Bathinda, May 12
You may have the proverbial ‘gaadi, bangla, aish-o-aaram’ but everything fails in front of ‘Maa’. This three letter word, an integral and indispensable part of our lives, becomes even more important today — Mother’s Day. What better day than today when we tell you what ails the mother-child equation in the modern times and how the gap can be bridged.

Quantity vs quality time

It is the nuclear family set-up that has been wreaking havoc on a mother’s relationship with her children. “In a nuclear family set-up, the mothers are also busy, either with the domestic chores or with their professions and this takes a toll on their relationship with their children,” says Dr Nidhi Gupta, a psychiatrist at Civil Hospital.

“To make up for the time that they can't spend with the kids, the make available all the latest gadgets and other sources of entertainment to them thereby further alienating the kids from them. Kids also find the various technological entertaining and stop expecting much from their mothers," she adds.

The critical stage

The mother-child relationship goes through different stages through a child’s life — infancy, minor, teenage and adulthood, says Dr Raj Bala, member of the District Women Cell in Sangrur.

“The teenage is the one which is the most critical of all these stages. This is when the child sees and notices what his mother does and becomes either appreciative or critical of it. Mothers think that by giving in to all the whims and fancies of the child, they will become friends, which is not the case,” she adds.

Mend the relationship

Experts believe mothers try either too little or too much to become the ideal mothers and in the process they may either become a victim of their child’s demands or become a taskmaster.

“The mother-child relationship needs time for the two to grow together instead of growing apart. While a mother should be her child’s friend, she should also know how to keep a check on the company that he keeps. Even if she is angry at something that the kid has done, instead of admonishing the child, she should speak warmly to him,” says Dr Gupta.

Dr Bala opines that friendship means being there for each other through thick and thin. “And that is exactly what the mother-child relationship also needs. Through the various stages of the child’s life, a mother should keep adding features to the relationship.”

Bathinda, May 12
The women convention held on the second-day of the Vatavaran Utsav at Teachers’ Home encouraged the women to plant organic kitchen gardens and can keep their families healthy by keeping the poison-laced eatables at bay.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the Pingalwara Charitable Trust, Amritsar, Dr Inderjit Kaur, said it was the women who started farming first.

“Men were hunters and they went to far off places to hunt for food. It was the women’s job to settle at one place to look after children. It was then that the women grew familiar with the herbs around and started farming. Today men have poisoned everything and it is time for the women to take over the reins of farming,” she said.

She encouraged the women to take up organic kitchen farming to meet with the daily needs of veggies and fruits for their families. Tending organic kitchen garden would be the first and a firm step towards ensuring that poison is no more a part of our food chain.

Calling upon male farmers to shun the use of chemicals, she said spraying expensive pesticides should not be a status symbol amongst farmers. She added that 60 years ago, Bhagat Puran Singh raised the issue of conserving water and growing food naturally to save the environment. “After 60 years, we have realised the importance of his words and we should abide by it now,” she added.

Sharing her experiences with the kitchen gardens in Bhagtuana area of Jaito, the fest’s host Kheti Virasat Mission’s (KVM) volunteer Santosh said she supervised around 120 kitchen gardens in the area.

“Women were found to be more disciplined and attentive to what we said. In fact, in some places, the husbands of participating women (who are farmers) followed them at the educative sessions and took up organic farming themselves,” said the executive director Umendra Dutt.

Bathinda, May 12
Jaito-based theatre group Natyam Manch would be holding a four-day drama fest in the city, from May 17 to May 20. The fest would be presenting two street plays and two stage plays.

The street plays would be held on May 17 and May 18, while stage plays would be held on May 19 and May 20. Street plays would be ‘Tamash-e-Hindustan’ by Bhai Gursharan Singh and ‘Samajhdar Log’ by Chandigarh writer Surinder Sharma.

Street plays would be held at MC fire brigade, National Colony, Model Town phase I park, Hazura Kapura Colony and Paras Ram Nagar.

While ‘Tamash-e-Hindustan’ depicts the working of different government departments, ‘Samajhdar Log’ is a satire on the present day society. It depicts an asylum for the mental, and has been shown as better than the world outside.

