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Papas don't teach
There has been an increasing global focus on role of parents, both father and mother, in bringing up kids. But sadly, the scenario in India still remains bleak. According to a recent survey -Plight of Modern Father towards their Children - carried out by ASSOCHAM Social Foundation, just four per cent working fathers take active part in their kids' upbringing and studies. The survey involved 4,700 working parents in all metros and other places, including Lucknow, Chandigarh, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Shimla, Dehradun, Indore, Patna and Cochin.
And this 'apathy' towards the kids is blamed on the job pressures that leave no time for the wards. According to the findings, seven per cent fathers helped their children occasionally, 24 per cent of the respondents said they helped only if the children asked for it. It's mothers who take care of children's daily needs and studies, for which they bank on play schools and tuition, as they juggle between careers and family responsibilities. Lifestyle did a chat with city dads to know how good are they when it comes to fathering. Harpreet Singh, a senior bank manager in Rajpura and father of two school-going kids, says: "Well, to be honest, I hardly get to spend any time on weekdays with my children, but then we try to make up for it on Sunday." He further shares that the gruelling work schedule and commuting time leaves him tired but still he shows interest and shares whatever kids present at the end of the day. "Itni fast life mein itna hi kar payen to kafi hain. Thankfully, my wife is a school lecturer and is home by afternoon to help out kids with regular stuff," he adds. A senior consultant with a hospital in the city and father of two, Dr Manuj Wadhwa, starts his day at six in the morning and there is no finish line. "I only get to see my kids three nights a week which is terrible." However, he blames himself for this and is trying to organise himself better to be able to spend more time with his children. But there are dads who are regularly keep their date with the kids. "I spend a few hours with my children every evening," says Surinder Singh Cheema, librarian, State Library-34. "While my wife takes care of the homework part, I look after their sports and recreation. I usually accompany the kids to ground. However, my favourite pastime is telling them tales from mythology. As they are in their formative years, I try spending as much time with them as possible cutting down my other engagements." DSP Crime RIP Singh, father of two boys, is another devoted father: "One needs to make time for family. The police job is for eight hours and it rarely gets stretched beyond that. When my sons were young, I helped them get ready for school, homework and all other regular stuff. I accompanied them to various entrance tests when they cleared their school and so on." He is a proud father today as both his sons are well settled in the USA. While the elder one is a senior SAT consultant, the younger one is a vice-president in a bank in Manhattan. mona@tribunemail.com
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Tricity fathers’ scores improve A recent father-child relationship study conducted in Chandigarh revealed that dads are increasingly participating in kids' upbringing but they are still way behind their female counterparts. The study included men with children less than the age of 15 selected through stratified random sampling out of a pool of doctors in the PGI and General Hospital-16 and lawyers from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and lower courts.
It found that the respondents completely fulfilled the ethical work by providing the children with financial security. As regards stewardship activities, satisfactory results were observed as the respondents showed some encouragement in making children join extracurricular activities and other courses as well as camps so that their children could explore more and gain different experiences. The developmental works like providing time, care and looking after the health of the children were being performed by the respondents again, but on a satisfactory basis. Attachment of the respondents with their children existed to some extent but till date it can be said that the wards are closer to the mother than father. The study showed that overall the respondents play a submissive role in all the spheres of the rearing of their child. The results say that with changing times, various forms of changes have occurred in the pattern of rearing up of the children by the fathers. Though their role has entered into the new and varied realms of care giving, they still have to go a long way before they can measure up with the role of mothers. Fathers are growing in the the role of child rearing but their thrust still lies in performing the secondary roles. - TNS (From a study conducted by Sanwali Sobti under Dr Sherry Sabbarwal, Department of Sociology, Bringing up Children: A Study of Perceptions on the role of the Father)
