Amritsar, May 15
Attired like kings and queens you come down and sit at the table dressed in choicest linens. An array of shiny cutlery lies decorated on each side of the plate, desperate to be picked up and used by you.

For a dinner which can be wrapped up in 15 minutes, you spend at least an hour and pay a fortune. Worked earlier, but it has lost takers now.

Folks these days are happier with the casual meal. With the paper napkins replacing the stylish table linen, hands being preferred over cutlery (especially given the pizza, burger age), and the global recession stepping in to add to the Angrezi eaters’ woes, the rugged has replaced the cultured. Fast, simple and economical is the new mantra and the trend has begun to show in the city.

Takeaway outlets are slowly picking up among hotels and restaurants in the holy city.

Offering a range of cuisines at prices less than those being charged by restaurants, these joints have become a hit with the locals. The front portions of plush hotels and restaurants, located in the upscale areas of the city, have been converted to give way to a majority of these eating joints.

Within no time, the trend was swiftly followed by a majority of hotels and restaurants. Some of them are Hotel Sun City Towers, Crystal, Food Channel, Adarsh, Prakash, Sakhi and Bukhara.

The reason for the transformation is said to be the availability of resources, space, infrastructure and wherewithal. A.P.S. Chatha, general secretary of the Amritsar Hotels and Restaurants Association, said these outlets could also be described as window restaurants since only a large window-shaped outlet was visible.

The owners usually press in some staff out of these outlets to take orders and supply the same. Tarun Bir Singh Chatha of Hotel Sun City Towers said his take-away joint also offers sitting space for customers. He added that prices were 20 per cent less than being charged for savouring the same dishes in restaurant. Tarun says his take-away joint is a multi-cuisine outlet offering a variety of dishes.

These eating joints are generally constructed in a way that it is easily viewed by commuters using the road. Colourful sunshades, glossy scheme of pigments on outer walls and attractive umbrellas are planted to attract customers.

Amritsar, May 15
Stung by dengue last year, the health department here is gearing up to counter the dengue threat this year as the coming months, August onwards, are the peak time for the breading of mosquitoes responsible for the disease.

The department has prepared a blueprint of the areas, which were identified as high-risk regions and where a large number of dengue cases were reported. Even the health authorities have directed the insect collectors to visit these areas from time to time and to find out any breading of mosquito larvae.

Dr Rakesh Gupta, District Malaria Officer, said according to plans, campaigns would be launched to make the general public aware about the disease in the areas where dengue spread last year. He said such campaigns would also be launched in various schools.

Amritsar, May 15
Not much residents are aware that the majestic buildings of Saint Paul Church, near Court Road, and Christ Church, near Ram Bagh gate, house attractive furniture prevalent during the last part of the 19th century.

The furniture dates back to the early settlement of the British in the northern part of the country. Over one-and-a-half-centuries-old churches and its furniture offer a glimpse of that period.

Furniture installed in these churches is similar to the one prevalent in England at that time, said Daniel B. Das, coordinator, Socio-Economic Development Programme.

He said almost all major churches in the north India were contemporaries.

Hence, the construction and their furniture were of same kind. Whether it was famous Christ Church on the Mall in Shimla, Saint John’s Church in Dalhousie and Saint John’s Church in the wilderness of Palampur.

Bishop P.K Samantroy said Christ Church Cathedral was founded in 1851 as a local CMS church. The building was built in 1862. However, the church was destroyed in fire in April, 1919, and was rebuilt in 1921.

Earlier, it was used for worship as the main city parish church of Amritsar and it became pro-Cathedral in 1965 and was finally declared as Cathedral of Amritsar in 1988.

All these churches used to be governed by the Church of England in India. The British Parliament had passed a legislation, the Church Measure Act 1927, which brought churches in India under the control of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon and eventually they came under the control of the Church of North India in 1970.

The beauty of desks lie in their simplicity while chairs of priest, bishop and holy table are in their chiselled shapes and striking engravings. Made of wood from deodar trees, the furniture is a delight for viewers.

Christ Church also stores an organ and words painted on it announced that it was manufactured by London NW established 1853.

Amritsar, May 15
Parandi, which was once part of the traditional dress, is losing its charm as today’s young girls prefer jeans and tops and consider it to be an out-of-fashion item.

However, tourists not only from the country but from across the world could be seen searching for this traditional item to be taken as a gift from the state for their near and dear ones.

Available in different colors, parandi is the old traditional hair accessory made of thin threads, which was quite popular among girls of Punjab till 80s; however, it lost its place to western clothing over a period of time.

The popularity associated with this traditional item can be gauged from the fact that even the Punjabi singers and lyricists of yesteryears used parandi in their songs to become hit. “Kali teri choti te paranda tera lal nee” is one such popular song where parandi compliments a young lass having long black hair.

The girls used to wear parandi when dressed in salwar kameej, supported by Punjabi jutti.

City resident Parkash Kaur (76) says when they were young one felt jealous after seeing a beautiful girl sporting a parandi. “Red paranda was in great demand then as the young brides made use of the accessory to enhance their beauty,” she adds.

She rues, “Girls nowadays don’t keep long hair and feel more comfortable in short hair.”