The stage plays would be held on May 19 and May 20. Play ‘RSVP — Ronda Satti Vyah Ton Pehlan’ is a comic tale about men who get their wives married to other men as a desperate measure of seeking greener pastures abroad. The second play, ‘Wrong Number’ by Pali Bhupinder speaks about the man-woman relationship in marriage.

Natyam Manch is holding this fest in collaboration with Sangeet Natak Academy, Delhi. The team of Natyam Manch including Kirti Kirpal, Jaspal Mankhera, Surinder Kaur, Amarjit Singh, Harbhagwan Singh, Buta Singh, Amandeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and others would be presenting these plays.

Famous playwright Ajmer Singh Aulakh, Dr Pali Bhupinder Singh, Dr Nirmal Jaura, Santokh Sukhana, principal Sukhjinder Singh Brar, Amarbir Singh Sidhu, Dr Daljit Singh Dhillon and other people would also join the fest.

Bathinda, May 12
The members of the 7654 Sanjha Adhiyapak Front today took out a protest march in favour of their long-pending demands. The teachers took out a rally from Nehru Park and it passed through various roads of the city and gave a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner at his office.

District president of front, Shapinder Singh Brar said the front members are trying to fix a meeting with the Chief Minister for a long time but had failed to get the time from CM. He said despite high qualifications of the teachers, they were being paid low salaries by the government.

He said the government was delaying the issue of their regularisation. He said the front would intensify the agitation if the government failed to listen to their ‘genuine’ demands.

Bathinda, May 12
A resident of sector-22-B, Chandigarh, has been booked by the Civil Lines police station, Bathinda for pocketing Rs 5.60 lakhs over the pretext of sending abroad a resident of Bhucho Mandi here.

Accused Rakesh Kumar Chhabra has been booked on the complaint of Atma Singh, a resident of Guru Arjun Dev Nagar, Bhucho Mandi.

Atma said the accused promised him to send his son to Europe for higher studies and took the money. Chhabra, however, neither helped his son in sending abroad nor returned the money.

A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered against Rakesh Kumar Chhabra in this connection.

In a similar incident, four persons, including a couple, have been booked by the police for cheating a Rampura resident.

Complainant Surjit Singh said Devinder Shahi of Jawahar Nagar Rampura, Parma Devi, Jasvir Kaur and her husband Gurmeet Singh of Mandi Kalan village duped him of Rs one lakh on the pretext of sending his son to Malaysia. Instead of sending his son on permanent visa, the accused send him on tourist visa. A case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against the accused at Balianwali police station.

In another case, a Ganganagar (Rajasthan) resident, Amarjeet Singh has been booked by the police for pocketing money from a large number of people.

He had been taking money from people on the pretext of returning it with double amount.

Bathinda, May 12
A 17 years old boy was found dead in a water channel on Dabwali Road. Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa said the deceased has been identified as Jagan, a resident of Awa Basti near Patiala railway crossings.

Bathinda, May 12
Dr Nagpal's Punjab Public College of Nursing today celebrated International Nurses Day at its campus at the Katar Singh Wala village. The managing director (MD) of the Nagpal Group of Institutions Dr GS Nagpal inaugurated the function.

On the occasion, the nursing students of the college took a pledge to serve the humanity while performing their duties.

Chairman of the college committee Dr TS Nagpal asked the nursing students to keep in mind that they were in a pious profession so they should always remain ready for serving the suffering people.

He also honoured the students who had excelled in the examinations. On the occasion, a cultural programme was also held.

Bathinda, May 12
DAV College, Bathinda honoured its toppers in M.Sc. Mathematics (Semester-I) examination in which the top three positions have been bagged by the girl students.

Rinki Singla topped by securing 75 per cent marks while Shivali got second position with 74.8 per cent marks. Nidhi Garg bagged the third position by securing 74.6 per cent marks. As many as eighteen students of the class passed the examination with first division and fifteen students secured second division.

Meritorious students from the MA History (Semester 1) were also felicitated on the occasion. While Amandeep Singh stood first with 71.5 per cent marks, Vishal Garg secured the second position with 70.75 per cent. Gagandeep Kaur stood third with 70.5 per cent marks.

As per the results for the MA History (Semester 1) examinations, 26 students of the colleges secured more than 65 per cent while 39 students passed the examination with first division.

Dr JS Anand, principal of the college applauded the hard work of the teachers of both the departments and congratulated the toppers.