Mahant Devender Dass greets devotees.

Dehradun, March 31
In an atmosphere of harmony and the synchronisation of several hands, the 92-foot mast bearing the flag resplendent in satin and velvet plumes was raised on the precincts of Guru Ram Rai Darbar here today marking the start of the Jhanda Mela.

As the clock struck 4 pm, scores of devotees, who had been busy since morning covering the mast, suddenly seemed to have got fresh energy that culminated in the raising of the flag.

The flag was hoisted in the presence of Mahant Devender Das, saints and sadhus from the Udasin sect and scores of pilgrims and sangats from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

For most of the day, Mahant Devender Das participated in the religious rituals and later remained seated at the flag hoisting site showering blessings on the pilgrims.

“I am following the traditions and customs whose foundation was laid by my predecessors. On any given day, there are dozens of devotees who seek blessings at Guru Ram Rai Darbar but today is a bit different as the pilgrims have come from all corners of the country,” said Mahant Devender Das of Guru Ram Rai Darbar.

Located in the old area of Dehradun city, the Jhanda Bazaar was thronged by pilgrims.

A few pilgrims were taking a leisurely walk towards the darbar, others bathing in the renovated sarovar, still others participating in hair-tonsuring ceremony of their children and the remaining were occupying vantage points on the roofs of nearby buildings in order to witness the ceremony taking place outside the Guru Ram Rai Darbar. The pilgrims belonging to different sections of the society, chanting the name of Guru Ram Rai began converging at Guru Ram Rai Darbar, to find a place to settle down at the nearby dharamshalas and schools run by the Guru Ram Rai Education Trust.

While others, without a care in the world spread themselves in the verandah of Guru Ram Rai Darbar. “We know we will manage to get a place to sleep at night and food to fill our bellies, thanks to the benevolence of Guru Ram Rai and the community kitchen being run here,” said Gurmail Singh, a pilgrim from Ropar (Punjab).

Despite the sea of humanity who converged at the darbar, the high point of the mela is the discipline that the pilgrims submitted themselves to. But in view of the number of pilgrims who continues to grow, the management is now planning to make different exit and entry points next year. 

Dehradun, March 31
A preoccupation back home saw Narinder Singh, resident of Mohali, opting himself out of the proposed visit to Guru Ram Rai Darbar to offer the Darshani Gelaf and instead deputing his younger brother Rajinder Singh to offer the coveted Darshni Gelaf (cover) at the Jhanda Mela.

To pay obeisance at Guru Ram Rai Darbar after wish fulfilment, the father of the brothers Gajjan Singh had made the booking at Guru Ram Rai Darbar 25 years ago for the Darshni cover. But before his turn came, he passed away in 2008.

"As we have faith in Guru Ram Rai Darbar, it was natural for our family members to complete the unfinished task of my father. Dil sey kuch bhi mango, woh milta hai," said Rajinder Singh, who is a typist at the SDM office, Mohali.

Rajinder Singh was accompanied by his wife Gurmeet and his elder brother's son Jashandeep Singh. The family not only paid obeisance at Guru Ram Rai Darbar but also was lucky enough to have an audience with Mahant Devender Das.

While the "gelaf" covered the outer cover of the flag, 20 velvet covers were also offered along with ordinary covers for which bookings were made well in advance.

For the Darshani cover, a booking fee of Rs 11,000 was paid while for a velvet cover a booking fee of Rs 8,000 was paid.

Among those who offered the velvet covers include Balwant Singh, resident of Garhi Sama, Pradeep Chand of Mohali, Hardev Singh of Jalandhar and Dharampal Singh of Nurpur Bedi (Ropar).

Among the changes introduced this year, the prasad comprising elaichi dana was especially packed in polythene packets of 50 gm and 120 gm each carrying the photo of Guru Ram Rai Darbar. "The sangat from Punjab had brought a machine for packing the prasad which would be donated here," said Naib Singh of Chandigarh. More than 50 quintal of elaichi dana prasad was distributed among the pilgrims.

According to the customs of the Udasin sect, surma (kajal) is distributed among the devotees as prasad.

Dehradun, March 31
The state government keeping in view the civic poll in the state has ordered transfer of some officers.

Sonika, Joint Magistrate, Roorkee, has been given the additional responsibility of Chief Executive Officers of the Roorkee Municipal Corporation.

Jeewan Singh Nangnyal, City Magistrate, Haridwar, has been given additional charge of Chief Executive Officers of the Haridwar Municipal Corporation.

BS Chalal, Deeputy Chief Executive Officer of the Haldwani Municipal Corporation, has been made the Chief Executive Officers of the Haldwani Municipal Corporation.

Parkash Chander Dumka, Additional Magistrate, Kashipur, has been given the additional charge of Chief Executive Officers of the Kashipur Municipal Corporation. Harak Singh Rawat, City Magistrate, Dehradun, has been transferred as Additional District Magistrate, Dehradun.

Meanwhile, the state government transferred some police officers in the state.

In Dehradun city, SP City DS Kunwar has been made SP Dehradun, ASP Rural Girish Chand Dhyani has been shifted to Intelligence Headquarters, ASP Dehradun Amit Shrivastav has been transferred as ASP Udham Singh Nagar.

CO city Mamta Vohra has been appointed as ASP Rural. Shweta Chaubey who was on long maternity leave has been entrusted the task as ASP (Human Rights, Traffic, Tourism, Disaster Management and Police Headquarters) Sarita Dobhal, CO Sadar has been transferred to Haridwar as Deputy Commandant 40 PAC Battallion.

