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1.20 crore Kanwariyas fetch holy Ganga
water Kanwariyas leave Haridwar after the conclusion of a two-week Kanwar fair on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur
Kanwar fair gives harrowing time to bus passengers
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The man with a healing touch
Dr Sunil Kumar Joshi treats a patient at Kankhal in Haridwar.
Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur
Devotees throng Tapkeshwar temple
Nainital diary
Hostels for teachers mooted
Senior students welcome freshers as part of the Unnayan celebrations in Haridwar. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur
Books bring out best of creativity in kids, says writer
Attacks on Indians in Oz blown out of proportion: Writer Jane
Doon lads shine in athletics meet
100th celebrations of Multan Jot Mahotsava on I-Day
RIMC cadets being awarded at a
rock climbing competition held at Sainik School, Kunjpura, Karnal,
recently.
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1.20 crore Kanwariyas fetch holy Ganga
water
Haridwar, August 8 Today too Kanwariyas were seen mostly on two-wheelers moving towards their homes after fetching the holy Ganga water from Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri, while Dak Kanwars continued to pass through the city till late night, giving sleepless nights to the administration and the mela police. All temples across the city on the festival of Shiv Chaudash had been visited by devotees and Kanwariyas since early morning and by the time sun rose, there had been huge serpentine queues outside temple premises. The Daksheshwar Mahadev temple in Kankhal and the temples of Bilkeshwar, Gauri Shankar, Neeleswhar, Jatileshwar, Daridrabhanjan, Bhandeshwar, Gupteshwar, Samudreshwar, Janvasa, Rudreshwar Mahadev and one situated at BHEL in particular were thronged by a large number of devotees. Elaborate security arrangements were put in place with adequate number of security personnel deployed at all prominent temples and sensitive places. Temple management committees had made arrangements in view of this festival of Shivratri, known as Shiv Chaudash falling in the holy month of the Kanwar season. With tomorrow being the third Monday of Saawan, the holy water of the Ganga will continue to be offered at Shivlingams tomorrow too. Thousands of pilgrims will be thronging Haridwar, particularly from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Till late evening, the mela police officials and personnel were seen packing their bags after a successful completion of the Kanwar yatra. After a hectic Kanwar fair spread over two weeks, the mela police personnel were a relived lot, satisfied by the successful management of Kanwariyas as well as completion of a hectic duty schedule. Newly constituted mela authority Vice-Chairman Ashok Tripathi has lauded District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram, Senior Superintendent of Police Sanjay Gunjiyal for successfully executing the Kanwar fair in Haridwar just four months after a successful completion of the century’s first Maha Kumbh. Lauding the administration and the personnel involved in managing the fair, he said: “I thank the administration, police, officers and employees for their hard work, dedication, honesty in ensuring a smooth and peaceful completion of the Kanwar fair in Haridwar which was a big challenge for them,” said Tripathi.
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Kanwar fair gives harrowing time to bus passengers
Dehradun, August 8
Every year, the Kanwar fair attracts loads of devotees from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, but nothing enormous is done to deal with the problem of bus services at the Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT). No bus services at several routes, delayed journeys and rampaging devotees onto the buses create havoc for other commuters. “I’ve come here to appear for the counselling for the BTech course from Uttarkashi, but while returning home buses are making us wait for too long. I’d come to the ISBT at 8:30 in the morning, but due to the unavailability of seats, I have to wait for another bus now,” complained Neeta Barthwal, a student who was waiting at the bus stand along with her father. “A majority of buses are occupied by Kanwariyas as they do not hesitate from even climbing on top of the buses causing inconvenience to other passengers,” asserted Neeta. Another affected passenger at the bus stand Munish Prasad, businessman at Tanakpur, said apart from the foot-slogging Kanwariyas, many bicycle riders mounted up the roof of buses along with their bicycles and other utility items. However, there are many other problems like littering, spitting, making the station filthy. This is not all. Though the state police has put a ban on the use of music systems or vehicles fitted with such amplifying equipment, these pilgrims play these on high volume, deafening passersby. “Since the start of the Kanwar mela we have done our best. We are facilitating passengers with sound bus services but we cannot stop the Kanwar pilgrims from travelling sitting atop buses of any route. What we keep in our mind is the safe and sound journey of our passengers,” said Sonu Kumar, executive at the ISBT. “The rush is immense due to fewer or no buses on the routes of Dehradun-Delhi highway, Haridwar, Haldwani, Bareilly, Rudrapur and Lucknow, but we keep in mind to follow the traffic rules. Public transportation and the administration is ensuring that the mega event concludes peacefully,” added Sonu.