Sneha (24) says by sporting a parandi, the girls don’t want to look unfashionable.

Ram Parkash, a shopkeeper, says they only keep a few varieties of parandas as there are a few customers, which include visitors who come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, who purchase this traditional item to present someone as a gift.

He says a few girls from rural belts of this border district still wear parandis as the modern fashion is yet to make inroads there.

“Punjabis have failed to keep parandi as an additional accessory whereas the people from outside are still showing interest in it,” concludes the shopkeeper.

Amritsar, May 15
After the ending of intensive campaigning and accompanying din for the Lok 
Sabha election, the candidates of major political parties like BJP and Congress preferred to take rest and assess their performance with party workers.

According to sources close to the Congress candidate, Om Parkash Soni, the leader had a sound sleep for the last two days after the culmination of the voting on May 13.

The Congress candidate also met leaders of the party, including MLA Sukhbinder Singh Sukhsarkaria, Harpartap Singh Ajnala, Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Jugal Kishore, to decide on the next course of action after the results were out. He also continued to meet people from the city as well as the rural belt and tried to solve their problems.

Talking to The Tribune, Soni said he had not planned for any outing along with his family to relax himself. After two months of hard work he was feeling relaxed as he was sure that due to the hard work put in by him, the family members and the party workers he would continue his winning streak.

On the other hand, BJP candidate Navjot Singh Sidhu called a masseur to get his body relaxed. His wife Dr Navjot Kaur said Sidhu had kept his mobile phone off and did not want to be disturbed by anyone.

She said even she did not want to disturb him and preferred to sit in the drawing room convincing the party workers who had come there to meet the leader to not disturb him.

However the next day, he called up his children who had been missing him for the last two months due to electioneering.

He could be seen assuring them that as soon as the results were out he would take out time from his busy schedule to spend sometime with them. Later, he also held a meeting of the senior party leaders and workers to discuss the voting pattern and the outcome of the election.

Amritsar, May 15
“The teachers are agents of the socio-economic change and national development, therefore, they should discover in themselves potential through a positive mental attitude”, said Prof of Economics and former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University Dr S.S. Johl.

He was delivering his inaugural address at the orientation course being organised by Academic Staff College of Guru Nanak Dev University in which 25 teachers from different colleges and universities of the region participated.

Dr Johl emphasised that the teachers were the builders of the nation. Teachers’ position is central in the system but our education system does not provide adequate opportunities to their professional development. The general orientation and refresher courses provide proper platform from interaction.

He pointed out that a teacher should produce better students and only then society would develop.

He said the teacher should not be confined only to transmit information but he must also orient himself to meet the challenges of life and society. He laid stress on inculcating qualities like truth, contentment, knowledge and courage among the students.

Condemning the lust for goods and material culture, Johl advocated that a teacher should sow the seeds of commitment, mission, vision, honesty and courage in society and with the help of these seeds, society would definitely change.

Amritsar, May 15
With the onset of summer, people adopt several precautionary measures to escape themselves from the heat wave but valiant constables of the Punjab police, unmindful of climatic conditions, keep guarding nook and corner of the city.

Tenacity and discipline are required for guarding intersections, public places, traffic and other features. However, there is hardly any arrangement to protect them from searing heat with the temperature touching more than 40 degress Celsius.

Head constables, constables and SPOs are performing yeoman service despite the danger of getting sunstroke. However, their services are hardly acknowledged by the people.

But this time, a soft drink major, Coca Cola, provided the district police with 50 umbrellas for its force engaged in guarding crosses and intersections of the city and managing traffic. This sympathetic gesture of the soft drink company has boosted the morale of the security men.

They could now perform their job under the shade of umbrellas, which would not only protect them from the heat wave and sunstroke but also from rains and vagaries of winter season.

Policemen said sometime back a private company had installed booths made of iron and ply at the busiest intersections of the city, but these cabins virtually become an oven in summer and it was not possible for them to even stand near them.

Amritsar, May 15
The Guru Nanak Dev University Pensioners Welfare Association has demanded all benefits like LTC and medical allowance, etc. for the retired employees who had opted for contributory provident fund on their superannuation.

Association leaders Amar Singh and Amarjit Singh Bai said in a press statement said the association had requested the university authorities to issue monthly pension slips to all the pensioners.

They further said the university should maintain rosters of the pensioners to provide the benefits of a 5 per cent increase in the pension on attainment of 65 and 75 years of age automatically. — TNS

Amritsar, May 15
The Area Development Committee (ADC) has demanded from the municipal corporation to install traffic lights and provide zebra crossing at the Polytechnic Chowk near Guru Nanak Dev University by widening the chowk and also to provide slip roads on both sides of the chowk to avoid mishaps.

President of the committee Prabhpal Singh Dhillon urged the MC to install traffic lights and provide zebra crossing at Dashmesh Avenue, Shori Nagar, Preet Vihar, Gobindpura and Vikas Nagar.

Amarjit Singh Bhai, general secretary and RP Sobti, press secretary, in a joint statement, have called upon the municipal corporation to install street lights from Government Polytechnic College to Vikas Nagar.