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Exam time: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt Monday asked students not to cheat in examinations - like his character in Munnabhai M.B.B.S - as he donned the role of a teacher during a visit to a local college in Lucknow. Taking a "class" at the National College, Dutt called on the students not to use unfair means in examinations as Munnabhai resorted to in the film. He also highlighted the role of teachers in society. "Teachers play a very important role in nation-building. We should always remain grateful to our teachers, who guide us at every step to see us successful," he told the students. Delving into his own past, Dutt narrated an incident of his school days when he was punished by one of his teachers for some mischief. "I was beaten by a teacher who asked me to send my parents to meet him. After meeting the teacher, my parents told him to punish me further." "I was surprised at that time, but later realised my mistake when I came to know that the punishment was meant to reform me. I owe my success to my teachers, who I believe are even above parents," he said. Clad in white kurta-pyjama and a half-sleeved jacket, Dutt did not disappoint his young fans, who surrounded him for autographs. Obliging them, he advised them to shoulder their responsibilities for betterment of society. — IANS
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The international success of feel-good drama Slumdog Millionaire has inspired many British filmmakers to explore India and Bollywood as the new "exotic" location for their films. With the Bollywood-inspired story winning eight Oscars, the British film industry seems to have fallen head over heels in love with India, said a British newspaper. These filmmakers are heading to India to shoot their films and are planning to use the sophisticated but cost-effective technology of Bollywood. Currently, Joe Wright, the director of Atonement, is in India on a month-long trip scouting for locations in the country to shoot his Partition drama Indian Summer. Set against the backdrop of the vast migrations and bloody Hindu-Muslim violence of 1947, the story also includes the alleged love affair of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, the glamourous wife of the last British Viceroy, a report published in the Times said. "The country is suddenly crawling with British film-makers looking for a slice of exhilarating, cost-effective exoticism." — PTI
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Bollywood provided a hilarious take on Parsis with the 1978 film Khatta Meetha that starred Ashok Kumar and Pearl Padamsee. Thirty years later Sooni Taraporewala's Little Zizou is another humorous insight into the community, taking digs at their stereotypical oddities. Khaata Meetha highlighted the biggest dilemma among Parsis - their problem with inter-caste marriage. An offspring from such a union is considered to be a non-Parsi, resulting in their fast dwindling numbers, which is pegged at about 100,000 now in India. But Little Zizou talks about religious fundamentalism and reform, while putting the spotlight on traits unique to the community. "Thematically, Parsis in films have been a more modest and serious vein with only two films Khatta Meetha and Baaton Baaton Mein being made on a lighter note than the handful of the rest. While the former is remembered for its comic genius, the latter was a mixed-affair in terms of comic touches," said noted film historian Gautam Kaul. Photographer-writer Taraporewala, who made her directorial debut with Little Zizou has woven together every possible trait of the community. For example, Parsis' habit of boasting about every little achievement is lucidly shown in Little Zizou. This includes the presence of a Zubin Mehta portrait in every Parsi house and the oft-repeated talk about Indira Gandhi being married to a Parsi. "Zubin Mehta collectively belongs to every Parsi mother - he is "apro" or "our" Zubin. A love for and deep knowledge of Western classical music is a very Parsi trait. Many people in Mumbai have an experience of their Parsi neighbours blasting classical music and I used that in the opening of Little Zizou along with apro Zubin's portrait on the wall," Taraporewala told. "Indira Gandhi was married to a Parsi (Feroze Gandhi) and many in the community thought it was lucky for her that he had the 'Gandhi' surname, as most people thought she was related to the Mahatma and had no clue that this was not so. "I brought this up in a humorous way to link it with the character of Khodaiji (one of the