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The man with a healing touch
Haridwar, August 8 Meet Dr Sunil Kumar Joshi, an exponent of healing-touch science that is an ancient and natural therapy. He is working as Head of Department (Surgery) and Additional Medical Superintendent at Gurukul Kangri University. He has been practising this therapy at Kankhal, Haridwar, for the past 25 years. Dr Joshi has cured thousands of patients mostly at free medical camps organised in various parts of the country like Mumbai, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, southern states and also in foreign countries like Mauritius. The marm chikitsa is based on the healing-touch science, according to which, there are a total of 107 sensitive points in the human body. It was practised by Indian sages in ancient times, even before yoga and other forms of healing, claims Dr Joshi. Everything required for treatment in this therapy is inside human body. Patients administer the touch themselves under the direction of a doctor. It is not only easy, but also not at all a costly affair. In some diseases, patients are given ayurvedic medicines as a supplement. As this art is not much known, Dr Joshi, armed with scientific explanations acquired after years of research, tries to make patients understand this art which is more effective in treating complicated ailments like spinal diseases as well as general illnesses. Shedding light into this mode of therapy, he says: “This art of treatment is based on the 107 sensitive points in our body. All these points are connected with the brain and are lightly or hardly pressed to stimulate senses. Apart from curing various ailments, this therapy is quite effective in preventive aspects too, making a person live a healthy life and strengthening his immune system”. But, as this therapy is based on healing touches on the parts of the body, it’s quite imperative that after doctor’s treatment the follow-up should also be at the same sensitive spot, otherwise chances of negative reaction may hamper the curing process. “To make sure this doesn’t happen, I ask patients to come for a specified period of time and later on I make them practise the healing touch before me or their relatives so that the treatment continues aptly. At these sensitive points, mehndi colour is applied for helping patients touch the exact spot,” he added. In a fortnight his book on this form of medical art will be released at Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan in New Delhi. He has written in detail about the concept, evolution, methodology and impact of this ancient therapy. Dr Joshi has formed the Foundation for Vedic Medical Sciences, which is working to propagate this art as well as preparing marm medical practitioners to take forward his mission. Dr Joshi got inclined towards the marm chikitsa while studying surgery at Benaras Hindu University as he learnt that Indians were practising this art since the inception of civilisation and it had no side effects. Then he studied intensely this therapy for years before taking up it professionally. Citing the examples of Lord Krishna, Jesus Christ, Sai Baba and Mahabharata warrior Bhisham Pitamah, Dr Joshi points out that Lord Krishna died due to an arrow injury on his lower foot, Jesus Christ was killed by nailing him on a cross and all parts of their bodies where they were pierced are part of the 107 points on which the marma therapy is based. These sensitive points can result in one’s death if touched or pierced sharply. Citing the example of Bhisham Pitamah, he says though the Mahabharata warrior was pierced with dozens of arrows, he didn’t die as Arjun had avoided targeting his sensitive points which could have caused his instant death. Dr Joshi also points out that other therapies such as acupressure, acupuncture and chamfu, which are termed as Chinese therapies, have evolved from the marm chikitsa itself as it was propagated by the Buddhist monks who visited China, Japan and other South Asian countries. On the current lifestyle where people are easily becoming prone to various ailments, particularly caused by unhealthy lifestyle, Dr Joshi points out that while about 30 crore people follow a healthy lifestyle, do yoga or exercises, the rest can’t do all this due to their lifestyle or ignorance. “Herein the science of the marm chikitsa comes handy as by doing just a few minutes of this, one not only develops immunity from diseases, but also gets an effective therapy both saving on time and cost”. Elated over the tremendous response he is getting, Dr Joshi proclaims: “The marm chikitsa therapy will change the perspective of medical sciences in the coming days. It just needs more therapists, practitioners and coverage”.
