27
The Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology (SVIET) on Friday organised a seminar on “National Income in the Era of Globalisation”. Dr R.K. Sharma, Associate Fellow of the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, Punjab, and various experts delivered lectures on various topics, including risk management, credit and debit cards and exim finance. — TNS

Chandigarh, October 27
Pt Laxman Krishnarao Pandit owes his reputation to the Gwalior tradition of classical music. Born into a treasure house of melodies, he grew up to master the intricacies of his gharana, so much so that he emerged as the undisputed king of taxing musical traditions like "tappa". But his acclaim has not made him arrogant. Despite a celebrated existence, Pt Krishnarao is modest about his accomplishments. "I have only inherited this reputation by practicing what my ancestors mastered ages ago," says Pt Kriharaorao, who was in Chandigarh today to present a vocal recital on Pracheen Kala Kendra's invitation.

Fifth in the unbroken chain of vocalists, Pt Krishnarao has inspired a new generation of musicians who swear by purity of ragas. And he makes it a point to clarify at the outset: "We are witnessing total dilution of music. I have no hesitation in saying that there are only a few pure practitioners in the world of classical music. Most new-age musicians have compromised on the tenderness of the ragas for the charmof money. That's why music has become so commercialised. But those who come under my care must persevere. They must know there's no short -cut to devotion."

Meeta Pandit, Pt Krishnarao's illustrious daughter, is the finest embodiment of his style. Trained in the rich nuances of the Gwalior tradition, she has taken time to make a mark. About Meeta, Pt Krishnarao says: "Her sound weaves magic. She worships music like most of my disciples."

But good disciples don't come easy and Pt Krishnarao explains why, "my ancestors were state musicians. They were valued as the custodians of a rare tradition. But soon after the states disintegrated, music lost precious patronage. The Indian Government could never fill the gap. Classical music is yet to get its due in India."

Having witnessed two eras of Indian classical music- the glorious past and the difficult present - Pt Krishnarao says retrogressive practices have taken the zing out of the Indian musical tradition.

"The solution lies in offering sincere patronage lest we lose our treasures to the vagaries of commerce. Already some fine ragas have fallen on bad days. Musicians prefer to sing the more pleasurable ragas - those that are more melodic, less complicated. The result has been alarming for pristine ragas like Tilang, Durga and Shankara which you hardly get to hear. The onus of reviving such rare gems lies on us," says Pt Krishnarao, who has teamed up with Ford Foundation to document 501 compositions handed over to him by his father Pt Krishnarao Shanker Pandit.

And that is not the only thing up the maestro's sleeve. He has also taken upon himself the task of converting tape-recorded compositions of his father into publications.

"My father was a pioneer in the notation system and had given the theory as early as 1914. After that, Bhartande came to the scene. I am converting my father's compositions into books," says Pt Krishnarao, who has authored two books on his father already.

Both have been published by Roli and are available under the title "Pt Krishnarao Shanker Pandit"