characters) whose name literally means 'god' but who in reality is nothing of the sort and capitalises on his fortunate name, just as Mrs. Gandhi sometimes did," she explained. Both Kaul and Taraporewala point out that there have been numerous instances where Parsis have been typecast for small appearances in Bollywood movies. "The stock Parsi man in his white dugli and black pheta and the woman in her gara sari - this is what some of us (Parsis) wear to weddings but in Bollywood films all Parsis have to be dressed like this even if they are standing at the bus stop waiting for a bus," remarked Taraporewala. National Award winning filmmaker Jahnu Barua says films on the community have taken a backseat because they get "elbowed" treatment from audiences. "It's very unfortunate that our audience has been spoiled over the years and they are not mature enough to accept such films. Take Khatta Meetha for example and now Little Zizou - these films are brilliant attempts at bringing back the elbowed out culture of their commununites," Barua said. — IANS
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The courts are treating Britney Spears like a Soviet labour camp victim as depicted in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, claims a Los Angeles lawyer. Gulag Archipelago, the three-volume book, is based on the Soviet forced labor and concentration camp system. In newly released court papers, Jon Eardley likened the Sometimes' hitmaker's dilemma to that of forced labourers in Solzhenitsyn's literary masterpiece. Eardley was expressing his objections to the court-ordered conservatorship, which currently administrates the pop singer's life. "It is worth noting that there has not even been a 'show trial' for Miss Spears," Eardley said. Eardley became associated with Spears in February last year, after the singer's father was given the legal right to control her personal life. Speaking on the singer's behalf, her court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham III, said that she "expressly repudiated Mr Eardley's involvement", adding that it was her express wish to be protected by the conservatorship. — ANI
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The brief return of George Clooney to ER has given the long-running medical drama its best rating in two years, as the series draws to a close. Clooney's comeback episode, also featuring former regulars Noah Wyle and Eriq La Salle, saw a 23 percent increase in viewers, reports the BBC. The show, which is based on an emergency room of a fictional Chicago hospital, was the most popular show on television in 1995, averaging 32 million viewers a week. Clooney gained fame for playing Dr. Doug Ross, firmly cementing a place amongst Hollywood heartthrobs. He left in 1999 to pursue a full time career on the silver screen, winning an Oscar in 2005. The show in its 15th, and final series was created by the late Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton.— ANI
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Madonna's new boyfriend Jesus Luz has moved in with her in New York - just three months after their first meeting. Apparently, the hunky model has ditched his modelling agency in Rio de Janeiro and signed with elite agency Ford Models in the Big Apple. And he's set up home with the star in her Upper West Side apartment. According to reports, the 50-year-old Queen of Pop has been cooking meals for her young boyfriend most evenings. They have been attending Kabbalah meetings together and he has grown close to her three children Lourdes, 12, Rocco, eight, and David, three. "Jesus has left his old life and his old friends behind. His whole world has turned on its head since he met Madonna," a source was quoted as saying. "A few months ago he was living at his mum's place in one of the poorest cities in the world. Now he's got his feet under the table in a massive mansion block overlooking Central Park. And he's on the books of the biggest modelling agency in the world. "Madonna has changed too. She's mellowed into a completely different person from the one who was married to Guy Ritchie. She never used to like cooking but now she has really got into it. They laugh a lot and enjoy staying in," the source added. Madonna and Jesus first met in Rio in December. — ANI
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Much ado about something
So, what is the solution? To cultural and star nite problems we mean. But then, is there a problem in the first place? With the recent Amrinder Gill nite getting ugly to the ‘very recent’ Mika nite getting uglier, it’s about time somebody did some serious reconsidering; at least reorganising the problem. Without waiting for one more event to go off-beam and hog the limelight for all the wrong reasons, making damage control irreversible, we march ahead and ask the ‘key questions’.