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Devotees throng Tapkeshwar temple
Dehradun, August 8 At the famous Lord Shiva temple Tapkeshwar, a large number of people gathered from early morning. Serpentine queues of the devotees, resonance of the ringing bells, chanting of aarti and enthusiasm among the crowd, marked the celebrations of the holy season. In view of a high influx of devotees in the city for the occasion, police personnel were deployed at all major temples in the city. Devotees from far-flung areas came to offer prayers and seek blessings of the Shiva at the temple.
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Plummeting popularity graph has govt on toes
Rajeev Khanna Tribune News Service The plummeting popularity graph of the state government seems to have set alarm bells ringing in the capital Dehradun. So the observers feel. Hence, according to them, comes the emphasis to somehow convey to the masses that the government is actually serious about development and “lots is being done”. There are a series of indicators that point in this direction. The first is a spate of meetings at the official level with a lot of senior officials being sent out in districts to convene meetings and do some stock taking. The second is the emphasis on distributing books eulogising the government for whatever it has done. Grapevine has it that there are special instructions from the headquarters of the Information Department in Dehradun to ensure that the truckloads of publications sent to the districts are distributed right up to the village level. After having failed to distribute the dateless calendars of Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank that were got printed in November last year, distribution of the literature is also turning out to be a difficult task for officials concerned. Those entrusted with ensuring that the government gets proper publicity are also a peeved lot as the offices of the Information Department outside Dehradun lack basic facilities like even Internet connectivity. The employees are also critical of the fact that it is only those sitting in Dehradun who are getting the benefits of promotions. SMSes target
Nishank, ex-CMs
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has become the target of a series of jokes that have started doing the rounds on the SMS and ironically some of these jokes are being circulated by BJP supporters and sympathisers. While some of the jokes directly target Nisank, the others target the BJP Chief Ministers the state has had since the state came into being. The latest one goes like this: A robber places a knife at the throat of a person and says, “Take out your money.” The person says, “Don’t you recognise me? I am the Chief Minister of the state.” The robber then says, “Then take out our money.”
A recent meeting of teaching fraternity deployed in the higher education sector in the state also provided with some instances about the plight of the higher education that can only be termed as “howlers”. College and university teachers from across the state were critical of the successive governments in the state for keeping the higher education on the back burner. The first example given was that of DAV College in Dehradun. People outside the state would be stunned to know from the teaching fraternity that the college has been having no less than 30,000 students on rolls. The teachers point out that no college can have more than 12,000 students and that too if it conforms to the infrastructure requisites. But, such an instance coming from the capital where the government is lodged is indeed shocking. The teachers also gave examples that science teachers have been posted as Principals in institutions where there are no science courses to be offered.
All lakes brimming
With bountiful rains coming in the monsoon season, all lakes in the Lake City of Nainital have been filled to the brim much to the delight of the citizens of the district. People say that seeing the lakes filled with water fully makes them forget all monsoon woes like frequent hindrances in travel on account of landslides, eatables and clothes falling prey to fungus at home and a lack of sunshine. The Naini Lake in the past few days has witnessed a disturbing phenomenon. People have been resorting to illegal fishing in the lake. This has led to the administration taking a serious note of the practice and efforts are now being made to check this illegal fishing. Electronic media and others using mobile cameras have been able to capture illegal fishing in the lake.