Jagdish Chand, CO, Vikasnagar, Jagdish Chand has been appointed as CO City.

Kamlesh Upadhyaya, who was working as ASP in Police Headquarter (PHQ) is now Assistant to DGP. 

Dehradun, March 31
All the excitement building over the start of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League has little meaning for the cricket fans of Uttarakhand, reducing the whole affair to merely a TV show due to the lackadaisical approach of the state sporting authorities in the state.

Much to the disgust of the cricket fans of the state, watching even a single match of the nearest franchisees- Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI, with their headquarters at Delhi and Mohali remains a distant dream as the state sporting authorities are yet to formulate its own state cricket association and provide a decent stadium where the IPL matches can be conducted without a hindrance. To the anguish of the state cricket lovers, the neighbouring Himalayan state Himachal has already taken a lead by hosting IPL matches and even an India-England ODI recently.

However, all is not lost for the cricket fans of the state, as the forest dwelling tribal community, popularly known Van Gujjars, have taken to the adrenalin-filled short-form of the game in a big way by starting their very own Gujjar Premier League (GPL) near the dwelling where they have been relocated.

The tiny Gujjar dera (seasonal hamlet) of Kolhuchaur in a restricted-access protected forest on the western fringe of Corbett Tiger Reserve, which is surrounded by the seasonal grassland (chaur) that attracts wild animals such like tiger, cheetal, sambar, barking deer, foxes and jackals as well as elephants at night, has been converted into the Kolhuchaur cricket ‘pitch’, which is surely the only venue in the world where one may see a tiger pugmark or have to clear away fresh elephant dung before starting a match. They organise league matches every month.

The spectacular setting with lush fauna-rich grasslands fringed by thick forests, nestling in folds of the Shivalik hills for the past three years, have become witness to a somewhat comical form of cricket, courtesy the Gujjar community. This activity began in 2010, so this is the 4th edition of the Gujjar Premier League. Local staff of the UKD state forest department has helped to ‘train’ these cricket-mad Gujjars.

About 75 Gujjars living in these deras, field two 11-man teams, though sometimes they only play five-players-per-side games. The number of spectators can number as many as 20 or 25, consisting mainly of players’ family members. But when eco-tourists arrive, the crowd may swell to as high as 35 spectators. They use self-made bats and wickets with a tennis ball bought from a Kotdwar bazaar.

Recently, a group from Winterline Nature Trust visited Kolhuchaur on an eco-study tour and was astonished to watch the unique home-grown model of the IPL. Speaking to The Tribune, Shantanu Sarkar, a Winterline trustee, said, “Actually, this is not T20 cricket, it is Ten-10 cricket, as the two teams only play 10 overs each only after they have brought their buffaloes in for the night from grazing in the forest. This speaks volumes about their love for cricket.

Lhundup Gyatso, a Tibetan student from the SOS Vocational Training Centre at Selakui, Dehradun, and a member of the study group, was amazed to see such passion for cricket in the forest. Astonished, he said, “Though I was born in Tibet, I am a fan of India’s no.1 sport, but nobody will believe me if I say I saw forest-dwellers playing cricket.”

On a more serious note, this sudden interest among Gujjar in the ‘mainstream’ leisure activities is a sign of a sea-change in the attitudes of Gujjar towards modernity. The Gujjars are aware that their lifestyle of openly grazing their cattle in protected forests without permission is not viable in the long run. Now, the 95 per cent of Gujjars are ready to resettle, which is good news for the national park authorities, particularly since there are increasing cases of the involvement of Gujjars in tiger poaching and illegal wildlife trade. Many Gujjars, seeing their relatives in Gaindikhatta, who own expensive mobile phones, TVs, tractors and even cars are also opting for a settled life with cricket acting as the main attraction for them.

Hamid Khan, a member of the Gujjar community and an all-rounder of sorts, said it was while his visits to Gaindikhatta for attending marriages that he first got hooked to cricket. One thing led to another and Hamid Khan and his relatives soon began to play cricket in Kolhuchaur in 2010 by starting the Gujjar Premier League.

The technique of these new entrants with robust physique might be suspect but with some assistance from senior cricketers and coaches, the country could have its own set of pace bowlers and booming batsmen in the near future. Until then, nature-loving sports fan may perhaps choose to watch the GPL instead of the 1PL amid the natural surroundings and that too without paying a single penny for the ticket.

According to the Director, Rajaji National Park, SP Subudhi, said resettlement efforts had paid rich dividends and the state government, on the directions of the Chief Minister, had formed a committee headed by the Chief Secretary with the Chief Wildlife Warden as the member secretary and begun the process to formulate a comprehensive resettlement policy for all Van Gujjars residing in the forest areas of the state so that they are also able to join the mainstream.

Dehradun, March 31
Ajabpur Youngsters defeated Uttarakhand Red Cricket Club by five wickets in a match during the 5th All-India Uttarakhand Cup Cricket Cup-2013 played at Rangers' College here today.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, the Uttarakhand Red team scored 130 runs all out in 34.1 overs. Opner Ravi Gandhi was the top scorer with 30 runs. Varun Khanna and Amrinder Singh took three wickets each. In reply, Ajabpur Youngsters scored 130 runs for five wickets in 22.4 overs to win the match by five wickets.

Asish Joshi scored 43 runs while opener Vijay Singh contributed 34 runs. Shahzad took two wickets for 25 runs.