Are the authorities banning them? Doing something to prevent recurrence? Answers dean, Students Welfare, Prof Naval Kishore, “A committee has been already set up to decide on the matter. So let’s see what comes out of it.” So much for officially speaking. We nudge further and he says, “Even otherwise, we might consider allowing only the campus students council to hold such events.” That could be one, but before anything should banning such events be an option? Archana R. Singh, faculty, School of Communication Studies, seems to have hit bang on the target, “Banning is not the solution. All these events and nites have been going on for several years now. There really hasn’t been a problem at all. So, why should they be banned?” Agrees Prof Pushpinder Syal, Department of English, “Earlier also we have been having such programmes. For instance, Harbhajjan Mann nite, which went pretty smooth.” She adds, “Even abroad, in foreign universities, they have events but they are rock concerts and nobody even bothers.” And she doesn’t forget to allude, “Things haven’t been anyways very smooth and pleasant on the campus recently.” Do students gain anything from such events and evenings in question? Prof Syal sums up just right, “They are a sign of life on the campus. Even otherwise, these are sheer harmless fun.” Professor Kishore too adds, “Nobody’s going to deny that they do hone certain qualities of students like managerial capabilities and organisational skills.” Back to square one. So, what is the solution? For one, says Archana Singh, “If both audience and the performer maintain certain degree of decorum and dignity and enjoy the event just as it ought to be enjoyed, there should be no problem.” She adds, “Stars have their own value. But yes, they need to be chosen with care, for example Sufi singers or even if popular ones, they should be exposing students to finer nuances of art and culture.” Professor Kishore lists another alternative, “Otherwise also, students themselves on the campus hold immense talent that can always be exploited and utilised to its full potential.” Says professor Syal, “They need to be managed well.” Some for the audience, some for the performer, some for the organiser and some for the administration! We all need to learn our lessons and move on (or improve on!). Hello? Anybody listening? manpriya@tribunemail.com |
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Memories of mountains
As a theme, it’s nothing new. We have had seen enough of mountains, Leh-Ladakh to be precise, through the lenses of Sanjay Khumbhkarni to Diwan Manna to Ashok Dilwali. Not to forget amateur photographers sharing their experience about those high snow-clapped mountain peaks, rugged terrains and interesting faces with viewers from time to time. But, somehow, the end result is never boring. So, when the invitation came for this one called Stand & Stare by Novel and Ashok Lavasa at the Government Museum and Art Gallery-10, we felt the familiar enthusiasm creeping up. To give them their due, the 54 frames the couple has selected for display has an eclectic blend of landscapes, portraits, wildlife and seascape, though the Zanskar range and Ladakh dominate. It’s the shots the couple has been collecting for the past four years. None of them were photographer to begin with. “We love to travel and when you see something nice you want to share it with your family,” says Novel Lavasa. Don’t ask which frame belongs to whom because none are willing to divulge. “We both click them,” says Novel. Even the frames come with only the surname — Lavasa. Capturing those moments were one thing but exhibiting them is another. “A famous mountaineer told me that ‘very few people can capture the true essence of mountains. I was one of them’. It gave me the confidence to display my work,” says Ashok, who is an IAS officer. Shot in natural light (barring a few indoor shots), each frame shows their expertise on the right composition. Like the one A Small Step Leaves a Memorial Behind showing the Vivakananda Memorial at Kanyakumari through Buddha’s two steps. Or, the one put right at the entrance called Humility capturing a man standing parallel to the mountain at Tapovan with a bowed head. Or, the one Everything is Right with the World which speaks of serenity, stillness and life of Tangse village — all in the same breath. This picture is an excellent example of how one can interplay light and shade to one’s advantage in nature photography. And to assure you all, both artistes vouch the fact that there has been no ‘touching up’. To break the monotony of seasides and mountain peaks, there are a few that gives a comical respite. Like Who Cares, a foreigner making the most of the sun or the Blue Girl, a slum kid applying blue nail paint, matching her blue dress. Nature lovers can stare at their favourite mountain range and also get a piece of Lavasas’ memorable moments for a price that range between Rs 6,000 and 20,000. On till March 22. parbina@tribunemail.com
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Snoring away
Kanika Garg,
Student. Hobby time
Arjun Gupta,
Student Fun all the way
Vishakha Gupta,
Student
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Fourth year, BFA stI plan to catch up on my sleep, so I’m going to sleep a lot. Besides, our gang, there are actually seven of us, might go to Leh-Ladakh. And post-exams, my birthday also falls in May. So celebration time! As far as things like shopping go, that I anyways do round the year.
Oh yes, I have plans and lots of them. So much so that they are actually competing even against each other. I’m a state level firer, I’ll be practice firing. Also, I love photography, so I’ll be clicking and capturing nature in Dehradoon. And I plan to go white-water rafting too. 
I am going to indulge in a lot of fun-filled activities post exams. I’ll be going for a family outing to hills and will do some photography there. As photography is a part of my syllabus, doing it would help me in my course too. I am fond of dancing, so will be joining dance classes. I will also do some computer courses, as my parents want me to pursue them.