Soccer season at its peak
Soccer season is at its prime in Nainital these days. Hundreds of youngsters can be seen with their footballs in the Flats Grounds these days even as there is a constant threat of a shower. A recent school-level tournament held here was a raging success as there were hundreds of people from all age groups who descended on the Flats Grounds daily to cheer the teams. Without bothering for the rain, the people from all age groups stood patiently under umbrellas to enjoy the game. The team that won on the day would then move through the Mallital Market in a sort of a victory lap. It was eventually the Sainik School that won
the tournament.
Magic potion of Dr Mohan Lal
Small places in the hills have several anecdotes to relate. An instance fondly remembered by the residents is about Dr Mohan Lal. Old timers say that till the time a couple of decades back, chemical concoctions made by this physician were so popular that there was hardly a kid in the town who had not taken one of these given in empty pint bottles when he was unwell. Such was the popularity of Dr Mohan Lal. It so happened that once two elephants were brought to Nainital and tied at the Flats Grounds. The animals became a talk of the town as elephants were not to be normally seen in the hills and people, especially children, were excited about watching them. Those were the days when television was not a mass medium and still a luxury afforded by a few. Somehow, the stomach of the elephants were upset and their health became a matter of great concern for the people. Who else but Dr Mohan Lal was asked to administer one of his concoctions to them as people had great faith in him. Old timers actually recall that the physician then went on to prepare the concoction not in small glass jars but in buckets. The concoction was given to the elephants and they actually recovered!!!
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Hostels for teachers mooted
Nainital, August 8 At a recent meeting held here to evaluate Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, District Magistrate (DM) Shailesh Bagauli mooted sending proposals for building transit hostels for the teachers to the state administration. The district, along with several other parts of the state, is grappling with the problem of shortage of teachers in the interiors. It has come to the notice that teachers transferred to schools located in far-flung areas do not turn up for duty despite being given promotions. The Education Ministry has failed to come up with a transfer policy for teachers till now. This has complicated things and people residing in far-off villages continue to suffer. The government has failed to rein in the erring teachers. The drive aimed at suspension of absentee teachers has only given partial results. At the meeting, Bagauli called for ensuring supply of drinking water to all schools and asked officials to prepare proposals with actual projected costs. He also asked officials to make proposals for repairing damaged school buildings. Officials were asked to coordinate with the Forest Department for the construction of school buildings in forest lands. Bagauli has issued orders to make a special project aimed at providing alternate education to the children who are not able to go to school. Officials have been asked to identify such children from amongst migrant families normally found near Haldwani railway station. The District Magistrate said the mobile education van be used for educating children residing in the slums. He said for the previous financial year, clearance had been granted for construction of 19 class rooms, eight science laboratories, six computer rooms, eight craft rooms and library rooms each.
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Freshers’ party with a difference
Haridwar, August 8 The festival succeeded in its ambition which comprised cultural, social, folk, religious and musical programmes, as it brought out the talent, character and vision of the students to the fore, besides inculcating team spirit and extracurricular skills. The concluding ceremony saw senior students presenting programme portraying varied cultures of different states. One of the main attractions of the night was a programme based on the university slogan itself i.e. “A university with a difference”, wherein in a tableau form the students took the audience through the special and distinct features of the university, which is fast gaining a place among other universities, particularly in moral-based education. Beautiful thematic presentations based on the vision of Gayatri Parivar founder Pandit Shri Ram Sharma Acharya and mission of Chancellor Dr Pranav Pandya, which underlined the concept of the Gayatri family, apart from founding of the university. “Charo taraf aaj yeh kaisa mahaul hai” focused on the blind race that people are living in, cut-throat competition to attain short-cut success, while the song “Samasyaon ka kar de nidan” highlighted the current situation prevailing in the society. Since the university is known for moral and yoga-based education, a yoga performance on “Don’t lose courage” was presented at the end of the programme with “It’s now or never”, a moral-booster English song, putting curtains on the week-long youth festival. Earlier, addressing the inaugural ceremony, Dr Pandya remarked that the ragging issue, which is prevalent in most of the educational institutions, was fast gaining ground, having a drastic effect on overall personality of newcomers. “Other institutions seek police help for their deployment on the campus as well as form anti-ragging committees, but in our university we give newly entrants a safe-loving atmosphere of which outsiders can only think about. Our concept of moral education and formation of Unnayan comprising both senior-junior students is an inspirational example for others to follow suit,” said Dr Pandya. He also read out an article published on Unnayan activities in The Tribune, on August 7, at the function attended by thousands of students.
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Books bring out best of creativity in kids, says writer
Dehradun, August 8 The first talk at The Heritage School, New Road, was conducted by Australian children books writer Jane Jolly. She interacted with students informing them about the intricacies of writing for children. She elaborated on her books referring to each and every book and the inspiration which made her pen down those books. In her session “Journey of the Book” for children in age group of 15 to 17 years, Jane talked of the entire process of a book from writing, editing, publishing, marketing to selling. The next Author Talk later in the day was held at Primary School, Ajabpur. Children books writer Mukesh Nautiyal referred to his short stories written exclusively for children. “Reading books brings out the best of creativity in children,” said Mukesh, who has been writing short stories for 26 years. He also elaborated on six of his children storybooks. Admitting that children were losing interest in reading, Mukesh said a children’s author needed to ensure that the interest of children continued throughout the book. Mukesh’s works include a series of 16 stories about an innocent school-going child named Anna published by Balhans. B Gill, Principal, The Heritage School, Shaguna Gahilote, Project Officer for Culture, UNESCO, and Prarthana Gahilote from the Himalayan Hub for Art and Cultural Heritage (HHACH) coordinated the proceedings. Ghummakkad Narain is an initiative aimed at promoting reading and literature appreciation in private and government schools in English and Hindi. The festival is being organised by the NGOs Nivesh and Himalayan Hub for Art and Cultural Heritage (HHACH) under the aegis of UNESCO, New Delhi.
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Attacks on Indians in Oz blown out of proportion: Writer Jane
Dehradun, August 8 Adelaide-born Children’s author Jane Jolly, who was in Dehradun yesterday to attend Children’s Literature Festival at The Heritage School, said Australians and Indians lived together amicably in their country and there was no bad blood between the two communities. “The attacks have not been just limited to Indians, but Australians too have been attacked in many cases and attacks on Indians seem to have been blown out of proportion,” Jane Jolly told The Tribune. She said the attacks certainly did not indicate a trend, taking into account a large number of the Indian student community in Australia and the number of attack cases were certainly not to that extent. Jane, whose three famous children picture books published by the Limelight press hit the world of books, said emotions were key to writing and added that the best of writing came out of an individual who underwent an emotional phase whether it was in the form of a joyous mood or anger. On her maiden visit to India, Jane said India certainly stood as an inspiration for her. She said the Indians lived in religion whereas that was not the case with Australians. “The way the religion is believed here is marvellous. A Christian in Australia will go to church on Sunday and may not bother about religion on rest of the days of the week. But people here live in religion and despite being from different faiths get along together comfortably,” she pointed out. Teacher-turned-writer Jane said she was taking her visit to India as an opportunity to look out for stories. “India has umpteenth number of stories and is certainly a writer’s delight,” she said hoping to come up with new India-based children’s stories in the days to come. Jane loves Indian sweets, with gulab jamun topping in her preference list. Jane Jolly’s “Limpopoa Lullaby” in 2004 and “Glass Tears” in 2005 have been awarded by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Her third book, “Ali the Bold Heart”, was released in June 1,
2006.
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Doon lads shine in athletics meet
Dehradun, August 8
The chief guest of today’s concluding ceremony was Graphic Era University Adviser SR Khanduja, who awarded players with medals and certificates. Accompanying him was Subhash Gupta, HoD, Mass Communication, Graphic Era University, as guest of honour. A large number of boys and girls from different districts gathered to participate in the mega event. They put in their best to perform well and raise the winner’s trophy. In the boys’ category, the individual championship for u-14 went to Nishu Kumar from Dehradun, in u-16, Suresh Kumar from Haridwar, in u-18, Jitender Pal from Dehradun and in under 20, Surender Verma from Pauri Garhwal, whereas in the girls’ category, the individual championship for u-14 went to Kamla Gatwal from Rudraprayag, in u-16, Hansini from Dehradun, in u-18, Mamta Mehta from Rudraprayag and in u-20, Jyoti Bora from Champawat. The sports meet was divided into four categories that is u-14, 16, 18 and 20, where overall district championship for boys went to Dehradun and overall district championship for girls went to Rudraprayag. Sandeep Sharma, Uttarakhand State Athletics Association (USAA) secretary, distributed 162 sports kits to the national-level players in association with the Sports Department and the USAA. Other eminent guests were assistant director, Sports Uttarakhand, RS Rawat, association president Chetan Gurung, secretary Sandeep Sharma, Technical Committee chairman KJS Kalsi, coach Gurupal Singh, junior chief coach Manoj Sharma and organising committee secretary Nirmal Kumar.
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100th celebrations of Multan Jot Mahotsava on I-Day
Haridwar, August 8 Lakhs of devotees are expected to attend the celebrations which are being organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Multan Yuva Sangthan. This year apart from holy ‘jot’, religious earthen lighted lamp, flavours of Independence will also be seen in the festival. So, this time the Indian national flag will be the sign of the festival with medals to be accorded to guests bearing the flag symbol, balloons-kites too bearing the colours and shape of the Tricolour. This religious festival is organised to offer prayers to the holy mother Ganga with offerings of milk with ‘jot’ being offered to the Ganga. Mass bhandaras will also be organised at various places. Religious programmes, sermons, world peace convention, epic sermons and pilgrims from Pakistan’s Multan will also be lending the centenary functions a mega look. An added attraction will be the colourful Holi that will be played with milk. Colours will be also in the Tricolour lending the festival a unique look. Informing about these celebrations, Multan Joth Sabha president Daulat Ram said the Multan Mahotsav now was not confined to this community only, but was being seen as an Indian festival. Notably, the Multan Joth Mahotsava was first organised in 1911 by Bhakt Roop Chand who came to Haridwar to offer ‘joth’ rituals to the Ganga praying for peace and harmony for Pakistan-origin Multan residents who came to India after Partition in 1947. Also expected to grace the occasion are Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, former New Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra, politicians and various actors too. Among other the organising committee members are Om Prakash Kathuria, SP Gandhi, Ashok Nagpal, ML Dhingra, Satpal Arora and Anup Gupta.
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Mishra excels in rock climbing
Dehradun, August 8 Four cadets, namely cadet Tuhin Goswami, cadet Aurobindo Mishra, cadet Bhaskar Gogoi and cadet Abhijit
Vaish, participated in the first IPSC Rock Climbing Competition held at Sainik School,
Kunjpura, Karnal, under the Junior Boys Category recently. The competition was held in two forms namely speed climbing and lead climbing. Cadet Abhijit Vaish, cadet Tuhin and cadet Aurobindo Mishra qualified for the finals in which cadet Aurobindo Mishra bagged the third position in lead climbing. The cadets were accompanied by Sanjay Kumar who is an ace mountaineer and in charge of the College Craft Club.
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Finally, as was being envisaged, this year’s Kanwar yatra in Haridwar witnessed an all-time record number of pilgrims with, as per the administrative data, a whopping 1.20 crore devotees fetching the holy Ganga water.
Dr
Joshi has cured many patients with marm chikitsa, based on 107 sensitive points,
for the past 25 years
